FOOD IN MY HOUSE

Malachi 3:8-12

Once upon a time there lived a wise, old man. He had lived a full abundant life. Near the apparent end of his life in this world, his son made one of his many visits. During that particular visit, his son asked his father if he would give him something – a symbol – by which he could always remember him and who he was. The father thought for a while . . . and then pointed his son to the top drawer of his desk where he would find a black book, and that the black book was now his.

The son found the black book and, upon opening it, discovered that he now had in his possession the stubs of his father’s checkbook for the last several years. An obvious look of surprise and disappointments came over him, thinking that he had received something that was worthless. But the wise, old father went on to tell his son that what he had been given to him was something of great value. For he said, “There, in my stubs of cancelled checks, is the story of my life. It is the only autobiography I will ever write. It is the record of my hopes and dreams, my values and priorities. Those stubs contain the story of what I have lived for; they are the story of my life.”

How many of us have realized that the way we spend our money reveal our values and priorities? Jesus had clearly communicated this in Matthew 6:21:

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The use of the heart in this verse is not limited to our affection, but to our total being. The Lord would like us to be impressed with the fact that our total being will always be attached to our treasure. We cannot declare that we are committed to God and neglect our responsibility of investing in the things to matters to Him.

As we conclude our series, allow me to highlight from our text the primary way we can share our blessings to others. Clearly God’s way is seen through the key word – “STOREHOUSE” (v. 10).

God has a special place for His children to bring their tithes and offerings. During the Old Testament times, God’s people were bringing their tithes into God’s storehouse. This storehouse was first called Tabernacle; and then developed to be the Temple. Today, the designated place is the local church.

One question that always arises whenever we think of tithing is, “where should I give my tithes?” The instruction is very clear - it should be given to the church. In verse 8 of our text, we have to establish the distinction between our “tithes” and “offerings.” Tithe is the 10% that God expects us to give back and offerings are anything above the tithe. I am not saying that you should not give to other ministries such as; Compassion Ministry, Feed the Children, World Vision, Pregnancy Resource Center or some other worthy Christian organization. What I am saying is that your tithe belongs in the church and you can give offerings however you please. The rule of thumb is God wants to supply the needs of the church through its members. Now, allow me to share to you some reasons why God wants us to bless the church:

I     THE PLACE OF THE CHURCH:

The church of the Lord Jesus has a very special place in the heart of God. When I speak of the church, I am not referring to the building we are using, but to you are I who come together to worship God and further His kingdom. Paul’s writing to the Ephesian church will show us our place in God’s heart.

As Paul addresses the husbands’ primary responsibility towards their wives, he referred to the great love that Christ has for the church, which He demonstrated by giving himself for her. You see, God himself has set the example for all of us. If you love Christ, we need to follow His example.

The truth is the giving of our tithes to the church must be the result of the giving of our lives to the Lord. His love requires a response. He demands that we love Him in return. And if we love Him, we will give Him our lives, our all.

The struggle to give our tithes can always be traced from our lack of surrender. In this passage the apostle Paul gave a testimony about the generous gifts of the Macedonian church to the brethren in Jerusalem during their time of needs. Paul explicitly said, “They gave themselves first to the Lord.”

II    THE PROGRAM OF THE CHURCH:

Another reason why we need to bless the church is because we have received from the Lord a great missionary program. He has outlined this in Acts 1:8.

The church has received a crucial mission, which is to evangelize the world and make disciples of Christ. Now to fulfill this, the church must establish different kinds ministries to draw people to Christ. In order to maintain all of these ministries, we will need money. Everything the church does costs money. It is the responsibility of every church member to support the church.

Dr. Paul Powell, former president of the Southern Baptist Annuity Board reinforced this truth when he wrote these words:

It is likely that it was in the church you first heard the gospel. It was in the church that you were baptized. It was probably in the church that you were married. It was in the church that your child was dedicated and in all probability, it is in the church that your funeral service will be held. Surely then, the church is worthy of your highest and your best (Taking the Stew Out of Stewardship, p. 131).

Our tithes will help the church carry out ministries. I hope there will be no time in BCI that we will have to cancel a ministry for lack of finances. It is always wise to consider investing in the Lord’s work. J.L. Kraft, head of the Kraft Cheese Corporation, who had given approximately 25% of his enormous income to Christian causes for many years, said, “The only investment I ever made which has paid consistently increasing dividends is the money I have given to the Lord.”

III   THE POTENTIAL OF THE CHURCH:

Going back to our main text, after the Lord challenged the nation of Israel concerning faithfulness in giving, He promised abundant blessings to the extent that other people will acknowledge their blessedness. When we apply this to the church, as Christians are faithful in supporting the church ministries, unchurched people will be naturally drawn to the church. There is no telling how the church can impact her community. Notice what happened to the first church in Jerusalem when there was unselfishness within.

The background of this passage was the conversion of 3,000 Jews during the inauguration of the church. In order to disciple these new believers who came from other countries, some believers needed to sell their properties so they can provide the essential needs of everyone. The testimony of the church was so great that it resulted to the salvation of many people, who in later years were used to reach the entire Roman Empire for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Are we being limited today in the expansion of the Kingdom because of the lack of finances? Imagine all the things we can do if we have the finances. During one of the sessions in my mentoring class, Dr. Greg Brown, who was our guest lecturer, told us a story about a woman that came to him saying that their church did not love children. Puzzled by her statement, he inquired what her basis was for saying this. She then explained that whenever she goes to McDonalds, their playgrounds told her that they care about her children because they provide a special place for them. And she cannot understand why their church did not have a playground at all. Recognizing that she made a lot of sense, Pastor Greg led the church in building a state of art playground, which was used by the Lord to attract many families with young kids.

I hope all of us understand that our church exists not only for the people we already have. We still have so many people we need to win. We have to do our best in supporting our church so we can accomplish greater things for the Lord.