A man died and went to heaven. He was met at the Pearly Gates by St. Peter who led him down the golden streets. They passed mansion after beautiful mansion until they came to the end of the street where they stopped in front of a shack. The man asked St. Peter why he got a shack when there were so many mansions he could live in. St. Peter replied, "I did the best with the money you sent us."...Today we come to one of those subjects that have the tendency to make us squirm. We never like to talk about it because we are afraid to upset people. However, this was a subject Jesus did not avoid in fact He dealt with it more than any other subject. Sixteen of the thirty-eight parables are concerned with how to handle money or possessions. One out of ten verses in the Gospels (288 in all) deal directly with the subject of money. The Bible offers 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 verses on faith but more than 2,000 verses on money and possessions. I ran across this story that reveals the prevailing attitude in regard to giving in our churches today. A mother wanted to teach her daughter a moral lesson. She gave the little girl a quarter and a dollar for church, “Put whichever one you want in the collection plate and keep the other for yourself,” she told the girl. When they were coming out of church, the mother asked her daughter which amount she had given. “Well,” said the little girl, “I was going to give the dollar, but just before the collection the man in the pulpit said that we should all be cheerful givers. I knew I’d be a lot more cheerful if I gave the quarter, so I did.” As we have seen so far in our study of the book of Malachi the people are living with the consequences of turning their back on God. As we examine our text today we see another proof of their blatant disregard for God. Malachi states that the people are robbing God by showing no fiscal responsibility toward Him. The bottom line is that God is not hearing their prayers or blessing them because they have turned their hearts away from Him. Once again Malachi calls for the people to repent and turn back to God. As we examine our text it is my hope that we discover how to give to truly please God and the subsequent blessings that will follow.
I. Dishonesty: more evidence testifying to Israel’s continued disobedience.
A. Divine blessing under the Old Covenant economy was dependent upon the people’s obedience to God’s law.
1. To turn aside from God’s statutes in attitude leads to a disregard of the law in practice.
2. Malachi charges the people with turning their backs on God’s statutes.
3. In spite of the fact that they deserved to be rejected as covenant breakers, God graciously pleads with His people to return to Him.
4. The Jewish people at this point have become so depraved and so self-righteous that they are totally blind to their need to repent.
B. Malachi presents the people with the evidence of their dishonesty.
1. Malachi charges the people with robbing God, and they demand proof to back up this charge.
2. Stealing means not only taking what is not yours but keeping back for yourself what belongs to someone else.
3. In this case one-tenth of a man’s income was due God; failure to pay that debt amounted to robbery.
4. The offering (terumah) may be offerings in general or the heave offering which was given to the priests.
5. They had robbed God by withholding from his ministers those gifts which were rightfully theirs.
6. The unfaithfulness of the priestly family was no excuse for failing to comply with the law of tithing.
C. The result of the people’s continued disobedience and the priest’s unfaithfulness have put the nation in a unique situation.
1. The disobedience of the people in respect to their tithes and offerings had brought a curse upon their land just as the unfaithfulness of the priests had brought a curse upon their ministry.
2. The curse probably took the form of drought, poor crops and economic depression.
3. Even while the curse was in progress and in evidence the people were continuing to rob God.
4. The Hebrew word order here stresses two things.
a. The audacity of this theft: “and me you are robbing.”
b. The universality of this despicable sin: “this whole nation.”
II. Understanding the requirements of stewardship God has set down for His people.
A. God originally set up His standard of giving for His people under the Old Covenant.
1. Under the Mosaic Law, the Israelites were required to give a tenth of all produce and livestock to the Lord (or they could redeem it with money and add a fifth part).
2. The tithes were in addition to numerous offerings, and were an acknowledgment that everything belonged to God and that He was the Giver of all possessions.
3. The temple served as a warehouse for the produce the Israelites brought.
4. The Levites distributed the offerings for sacrificial purposes, for their own domestic needs, and for whatever emergencies arose.
5. The standard was that God required the people’s tithe to be the first fruits of their income; God did not want the leftovers.
6. When we disobey this command, it reveals what we really think of God.
B. How the standard in the Old Covenant affects all of us who live under the New Covenant.
1. The apostle Paul instructed NT believers on the necessity of regularly and proportionately setting aside support for the on-going work of the Lord.
2. Now about the collection for God’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. (1 Corinthians 16:1-2—NIV)
3. The OT tithe is not the upper limit. Christians are urged to "excel in this grace of giving", remembering that they owe everything to the one who for their sake "made himself nothing."
4. Any private charity or gifts to Christian friends or institutions should be additional to the basic 10 percent demanded by God.
5. Most churches still fall under this indictment; their budgets are generally nowhere near 10 percent of the income of the members.
III. The results of trusting God and applying His principles of giving to our lives.
A. Israel could once again enjoy divine blessing by turning back to Him and once again giving the whole tithe to Him.
1. God offered his people the challenge of testing him. By this offer he virtually guaranteed them a direct and abundant return on their investment.
2. His "storehouse" of blessings was unlimited; so the only restriction on how much they received would be their ability to contain or use it.
3. Since he was dealing with a society that had its economy based on agriculture, the "blessings" had to do with crops and the like.
4. Not merely would God’s people be comfortable, healthy, and happy, but because of this the Lord’s name would be honored.
B. Like the nation of Israel, tithing for us is an exercise of faith and obedience.
1. What’s the biggest reason people don’t tithe? The number one answer is “I can’t afford to tithe.” Right there is the problem; nothing is left because they have placed themselves under a curse.
2. Remember God’s promise for the cheerful giver? “And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.” (2 Corinthians 9:8—NLT)
3. Those who love money will never have enough. How absurd to think that wealth brings true happiness! (Ecclesiastes 5:10—NLT)
4. “We honor God by first giving to Him from our paycheck. In doing so, we acknowledge His ownership of everything before we enjoy any of it ourselves!”—Chuck Swindoll
5. When we can not afford to tithe the real problem is a lack of faith, or an inability to trust God. When you give of your tithes and offerings, it is a tangible way of saying, “God I take you at your word!”
6. Tithing is not a fund raising campaign dreamed up by the church leadership, nor is it just an abstract theological truth. Tithing is actively trusting God; it’s a practical and tangible way to move towards God.
7. Tithing is an act of faith, and the more you exercise your faith, the stronger it will become.
Here are some statistics about giving from the Barna Organization, which conducts significant research on the church in America: 23% of born again Christians gave no money at all to the church in 2000. 17% of born again Christians tithed their income in 2003. 17% of the adults who claimed in 2000 to have tithed only 6% actually did so. 32% of adults surveyed in 2003 actually believe that the Bible commands us to tithe.
I like the old story about the guy who came to church with his family. As they were driving home afterwards he was complaining about everything. He said, “The music was too loud. The sermon was too long. The announcements were unclear. The building was hot. The people were unfriendly.” He went on & on, complaining about virtually everything. Finally, his very observant son said, “Dad, you’ve got to admit it wasn’t a bad show for just a dollar.”
