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Who We Are - Sermon, Sunday, July 27th, 2003
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Malachi 3:6-10 as follows —
I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty. "But you ask, `How are we to return?' Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, `How do we rob you?' In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse Ð the whole nation of you — because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. 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.
Dear Friends in Christ,
There are test takers and risk takers. Drug takers and ticket takers and note takers. Hostage takers, census takers, profit takers, bribe takers and care takers! Some kinds of taking are dishonorable or even criminal, while some are perfectly OK. But if someone were to describe you with the word "taker," you would not take that as a compliment, would you, especially if they used it in contrast with the word "giver"? Being a "giver" is good, but being thought of as a "taker" isn't so good.
Not one of us would use the word "Taker" to describe God. We know him as, hands down, the greatest Giver of all, as The Great Giver, period! We know that God is love and that love does not take, it gives. We've seen the ultimate connection between love and giving — Jn 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son." Ep 5:2: "Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." Ga 2:20: "I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
Thanks to his Word, we know that the Great Giver has given us the greatest gift: "The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." In his Son, God has given us life, forgiveness, peace, the kingdom, righteousness, glory, and inheritance kept in heaven for us! We also know that, as James wrote, "every good and perfect gift is from above." And we confess in the words of Luther that our Maker has given us "body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my mind and all my abilities," that he "richly and daily provides me with all that I own, and all that I need to keep my body and life."
We know, too, that this great Giver of all gifts, material and spiritual — this great Bestower of all blessings, temporal and eternal — our Maker and Savior and Lord, looks for a response from us. That's only natural! In fact, he looks in some specific places for some specific evidence of our gratitude and love. It should not even be surprising to learn, as we do from this Word of God, that: THE GREAT GIVER LOOKS FOR LOVE IN THE OFFERING PLATE.
As you may know from experience, giving can be frustrated. You wanted to give but your intent was frustrated by the other person. You tried to give, but didn't succeed because he or she turned away from you and made it impossible for you to give as you wanted. Here, the LORD again, for that very reason, expresses his frustration with the people of Judah. They're complaining that he's not blessing them, but here's the real problem: "Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from me."
Truth is, he ought to turn away from them completely. But listen to what he tells them: "I the LORD do not change. So you are not destroyed." The LORD does not change; he still expects fear and honor and gratitude and love from his people, which they are not giving him. They rightly deserve the worst, yet the LORD also does not change in his grace and mercy and unconditional love. He still desires to give, to give them what they do not deserve! He still wants to bless them spiritually and also materially!
So he pleads, "Return to me!" He's like the father waiting for his prodigal son to come home. "You've wandered away," he says, "but it's not too late to come back!" And to encourage them, he promises, "Return to me and I will return to you! I will return with all my love and all the evidence of my love — the blessings I want to shower on you, on your land, on your homes, your crops, your kids." You see, those blessings were being withheld not because the LORD didn't want to give them, but because of Judah's unbelief.
And that shows up in their answer: "Whaddya mean, return? What could possibly be wrong with us?" Well, the LORD knew there was plenty wrong and here he zeroes in on one glaring piece of evidence. He asks, "Will a man rob God? ( Who would dare to do that?) But you are robbing me! "How do we rob you?" they ask. "In tithes and offerings" is the answer. We've already heard (Chap. 1) about the kind of sacrifices they were bringing: blind, crippled, diseased animals. Now we learn that even the tithe, the basic minimum offering required by God's Law in the Old Testament, the 10%, was not being given. The men of Judah were robbing God by keeping for themselves what rightfully belonged to him.
Now, this may sound to some ears like the LORD is a greedy God or maybe a needy God. It may sound like he's a taker, only interested in what he can squeeze out of his people. But spiritually-opened ears hear something different. Do your ears hear the pleading of the God who loves beyond all measure and wants only to give? I mean, you know what the real issue is. The LORD doesn't need their offerings! In Ps 50 he told them, "I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it." No, he says there, this is what he wants: "Sacrifice thank offerings to God." In Proverbs 3: "Honor the LORD with your wealth.". There's the real issue. How does a man rob God? By withholding the thanks and the honor he deserves to get from those to whom he's given all.
No, the LORD does not need our money. He is neither needy nor greedy; he is not a "taker." But he does understand the connection between love and giving. He knows that our offerings tell the truth about us. Perhaps more than anything else we say or do, what we give and how we give tells the truth about what is in our hearts. And that's why the LORD looks for love in the offering plate!
Now, if part of me resents hearing this, if part of me feels that God only wants to TAKE from me — we know what part that is. It's my sin-infected old nature. It's my selfish, greedy, materialistic little human heart. Lest anybody imagine that the LORD really is a taker, just listen to his challenge here: "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse. Test me in this and see . . . 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."
Does that sound like a greedy God or needy God? Or does it sound like a God who simply aches with the desire to give and give and give and give some more? That's what love does, of course, and love is what the LORD is all about. Because he is the great, eternal Lover of sinners, he is also the great, eternal Giver. He gives and he forgives and that is the greatest gift of all. All he expects is a response from those whom he has loved. He looks for love and gratitude in our words and in our actions. There are so many ways for us to express our love for God each day, but the truest evidence, the most accurate measure of love is in the giving.
Back then, the LORD looked at the offerings of Judah and said, "You're robbing me! You say you love me, but your tithes tell the truth." He looks into the offering plate now, but not because he needs our money. No, he's looking for our love. What does he see there? Each one of us must answer that personally. I can't answer it for you and you can't answer it for me. The gift I put in today, last week, next week — what does it say about my love for my God who has graciously given me all that I have on earth, and eternal life as well?
As you examine the evidence of your love, dear saints of God, I beg you to think deeply not only about what God has given you, but also about what he promises to give you. To his people then he said, "Test me and see! I'll pour out so much blessing that you won't have anything big enough to measure it with!" He has made equally impressive promises to us. To encourage us to trust our Father for our material needs, Jesus said, "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." All that you need!
To spur us on to generosity, our Savior promises, "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." St. Paul echoed that: "Whoever sows generously will also reap generously." And "God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." And even this: "You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion."
Dear Christian, the LORD does not need your money, but he does want your love, and the two go hand in hand. One is the expression of the other. That's why the Great Giver looks for love in the offering plate. And that's why he promises to bless our giving with even more giving on his part. "Test me in this and see!" he invites us. "Bring whole offerings," that means whole-hearted offerings, offerings that are a true measure of a grateful, loving and trusting heart. "Do this," the Great Giver promises, "and I will pour out so much blessing that you won't have anything big enough to measure it with!" Amen.