"god's Designated Storehouse"

“God’s Designated Storehouse”

Malachi 3:6-12

Although Mosaic Law remained in effect for 15 centuries, from the time of Moses to the time of Christ’s death at Calvary, the people often ignored, defied, or buried it.

When their spiritual life was low, their giving fell off and when their spirituality revived, their giving rose again.

God sent prophets, such as Malachi, to warn them about their greed and backsliding and invite them to return to Him.

With their return God promised to meet them in reconciliation.

In our Scripture Passage for this morning there was a major problem going on—a problem that is very close to the heart of God.

If we were to look back at the verses proceeding the ones we just read we would see that bosses were defrauding their workers of their wages, people were not taking care of nor looking after the widows, the orphans, and the foreigners

And the immigrants were being deprived of justice.

The people of God were abusing people.

They were corrupt, greedy, selfish, mean, without love nor empathy, out for themselves with little interest in God.

These are things that lots of folks can probably relate to experiencing—even today.

In any event, in verse 6, God says: “I the Lord do not change.”

Then He goes on, “Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them.

Return to me, and I will return to you…

But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’

Will a mere mortal rob God?

Yet you rob me.

But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’

In tithes and offerings.”

You see, our relationship with God is reflected in how we give.

Giving also helps us to concentrate on the plight of others, to shake the selfish out of us, to get outside ourselves, to care, to love—giving transforms us because giving makes us more like God Who has given everything to us and for us.

But, if we keep what God gives us to ourselves, or only throw a couple bucks or a couple hundred bucks a year in the offering plate when 10% of our income is thousands of dollars—are we are robbing God?

Are we being too self-absorbed to be involved in kingdom thinking?

And, perhaps without us knowing it, are we are impairing the church from helping to transform other’s hearts so that they will pay their employees what they are owed?

Are we impairing the churches ability to lift up the widows, the orphans and foreigners, the marginalized, the oppressed, the hungry, the naked, the least and the last?

The local church is the most effective means by which God makes disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

The local church is the most effective means by which God fulfills Jesus’ mission which is to, as He announced in Luke Chapter 4, “preach good news to the poor, proclaim freedom for the prisoners, and recovery of sight for the blind, and to release the oppressed.”

But if we withhold our tithes from the church the church cannot function as it should nor accomplish what God has planned for us to do.

And so the world suffers and people go without knowing and experiencing God’s love and hearing and seeing the Good News of Jesus lived out by God’s people.

To the Church in Laodicea, in Revelation Chapter 3 Jesus says, “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’

But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”

How can that be?

How can Jesus say that?

They are rich.

But they are not rich toward God and thus toward other people.

When we give to God’s Church we the world comes to know Christ because they see Christ’s love emanating from His followers.

But when His followers don’t share Christ’s love; the world turns and says, “They are just like everyone else—greedy, stingy, miserly, uncaring, cold, hard-hearted.”

“There must be no God, or if there is, these people do not know Him.”

I want us to ask ourselves this morning…and it is only between us and God…

…are we holding back our giving to God?

Do we need to get on with what we are supposed to be about—giving our all for God—for the salvation of the world?

The Bible mentions money and our addiction to it, and our need to give—more than any other subject under the sun.

Our giving to the local church is a reflection of our relationship with God…not Red Bank United Methodist Church…but with God.

God tells us that He has a special place for His children to bring their tithes and offerings.

In the wilderness, it was the Tabernacle.

Today, the designated place is the local church.