When I was young and childless, I thought I knew it all. I knew exactly what each parent needed to do in order to raise their child appropriately. I had all the world’s problems solved, but if there’s one thing that children give you, it’s perspective.
They learn it at an early age, and this word has been the center of many toddler fights. Someone has a toy or a snack and they want it, so a fight begins with one simple word, “mine.” You don’t have to teach them. Inherently they understand, if they want it, it’s theirs.
But “mine” is more than a word, it’s an attitude, an attitude of, “what you have belongs to me.” We carry this attitude with us as we grow older. We may not scream and fight to get what we want, although some people still do. Instead we seek to undermine others in order to take what they have. Actions like this are often frowned upon, so many of us have found a way around this. Instead, we work extra hours so that we can buy more toys for ourselves. It seems as if our entire way of life is built around the act of getting more stuff for ourselves and keeping others from taking it.
We like our stuff. This isn’t anything new. People have always liked stuff. People have always wanted more, more possessions, more land, more power, etc. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve didn’t eat the fruit because the serpent told them to. Scripture says that they saw that it was “desirable for gaining wisdom.” God had given them everything they needed, but they wanted more. This desire for more and the compulsion to hold on to what we have leads us down some dangerous roads.
As we look to our scripture passage this morning, we find the nation of Israel in a difficult place. The events in the book of Malachi take place around the same time as that of Nehemiah. Israel has been exiled from their land, but God has been working in the hearts of those holding them in bondage. We see the king of Persia allowing Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem in order to rebuild the city walls. Likewise, we see King Artaxerxes encouraging Ezra to reestablish temple worship and to ensure that the Israelites are obeying the Law of Moses.
As we begin to look at the book of Malachi, this is the setting into which we are looking. We repeatedly see Malachi calling for the people to return to God and to turn away from evil. God reaffirms his love for them and his desire to fulfill in them the covenant he had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He goes through many areas in which they fall short, but I want to take a look at one area in particular which is covered in Malachi, starting with Malachi 3:6-7.
Here we see God having a conversation with the people. He’s speaking through Malachi, but as we see throughout the entirety of this book, it’s a very one-sided conversation. God tells the people of Israel something and then immediately declares the how they will respond to him.
In verse six he sets the stage for the conversation by declaring to them that he is still who he said he was. God declares to the people that he is the same God that he has always been and that they are still the sons of Jacob that they have always been. He is still the unchanging, self-sustaining, creator of the universe, and they are still the same “sons of Jacob,” deceivers and cheats, that they have always been. It is because he is unchanging that they have not been destroyed. No matter how many times they’ve turned away and have rejected him, he remains unchanging and will honor the covenant that he had made with their forefathers, that if they would return to him and follow his commands, he would be their God.
Knowing their hearts, God then declares their response, “How are we to return?” It’s a valid question. God has called them to return to him, how are they to go about doing that? Continuing on, he answers that question with a question of his own (Malachi 3:8-10).
The tithe, the scriptural basis for a tithe goes all the way back to Genesis when Abraham gave a tithe, a tenth of everything, to Melchizedek King of Salem (Genesis 14:20). Likewise, Jacob made a vow to God saying that he would give him a tenth of all that he was given (Genesis 28:22). It is first commanded in the priestly law in Leviticus 27:30-32, and here God declares that those who are not giving to him their tithe are stealing from him.
Now, I’m going to take a page out of God’s playbook and, like with Malachi, tell you what you’re thinking. Some of you are reading this and saying to yourselves, “But Pastor, the tithe is old and outdated. Besides, that’s in the Old Testament. You yourself said we don’t follow every Old Testament law.” That’s true. I stated before that under the new covenant we are no longer under the law. If you remember, I gave to you the basic guidelines by which we determine which Old Testament laws are still to be followed today.
When looking at Old Testament laws we look at three criteria in order to determine if it’s something that still applies under the new covenant. We first look at whether the Old Testament laws are reaffirmed in the New Testament. The entirety of scripture is inspired by God and carries his authority, so whether it’s found in the gospels or the epistles, if God reaffirms it in the New Testament, it’s still applicable. Next we look to see if the law is specifically denounced in the New Testament. If God says it’s no longer necessary, that’s a good reason to stop doing it. Finally, if a law is neither reaffirmed nor denounced, we look at the categories that each reaffirmed or denounced laws fall under. If laws similar to that law are either reaffirmed or denounced, that law is as well. It gets a bit more complicated than that, but this is a general rule whenever faced with laws in the bible.
When we look at this topic of the tithe in the New Testament, we don’t find a whole lot. We find one passage in Matthew 23 in which Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees and pointedly talks about their hypocrisy in tithing (Matthew 23:23). Notice that Jesus is not condemning their giving of the tithe. He gives them credit telling them that they go out of their way to pay their tenth. Instead, his emphasis is on the practice of justice, mercy, and faithfulness. However, even when correcting them in this area, he doesn’t relent on the topic of the tithe. He tells them, “You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.” You should have practiced justice, mercy, and faithfulness all without forgetting your duties to God.
I know that one New Testament example is not going to be enough for some people. Especially when it doesn’t specifically reaffirm the principle of tithing and the person telling you about it is obviously biased. With that, we’ll look at the big picture of what the New Testament teaches regarding giving and tithing.
It’s becoming more and more common in the younger generations to resist the idea of a ten percent tithe. Verses are quoted, such as 2 Corinthians 9:7 saying, “It doesn’t need to be a tenth, just whatever I’ve decided to give.” However, when we look at the entirety of scripture we are told, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” (Galatians 6:10). “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” (2 Corinthians 9:6). “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:43–44).
You see, if you want to escape the idea of a 10% tithe to God, the New Testament is the wrong place to look. Throughout the New Testament, Jesus’ standard of love is the measure for all the law. In 2 Corinthians 8:9 we’re told, “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 through his poverty might become rich.” Jesus had more riches and wealth than you can ever imagine, and he gave it all so that you might be saved. This is the standard of giving in the New Testament, “to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice.” (Romans 12:1).
What the Israelites didn’t understand in the book of Malachi, and what many of us fail to understand today, is that, as a Christian, your life, your money, your family, your car, your house, your boat, or your camper, none of these things belong to you. “Every good and perfect gift is from above.” (James 1:7). Everything you own God has given to you for the purpose of serving him. If you want to throw off the shackles of the Old Testament tithe and look to the New Testament church as your standard, look no further than the churches in Macedonia. “In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people.” (2 Corinthians 8:2–4).
The New Testament standard of giving is to give generously. In today’s society nobody considers a 10% tip to be generous, yet many people get the idea that a generous tithe would equal less than 10%. The truth is, God doesn’t need your money. This church doesn’t need your money. Our God is big enough, that if every dime was drained out of this church, His mission would still carry on. It may look different, but our God is faithful and his people will see his kingdom come.
Many times we get this idea in our head that we’re hurting the church if we don’t give our money. If the pastor does something that a church member doesn’t like, they’ll withhold their tithe as a punishment. The thing about tithing is that it’s not for God’s benefit or the church’s benefit. It’s for yours. This issue of tithing goes beyond the physical and the financial realm. The rich, young ruler was saddened when Jesus told him to sell all he owned and to follow him. His love for his money, his physical comforts, his current lifestyle, outweighed his love for Christ. When people today try to argue about whether or not they should be paying their tithe to the church, nine times out of ten it’s not a theological issue but rather a heart issue.
