FAITH AND FAITHFULNESS IN GIVING TO GOD

FAITH AND FAITHFULNESS IN GIVING TO GOD

Malachi 3:6-18

Dr. Wm. J. Maxwell

First Presbyterian Church, Newport, RI

November 4, 2007

I understand what he was talking about. When Dr. Billy Graham wrote his book on the subject of the Person and Ministry of the Holy Spirit, he started off with an illustration from an old American Indian legend. An Indian came down from the mountains to see the ocean for the very first time. He was so impressed with the ocean that he quickly waded into the water, marveled at it all, and then put some of the water into a jar. When asked what he was going to do with it, he replied: “My people have never seen the Great Water. I will carry this jar to them so they can see what it is like.” Dr. Graham then relates this to his subject: “Attempting to write a book on so vast a subject as the Holy Spirit is like trying to capture the ocean in a quart jar. The subject is so infinite – and our minds are so finite.” [i]

Now, you may feel that this is rather odd of me to say, but I feel the very same way regarding the subject of stewardship. The more I read the Bible, and the longer I am in ordained ministry, and the more experience I have as a disciple of Christ, the more I realize the vastness of this subject, which covers the subject of money, though a good deal more as well. In fact, I could do a whole series of sermons on this subject, if the mere thought of it wouldn’t scare people so much!

So, here we are on “Stewardship Sunday,” looking at a text that gives us much to think about, knowing all the while that there is so much more that could be said and covered.

LET’S LOOK AT OUR TEXT.

Our text contains the prophecy of Malachi during a very difficult period of history for Israel. Israel had been punished at the hands of the cruel Babylonians for being ruthlessly disobedient to the LORD. As a consequence, the people had been sent into exile, but they eventually returned to their homeland in a series of expeditions. Eventually, the Temple in Jerusalem was rebuilt, though on a smaller scale than as before. In addition, there was a time of renewed dedication to the LORD, but it failed to last very long, sadly enough. In the days of Malachi, the people of Israel were once again disobedient to the covenant with their God. They failed to give the proper tithes, they broke the Sabbath, they entered into mixed marriages with foreigners, and they allowed the priesthood to become morally and spiritually corrupt.

Malachi, which means, “my messenger,” had a message from the LORD to His people. Because the LORD does not vary in His commitments and His purposes regarding His people, He declared: “I the LORD, do not change.” Although many people complained that the LORD was no longer trustworthy, the LORD assured them that He was always faithful to His covenant, even though they had not been in several ways, including the withholding of tithes and offerings. In essence this was an attempt to “rob” God from that which was clearly His due.

Tithes were one tenth of “grain from the soil and fruit from the trees” [ii] that were to be given to the Levites, whose responsibility it was to maintain the Temple and Temple worship. Any accumulation of these tithes was held in storage rooms or “storehouses” in the Temple. The Levites also then gave one tenth of these tithes to the Priests.

Offerings were portions of the animal sacrifices that were to be given specifically and voluntarily to the priests. Now, because of this disobedience in the withholding of tithes and offerings, the people found themselves in hard times as a consequence of breaking their end of the covenant.

Through Malachi, God called them to return to Him in faithfulness by giving again the full tithes and offerings. In fact, He even challenged them to do so with a promise. “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 enough room for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the LORD Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty.

To be sure, here was a call to obedience, but it was so much more than just this. This was a call to faith, for faith in God always precedes faithfulness. One will never act in obedience unless one truly believes that the one to whom obedience is given is fully trustworthy. So what the LORD was saying to His people then and now is this: “Do you trust Me? Do you really have faith in Me that I am Your covenant making, covenant-keeping God? Because if you don’t trust in Me, you will struggle in many ways, including how you give to the work of the Kingdom. You will withhold in giving for the sake of My kingdom if you doubt that I will care for all your needs. But if you believe Me, as well as in Me, you will give, and so will I!”

A FAITH LESSON FOR US.

If we were all to tell the absolute truth in this matter, most of us, if not all of us, would have to admit that we struggle at this very point. We want to be faithful and we want people to be blessed through our giving to the church and the kingdom. But inside of us there seems to be that relentless sense of anxiety about it all – “Am I giving too little … too much? And what would happen to my family or to me, if this or that should happen?”

Lest we think that this only happens to us and not to so-called “spiritual giants,” this isn’t true. C.S. Lewis, who has given us a rich legacy of Christian literature, had anxieties regarding money. In the book, Jack’s Life, his stepson and biographer Douglas Gresham wrote:

He had secured a good job (at Magdalen College, Oxford) with long-term prospects … He could buy the necessities and an occasional luxury. He still worried about money though because the habit was so ingrained into him … This unreasoning fear of poverty lasted all his life and prevented him from ever really enjoying his position in life.[iii]

One writer, commenting on this aspect of Lewis’ life, adds this:

Lewis’ fear of poverty is shared by many. Ironically, it’s a costly fear to maintain. For Lewis the cost was never being able to enjoy fully ‘his position in life.’ Although he was generous – Lewis gave away two-thirds of his income from his books - I can’t help but think that the joy of being generous was diluted by his paranoia of awakening one day to find his resources inadequate. [iv]

Again, let me remind you that the subject of stewardship means more than money. Stewardship simply means that we are the managers and God is the owner of all that we have and all that we are. Whatever we have - gifts, skills, abilities, time, resources and money – all of these are but God’s gifts to us to be used as He directs. But it so often seems that the stewardship of money is a common struggle for many Christians. But let me also say that at the same time, it is precisely in that struggle that we learn about ourselves, as to whether or not we truly trust and rely on the One who is trustworthy.

J. Hudson Taylor, the English Missionary to China and founder of China Inland Mission, alluded to this in saying with regard to his own personal experience: “As a rule, prayer is answered and funds come in, but if we are kept waiting, the spiritual blessing that is the outcome is far more precious than exemption from the trial.” [v] If you hear what Taylor was saying, it is in the struggle that we learn that God is faithful. It is in the actual struggle outwardly and inwardly that our faith is refined and re-firmed in the God who has promised to meet all of our needs. I know the truth of this from my own personal experience, as perhaps you do as well.

Cole Huffman, an associate pastor in Memphis, TN, has related the story of his personal struggle and of God’s faithfulness to him in covenant-love. On one specific occasion, personal financial stress and duress brought him literally to the floor, face down, in tears. He had two mortgage bills that were due at the end of the week, one for the house they were living in and the other for the house they owned 200 miles away. He and his wife had been renting that house to tenants, but they’d skipped town with several months’ rent due.

Huffman simply did not have the money. He had been faithful in his giving, but now he needed help from the supreme Giver. So, without telling anyone, in the midst of that struggle, “faith” cried out for help. The very next day, Huffman received a letter in the mail from a family in the church he is serving. With a check for $1500, there was a note that said: “The Lord brought you to mind. Our house is paid for and we want you to have this.”

This pastor reports: “I cried tears of relief and joy. God did a beautiful thing for us through them. Seeing God’s provision in that moment of need was a keen reminder that I could set aside fear because I lived in a kingdom with a trustworthy Sovereign.” [vi]

Dear friends, you may face an inner struggle in the next few weeks of this stewardship season. You may find yourself asking, “How much do I give? Will it be too little … too much? What will happen if …” If this is a source of struggle for you, remember that faith always precedes faithfulness, and this principle includes the act of giving for the sake of the Kingdom.

So, following upon the words of a pastor who’s “been there”: May you “set aside fear because (you live) in a kingdom with a trustworthy Sovereign!”