Malachi 3:6-12 Responsibility – Authentic Christianity Part 6

ACTIVITY – Hand out a few 50 EURO bills out into the audience. Then tell the audience that there will be an offering taken. Tell the people who received the 50 EURO bills to put the bills into the plate.

After taking the offering, then begin with this:

When I gave the 50 Euros out, everyone watched to see if the person placed those bills in the offering plate. God watches if you give or not. I want to talk to you today about responsibility. The reason I have entitled this sermon “Responsibility” is that that is what was being neglected in Malachi’s time. The people asked God how they could return to Him. He replied with a phrase that shocks some people:

“Will a man rob God? Then why have you robbed Me?”

The people had stolen from God. But how did they do this? They neglected the tithe and the offering. What is the tithe? Tithe means the “tenth”. In today’s terms we would say ten percent. What is God saying? He is saying that the people forgot to pay Him His ten percent. Remember the illustration at the beginning? I gave some people some money and I told them to give it all to the church. It was not that person’s money to begin with. It was mine. I still owned it. As a result, I told them what to do with it. It is the same way with God. He owns what you have. He owns what you earn. You don’t own it. You are given it as a trust. God gives you the responsibility to manage everything – not just the money. But in whatever you earn, whatever income you make, God expects ten percent. This ten percent is to support the work of the church. God want you to support His church through the tithe. Your ten percent pays for the services of the church.

God wants His take. He wants His bribe. He wants His “Life-Consulting Fee”.

Let me share with you where that money goes.

Today we have a special guest. She is the Chancellor of the Exchequer here at IBC Bremen. No, I am not talking about Gordon Brown. But she has the same name as the German Chancellor – Angela. Angela Trumper is our Treasurer, or Minister of Finance at IBC Bremen. I want her to come forward and tell you where the ten percent that God asks you to give to this church goes.

INTERVIEW WITH ANGELA

Let me get the questions out of the way. Do I give from my Gross or Net Income? How much do you want to be blessed by God? If you want to be blessed then give from your Gross Income. Why? Because even the hidden income that you don’t see comes from God. The benefits of health insurance: did that come from the German government? No. It came from God. The benefits of money from investments: Did that come from the work of your broker? No. It came from God. Your apartment that you received from your parents. That came from God. So you see, you have been blessed more than you know.

So we give our tithe – our ten percent, and then we give our offering. Offerings are your extra giving that you give to God to support His work that does not come out of the regular work of the church budget. This money could help someone in need. It can support a missionary. This offering can support anything else that God asks you to support. It is a gift that you give, on top of the ten percent.

You may be thinking: The tithe is too much for me to give. Ten percent is much less than the taxes you are paying. You don’t steal from the government, do you? Of course not. Remember what God said about the offerings in Malachi 2. He said that you think highly of the governor. You respect the government enough that you pay it for your standard of living. If you are willing to pay the taxes, then you should be willing to pay the tithe – which is actually less. Giving to God gets you a better deal. Your tithe is 10 percent. Your sales taxes are almost 20 percent. But you are going to get more from God than you will out of your taxes. Look at what God says:

Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.
(Malachi 3:10 NKJV)

So when you do give God His take, His tenth, He gives you more return than you can do for yourself.

But in the end, it is about an attitude. The tithe and offering are voluntary. I give it without an obligation. It is not a tax. It is not a bill. It reflects an attitude. Many people choose not to pay the tithe. They list up the bills and look at the ones that they can get away with not paying. God’s ten percent is the first one they refuse to pay. What are you saying to God when you do that?

“I don’t care about you, God.” God is sad when you do that. You see, it is the same attitude as the people in Malachi’s time. It’s no surprise that people would stop caring about God, and giving to Him.

You stop loving Him. You stop worshiping God. You stop relating to others. You stop growing in faith. So what are you going to stop doing next? You stop giving.

It reflects an attitude. You stop being a giving person. But Paul said that God loves a cheerful giver.

So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
(2 Corinthians 9:7 NKJV)

he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
(Romans 12:8 NKJV)

Jesus said to give to the government, but give also to God. He said it for a good reason.

Then the people of all nations will call you happy, because your land will be a good place to live.
(Malachi 3:12 GNB)

You see, God gives you a good place to live. He gives you the happiness that fulfills your life. He is just asking that you be responsible. The people in Malachi’s time asked:

“In what way shall we return?” in Malachi 3:7.

We return by changing our attitude about giving. The consequence of a taking (or robbing) attitude is destruction.

Look at Malachi 3:11. God does a surprise. God turns the destruction around. If we continue to rob God, then our work (for which we think we profit), gets destroyed, gets devoured, and fails. This comes from an attitude of taking. But when you change your attitude with money to giving (3:10), then the consequence (reward even) is that you receive (3:11-12). You receive a surprise.

The Tither’s Surprise

The Christian who begins to tithe will have at least six surprises. He will be surprised-

1. At the amount of money he has for the Lord’s work.

2. At the ease in meeting his own obligations with the 90 percent.

3. At the deepening of his spiritual life in paying the tithe.

4. At the ease in going from one tenth to a larger giving.

5. At the prudent way a faithful and wise responsible person learns to live on the 90 percent that remain.

6. At himself in not adopting the plan sooner.

That is how you can return to Him. Change your attitude and become more responsible with what God gives you. Remember God with everything that He gives you. Give to Him and He will give back to you.