Sermon Tone Analysis
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In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones is on the hunt for the holy grail.
As the bad guy is holding his team captive, Indiana Jones has to go to the place where the grail is held, but it is on the other side of a chasm.
He realizes that in order to progress, he is going to have to take a leap of faith.
The Israelites in Malachi’s time ceased taking leaps of faith and started trusting themselves rather than relying on God.
The people of Israel were robbing God.
They had withheld the full tithe from God.
They were giving some, but they were not giving what had been prescribed to them by law.
Remember that the old covenant stipulated that one bring a tenth of their produce and livestock to the temple.
The idea behind this is that it would provide for the priests and Levites as they devoted themselves to temple observances (sacrifices, burning of incense, etc.).
You can find the details of this command in Leviticus 27:30-33.
But this was not the only tenth Israelites were commanded to bring.
In Deut.
12, 14, 26, they were to bring a tenth every 3rd year to a meal shared with the Levites.
When Israel was brought into the Promised Land, the territory was divided up by tribe.
Each tribe received that land as an inheritance.
The exception to this was the tribe of Levi.
Any male born in the tribe of Levi either became a priest or assisted with priestly duties.
They lived throughout the land and lived in places provided for them by other tribes.
But it was through this tithing system that Levites were provided food in exchange for their services.
In a somewhat similar fashion, the church does not generate its own revenue.
The church budget is created and funded through our giving.
I eat because you are faithful to contribute enough to provide for me and my family.
So when we look at God’s claim that he is being robbed, we must not think that he needs what we can provide.
His riches are beyond anything we can comprehend.
He’s the creator and sustainer of the universe.
He owns it all anyway.
God is not rendered powerless when one withholds material blessings from the church, or in that time period, the temple.
God had created a system that provided for those who had been set apart for a unique service.
When everybody does what is right, everybody is provided for.
When people stop, the system begins to break down.
If the people are not contributing to the temple what God has required of them, the Levites are at risk.
They have to turn to alternative methods of meeting needs which takes them away from the duties God called them to do.
Let’s look at verse 10 again:
This verse has led to much debate as to what the New Testament believer ought to do.
Are we required to give ten percent?
What are the rules?
Let’s consider what the New Testament says about giving.
First, it should be noted that the New Testament does not strictly command a believer to tithe ten percent of his or her income to the church.
Rather, the principle on giving is that God desires generous sacrificial giving.
We see this in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian church.
The agrarian society of the day understood sowing and reaping.
If you only put ten seeds in the ground, you don’t get an orchard.
But pay careful attention to verse 7.
Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart.
What you sow, that is, what you put into the offering plate on Sunday morning is entirely up to you and God.
You should consult God and ask him what he would have you do.
It should not be under compulsion, nor should you do so grudgingly.
Nobody in the church should be forcing you to give anything to the church.
I want to encourage you to faithfully walk with the Lord regarding your finances.
I’m not here today to try and manipulate you into giving more money to the church.
I want you to do so cheerfully because that is what makes God’s heart happy.
Secondly, giving in the New Testament should be done sacrificially.
The greatest example of this is in Luke 21:1-4, where Jesus and his disciples are at the temple and he observes the rich putting in their offerings and a poor widow who puts in two copper coins.
Then he says:
The point becomes clear that God is not concerned with how much one gives, but the value that gift has in one’s life.
For the rich that day, what they gave was of no real consequence.
They could afford it.
The widow gave it all.
She had nothing left but her heart posture was that she wanted to contribute something.
That’s generosity.
That’s sacrifice.
The temptation surely must have been to hold on to what she had.
Who knows when the next payday was coming around?
But in that moment, she communicated through action her complete dependence on God.
The New Testament model is generous sacrificial giving.
God expects that we give, but how much and how often is up to you to determine as you seek the Lord’s will in your life.
This is directed at the members of the church.
If you are a member here, I expect you are so because you have a passion for the gospel and you want to see it spread to as many people as possible.
This is why we give.
We give because we love our Lord, we understand he has called us to share the good news to the world, and we recognize he has already blessed us with the resources to contribute to the mission.
But I want to show you that the implications of this text in Malachi is not just about what one might put in the offering plate.
Jesus addressed the tithe with the Pharisees in Matthew 23:23.
To give generously to the church and stop there is not what Christ has in mind for us.
Even if you were the most generous person here, if you neglected to act justly and exercise mercy and live out faithfulness, you misunderstand so much of what it means to live the Christian life.
It would be better to give nothing and do those things than to give to the church and neglect them.
A well-rounded follower of Jesus seeks to accomplish the will of God in every area of his or her life.
Turn back over to Malachi chapter three.
If you bring all that God has asked you to bring, what is the result?
God says to test him in this.
Test me and see if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows!
Do you want the blessings of God to overflow in your life?
Bring to God what is his.
Do you remember when the Pharisees tried to trap Jesus and they wanted to know whether it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?
Jesus said, “Give me a coin.
Whose inscription is on this?”
The Pharisees replied, “Caesar’s.”
And Jesus said, “Then render to Caesar what is Caesar’s.”
but the flip side of that is what?
“…and to God the things that are God’s.”
Do right by the government, but don’t neglect to do right by God.
I’m happy to say that we as a church are financially stable.
Many of you give generously and sacrificially.
For that I say thank you for modeling that for the rest of us.
There are some of you that contribute what you can when you can, and for that I say thank you for modeling that for the rest of us.
There are also some who contribute nothing at all to the church.
With all sincerity, can I ask you why is that?
If you are a member of this church and you don’t give anything, why is that?
Do you not see the value or the purpose?
Maybe it is because you don’t feel like you have the resources.
You are barely making it as you are.
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