Betting on God

 Betting on God Malachi 3.6-11 

The fourth chapter of Luke relates how Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness. The final temptation was this: 

9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: 

“‘He will command his angels concerning you 

    to guard you carefully; 

11 they will lift you up in their hands, 

    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” 

12 Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 

The commandment not to put God to the test is in Deuteronomy 6.16. There, Moses tells the people they may not test God. And yet another prophet, Malachi, quotes God directly as telling us to put him to the test. It is Malachi 3.6-11: 

6 “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your ancestors 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?’  

8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.” 

“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’” 

“In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 10 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 there will not be room enough to store it.”  

Malachi was written in the fourth century BC. In that day, there was no paper money and not much coinage. From their earliest days, the Jews tithed, or gave ten percent, of their income to support the priests and Temple. They tithed mainly agricultural products as spelled out in Jewish law. Malachi said that failing to tithe was an offense against God himself, actually robbing God, which placed the entire nation under a curse. It’s pretty grim stuff.  

And then God, speaking through the prophet, tells the people, “Test me in this and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” 

The word Malachi used for “test” here is different from the one used for test in Deuteronomy, which says simply, “Do not put the Lord to the test.” There it means to goad or to force an issue. Malachi, though, uses a word that means “to examine, scrutinize, or prove.”  

In Deuteronomy, God forbids us to put him on the spot or force an issue. In Malachi God commands us to let him prove his promise. Here’s the difference: 

If someone said to me at about 10.50 on a Sunday morning, “You’re going to make sure we are dismissed today absolutely no later than noon sharp, right, pastor?” I might reply, “Don’t put me on the spot.” That’s Deuteronomy. 

But if I say, “I will give a five-dollar bill to the first person who stands and reads aloud John chapter one, verse one, and you can make me prove it,” well, that’s Malachi.  

Wait for someone to read John 1.1.  

I appreciate that NAME trusted me, but I assure you that I am infinitely less trustworthy than God. So we should trust God infinitely more than we trust mere mortals.  

The blessings God promises in Malachi for tithing are pretty general. First is that we cannot imagine the wonderful gifts of grace that will result. The second promise is more focused: God tells the agricultural people of Malachi’s time that he will make their work more fruitful. Their prosperity will increase. 

Now, 2,500 years after Malachi, should we understand that if we tithe that our employers will give us raises or our personal pension plans will always beat the markets? Of course not. Dave Ramsey said that he tithed all the way into bankruptcy.  Malachi is focused on the good of all the people, not individuals.  

The “you” Malachi uses is the plural form; if he’d been from southern Judah he’d have said “ya’ll.” In that sense, we should each ask ourselves this question: “If I tithe, will God bless me alone without regard to the people of my community of faith?”  

In the movie The Untouchables, Robert DeNiro plays Al Capone. I don’t recommend Al Capone for spiritual guidance, but there is a movie scene that’s relevant. At one point he talks about baseball: 

A man stands alone at the plate. This is a time for what? For individual achievement. There he stands alone. But in the field, what? Part of a team. Looks, throws, catches, hustles – part of one big team. Bats himself the live-long day, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and so on. But if the team don’t field, what is he? Follow me? No one! Sunny day, the stands are full of fans. What does he have to say? “I’m going out there for myself. But I get nowhere unless the team wins.” 

Now consider: can I imagine that God is blessing me for tithing in ways that have nothing to do with you? Why would I even want God to single me out for the showers of Heaven and leave you out of it? None of us get anywhere as a people of God unless the team wins. 

There is an old illustration that every year Lowe’s sells a million quarter-inch drill bits. And yet not one buyer of a quarter-inch drill bit actually wants a quarter-inch drill bit. What they want is a quarter-inch hole.  

I do not tithe just to show God that I obey him. I don’t tithe simply because it is my duty as a follower of Christ. They are true statements, but they are also just drill bits. In the years Cathy and I have tithed we have come to understand that tithing is not the objective of tithing. The objective is that quarter-inch hole; it is what tithing does. All of our discipleship is embedded within our membership in the family of God, adopted sons and daughters of God and brothers and sisters, therefore, with one another. Therefore, our tithes and offerings always affect one another, too.  

So, to me, the number one reason to tithe is not to be blessed by God, happy and sure as that is. The number one reason is to be a blessing to others. I know that through my giving, combined with yours, God is praised, children are blessed, the ill are ministered, the grieving are comforted, and Christ is present more powerfully in our community. I cannot ask God for any greater blessing than his assurance that I take part in his work in the world. Money is a tool for that, but it is the Lord who does the work. How blessed I am that I can provide some of the tools for the Lord’s use! 

So here is a short list of things to ponder about tithing, based on what former Director of Missions in the SBC, Joe McKeever, wrote: 

1. Tithing does not make sense in our human perspective. Jesus said, “I do not give to you as the world gives,” and neither does our Lord expect from us as the world expects.
   
   
2. Tithing is faith initiative. It is a matter of trust from start to finish, trust first in God and trust also in the stewards of our church. Trust means confidence in God and one another even when “results” are not readily apparent.  
   
   
3. Faithful tithing is not a matter of being able to afford it. If one waits until he or she can afford it, it will never start. What “I can’t afford tithing right now” really means is, “I don’t want to have to do this from faith.” In the mid-1980s when Cathy and I decided to go from giving five bucks a week to a full ten percent of our income, I made out a three-year plan to rearrange our spending to make room for it. It actually took us six months. Funny thing when you join God's team: he puts you on the field pretty quick.  
   
   
4. Besides, the world and/or the devil, take your pick, will work steadily to make sure that we cannot afford tithing. There is always another loan to take, another bill to pay, another item to buy, another vacation to save for. To wait to tithe when we can afford it means we will put ourselves first, financially, and give God what’s left over. That’s backwards! There will always be reasons not to tithe.  
   
   
5. But there always abides one pre-eminent reason to tithe: it is one of the best means by which we can individually participate in bringing the love of God and salvation of Christ to people we have not met, done through the extended ministries of the church, as well as contribute to the edification of our own community of faith. For this reason, over time tithing becomes a way of thankful living and not a burdensome duty. It becomes a gift of joy rather than a begrudging deed of duty. 

God demands we test him on this. He is willing for us to make him prove what he says. Is there any reason to doubt God? Let everyone answer for themselves!