"The Test" Rev. Les Kuiper Text: Malachi 3:6-18 Introduction A. During the last several months we Americans have had some investment questions on our minds. 1. At least a couple of the questions are related to where to invest. Should we invest in stocks? Are stocks safe? Are they a good investment? Are they high risk? As they have jumped up and down we have asked the questions. And as interests rates have gone down we have wondered whether now was the time to re-finance the home mortgage. We have asked the questions. 2. These are the kinds of questions that good stewards will ask, not only about their investments and savings, but about their giving as well. B. This morning I invite you to consider these kinds of questions in the light of Malachi 3. We began our Stewardship Month focusing on the fact that we are not owners and masters; but servants or stewards whether we have five talents, two talents, or one talent. Last week we focused on our relationship to consumer debt. Next week we turn to Paul's letter to the Corinthians where he calls believers to give "generously in proportion to what you have received, giving yourself." Now this morning, in light of Malachi 3, we focus on where we should give, what causes we should support. 1. MALACHI ADDRESS THESE QUESTIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF EXPOSING A MIDDLE CLASS SIN. A He hints at the problem in the way that he introduces two "defendants." 1. On the one hand there is the Lord God. Throughout this prophecy the people are laying charges at God's feet. For example, "You profane it by saying of the Lord's table, 'It is defiled,' and of its food, 'It is contemptible.' And you say 'What a burden!' and you sniff at it contemptuously" (1:12-13). And, "You have wearied the Lord with your words. 'How have we wearied him?' you ask. By saying, 'All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them' or 'Where is the God of justice?"' (2:17). And "You have said, 'It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape"' (3:14-15). So, what do you say about this God?! And God responds, "I the Lord do not change" (3:6a). As if to say, "I am treating you exactly as I said I would." Indeed, as Israel entered the land of promise God had said, "See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess" (Deut 30:15-18). God hadn't changed. He was faithful. He was dependable. In fact, if you want to push it, "I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed" (3:6). 2. Then God turns the tables. What about you? How do you explain yourself? Notice how Malachi addresses the people. "An oracle: The word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi" (1:1) And in 2:11 he says, "Judah has broken faith. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord loves by marrying the daughter of a foreign god." And in 3:6,I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed." In other words, "You haven't changed either You are still the deceiver, the cheater." Malachi identifies one of the ways they demonstrate their inner character "When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor!" (1:8). And in 1:13-14, "You say, What a burden!'....'(Then) when you bring injured, crippled or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?' says the Lord." They were giving God their leftovers. Even that was a burden for them, It was more than they could handle. As we watch them from a distance we wonder, how could they do that to God? But, are we as true to their character as they were? Is there something of the blood of Jacob in us? B. We sometimes protest as much as God's people 2400 years ago. "Who, us?!" But we are caught red-handed. 1. The charge and the evidence is undeniable. God asks us as he asked them, "Will a man rob God? (vs 8a). And we respond as they did, "How do we rob God?" (vs 8b). And God answers as he answered them, "In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse - the whole nation of you because you are robbing me" (vs 8c-9). One ancient translation reads "because your tithe is still with you." Robbing another person is bad enough. That clearly is a transgression of the eighth commandment. But robbing God, taking from Him by force - that takes guts! And we ask, "who, me?" 2. We can defend ourselves well in legally accurate terms. Nowhere docs God require that we tithe, or give a tenth of what we have. A biblical survey of the "tithe" is very revealing. In Gen. 14 Abraham voluntarily gave a tenth of the spoils of victory to Melchizedek, priest of God Most High. In Gen. 28, after his dream of the angels ascending and descending, Jacob voluntarily promised to give back to God a tenth of all he received from God. The closest Scripture comes to commanding a tithe is in Leviticus 27:30, "A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord." And in Deut 14:22 God says, "Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year." But, when you add up everything that God required his people to bring to the temple it actually was more like fifteen to thirty percent, plus the taxes for the king on top of that. Whatever method you use, Malachi and Israel knew that the tithe was still with them. They still had at least some of it. How much of the tithe is still with you? According to figures from the Deacons it would be generous to say that we are giving more than five or six percent of our income. 3. Besides, in New Testament letter to the Corinthians, Paul says that "each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income" (1 Cor 16:2). Paul is talking about what is sometimes referred to as "proportional giving" in which a tenth is the minimal level of giving. If one looks at our parking lot, our homes, and our toys, who would not say that we are caught red-handed? Let me be clear. It is not a sin to be wealthy, but it is a sin to be self-indulgent. "Will a man rob God?" 2. IT IS IN THAT CONTEXT THAT THE LORD, THROUGH THE PROPHET MALACHI, OFFERS A DIVINE SOLUTION A. The Lord presents a simple project. 1. Notice the solution He offers. There are many "solutions" that are not really solutions at all because they don't address the heart of the problem. The solution God offers here is a real solution. It goes to the heart. In 3:7 he proposes a 180 degree turn. "'Return to me, and I will return to you,' says the Lord Almighty." As the New Testament preacher of repentance, John the Baptist challenged his listeners to "produce fruit in keeping with repentance" (Mt 3:8). What was the solution which God offered? He spells it out in vs 10. "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse," he said, referring to the storehouses at the temple in Jerusalem. On the basis of such a challenge we might say that today God wants believers to give primarily through the church. 2. Why? What would be the rationale for that? There are several reasons that could be given. One would be the effectiveness of such a method of giving, in contrast, for example to everyone privately giving a dollar to every charity that asks for help. Another reason would be the accountability involved in giving through the church. In subtle ways, we re-enforce the strategy that is so basic in playing a game of cards. - "keep a poker face, and keep your cards close." We do influence each other, but in what way? While there may be other reasons besides these, the specific reason that Malachi gives for bringing the whole tithe to the storehouse is so "that there may be food in [God's] house" which creates a ripple effect which leading "all the nations to call you blessed." As we give primarily through the church it becomes obvious to everyone what a powerful impact Christ has had on people. In a letter to Time magazine thanking them for their feature on twentieth-century saints, a reader wrote, "I realize now the difference between me and them. I get emotional, saints get involved." Harry Emerson Fosdick, the famous New York preacher from Riverside Church once said, "The dollar is a miraculous thing. It is a man's personal energy reduced to portable form and endowed with powers that the man himself does not possess. It can go where he cannot go; speak languages he cannot speak; lift burdens he cannot touch with his fingers; save lives with which he cannot directly deal so that a man busy all day downtown can at the same time be working in a boys' club, hospital, settlement and children's centers all over the world." (Topic: Giving) B. If we do "turn around" and demonstrate genuine conversion, what can we expect? 1. Listen to what God promises. "See if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." (vs. 10). Give and the Lord will give you more. Well, we can't put a dollar figure on what God promises here. But he does promise that joyful givers will know the blessings of God in a way that non-givers and self-oriented people cannot even imagine. 2. This is the Lord's response to the charge, "It is futile to serve God" (vs 14). The Lord establishes a test plot. 3. ON THE BASIS OF THIS PASSAGE WE CAN MAKE SOME FINAL APPLICATIONS A. On the one hand, there are levels of obligation. 1. According to I Tim. 5:8, we have a Primary responsibility to provide for our immediate family. We are responsible, in other words, to provide shelter, food, clothing, health services, and education in such a way that our family members see that Jesus is Lord, and that that is good. 2. But, as Paul reminds us in Gal 6:10, we are also responsible to do good to all people. God calls us to a Word ministry on local, national and global scales, as welt as a Deed ministry to the poor, the hunger, the unborn. B. As you think about your involvement on these various levels, check your attitude. 1. There are real needs all around us. One billion people have never heard of Jesus. Two billion people suffer from hunger. You can't meet all these needs. But you can meet some of them one at a time. 2. Honestly help each other deal with covetousness. Lay out your cards on a personal level, moving toward a simple life style. 3. Don't let yourself be motivated by guilt, and don't lay guilt trips on each other. Be patient with each other. Someone once said that "If the devil can't get you by seducing you to wine, women and song, then he turns to be your accuser, often appearing as an angel of light in a clerical collar." Realize that each of us may be at different levels of maturity in the faith. 4. Remember the encouragement of 1 John 5:3. "This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome." Following Christ is liberation! It is not bondage It is deeply satissfying. CONCLUSION As Americans, we are asking questions about investing. Questions that also relate to our giving That's good. Far be it from any of us to rob God.

4-Part Series by Les Kuiper - Index Continue on to "In Response to Grace"