It’s not about what the church needs, it’s about what the Lord wants!
Malachi 3:10
You know, over the course of preparing my messages, I do a lot of research. I read different translations of the Bible, commentaries on the Scriptures, books with illustrations and even look for movie clips. I also check out sermons that others have given on a topic or passage of Scripture.
Over the last three weeks, we’ve been talking about the issue of finances. As I have been doing my research, it is just amazing to see the messages of other people, and even my own. This is the only time I find myself, and other pastors, apologizing for their message and for the message of the Bible. They, and I, point out that we hardly ever talk about money here – we point out that we are not out to take your money, we promise not to talk about it too much, and on it goes.
Lame jokes, funny stories, empty promises and even threats have been used by nervous pastors to get people to part with their money – and it’s a shame. Mark Twain once said that he had never been convinced to give more money by a pastor’s poor jokes, but on one occasion the joke had been so bad that he took a dollar out!
We never do this when addressing other areas of life – like relationships, community service, Bible study or prayer. You would never expect me to open up a sermon on prayer, for example, with an apology, or a disclaimer that actually negated the impact of what I was about to say, would you? But did you know that the Bible talks about money 6.5 times more often than prayer? If we were going to focus on issues at the same ratio the Bible does, we would preach 7 sermons on money for every one on prayer!
The fact is, when pastors apologize for talking about money, we do at least two things wrong. First, we devalue the message – and not just our message – but the message of the Word of God. How sad is it that the majority of messages about our wise use of our resources are done in sheepish, apologetic tones – or the opposite extreme, using wild hype and hysteria to work people into a frenzy. This does a great dis-service to the Word of God, for God does neither of these two things. He does not apologize for the guidelines He gives us in regard to our finances, nor does He threaten or make outrageous claims. Quite honestly, God leaves the whole issue with each of us individually. We saw that in week one of our study of Biblical Stewardship. We saw that God gave three different people three different sums of money, based on their individual abilities, and asked them to be faithful with it. He didn’t tell them how, He didn’t force them, He let them each decide how faithful they wanted to be. One of the three was irresponsible with his investment, and did nothing – he squandered the opportunity – and denied Himself the blessings of God.
Which brings us to the second thing that preachers do when the apologize for talking about money – we deny the church the benefits of being faithful, responsible stewards. You see, the people who get hurt most by poor stewardship is not the pastor and his family – it’s not the church budget that we’re worried about here – the one who gets hurt the most is the one who is not taught the importance of honoring God with the resources God has given them. Last week we looked at Proverbs 3:9, which says,
Honor the Lord with your possessions,
And with the first-fruits of all your increase;
So your barns will be filled with plenty;
And your vats will overflow with new wine.
One of the truths of the Bible is that when we do not honor God with our possessions, we deny ourselves the best that He has for us. God does not ask us to honor Him with our possessions because He somehow needs our money – He is God! He has no need of our paper or our gold – He asks us to give not for His benefit, but for ours! And when we do not teach this basic truth, or worse, when we know it but disobey it– we deny ourselves that benefit.
The way we handle our resources, and the attitude with which we share them with others is perhaps the most accurate indicator of our faithfulness to God. I know that is a pretty bold statement, but it is true. I believe there are two instruments by which we can measure our commitment to the Lord – our daily planner and our checkbook. How we spend our time, and how we spend our money indicate the real treasure of our hearts. It is true now, and it has been true for all time.
Turn in your Bibles to Malachi, chapter 3. Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament,so the easiest way to find it might be to look for Matthew, Mark Luke or John, the first four books of the New Testament, and go back until you find Malachi. It’s a small book, a Minor Prophet, only four chapters long, but it is very important. Even though it is the last book of the Bible, the events of this book actually occurred just after the events of another book that we looked at earlier this month – Nehemiah. The people of Israel had been permitted to return to their home land after years of captivity and slavery, living as refuges and captives of war. They had been allowed to rebuild the temple, fortify the city, and worship God once again as His people. In the pages of Nehemiah’s journal we read of a great revival that swept through the people. But even before the ink had dried, Nehemiah tells us the people began to forget about God. They began to break the promises they had made in the heat of revival, and had started to worship other Gods and give only lip-service to the Lord. That’s not too hard to believe is it? At this time of year we all can relate to breaking promises to ourselves and others – It hasn’t even been a month since the new year, and already we’ve probably not only broken our resolutions, we may not even remember what they were!
Malachi was sent by God to call the people back to Himself. He reminded the people of God’s love, of His great faithfulness. He told them that no matter how bad they were, God had promised to love them forever – that’s a good thing for us all to be reminded of isn’t it? But Malachi also reminded them that God could not and would not compromise in the area of sin. If the people chose to reject the Lord, then He would, along with His unfailing love, bring punishment – no different than a loving parent with a disobedient child.
Malachi then takes to task the priests and religious leaders of the Nation of Israel. They were leading the people astray. They did not honor God as they should, they were disobedient to the law of God, they were poor examples to the people in their public and private lives. Then Malachi warned the people of their sins. They were taking wives from the people around them, and worshiping the gods of those people. They were watering down the Word of God, making it more “palatable” for the lifestyle they wanted to live. But Malachi reminded them that God does not change. In chapter 3, verse 6, we read just that:
[Read Malachi 3:6-12]
It doesn’t take a great Bible scholar to figure out Malachi’s message, so I feel pretty confident sharing it with you this morning: “If my checkbook does not honor God, then the rest of my life does not honor him either.”
The people of Israel had left God, and He calls them to return. How does He know they have left – because they have withheld their offerings to Him. “Follow the money.”
Jesus said it best – “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Our loyalties, our values and our priorities are all demonstrated by our treasure. What we believe in - we support.
We buy license plates, jackets, jerseys and hats of our favorite team. We drive past five restaurants to get to the one that we like most. Some of us only buy gas at certain stations. We support the candidate we think best represents our views. We support those individuals, companies and products that we believe in – it’s just common sense.
What is true of our purchases is also true of our passions. What we believe in, we will pour ourselves into. Be it physical fitness – (like me!), or computers, or cars, or knitting, or building model airplanes, or photography – the things that we are passionate about will get our attention, our time and our money.
God reminds us here, that if we are not putting him first in our budget, then those things that we are passionate about can quickly become idols. The people of Israel had rejected God, and it showed because they were not brining their tithes and offerings to Him.
Now let me make this clear – God was not interested in their MONEY – He was interested in their HEARTS – but where their money was going showed where their hearts had already gone!
He calls them to return – in verse 10 He says, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse…” Get your priorities straight, starting with your wallet – the rest will follow.
Then God does something amazing – He says in verse 10 – “Test me in this, and 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.”
You might remember that part of the Law said, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God, nor put Him to the test.” Jesus quoted that portion of the Law to Satan when He was tempted. But there is one exception to that rule, and this is it. This is the one place in Scripture where God says, in affect, “Go ahead, make my day. Try me! Trust me with your treasure, and just see what happens!”
“Test me in this…”
God so much understand the link between our heart and our wallet that He has made us this pledge: “You bring to me a portion of what I have given you, and honor me first with your possessions, and with the first-fruits of your increase, and I will pour out a blessing on you that you will not believe!”
Some of you have tried this, and seen it for yourselves. You’ve stretched for the Lord and His work, and seen Him reward you over and over again. You’ve put Him first, when it seemed the craziest thing to do, and witnessed first hand His provision. We’ve seen it in our house – when we have honored God with the money and the possessions we have – He honors it. When we have taken in troubled kids, God has provided food, money, even practical things like everyone getting along. We at one time had two teenagers living with us in addition to our own three. Five teenagers in one small house with one bathroom! But you know what? In those days, the finances never seemed to come together more. The kids got along so well – there was more peace in the house than I think we have ever known. Even Carol and I saw our relationship grow during those days – God was pouring out blessings on us because we were willing to honor Him with what we had.
Over the past few weeks, I have had a number of you come and share with me the stories of how God has blessed you as you began to put him first in your finances. It is kind of a trite statement, but it is absolutely true – “You can’t out-give God. He will be no man’s debtor.” Jesus said,
"Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life."
(Luke 18:29&30)
It’s the same principle – God promises that He will repay us for our faithfulness to Him. It’s his guarantee. Like a cosmic George Zimmer, God says, “You’re going to get all you give me back, and then some. I guarantee it!”
So here’s where it gets practical: If God was to send a prophet to my house today, and he took a look at my finances – my priorities, my loyalties, my passions – would they demonstrate my love for Him? Do my day planner and my checkbook reflect a passion and a priority for God? If not, will I hear the words of God this morning from Malachi, “Return to me, and I will return to you. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, and 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.”
Will you trust God at His word? Will you test Him in this one area, even as He has asked you to?
I’m not here to pressure you – I’m here to give you an opportunity. When we don’t honor God with our possessions, and treasure, we are hurting ourselves – we are denying ourselves the blessings God has for us. Today we have the opportunity to open up heavens floodgates and experience His blessings in our lives!
Today we have an opportunity to take God at His Word. The decision is yours, but as a church, we are here to call people to the Lord – to live in obedience to Him and His word. We are going to make it easy for you. We’re even going to take some of the nervousness out of the process.
We are distributing a card to you. We are calling it God’s Guarantee Card. It is provided to you to give you an opportunity to make a commitment to God – to take Him up on His promise.
It says that by God’s grace we will contribute 10% of our income to the church for the next 90 days, trusting that God will, in accordance with His Word, bless us with blessings in excess of what we give.
We believe the Bible is true, so we are willing to make you this promise: If you believe that your giving was a mistake, and don’t believe that God has blessed you financially, or in some other way, we will give you your money back at the end of the 90 days.
It’s not a gimmick, it’s not sacrilegious, and it’s not a scam – it is trusting God, and trusting Him enough to put our money where our mouth is! We can make this promise because God made His first, and we believe Him.
Let me close by just adding this thought: This is not about what the church needs. Churches come and churches go – this is about what God wants. He wants to be first in our lives. He wants to be the object of our worship, our passion, our treasure. He wants us to love Him and honor Him, and He wants it so much that He has made this guarantee – a guarantee unlike any other in Scripture – that if we honor him with our treasure, He will bless us abundantly.
“Test me in this…” What have you got to lose, except His blessing?
Prayer.