Stealing From God Malachi 3.6-12 CEB

I probably shouldn’t write too much this week because I want people to come to church Sunday.  If too many read this, or if they actually read the Bible text for this week, they may not want to come to church.  They will probably think the sermon has something to do with money, or the lack thereof.  While it might seem that way, that really isn’t the issue at all.  What is really at issue is learning how to live with God.

The text from Malachi speaks of a call by God to God’s people to return to God.  There is a really nice affirmation that says, “I don’t change, I don’t deviate, and therefore, you haven’t perished.”  This is a very nice reminder of God’s commitment to us.  In the next instant, though, God is telling the people how they have changed, how they seem less than committed, how they have deviated from the laws of God.  The people are then portrayed as asking God, “How shall we return to you?”  God’s answer:  Stop deceiving me!  It continues to go downhill from there.  God goes on to say that the people are robbing God, stealing from God by refusing to tithe.  They are skimming, not bringing a full tithe.  God says that God is all the time opening the heavens and pouring out blessings upon people and the people, in turn, are skimming.  They are skimming off their tithe, trying to deceive God.  God says in verse 9 that they are robbing God.

I find that quite interesting, having been the victim of a robbery.  I was working in a grocery store during my senior year in high school and a man hid out in the store until after closing time.  He emerged from the bath room with a stocking mask, rubber gloves on and a .38 caliber pistol in his hand.  I happened to be standing by the door when he came out of the bath room.  I distinctly remember that .38 resting on the bridge of my nose.  I could see the bullets on either side of the cylinder.  He told me if I moved or talked he would shoot me.  I was led around to all the cash registers as the hostage while the manager emptied out all the cash.  I laid on the floor in front of the safe, face down, gun barrel on the back of my head as the manager emptied the safe.  Being robbed was pretty intimidating.  For some time afterward I felt quite vulnerable.

Could God feel that way? We don’t think of God as vulnerable.  We think of God as powerful.  Yet God doesn’t force us to do anything.  God enters into covenant with us.  It is very much an unequal relationship.  God is clearly the superior party in the covenant. God becomes vulnerable in making covenant with us, though.  Verse 6, remember, says that God doesn’t change.  God is always faithful.  We are the ones who change.  We are the ones who are unreliable.  We are the ones who break the covenant.  We are the ones who deviate from the agreement.  We only get away with it because God chooses to become vulnerable (Philippians 2.1-8).  Imagine, though, sticking up God!  Would you ever put a gun to God’s head and try to take something from God?  We say no.  God says we try to deceive God.  We skim off the top of the tithe.  We think we can get away with it.  We deceive ourselves!

Some people tried to tell me when I was a young minister that the church needs to be run like a business.  I quickly learned that meant two things.  One, you can’t spend more than you receive.  Two, the pastor needs to make sure to raise enough money to pay the bills or there will be hell to pay.  For a long time I bought into that notion.  Then it dawned on me that the church isn’t run like a business at all.

When people are late we don’t reprimand them.  Businesses do that.  When people don’t show up we don’t fire them.  Businesses do that.  When people fail to make it to an important meeting  we don’t note that in their performance review.  But businesses do.  When people don’t give (I won’t say tithe because the average United Methodist only gives about 2% so we aren’t even in that ball park right now) we don’t send late notices.  I cannot remember a single time in the last 24 years ever turning a church member over to collections.  What kind of collection agency would a church use?  What kind of bill collector would God send out?  Would they break my knee caps?  My thumbs?  If you don’t give a tithe it does absolutely nothing to your credit rating.  Of course, God canceled your biggest debt already so that is taken care of.  No, we don’t run the church like a business.  But somehow I still have to make sure there is enough money in the check book to pay the bills every month.

Religion is a private matter.  So are your finances.  I am not going to meddle.  Do I have a responsibility to tell you what the good book says, though?  If I just bring it up is that more like a reminder or a warning or is that meddling?  Anyway, your religion is a private matter, between you and God.  Your finances are a private matter, too.  I wonder, though… If God knows how many hairs are on my head, does God know how much money I have in the bank?  According to Malachi, God does know when we are trying to rob god.

So if God expects a tithe, and God is the giver of all things, that could mean that I am giving back to God what belonged to God in the first place.  It also means that I am getting to keep 90% of what God has given me.  Am I getting greedy if I try to keep more than the 90%.  If God and I are living in covenant, and part of that agreement is the tithe, how do I justify exempting myself from the tithe?  I have all kinds of good reasons for keeping more than 90%.  God must not understand if God is going to call that robbery!

I think many of us want new life.  We want to be blessed.  Shoot, most of us expect to be blessed!  Jesus did say, “Ask and you shall receive.”  Give me more, Jesus! More! More! More! We want the conversion experience.  We want the release of our burdens and we want freedom from guilt, shame and sin.  We want that good feeling we call conversion.  We want to be saved! But we don’t want to be sanctified.  Conversion happens in an instant.  It happens the moment we understand that God loves us, that we are forgiven, loved and free.  That feels good.  Just thinking about it feels good!  Sanctification, though, is the work of a life time.  Sanctification is that process of becoming holy.  It is the process of learning how to live in covenant with God, day by day.  Conversion is so much easier, and it feels so much better.  Sanctification is hard work, though.  Sanctification means living in covenant with God.  It means holding up our end of he bargain.  Learning to live faithfully with God really is the work of a life time.  God is up for it though.  Even if we deceive God and ourselves.  Even if we keep more than the 90%.  God is vulnerable.  Most of us don’t think about God that way but God must be vulnerable.  How else could we keep getting away robbing God?

 

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