Today's Word Radio

Brett Meador: Second Corinthians, Chapter 9, verse 7: Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly, or begrudgingly, or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver.

Guest (Male): On today's Word, Pastor Brett Meador clarifies giving is to be an act of worship.

Brett Meador: That should be the heart behind giving. When you give of your substance to the Lord, it's supposed to be cheerful. For God loveth a cheerful giver.

Guest (Male): The people of Israel during Malachi's time were neglecting a critical directive from God. Because of this, they were lacking in their lives. As we see what God has to say about the issue of tithing in Malachi, Chapter 3, Pastor Brett Meador breaks down what the tithe means for believers today and why it's important to God as revealed in our study of today's Word.

Brett Meador: Why don't you grab your Bible and turn with me to the book of Malachi? Today, I'm going to talk about tithing. Malachi, Chapter 3 is arguably the epicenter of the topic of tithing. That's why we're going to talk about this.

We live in a world that understandably is weirded out by the whole topic. We've seen a lot of wacko stuff coming from the church, and often from what I would might even say the so-called church, in this area of giving and tithing. It’s just gotten weirder and weirder. Maybe you saw a while back this one church had this stupid program where you'd put your check in the bucket as it went by.

Then they'd put it in a big roller up on the stage and they'd roll all the checks. Then they'd reach in and grab one out. Whoever got picked, they would have that money times two returned back to them. They were like, "You're the winner!" and all this stuff. To me, that's just totally wacko.

Maybe it’s a little less wacko than this Christian Post article that came out recently. One hundred eighty-eight million dollar Powerball winner Marie Holmes is allegedly being sued by a local pastor for 10 million dollars. A local North Carolina pastor is suing this 27-year-old mother of four for 10 million on reneging on a verbal promise to give him 1.5 million of her winnings.

The local pastor, Kevin Matthews, describes experiencing emotional and mental distress after Holmes changed her mind about giving him 1.5 million to help him build his retreat center. He says, because of the emotional distress and mental stress they put me through, I had to start taking more medicine for anxiety and depression due to the situation.

All that to say, there's all kinds of abuses around this idea of tithing. If you send your thousand-dollar gift, I'll pray for you. No, pastors should just pray for people, and they should do it for free, by the way. It’s so ridiculous, all this stuff, planting your seed of faith and all this mumbo-jumbo that people say and do. I understand the abuses, and hopefully, I'll be able to clear up some of that, how it's really supposed to be according to the Bible.

By the way, another verse, in Matthew, Chapter 6, Jesus taught this in the Sermon on the Mount. He said, "When," not if, but "when thou doest alms," or give, "let not your left hand know what your right hand doeth, that thine alms may be in secret. And thy Father which seeth in secret, himself shall reward thee openly."

The reward of giving comes from God, not from the pastor or anything like that. The reward comes from God. By the way, just so you can remember, if somebody comes up and pats you and says, "Hey, thanks for that nice gift you gave us," that's your reward right there.

So there at the Bema Seat judgment, you're getting your rewards for the works you've done. You're like, "Oh, wait until that time I gave that big dollar amount." You're tried by fire, the judgment I'm talking about. You're tried by fire. There it goes. It’s burned up, wood, hay, and stubble. Remember that guy patted you on the back for that? That's what you got for that reward. There is your reward.

But if you do it secretly, then the Lord says, "I will reward you openly." Then, if you're not a Christian, man, you should not feel, nor should you, donate money to a church. Giving money is not really giving it to a church. You might think that, but it's actually, as Christians, we believe we're giving back to the Lord that which is His. So there's no reason for you to give. You shouldn't give if you're from a non-believer perspective.

The idea of the giving, the tithe, and the offering is what Malachi is going to bring up here. We're going to see what it's really meant to be. Some of you have a real joy of shopping, and when you buy something, you get a joy out of that. Some of you, like me, you go to the grocery store and you have money in your pocket.

Then you get to the ice cream aisle, and then you get to the Ben & Jerry's. You say, "I can't have that anymore; they're too woke." So you go to the Christian ice cream, the Dove bar. As you buy it, you're like, "Oh, this is going to be great." Or some of you are shopping addicts; you go to Nordstrom. Or how about that heavenly hardware, the Home Depot?

As you're walking through the tool aisle and you're walking through there, and you see that compressor that you just have to have. Your wife's like, "Honey, you already have one of those things." And you're like, "Oh, but that only does two pneumatic tools at a time. I need something that will do four," like you have a crew in your backyard framing up a building.

But anyway, I digress. When you buy that compressor, oh, the dopamine flows. It’s like, "Ah, I just got..." and there's something about joy when you're doing that. Wouldn't it be something if giving was connected that way? When you give to the Lord, it had that same, "I get to do this." That's the thing that we really want to get to, is that we actually become mindful of that.

When we give of our resources to the Lord, it's not a "got to," it’s a "get to," and we'll get into that. Let's see what happens here in Malachi, Chapter 3, verse 7 is where we'll pick it up. It says in verse 7:

"Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, 'Wherein shall we return?' Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, 'Wherein have we robbed thee?' In tithes and offerings.

Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts."

Radical statements here. What an important topic here. Let's get into this, let's do a little bit of a deeper dive. The first thing you can jot down in your notes is, first of all, the Lord points out the need of the people. In verse 7, he calls them out. He says, "You need to return to me and I will return to you."

And then they say, "Wherein should we return?" Do you sense a little bit of an attitude from the people here? In Chapter 1, the Lord says, "I have loved you," and the people said, "Wherein have you loved us?"

Most of us, even if you're a nominal Bible student, you can say, "Well, how about when the Lord opened the Red Sea so that you could go through and get away from Egyptians' army? How about when manna fell from heaven? How about when he delivered you from being slaves in Egypt?" I could list a hundred things that the Lord did lovingly toward the Jews.

But here the Jews in Malachi's time, at the end of the Old Testament period, they're saying, "When did you love us, God?" And then the Lord says, "And you've dishonored and despised my name." "Wherein have we despised your name?" and that's the attitude of the people. This discourse goes on and on through this book.

But then it gets to this section, and the Lord says, "Man, I want you to return to me." "How do we return to you, God?" The Lord says, "Here's how," and he gives us this whole dissertation on their tithes and their offering. The need of the people was to return to the Lord. That's what we read in verse 7: "Return to me and I will return back to you."

Isn't it interesting that the idea of being with the Lord and returning to the Lord, one of the measurements that's associated with that is this idea of your money and giving? The Lord calls them out on it and he says, "Man, you need to give of your tithe and offering. That's how you return to me."

Even Jesus talks about this, by the way, again on the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said this: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Where your treasure is, that's where your heart's going to be. Whatever you're putting your money, energy, effort, time, resources into, that's what you're going to love. That's a principle both good and bad. It’s a good thing to remember.

Some people, their treasure is some hobby or some sport. They pour all their money, time, energy into something, and they can maybe be in love with it more than they love their own wife. A young couple says, "Oh, we've fallen out of love. I don't love him anymore." Well, the answer is to reinvest your treasure, that which you value. Where your treasure is, that's where your heart's going to be.

Jesus, of course, is talking here about all your stuff. Invest it into heaven, and your treasure will be in heaven. Your treasure will be toward the Lord. It’s an important thing. Now, some of you might say, "Well, that sounds kind of materialistic to have stuff be related to what you love." But it actually puts, it’s not just loving in word; there's something that makes it start to be deeds as well.

Let me give you an example. Let's say you're a newly married young couple. The young man, on her birthday, he comes to her and gives her a hug and a kiss and says, "Honey, happy birthday. I didn't get you a present, and here's why. We are just so in love, and I love you so much, I just know that we're above that. I don't need to give you a present on your birthday." And she might say, "Hmm."

And then Valentine's Day comes, and the husband comes up and gives her a hug and says, "Hi honey, happy Valentine's Day. But you know I didn't get a card because it’s just a Hallmark holiday and it’s an invention. Our love doesn't need to be bolstered by Valentine's Day."

And then Christmas rolls around, and the tree has presents, but not from the husband to the wife because he comes up, "Merry Christmas, honey, and I didn't get you a present because our love..." At this point, I'm going to give the young man advice, and here's the advice I'll give: duck.

Because you've got something coming that you probably deserve. Why is that? Because there's something about investing the things that you value into someone will actually demonstrate a certain love for that person. Where your treasure is, that's where your heart will be. We feel that in marriage, but the Lord is articulating that in our relationship with God.

I know that there are some Christians that were willing to offer song, and were willing to even offer service, but are we willing to offer our substance and the things that we value the most to the Lord as an offering to the Lord? It was D.L. Moody, that famous preacher from a few generations ago, that said, "I can see more about the spirituality of a man by reading through his checkbook than I can by reading through his prayer book." I think there's truth to that, and I think that's what Jesus is talking about as well.

So you have number one, you have the need of the people, and that is to return to the Lord. This had to do with their heart toward their money and their resources. That brings us to the second part of this discussion of Malachi: the sin of the people. What were they doing?

Well, it says there in verse 8, rhetorically he asks, "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me." And then they said, "Wherein have we robbed thee?" And the answer is, he said, the tithes and offerings, which tells us something of the Jews of the Old Testament. When they held back their tithe and their offering, they were keeping that which God deemed as his own. "You've robbed me of something that's actually of mine."

In other words, the tithe was the Lord's for the people of the Old Testament. But he also includes the offering in that, which I think is interesting because those two words are really important in this discussion. He says the tithe and the offering you've robbed me from.

Let's look at those words a little closer. The word "tithe" in the Hebrew is "ma’aser," which means one-tenth. That's really a simple word. Ma’aser means the fraction one-tenth, or a tenth part. The word "offering" is the Hebrew "terumah," which means contribution, a present of sacrifice, or tribute, or a gift. That's over and above the tithe. It’s something that is a free-will offering. Maybe you're familiar with that term in the Old Testament, where somebody just willingly says, "I want to give over and above. I'm just going to willingly give this as unto the Lord." That's the terumah, the free-will offering.

The Lord says, "You have robbed me in keeping these things, the tithe and the offering, the ma’aser and the terumah. You've kept them from me." Now you might say, "Brett, I got it. That's great. You're giving a lesson on tithing, but this is the Old Testament."

And I know this idea of tithing, and even this word Malachi, he even said it, that you've not kept mine ordinances, verse 7. This is from the law, and they weren't keeping the laws of tithing, and we are not under the law. I would say that is exactly right. I hope you get that from today's lesson.

Did you know that we are not under the Old Testament law when it comes to tithing? That's an important thing to know. Some of you are like, "Oh great, I don't have to give at all." Well, hold that thought for a second. But the Old Testament law we don't keep. We are no longer under the law. I've done whole sermons on that many, many times over, and you and I should be really glad about that.

It’s funny how we pick and choose sometimes the Old Testament laws. I've had moms drag their teenage boy up to me. "Come on, Pastor Brett, tell him why the Bible says you're not supposed to mark your body with a tattoo. Tell him, Brett." I always feel bad because I think the mom's going to be disappointed with my answer.

Because if I were being smart-aleck, which I never am, I would say, "Well, can I see a picture of your husband, ma'am?" If she showed me, I'd say, "Now why has he shaved the corners of his beards? Why doesn't he have these long strands of spit-curl hairs?" Because the verse right above where it says not to mark your body in the Levitical law, it also says that men are not supposed to cut the corners of their beards. That's why the Jews walk around with really long sections of hair right here.

But see, the point is, you're not supposed to do that if you're keeping the law of the Old Testament, which none of us can keep. And oh, by the way, how'd your son even make it here today? Has he ever been disobedient? Well, yeah, all the time. Well, then why isn't he dead? The law says if your son is disobedient, take him outside of the town and stone him to death. Mom, you're not keeping the law. You better watch out on this one.

Now, that would be the smart-aleck me. I would never say that to her, but I would say to her, "You can't make a rule out of tattoos because of the Old Testament law." There's a bunch of laws. I'm successful in a lot of them, like I don't eat bats. That's something I don't do. I'm victorious in that law.

There's a bunch of things we can talk about. But my point is, be careful on this one. So yeah, I wouldn't say that the reason anybody should give of their tithe or offering to the Lord is because of the law.

But then the question is, should we even consider that then, or is it something we should think about? I think the answer is yes, and I'll tell you why. I was raised, and I had to kind of work through this later on in my life because I was raised before I can remember giving my tithe and offering.

When I was a tiny little kid, my mom and dad taught me what the tithe was. My mom would do fun stuff, like she'd give all three of us kids 100 M&Ms. We'd get ready to eat those M&Ms, and Mom was like, "Wait, 10 of those M&Ms out of the 100 belong to the Lord." She would give us little mini-lessons when I'm like two or three.

So she'd make us count out the 10, and then we'd give it back and we were going to give that, wrap it up and give it to one of our friends as unto the Lord, a gift. And then we'd say, "But Mom, I like M&Ms." And my mom would say, "Well look, you have 90 M&Ms left. That's probably more than your dentist actually wants you to have. You're blessed to have 90." And I'd say, "Yeah, I guess that's true."

And we learned this lesson very, very early. So by the time I got my first paycheck as lawnmowing, I'd get a dollar. My mom would pay me in dimes. Now nine of those dimes are yours, but one of those dimes you're supposed to put in your pocket as a six-year-old kid and you bring that and drop that in the offering at church. My mom and dad taught me that from the early, I can't even remember how far back that goes. So it just became really natural for me.

When I earned my first 500 dollars for bucking hay and building a fence and stuff, I didn't look at that 500 dollar check for a whole summer of work. I didn't look at that as mine. I looked at the 450 dollars as mine, and the 50 goes to the Lord. It’s a funny thing how you kind of get a place where it’s not even a thought. It’s just something you do, and I was raised just to know that part's the Lord's. It’s not even a question. Really thankful for that.

But then as I became more astute to what the Bible was teaching on tithing, I had to kind of resolve, "Why do I do this? Am I doing it just because my mom taught me that?" because I knew it was an Old Testament law thing and we're no longer under the law. But the Lord has shown me why it's a good idea to tithe for me. I want to encourage you to pray about this yourself.

The first thing the Lord showed me and reminded me is that the tithing practice actually precedes the law. Did you know that? Before the law was even given, there's a great story in Genesis 14:18 where Abraham goes to Melchizedek, the king of Salem, and brought forth bread and wine. Bread and wine is a picture of what? Communion.

This Melchizedek, who was a king, was also the priest of the Most High God. Is there something weird going on here already? If you're a Bible student, you know Melchizedek being a king but also a priest, something's up here because the Bible kind of forbids that, unless this king and priest happens to be Jesus. Jesus is the only one who can be prophet, priest, and king.

But you've got this guy Melchizedek, who's a king and a priest. And he, Melchizedek, verse 19, blessed him, Abraham, and said, "Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be the Most High God which had delivered thine enemies into thine hand." And he gave him, that is, Abraham gave him, Melchizedek, tithes of all.

All of his possessions, Abraham gave one-tenth. That's that word that we mentioned earlier, "tithe," one-tenth of all of his possessions. So interesting, there's a model of Abraham. And now if you know your Bible, the priest Melchizedek, we realize from the book of Hebrews that that actually is a beautiful picture and type of Jesus Christ. Some would go as far as say it was a Christophany, an Old Testament appearance of the pre-incarnate Jesus. That's why the book of Hebrews says Jesus is a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. I just filled you in; that was a freebie for you today. You know the priesthood of the Melchizedekian order today. You're like, "Wow, Brett, that's great."

But that's the thing, the tithe was instituted right there long before the law was ever given. Now all that to say, if we're looking at the tithe in the Old Testament, what part of their stuff were they supposed to give? Were they to look at all their stuff, if you had to pick out the stuff you were going to give out of the 10, what was your part that you were supposed to pull out? The best. The first fruits, the best fruits.

"Yeah, but Brett, that's my blue ribbon, prize-winning 4-H sheep." Exactly. That's the one you give to God, the best of your fruit, the best of your crops and your herds and flocks and what have you. Can I remind you of the people of Malachi's day?

The Lord said, "You bring your lambs," Malachi Chapter 1, verse 8. And he says, "If you offer," speaking of the sheep, "the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if you offer the lame and the sick, is it not evil? Offer it to your governor. Will he be pleased with thee or accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts."

He's saying, "Man, you guys, if the governor came to your house, you wouldn't even give him the lamb that you're giving to me as a sacrifice." Because they were bringing the scabbed, the scurvy, the sick, the diseased. "Let's give God the worst that we have."

They were supposed to give, but they gave begrudgingly. That's where the people of Malachi's day were. They not only were robbing God of the tithe and offering, but when they brought their sacrifice, they'd find some old crippled, broken down old lamb and let's give that one to God. They were giving begrudgingly.

That's not the way we're supposed to give. It should be that joyful, "Man, I get to give the best to the Lord." That's why Second Corinthians, Chapter 9, verse 7: "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or begrudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver." That should be the heart behind giving. When you give of your substance to the Lord, it’s supposed to be cheerful.

Guest (Male): Pastor Brett Meador drawing an important reminder from Malachi that giving is nothing less than a loving act of worship to the Lord. And there's more to share next time on Today's Word. I invite you to stay right there as Pastor Brett will join me here in a moment. If you've missed any portion of our time today, you'll find all of Pastor Brett's messages online at todayswordradio.com. That's todayswordradio.com. Well, Pastor Brett is with me now. You know, there are a lot of Christians who may be reluctant about sharing their faith, but when they do, perhaps they come across as being judgmental. Or on the other hand, they might be weak-kneed about confronting a subject that may be controversial in today's culture. Pastor Brett, how can we share God's truth with someone in a way that is bold but doing it with love?

Brett Meador: Big challenge, Kurt, I'll tell you. I think our culture has sort of redefined some things that make this confusing. They think that a word of correction or a word of disagreement means hate. But actually, what we see in the scripture is the most loving words that can be said often come in the form of correction or disagreement. Jesus was the embodiment of love, and yet he spoke of a lot of things that he was opposed to.

That's something we have to remember. It's been said rightly, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." I think that's why Jesus was able to say sharp words that were brutal, because he also presented himself as just the epitome of love. That's what I want for myself, that's what I want for our congregation, to be able to speak the truth but to speak it in love.

Instead of starting with, "You're wrong," a lot of times I'll just say, "Here's what the Lord's revealed to me, and he's shown me in his word." Sometimes you can soften the word of correction, but I still think we need to speak it and speak it clearly, speak it humbly, remembering that we're sinners also saved by grace. Keeping all that in mind, boldness doesn't necessarily mean loud; it just means faithful. I think love really matters, no matter what we say; it has to be said in love.

Kurt: That's really good, Pastor Brett. It's doing what Jesus did: speaking the truth, but with love and grace. Thank you for that. Well, if you'd like more information about this Today's Word radio program or Pastor Brett Meador, just go to todayswordradio.com. Next time, Pastor Brett will explore how many of us have short-changed ourselves by neglecting God in various ways, including with our finances.

Guest (Male): Today's Word with Pastor Brett Meador is an outreach of Athey Creek Church in West Linn, Oregon.