Last week I told you that today I would tell you why money is probably the most difficult issue to preach about. I want to make good on my promise, so here it is! Not long after I became a Christian, to my great surprise and delight, my uncle Mark and Aunt Tammy started attending a little Baptist church a few towns away. Neither of them grew up going to church and they weren’t really what you would call church going people. Everyone was shocked when we found out that they were not only attending church but they were attending church every Sunday.
They told me that they really liked the people at the church and they felt very welcome there. Also, the pastor went out of his way to befriend them and help them through some difficulties they were having. Mark had been an alcoholic most of his life, but during those few years he went to that church, he was doing better than I had ever seen him.
Mark and Tammy made professions of faith and were growing in their faith so much that the pastor eventually asked Mark to consider being a deacon at the church. After much thought and prayer, Mark became a deacon and served the church in many capacities. As he and the pastor ministered together, they became even closer friends and everything seemed wonderful.
Then one Sunday morning the church gathered for worship, but the pastor and his family never showed up. A few of the deacons went to the parsonage to find out if he was OK, and they discovered that the house was completely empty. Everything was gone and there was no trace of them. A neighbor told the deacons that they had packed up everything in a moving truck the day before and had left during the night. No warning, no notification, no explanation, they were just gone and no one knew where they went or why.
A few days later, when the church treasurer went to the bank to deposit that Sunday’s offering, she discovered that the pastor had withdrawn everything and closed the account. He had stolen over $30,000. Upon further investigation, they found out that the pastor had been embezzling thousands of dollars from the church throughout his whole tenure. The reason why he left was because some new people had gotten involved in the church and they wanted to make the church’s finances more transparent. He knew that his fraud was about to be exposed, so he took everything the church had and disappeared into thin air.
As you can imagine, the church was devastated! Their bank account was wiped out and so was their faith! They were betrayed by their shepherd! They trusted this supposed man of God with their very souls, and they found out that he was nothing but a fraud. A few weeks later the church disbanded and closed its doors forever. That was the last time my uncle Mark ever went to church. That experience destroyed any respect he had for pastors and caused him to lose his confidence in God altogether. He sunk back into his alcohol addiction, he and Tammy divorced a couple of years later, and he was never the same again.
I love to preach God’s Word, but every time the issue of money comes up in church, that story enters my mind. Since I watched how financial abuse devastated my uncle’s faith, I have always been hyper-sensitive about money and the church. Even though I have taken precautions so that nothing like this could ever happen here, I still have the fear of people thinking that I am preaching about money to benefit myself. Therefore, I would rather just not preach about it. But I have realized that if I am to truly be faithful to God, I mustn’t shy away from any issue in his Word, including money. So, this sermon series on stewardship is as much about me facing my fears as it is about our financial faithfulness.
For years afterward, Mark could barely bring himself to talk about that experience. I just remember him asking, “How could somebody do something like that?” After hearing this story, I most of us are asking the same question. How could someone do something like that? How could somebody rob God? What kind of person would steal from the church? It’s bad enough that people play that game Grand Theft Auto, but who would actually play a game of Grand Theft Church?
Well, unfortunately, this isn’t the only time God has ever been robbed. God has been robbed by various people in every generation, but it was particularly bad in the 4th century B.C. The Israelites came back to Jerusalem after 70 years of exile in Babylon and were trying to rebuild their lives. When they first returned, they discovered that their holy city was in shambles. The Temple had been destroyed, their homes were gone, the city wall was broken down, and the city gates had been burned. As they worked to rebuild in this vulnerable time, they faced a food shortage because of a perpetual drought, there were constant threats from foreign armies, and there was internal corruption among their own religious and political leaders. Agricultural crisis, military threats, political corruption, and religious hypocrisy—it sounds a lot like modern America, doesn’t it?
Well, it was in the midst of these crises that God raised up the prophet Malachi to preach to his people. Malachi was a brave prophet who took God’s word seriously and preached against the abuses of the day. In Malachi 3:6-12, he takes on the issue of financial unfaithfulness that was so common in that day. He doesn’t mince any words when he accuses the Israelites of robbing God and calls them to repentance. Let’s take a look at Malachi’s message!
Malachi’s Message of Financial Faithfulness
The Indictment (8)
In verse 8 Malachi indicts the Israelites for their financial unfaithfulness to God. Every Israelite knew that the law commanded them to give 10% of their income to God, but they were neglecting their duty. They justified their actions and made excuses. They said things like, “God, you just don’t understand. Times are hard! Our economy is a mess! The weather hasn’t been cooperating. We’re trying to get back on our feet! We are trying to rebuilt your city!” God says through Malachi, “Let’s quit with the excuses and call it what it is—you are robbing me?” By refusing to give their tithe, the Israelites were robbing God. Now it wasn’t like they were breaking into the Temple and stealing, but when they withheld their tithe they were taking what belonged to God and used it for their own purposes.
It hurts to hear this, doesn’t it? God’s word indicts us just like it did the Israelites. People today make the same excuses for their actions that God’s people make 2500 years ago. They say, “God just doesn’t understand how difficult it is to tithe today? Times are hard and we have to make it somehow? If I tithed I couldn’t pay my bills?”
Who are these people? Who actually says this? What kind of person would rob God? People like us! No one here this morning would break into the church and steal the pews, but we do rob him a little bit at a time when we don’t tithe. Every week or month or year that we withhold our tithe, we are stealing from God.
Most of us felt a little angry toward that pastor who stole $30,000 from the church, but when we withhold our tithe, but many of us are guilty for exact same thing! Have you ever robbed God? Are you robbing him now? Are you tithing our income?
The Curse (9)
In verse 9 Malachi tells the Israelites that they have been under a divine curse because they were withholding their tithe. God asks, “Do you want to know why you work so hard and yet cannot get ahead? Do you want to know why your crops aren’t growing? Do you want to know why there is a food shortage? Do you want to know why your defenses aren’t rebuilt yet? Do you want to know why you just keep spinning your wheels?” It is because you haven’t been faithful to me. You withhold your tithe and break my law, and then you expect me to bless you? You haven’t been faithful with little and yet you ask for more?
Again, this is the way it is with so many people today? Have you ever wondered why our country has experienced an economic collapse? I just wonder if it has anything to do with our lack of faithfulness to God! Have you ever wondered why so many families work so hard and yet are struggling financially? I just wonder if it has anything to do with withholding God’s tithe!
When we are under a divine curse, it doesn’t matter how hard or how much we work. We won’t be able to get ahead. It is like having a pocket with a hole in it. It don’t matter how much money goes in, it ends up coming out somewhere. Why would we expect God to provide our needs when we aren’t faithful to him? Why would we expect him to bless us when we make excuses for disobeying his commands?
Let me share an embarrassing personal story with you. It isn’t exactly about tithing, but it is about a curse for financial unfaithfulness. There was a Friday last summer when Jennifer, the kids, and I went to Burlington to go shopping and we had to stop by Walmart for something. Both kids had fallen asleep in the van, so I decided to stay with them while Jennifer ran into the store.
As I was sitting there for what seemed like an eternity, watched a young woman load some bags into the trunk of her car, and when she turned to take the kart to the corral, I saw a green bill fall out of her pocket onto the ground. My immediate instinct was to jump out of the car and alert her to the situation, but I panicked in the moment. In my mind I rationalize the situation. I thought, “Oh, I shouldn’t leave the kids for even a second! Oh, it is probably just a dollar bill anyway”, but the real thought that went through my head was that old phrase “finders keepers losers weepers.”
After she pulled out, I got out of the van and walked over and picked up the money. I felt a little guilty when I bent down and discovered that it was a $20 bill. Again, I rationalized the situation and spent the money on myself. I quickly forgot about the whole ordeal, until two days later when my car wouldn’t start. When the mechanic told me that the head gasket blew and it was going to cost $1,500 to fix, my mind immediately went to that $20 bill in the parking lot.
Now you could call this a coincidence or superstition, but I honestly believe that the blown head gasket was God’s curse on my unfaithfulness! I still kick myself for not doing the right thing. Has anything like that ever happened to you? Are you living under a divine curse for withholding your tithe or some other area of financial unfaithfulness? If you are living in financial unfaithfulness, repent and make it right!
The Grace (6-7)
Even in the midst of this indictment and curse, we still see God’s grace. Verses 6-7 highlight God’s patience with his people. Although the Israelites deserved destruction for their long history of breaking God’s commands, they had been spared. Why? Because God doesn’t change! Long ago God made a covenant with Abraham that he would bless his people, and in spite of their perpetual unfaithfulness, he is a God who keeps his promises and deals with his people graciously. They certainly deserved judgment for their rebellious ways, particularly for their financial unfaithfulness, but God gave them the opportunity to repent from their sin. He says, “Return to me, and I will return to you!”
I am so thankful that financial unfaithfulness isn’t the unforgivable sin. Sure, refusing to tithe has its consequences just like every other sin, but God is so patient with us and gives us the opportunity to repent and make things right. How can we return to the Lord so that he will return to us? Ask God to forgive our financial unfaithfulness and make it right. For some of us, that may mean that we make a renewed commitment to tithe. For others, it may mean that we need to return stolen property or correct some other improper financial dealings. If you return to him he will return to you! If you have fallen in the area of finances, repent so that you may experience God’s blessing again!
The Blessing (10-12)
Malachi ends this paragraph by reminding the Israelites that if they repent from their sin and start bringing their whole tithe to the storehouse once again that the curse would be lifted and God would bless them once again. God challenges them to test him on this and see if he won’t open the floodgates of heaven and pour out more blessing that they could handle. God would provide rain to nourish the soil, prevent pest from destroying their crops, and stop disease from ruining the fruit from their vines. As God would make their land delightful and all the neighboring nations would call them blessed.
God’s challenge to test him is really a plea to trust him. He is basically telling the Israelites to trust him enough to faithfully give their tithe and he would bless them abundantly. Tithing isn’t a matter of logic, is it? It is a matter of faith! It is a matter of the heart! God puts his own reputation on the line when he tells the people to test him. He promises to abundantly bless financial faithfulness!
These verses cause us to look at our own hearts. How much do we really trust God? Do we trust him enough to give him 10% of our income? Do we trust him enough to provide for our needs? Do we trust him enough to orchestrate the events of our lives so that we will experience abundant blessing? Will God really do this? Test him! Go ahead, try it! Based on the authority of his divine Word, I implore you to test him in this matter. Tithe faithfully and see what will happen. I have never met a single person who has tithed faithfully and has had any serious financial problems. I have never met anyone who has tithed and regretted it.
Please don’t misunderstand this text. This isn’t one of those television evangelist “get rich quick” schemes. God is not telling us that if we tithe we will get rich. He is promising that if we tithe he will take care of us and will bless us. God’s blessing means so much more than mere money. Are you willing to risk 10% of your income for God’s blessing on your life?
This passage makes God’s expectation perfectly clear. When we refuse to tithe, we are robbing God and will suffer under his curse. When we tithe faithfully, we will experience his abundant blessing on our lives. What will you do?