STEWARDS OR ROBBERS

Introduction

-There is an old joke about an old $1 bill and an even older $20 bill that arrive at a Federal Reserve Bank on the same day to be retired.

"I've had a pretty good life," the $20 said. "I've been to Hawaii, the finest restaurants in New York, and even on a Caribbean cruise."

"Wow, you did have an exciting life!" the dollar says.

The $20 asked the $1 bill, "Where have you been?"

The $1 bill said, "Oh, I've been to the Methodist church, the Baptist church, spent some time with the Lutherans..."

The $20 bill interrupted, "Wait a minute, wait a minute. Hold on! What's a church?"’

-That joke is about as old as the problem that it humorously portrays—the fact that the church of God does not give back to the God of the church

-This is not about putting a guilt trip on people and it is not about churches or pastors being money-hungry—it has everything to do with our attitudes and beliefs about the relationship between God and the money and resources we have

-The Bible makes abundantly clear that God owns every single thing on this earth—

~Deuteronomy 10:14—

Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it.

~Psalm 89:11—

The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours; the world and all that is in it, you have founded them.

-And these are just two of the numerous verses that remind us that even what we say that we own and possess are actually owned and possessed by God----that being the case, God then determines what is done with what it is that He owns and possesses

-This is a reminder to us that everything that we have comes from God and that we are stewards of what He has given us, we are not owners—we manage these earthly items according to God’s principles, we do not run them for our own pleasure and comfort

-And God has demanded that in part of the stewardship of His possessions, we give a portion of our finances and time and talents to His service within a local body of believers, and when we do not do so, the passage we are looking at today says that we are robbing God

-And what the passage also makes clear is that when we rob God, we are really robbing ourselves:

We are robbing ourselves of blessing, we are robbing ourselves of close communion with God, we are robbing ourselves of a full spiritual life, we are robbing ourselves of a worthy walk

-And not only that, when we rob God we then rob the church of its ability to minister in the name of Jesus Christ—I have been talking for weeks about a church being on mission, but a church cannot be on mission without the resources to fulfill its mission

-So the question we have to ask ourselves today is: Are we going to be robbers or are we going to be good stewards of what God has placed in our care?

Malachi 3:6–12 ESV

6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ 8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. 11 I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. 12 Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

-First, what this passage makes clear is that someone’s disobedience in the area of their stewardship really is:

I) A Symptom of a Deeper Problem (vv. 6-8)

-This entire book of Malachi is given to God’s people because they are disobedient, and it tries to set them straight to prepare them for the coming of the Messiah

-Within this book God consistently tells the Jews that they are a disobedient, apostate people—and God keeps giving them examples of what He means

-But just as it seems God’s frustrations and anger with the people comes to its peak, God says something very telling in v. 6— For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.

-Just prior to this passage the Jews charged God of being unjust; v. 6 is part of the response; it is as if God is saying to the Jews:

You say I am unjust. Listen to me, it is only because of my just and righteous character, and the fact that I do not change, that I have not backed away from my promises to you and wiped you off the face of the planet because of all your disobedience and apostasy.

-He goes on in v. 7 to tell that particular generation that they’re just like their fathers that were sent into captivity: disobedient and apostate

-So God gives the charge: you return to Me in repentance, then I will return to you in revival

-But they still don’t get it—they ask: what do you mean we need to return to you; we never left you God!!!

-So it’s as if God is saying:

~here’s another example of your disobedience and apostasy: You rob Me when you withhold your tithes and offerings

-The point being that unfaithfulness in stewardship of money and resources is a symptom of a deeper spiritual issue within a person

~It is a demonstration of someone being disobedient…that they do not hold God’s Word in high value…that they are not in close communion with God…that they are worldly and fleshly and not walking in the Spirit====that’s the issue; poor stewardship is merely a symptom of these greater issues

-If I have a fever, the fever is not the issue, but is a symptom of a deeper issue (that I have a virus, or strep throat, or infection, or something along those lines)—if I want to deal with the fever, I need to deal with the cause of the fever

-How you manage your money and resources is a gauge of your spiritual health—it shows what you really think about God and about His word, and it reveals where your heart is

As Jesus Himself said in Matthew 6:21—

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

-So if you rob God because you do not honor Him in the giving that He asks for, it indicates there is a deeper heart issue.

-Now (on the other hand), just because someone gives tithes and offerings, that doesn’t mean they’ve reached the peak of holiness—because I can take ibuprofen to lessen the fever, but the root issue is still there====just because you give faithfully doesn’t mean that you don’t have deep spiritual sin issues, it’s just that you are being obedient in one area of life

-But those who withhold giving to the work of God rob God from His honor

-I am not trying to insult anyone in what I say, but neither am I going to coddle people in their disobedience because there is something so much better for you when you’re obedient to Christ

-there’s something else you need to realize, that when you are disobedient in this area, it doesn’t only affect you, it affects other people----so secondly I want to talk about the fact that there is:

II) A Repercussion for a Larger Group (vv. 9, 12)

-in v. 9 God reiterates the robbery of the people for not giving their tithes and offerings and says that this brings a curse from God because of their disobedience

-Now remember, God is talking about His own people, not some pagan nation—God still deals with and curses His own people because of sin and disobedience==we may talk of it more from a standpoint of discipline, but the effects are still the same

-But here in v. 9 God lays it at the feet of the nation, even though the whole nation was not being disobedient in that area—there were some who were very faithful—but even those who were obedient were swept up in the curse of God==the disobedient brought repercussions upon the whole nation

-Just like other sins that we commit, it not only affects us, but there are repercussions that affect those around us as well==my pride affects those around me; my anger affects my family; my {fill in the blank with any sin} affects others==the sin of robbing God of tithes and offerings is the same

-Think of it this way=your disobedience is like throwing a large rock into a lake==the ripples of water touch all those in the surrounding areas

-And it is the church that reaps the consequences of its members’ disobedience----Maybe the church isn’t able to do what it needs to do in the ministry because individual members have not been the stewards they were meant to be----maybe more could be done for missions if people would obey in their joyful giving----or maybe God isn’t coming down in power and glory upon His church because of the disobedience of the people

-That’s kind of the negative side of the repercussions, but v. 12 gives us the positive side==He told the nation of Israel that all the other nations would call them blessed and they would be a delightful land because they walked in obedience in their stewardship

-So, check this out==if everyone in the church was obedient in their stewardship, those that were outside of this church will take notice that God is doing something on the inside of this church

-If we would be an obedient people, God would give us such grace that we would be known to outsiders as the place where God meets with His people

-But I know what some of you are thinking—pastor, you don’t know what I’m going thru—times are tough—jobs are scarce—money is tight—there’s more month left at the end of the money----but God knows about that, doesn’t He?

-Don’t you think that if God calls you to steward your money and resources that He’d give you the ability to do it?===you worry about food and clothes and bills, but God says seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all those other things will be added to you

-So, the last thing I want to mentions that we see in this passage is that God gives:

III) A Guarantee for a Faithful Follower (vv. 10, 11)

-God tells the people to bring the tithes to the storehouse {which would be the treasury storehouse of the temple}—bring your tithes and offerings to the place so designated, which in our day and age would be the church

-Then He gives the guarantee—He says if we obey Him in our stewardship He will open up the windows of heaven and pour down so much blessing upon us that it will overflow==we wouldn’t be able to handle all the blessings

-Now, I haven’t all of a sudden turned into a Health and Wealth preacher==I’m not saying something crazy like: give the church $1000 and God will give you 10x as much

-But God says He will give us spiritual blessing, spiritual health, revival==and He will take care of our every need (not our every want)==if a bird in the middle of the forest doesn’t die without God noticing it, how much more precious are you to Him? If He fed and took care of that bird its whole life, how much more will He take care of you?

-We still don’t believe it, so God says in v. 10 TRY ME ON THIS/TEST ME ON THIS and see if I won’t do what I’ll say I do====just go ahead, start obeying by giving your tithes and offerings and see if God doesn’t take care of you

-I think a lot of the problem is that we’ve so strapped ourselves with debt we can’t think straight—that, and the fact that our priorities with money are so out of whack====I can’t tithe or give to the church, but I can buy my kid this several hundred dollar toy that will keep them out of my hair—I can’t give to the church, but I can have the largest package on cable TV, have a gym membership, and constantly go out to eat.

-You say you can’t afford to give tithes and offerings, but God says you can’t afford not to do it==you’re robbing yourself if you don’t

-God says test Him on this, and see if He won’t bless you for being faithful to Him—v. 11 talks about the provision and protection He gives—He will provide and protect if you’d trust and obey

Conclusion

So what can you do practically:

(1) tithe—the word means 10% of your intake— the tithe was instituted before the law; but rather than merely thinking in percentages, think of being a cheerful giver to the work of God in order to honor God; and think of this too: if people under grace give less than people under the law, then we have a pretty messed up view of grace

-But God in our passage said tithes AND offerings {not tithes OR offerings}—so God expected people to give beyond the tithe

-what offerings can we give toward:

(2) The Building Fund—Several years ago Harvest Baptist Church built and remodeled and gave us this nice facility, but we are still paying on it. Give to the building fund so we can knock that down.

(3) Give to missions—this month we are accepting offerings for the Mallory-Meyers state missions offering; give to that and Lottie Moon and Annite Armstrong, as well as to House of the Harvest and others

(4) Be a good steward in all areas of your life—with your time, talents as well as money

-I want you to do some soul searching—maybe God has touched you regarding this area, and you need to come to the altar to ask God to bring you to obedience

-But obeying in this area won’t mean much if you don’t do the ultimate form of obedience to God by trusting in His provision for your sin=Jesus Christ… When you consider what God sacrificed to save your soul, giving back to Him a portion or what He owns anyway pales in comparison