Printer Friendly VersionWe come to a very important point in our journey today with
core values. The subject of stewardship is at the very heart of Christianity.
“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew
6:21). The appropriate question for today’s message is: To whom do you
belong?
Let’s quickly review the historical context of Malachi’s
prophecy. The people of God had lost their passion. They were bored with religion.
They were taking shortcuts in worship, offering “sick” cows as
sacrifices, and as today’s text reveals, they were withholding their
tithes and offerings. The problem was not new: “Ever since the time
of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept
them” (3:7).
As was his style, Malachi used the negative reality of a people
who were cheating God in order to emphasize the need for Christian stewardship:
“Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. . . . in tithes and offerings.
You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are
robbing me” (3:8-9). This is strong language that opens the door to
share today’s message on the subject of whole life stewardship.
Everything belongs to God. Whole life stewardship is the understanding that all of our time, and all of our talents, and all of our treasures come from Him. What we do with our time, talents, and treasures will determine the kind of steward we are. We have some choices to make.
One of the most quoted stewardship passages in the Bible uses
the phraseology of the “test.” “‘Bring the whole tithe
into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’
says the Lord Almighty’” (3:10). Do we trust God enough to the
point that our life demonstrates we belong to Him? We will be graded accordingly
on our stewardship.
I am fascinated again this week with Malachi 3:6, which says,
“I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.”
The wording is powerful. “You are sons of Jacob [the trickster, cheater,
and deceiver], but I AM, THAT I AM. I’m still God!” The test of
life for each one of us is simply, do we believe it? If we believe God is
God, we entrust (or give back) everything (time, talents, treasures) to Him,
and we expect that He will take care of us. “‘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’” (3:10).
I’m glad God is patient with us. I’m thankful for the grace and mercy of God. Like the people of Malachi’s day we are slow in learning this lesson. “‘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” (3:7). Martin Luther once said, “If I were God, I’d blow the world to bits!” Because God is God, He doesn’t do that. Grace gives us the opportunity today to take the stewardship test.
When the people of God inquired as to how they could pass the
test of stewardship, the response indicated a tangible act of worship. “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.
. . . Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse’” (3:7-10). Everything
in life is a tool that determines and indicates to whom we belong.
Since the text actually uses words like “tithes and offerings,”
let’s talk about them. While people tend to grow weary of messages dealing
with money, there is a principle here that will affect our ultimate grade
on the test of stewardship. A literal understanding of Scripture teaches us
that the tithe is required by God, and the offering is freely given. When
we rebel by refusing to pay tithes to God, and give offerings to Him, it is
a sure sign of self-centeredness. The people of Malachi’s prophecy had
good excuses in justifying their pathetic worship. Times were bad economically.
Taxes were high, wages were low. And yet the message is clear: it doesn’t
matter what the circumstances are. Do what is right!
In my 20 years of pastoral experience I’ve found the only people who get upset with a sermon on tithing are people who do not tithe. Paying tithes and giving offerings are spiritual decisions that gladly exclaim, “Money is a tool I use to show God and people to whom I belong, and what I value.” Whole life stewardship goes way beyond money. Everything in life is a tool: our time, talents, treasure, and our stuff! Is it our house, or God’s? Is it our car, or God’s? When our day is ruined because someone gets mud on our carpet, or scratches our car, the question of ownership really needs to be answered. Everything in life is a tool we choose to use, and in doing so we are taking the test of stewardship.
The technical definition of trademark is a device pointing directly
to the origin or ownership of merchandise to which it is applied and legally
reserved to the exclusive use of the owner. Wow! Simply put, “To whom
do you belong?” Can people look at your life and see distinct characteristics
that point directly to God? I’m not my own! Everything I am, or ever
hope to be is all about Him. Everything I have is just an indicator of the
One to whom I belong.
You might say it’s like wearing a uniform that sports
the name of your favorite team. However, Christian stewardship goes far deeper
than that. There are many fans in the stands with the jerseys on who are not
on the team. Our churches are full of people wearing God memorabilia, and
yet the sad reality is “the harvest is plentiful but the workers (stewards)
are few” (Matthew 9:37).
Every choice we make in life has stewardship implications. We
are looking for God’s stamp of approval (trademark) on how we utilize
our time, talents, and treasures.
The question that needs to be answered today is, “To whom
do you belong?” That is the core value called stewardship. Everything
in life is a test of our stewardship. Everything in life is a tool that determines
how well we do on the test. Everything in life is a trademark that reveals
to whom we belong.
Note: Before the service began I gave an individual in the congregation
a $100 bill. At a certain point in the sermon I referenced a family in attendance
whom I was going to take out to a restaurant after church. I said “the
only bad thing about this dinner date is that it will probably cost me $100.”
I then approached the person to whom I had given the money earlier, and simply
asked for $100. Make sure you instruct the individual to pull out the $100
bill and give it to you immediately. The guy gave me the money, I said “thanks,”
put it in my pocket, and continued preaching. After awhile the congregation
couldn’t stand it (they wanted clarification). So I stopped the sermon
and said, “You are wanting to know why it was so easy for Clint to give
me $100. The answer is simple: it wasn’t his to start with. I gave it
to him before the service started.”
The teaching point of the illustration is that when we understand
it’s not ours to begin with, that God really is the owner of it all,
we are well on our way to passing the test of stewardship!
