Follow the Money

So today, as we are following the lectionary readings, we come to these passages, and we

see that we're going to be dealing with the topic of money, and specifically tithing and

generosity.

And I love when we come to these places in the lectionary, because as I'm looking at

it, I'm thinking in particular, we're going to be focusing on Malachi chapter 3.

Malachi 3 · chapter mention

And these are passages that if they didn't come up in the lectionary, we could probably

go years and years and years without ever preaching on them.

And the reason is that most people don't really like to talk about the topic of money.

And a lot of preachers, surprisingly, don't particularly look forward to the prospect

of preaching about money, because we know that it's uncomfortable for all of us.

And, you know, people say, well, you know, I'm uncomfortable just because it's getting

too personal.

You know, it's just getting too personal.

Money is a very personal thing.

Funny is I've thought about that.

You know, a few years ago, I preached a sermon series on the Song of Songs.

It was all about sexuality and intimacy.

The place was packed.

Packed.

Attendance just spiked.

And I don't know if you've ever read Song of Songs.

But it doesn't get much more personal than the Song of Songs.

I mean, especially if you understand the anatomical references that are being made.

It's a highly, highly personal text.

And so, I actually don't think that that is the reason that we are uncomfortable talking

about the topic of money.

I think the topic is disturbing to us because it's not really about the money.

When we talk about money, we're not really talking about money.

And generosity is not really a money issue.

It's a heart issue.

If you want to know the state of your heart, the best way to do that is to look at your

spending habits.

In other words, follow the money.

Follow the money, and they will lead you to what's really going on.

It will lead you to the truth about yourself.

And this is probably why, if we look at the Gospels, Jesus talked about the topic of money

more than almost any other topic in Scripture.

So, this morning, we're going to be looking at this primarily in Malachi chapter 3.

Malachi 3 · chapter mention

And we're going to see what's going on with these people, and we're going to ask what the

parallels are for us, and we're going to see three questions that we are going to try to answer.

First of all, what's the problem?

Second of all, how do we know?

And third, what can we do about it?

So, what's the problem?

How do we know?

And then what can we do about it?

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank You for Your Word, and we thank You that it always goes out and accomplishes

what You desire for it to accomplish, Lord.

And we pray that You would open us to the power of Your Word this morning, that we would

be receptive to what You have to say for all of us.

And we pray that this would lead to our ability to glorify You and to glorify Your name, not only

among ourselves, but in this city.

Lord, that we would lift Your name above every other name.

We pray this in Your Son's holy name.

Amen.

So, first of all, what's the problem that we see happening in Malachi?

It says in verse 7, from the days of Your fathers, You have turned aside from My statutes and

have not kept them.

Return to Me, and I will return to You, says the Lord of hosts.

But You say, how shall we return?

So, what's going on here is this.

God loves His people, but God is lamenting the fact that they are living in rebellion

against Him.

So, He's calling them to return.

He's saying, return to Me.

I love you.

You're wayward.

You've departed from My ways.

Return to Me, and I will return to You.

I'm waiting for You to come back to Me.

And in the context of this passage, the people's response essentially means this.

They say to God, what do you mean?

What do you mean we need to return?

We haven't done anything wrong.

That's essentially what they're saying in response.

And, you know, right there, that's something to meditate on.

We can be going along in our lives.

We can be living, assuming that everything is good, assuming that we are, our relationship

with God is healthy, and yet we can be actively rebelling against God.

Even if we don't know it.

We can be running from God if we're not, even if we're not aware of it.

And so, God goes on in verse 8 and says, will man rob God?

Yet you are robbing Me.

And the Hebrew word for rob, the translation here isn't strong enough.

The Hebrew word actually means to pillage, to plunder, right?

To take by force.

You know, imagine kicking in the door of somebody's house and beating them up and then taking all

of their valuables.

That's the word in context.

Will man rob God?

Yet you are doing that to Me.

You're pillaging Me.

You're plundering Me.

And the people say, how in the world are we plundering you, God?

And then God says, through your lack of generosity.

Through your lack of generosity.

So, the question is, how does a lack of generosity rob God?

How does a lack of generosity plunder God?

Now, here's where the gospel reading comes in.

If we look at Matthew's gospel, what we just read, it's a situation where the religious leaders,

they're divided over whether or not to pay taxes to Caesar.

And they ask Jesus essentially a no-win question.

Regardless of what he says, somebody's going to be angry at him.

And so, they ask Jesus, should we pay taxes to Caesar or not?

And so, Jesus gives this amazing answer.

He says, bring me a coin.

And by the way, Jesus was so poor that he didn't have a coin in his pocket, right?

Bring me a coin.

They hand him a coin.

He says, whose image is stamped on this coin?

And they kind of reluctantly, Caesar's, you know, they're seeing where this is going.

And then Jesus says this, well, therefore, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's

and to God the things that are God's.

So, what's he saying there?

This is an amazing answer.

He says, well, you live in Caesar's empire,

and you benefit from imperial roads and education and justice and freedom from invasion.

The coins even have Caesar's image stamped on them.

It's only right that you would render to Caesar what is Caesar's.

But then what does he say?

He takes a step back.

He broadens it.

He says, render to God the things that are God's.

So, what's he saying there?

He says, listen, you live in God's world.

You live in a body that God gave you.

You benefit from talents and gifts and resources that God has given you.

Every breath you take is a gift from God.

Every beat of your heart, every time it beats,

it's a gift from God keeping you alive for another second.

So, he's saying that coin has Caesar's image stamped on it,

but you have God's image stamped on you.

Render to God the things that are God's.

It's an amazing answer.

And it really begins to shift our perspective

on the way we think about the world

and the way we think about even our own bodies.

Probably you're familiar with Nick Saban,

the legendary Alabama football coach.

I saw this clip of him giving a speech.

And yes, mark it.

I'm giving a sports analogy.

I think I'm due.

It's been about five years.

I love all the sports,

but Nick Saban gives this speech

that people have sort of dubbed the nothing speech.

Or he says this.

He says,

when you wake up every day,

you're entitled to nothing.

Nobody owes you.

Right?

And it's a very inspiring speech.

It goes on to talk about the importance of hard work

and discipline.

And you have to take that talent

and you have to turn it into something.

And, you know,

entitlement leads to disaster.

And he's aiming at people who are entitled.

And, you know,

it's a very inspiring speech.

But with all due respect to Coach Saban,

Jesus takes it much, much further.

So the truth that we see here is this.

Not only does the world owe us nothing,

but what Jesus is saying

is that we owe God everything.

That we owe God everything.

That's the meaning of the phrase,

the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.

The recognition that everything that we have is a gift.

That everything belongs to Him.

And that we owe Him everything.

Right?

So when God gives some of His things to us,

He does it in the way that an investor

would give money to a money manager.

The money still belongs to the investor.

But He gives it to the manager.

He entrusts it to the manager to use well.

And what does it mean for a manager

to use that money well?

Well, the job of a money manager

is to use that money in ways

that reflect the values and priorities of the owner.

Now, the money manager is expected

to be able to make a living off of this.

But their primary aim

is to use that money in ways

that reflect the values and the priorities

of the owner.

And when we look at God's values and priorities,

we see that God wants us to use His resources

to bring glory and honor to Him.

He wants to see people everywhere

come to know and worship Him.

He wants to see a beautiful community

made up of people from every tribe

and tongue and nation

emerging as this great family

that spans the globe.

God wants to see the world filled with justice

and filled with peace.

God wants to see human beings flourishing together,

loving and serving one another.

This is God's vision for the world.

And what this tells us

is that we are God's money managers

meant to pursue God's priorities

with God's resources.

We are God's money managers

meant to pursue God's priorities

with God's resources.

And so coming back to Malachi,

that's the context here.

When we don't do that,

when we start living and acting

like His resources belong to us,

we're committing cosmic fraud.

All right, we're robbing God.

So that's the problem in view here.

And so then we have to ask,

how do we know whether or not

this is a problem for me?

See, these people in Malachi,

they had no idea this was an issue for them

until God revealed it to them.

And probably, honestly,

most of us in this room are thinking,

you know, I'm not really sure

that this is an issue

that I need to be worried about,

but I do know somebody

who is wealthier than I am,

and they probably need to hear this.

You know, one of the things

that I hear sometimes after sermons

is people say,

I really appreciate the sermon.

I know exactly who I'm going to send it to.

You know, and of course,

I appreciate that,

but I would also say,

well, you know,

what if God was sending it to you?

You know?

So how do we know

if this is an issue for us?

And this is really where

the topic of tithing comes in.

In verse 8,

the people say,

how have we robbed you?

How do we know?

And God says,

in your tithes and contributions.

Now, what's the meaning

of this concept here?

In the Old Testament,

God called everyone

to give 10%

of what they brought in

for charity

and ministry purposes, right?

That's what the word tithe means.

It means 10%.

In the New Testament,

there's really only one reference

to tithing in the New Testament.

Interestingly,

when Paul talks about generosity,

which he does quite a bit,

he never uses the word tithe.

Never uses that word.

The only reference

in the New Testament

comes from Luke's Gospel,

chapter 11.

The Pharisees,

as we know,

were very scrupulous.

They were very legalistic.

They were very focused

on every jot and tittle,

doing everything exactly

as it was prescribed

in not only Scripture,

but in all of the additional rules

that they had created.

And so they were very focused

on giving exactly 10% of everything.

And down to their,

you know,

they would have their herbs

growing in their garden

and they would clip off,

you know,

exactly 10%

and bring that

and give it

as part of their tithe.

And Jesus challenges them

because of this,

because they would give

that 10%

that they were supposed to give,

and then maybe a need

would arise in the community.

There would be some sort

of a crisis

or a need,

and the Pharisees

would respond by saying,

oh, I'm sorry,

I can't help.

See, I already gave my 10%,

so I'm sorry.

I would,

but I already did

what God asked me to do,

so, you know,

go knock on somebody else's door,

you know.

And so Jesus says,

woe to you.

Woe to you

for neglecting justice.

Woe to you

for neglecting the love of God.

That's the whole point.

And so Jesus says,

you should have been doing both.

You know,

give your tithe,

that's great,

but you're giving your tithe

without giving your heart.

You know,

you should be giving

your money away

even as you give your heart

away to God,

even as you give your heart

away to those in need.

That's the whole reason

this happens.

And what we need

to understand is,

you know,

we begin to see this emerge.

A generous spirit

isn't gonna focus

on a percentage.

You know,

a generous spirit

isn't gonna focus

on where that line is,

right?

A generous spirit,

somebody who's given

their heart away to God,

somebody who's given

their heart away

to the things

that God cares about,

they're gonna give

freely and joyfully

just as an overflow

of love for God.

That's where that giving

is gonna come from.

And one of the best examples

of generosity in the Bible

comes from the Macedonian Christians

in 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9.

2 Corinthians 8 · chapter mention

The apostle Paul

is collecting money.

There's a famine in Judea

and he's collecting

famine relief funds.

And even though

the Macedonian Christians

are facing their own crisis,

right,

they're in the midst

of their own crisis,

Paul says in verse 4,

they were begging us earnestly

for the favor

of taking part

in the relief

of the saints.

So the amazing thing

about the Macedonians is,

Paul didn't ask them

for money.

You know,

he didn't say,

I know you guys

are having a hard time,

could you just give a little bit,

just spare something?

No,

they're the ones

who approach Paul.

They come to Paul

and they beg him,

can we please give to this?

Can we please help relieve

the needs

because of the famine?

And so Paul's blown away

by this.

And what we see

is a generous spirit

doesn't ask,

how much do I have to give?

A generous spirit says,

how much do I get to give?

You know,

it's always eagerly looking

for opportunities to give.

So, you know,

for people like this,

giving is a source of joy.

When their income goes,

see, you know,

a lot of times

you get older,

you advance in your career

and your income

kind of, you know,

goes up over time

and what typically happens is

your lifestyle

just kind of immediately

comes up, right?

So you're giving,

your income goes up

and then your lifestyle

just fills in.

And then your giving goes up

and your lifestyle,

or I'm sorry,

your income goes up

and your lifestyle

just kind of keeps pace

with your income.

But these people,

the people that Paul's

talking about,

you know,

any extra income they have,

they're not thinking

about lifestyle changes,

they're thinking about

this category over here,

giving.

They're like,

well, this means

I can give more

and I can give more

and I can give more.

That's what a joyful giver

looks like.

And so the point is

if we start focusing

too much on an exact percentage

or if we start sort of,

you know,

biblically looking,

well,

is this pre-tax

or post-tax dollars?

Right?

We're missing the point.

So 10% is,

you know,

Jesus doesn't abolish it,

but he transforms

the way we think about it.

We start thinking,

you know,

10% is kind of

more of a baseline.

It's like a starting place.

You know,

the idea would be

we start here

and then we kind of

build on it.

You know,

and this brings us

back to the point

of how do we know

whether or not

generosity is a problem

for me?

And I would say

if we don't think

about generosity

the way that we've

been describing here,

right,

the way that we might see

in the example

of the Macedonians,

if giving is really

hard for us,

then it's worth

a closer look

at our hearts.

Right?

And this is where

tithing comes in

because for most people,

I mean,

pretty much everybody

I know,

including us,

giving away 10%

of your income

is something

that you feel.

You can't give away

10% of what you're

bringing in

and not know it,

right?

And not,

and not,

and not probably

have to make some

cuts and sacrifices

in other areas

of your life.

And so that's why

10% is a good

starting place

because if giving

at that level

feels unthinkable,

it's worth

a closer look.

Not just at the budget,

but at our heart.

So the question

then becomes,

for those of us

who do struggle

with generosity,

if we're sort of

sitting here thinking

and, you know,

sort of reflecting

and thinking,

well, maybe this is

kind of an issue

for me.

What can we do

about it?

You know,

research estimates

that if all Christians

in the U.S.

started tithing,

that that would mean

at a minimum

roughly $165 billion

extra dollars

going to various

churches and ministries,

right?

So on the one hand,

I would say

when we think about

tithing,

that doesn't necessarily

mean,

I'm not saying,

like,

start writing your checks

to Church of the Advent,

right?

In the Old Testament,

it was the temple,

but in the New Testament,

in the New Covenant world,

there's no equivalent

for the temple,

right?

So you're looking

at local churches

and ministries

and nonprofits,

missionaries,

whatever things

that we support.

What I would say

is this,

if everybody

actually started

tithing,

right,

churches,

ministries,

nonprofits

would be inundated

with resources,

right?

Everybody,

everybody would,

everybody would feel it.

So how can we be

more generous

as a people?

And I would say

a couple of things

coming out of this passage.

Number one,

follow the money,

right?

In the original context

of the film

that that comes from,

the idea is

that if you follow

the money,

that will lead you

to the corruption.

Where's the corruption?

And it's the same idea here.

Verse 10,

God calls His people

to bring the full tithe

into the temple treasury.

And in other words,

He's saying,

devote your full tithe

to the worship

and ministry of God.

Now,

is this because

God needs money?

Class?

No,

absolutely not,

right?

God doesn't need money,

just so we're clear on that.

So why would God say this?

It's because God knows

that our spending habits

reveal what we really love

and worship.

So as Jesus once said

in the Gospels,

where your treasure is,

there your heart

will be also.

Or in this context,

where your treasury is,

there your heart

will be also.

If it's hard for you

to consider giving

10% away to ministry

and to charity,

ask yourself,

well,

if it's hard for me

to give money here,

where is it easy

for me to give money?

Where are the areas

in my life

where I never have

to tell myself,

you should spend

more on this?

So start asking yourself,

where does your money go?

Right?

So if we find

that we're spending,

easily spending

too much money

on food and entertainment,

we don't even think about it.

We never,

you never have to set a goal

to say,

I need to go

to more nice restaurants.

I need to go

on more trips,

right?

We never have to set

a goal for that,

right?

If you do,

we'll get to you

in a second.

But a lot of us,

we don't,

right?

If that's an area

where you tend to spend

more than you should

and every few months

you're looking

and you're thinking

or maybe you're talking

to your spouse

and you're saying,

we really need

to bring this down.

We're spending

way too much

on groceries

and eating out

and all that.

We need to bring

this down,

right?

Maybe that's where

your money goes.

Or maybe some of us,

we spend money easily

on how we look.

We buy clothes,

we buy accessories,

hair,

makeup products,

other enhancements,

right?

I'll just leave that

a big broad category.

Whatever that may be,

right?

Or maybe we're

the kind of people

who we scoff at people

who spend their money

on going out.

We're like,

I never eat out,

right?

I always eat at home

and we,

you know,

we go to Aldi

once a month

and it's a rigorous budget

and everything

is accounted for

and everybody's allowed

one egg a week

and we do it,

you know,

we keep it,

you know,

and you're very good

about that

and you're really focused

on making good investments

and you're really focused

on building your retirement,

right?

So there's different

kinds of people

but here's the thing,

there's nothing wrong

with going out

to eat at restaurants.

I love going out

to eat.

There's nothing wrong

with buying good food.

There's nothing wrong

with spending money

on your appearance

to make sure you look good

and look professional.

There's nothing wrong

with building a retirement account.

There's nothing wrong

with any of these things

specifically,

right?

What's the point?

The point is what Jesus said,

right?

Where your treasury is,

there your heart

will be also.

So the thing

that we need to ask is

if it's really hard

for me to think

about giving generously

for God's purposes

and it's really easy

for me to spend

way too much over here,

then where's my heart?

What's really going on inside?

What am I really worshiping?

Right?

This tells us

where our real treasury is,

where our heart

really dwells.

We may say

that we love

and worship God,

but our spending habits

would say otherwise.

So, you know,

in truth,

maybe we love

and worship pleasure

and escapism.

Or maybe we love

and worship

feeling attractive.

Or maybe we love

and worship

financial security

or the status

that that brings us.

The truth is

we are all

extravagantly generous

with our money

when it comes

to the things

that we worship.

You never have

to be convinced

to give generously

to your God.

We all are

overwhelmingly generous

in service

of our God.

So financial change

begins with

spiritual change.

We have to change

what we worship

if we want to change

how we spend

our money.

And that's what leads us

to the second thing.

So we say

follow the money,

number one,

and then number two,

focus on God's generosity.

That's how we're

going to change.

God says,

bring your full tithe

and thereby

put me to the test.

See if I will not

open the windows

of heaven for you

and pour down for you

a blessing

until there's no more need.

Now,

this is a verse

that prosperity

gospel preachers

have twisted

and abused.

Okay,

now if you're not

familiar with the

prosperity gospel,

don't worry about it.

You don't need to know.

But if you do want

to know,

prosperity gospel preachers

tell their followers,

send all your money,

send your grandparents' money,

send your inheritance,

send all your money

into my ministry,

and in return,

and you're going to

put God to the test,

and then God is

contractually obligated,

see he says it right here,

to pour down even greater

financial blessings on you.

So put God to the test,

give as much as you can

to my ministry,

and then God is going

to open the windows

and pour out the storehouse

onto you.

They're taking these verses

completely out of context.

See,

in this particular context,

God's not talking about

money raining down,

you know.

What's that like gun

that like fires bills out,

you know,

you imagine God's going,

you know.

This is not what this verse

is talking about.

God's talking about

literal rain,

because there's a famine

in the land,

and God's talking about

it's going to,

you know,

God,

trust that God

is going to bring an end

to this.

Trust that God

is going to bring an end

to the blight,

right?

You don't have to live

with a scarcity mentality.

You can continue

to give generously

and know that God

is going to come through,

right?

So that's what he's talking about.

So the prosperity gospel

is a get-rich-quick scheme

based on manipulating God.

If you do this,

God has to bless you financially.

So it teaches the opposite

of what this passage means,

because here's the problem

with the prosperity gospel

in a nutshell.

Instead of using money

to worship God,

it uses God

to worship money.

Right?

We've been talking

this entire time

about how the way

we use our money

is a way of worshiping God,

but instead of doing that,

it tries to use God

to worship money,

and frankly,

it is evil.

There is no nuance on that.

I love nuance,

but in this case,

it is evil,

and it ensnares

many, many, many people.

So what does this passage mean?

Here's what it means.

None of the things

that we worship

are ever gonna give us

what they promise.

Right?

The more you worship beauty,

the more you're gonna feel

unattractive.

The more you worship status,

the more you're gonna feel inadequate.

The more you worship safety,

the more you're always

gonna be insecure.

If you worship pleasure,

you're always gonna be unsatisfied.

You're gonna be chasing

that next hit of dopamine,

that next high.

If you worship control,

you're always gonna feel anxious.

Right?

People who struggle with anxiety,

sometimes, many times,

there's underlying that

a worship of control,

a need to be in control.

If you worship and idealize

your children or your family,

right,

if you project the image

of a perfect family

or a perfect marriage

because that's what you need it to be

to show the world,

they're never gonna be good enough.

You're always gonna find fault with them.

Right?

You're gonna crush them

under the weight

of unrealistic expectations.

So nothing that we worship

delivers on what it promises.

And so God is saying this,

come to my treasury,

come to my storehouse,

come to my temple

and see if you don't find

everything that you seek.

The greatest blessing in history

is not something that God gives us.

The greatest blessing in history

is that God has given us himself.

And if we remember the generosity

of the Macedonian Christians,

they were willing to give abundantly

even though they were poor.

Right?

They gave out of their poverty.

Now, where did they see that happen?

Well, the secret of their generosity

is what Paul says

in chapter 8, verse 9.

For you know the grace

of our Lord Jesus Christ,

that though he was rich,

yet for your sake

he became poor

so that you by his poverty

might become rich.

And they had seen Jesus Christ

who was rich.

They had seen him be willing

to become poor.

And that they had seen

that through his poverty,

through his suffering

and death on the cross,

they became rich

beyond all imagination.

That secured for them

an eternal inheritance.

They knew that because of that,

they belonged to God.

And all of the stuff

that is going to one day fade,

all of the money

that is one day

going to be meaningless,

all that is going to fade,

and yet what they have

in Jesus Christ

is eternal

and forever

and priceless.

And that had so changed

their hearts

that it changed the way

they thought about their money.

And they were like,

oh, yeah,

we would love to become poor

so that you might become rich.

Paul, can we please help

with this famine relief?

We would love to do that

because that's exactly

what he did for us.

And it begins to change

the way you think about

your own priorities.

Because you realize

Jesus didn't just give 10%.

Right?

Jesus gave everything he had

because that's what love does.

And in all the universe,

there's nothing that,

there's nothing that he loves

more than he loves you.

So whatever else we worship,

whatever treasury holds our heart,

we're never going to find

a greater love than that.

So this question

that we are asking ourselves,

do we want to become

more generous?

Focus on the cross.

Focus on God's ultimate display

of generosity.

His generosity to us

because we,

because we are his treasure.

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for this

and pray that whatever,

whatever of this

we need to hear,

Lord, whether,

whether,

whether we are here

and we are,

we are filled with joy

at every opportunity to give

and we love to give

and we love to see

the fruit of our giving

and we love to,

to see your heart

reflected in that,

Lord.

I pray that we would hear

our hearts affirmed in this.

And for all of us

who,

who struggle

with generosity

or who are generous

maybe in the wrong direction,

Lord.

Lord,

I pray that this would

challenge us.

I pray that it would inspire us.

Lord,

I pray that your gospel

would,

would penetrate

and permeate

our hearts,

Lord.

And,

and I pray that we would be

known,

Lord,

as a people who are

extravagantly generous,

Lord,

in all that we do

and how we live.

I pray this,

that it would bring you glory,

that it would set us apart,

that it would provoke questions

only the gospel can answer.

Pray this in your son's name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

May I pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Help me.