NOVEMBER 9th, 2025 PASTOR DON PIEPER
Turning A Minor Prophet Malachi 1:1-2,6-8;3:1-4/ 3:8-12,16-7;4:2-6
“TITHE OR DARE?”
Meet Malachi! His claim to fame is threefold. One, he foretells the coming of another Elijah, that is, John the Baptist; two, he's the last of the OT prophets; and three, he bravely talks about money!
“I the Lord do not change, so bring in your whole tithe that there may be food in my house.”
(Malachi 3:6,10)
Have you ever noticed how often the Bible talks about money? Doesn't seem very spiritual! Even Jesus talked a lot about it. Some of you in the back may be thinking you must've misheard me...
“Shane, did he just say Jesus spoke a lot about monkeys? He must've met your cousin, Fred!”
“Hilarious, honey, but he didn't say 'monkeys', he said what Jesus talked about was funny!”
“Oh. So he has met your cousin, Fred...!”
Clearly the topic of money is a sensitive issue. So why bring it up? Honestly? I wouldn't, except that Malachi does. And why does he do so? Consider the context.
Let's start with a timeline. Our series on the minor prophets began with prophets like Amos, Hosea and Micah who foretold of the coming destruction of Jerusalem and her temple...in 586 BC.
The first return of the conquered exiles was in 538 BC followed by the ministries of Haggai and Zechariah, who called for the rebuilding of the temple which was completed in 516 BC.
A second return of exiles in 458, and a third in 445 BC, led to Malachi's ministry 440-430 BC.
So Malachi shows up on the scene some 50-60 years after Haggai and Zechariah. The temple is re-built but a deep disillusionment has settled in. The prophetic promises of a restored Israel, with a messianic king, have not materialized and the people are doubting God's love and faithfulness.
King Artaxerxes I of Persia released Nehemiah along with thousands of other refugees in order to rebuild the wall, but their complaining, and ignoring their covenant relationship with God, continues.
Enter Malachi, the last OT prophet, who echoes Nehemiah's concerns regarding covenant living that God's people are disregarding as it pertains to marriage, worship and tithing. Malachi presents a series of questions starting with one directed at their disillusionment: “'I have loved you,' says the Lord. But you ask, 'how have you loved us?” (Malachi 1:2)
Difficult, even sad circumstances, do not reflect a diminishing expression of God's love for us...
Malachi ultimately directs their attention to the greatest heist in human history. It wasn't a train robbery by Jesse James, nor a Wall Street scandal, nor one of the many recent big business embezzlements. It's the stealing of money intended to fund the most important work on the planet.
“Will a man rob God? Yet you do rob me. You ask, 'How do we rob you?' In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse – the whole nation of you – because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.” (Malachi 3:8-10)
Malachi's prophetic words from God bring good news and bad news. The bad news is that God's work is being short-changed. The prophet, as all prophets tend to do, does not mince words. “You are robbing me!” God declares. How so? In your tithes and offerings – or lack thereof!
-2-
That text reminds me of a joke in which a one dollar bill met a twenty dollar bill. George's face brightened as he said, “Hey Alexander! Where have you been? I haven't seen you around lately.”
Alex smiled and replied, “I've been hanging out at the casino a lot lately. I've also been eating out a lot, been to the movies, done a bit of shopping & traveling, that kind of stuff. How about you?”
George sighed and said, “Oh, you know. Same old stuff – church, church, church.”
Gallup surveys reveal a disturbing trend, how over the last 25 years contributions to the church and church-related-ministries have dropped off while spending on entertainment has steadily increased.
Let's be real. Money doesn't grow on trees & lately it hasn't been growing in our wallets either. We work hard, long hours to earn what we have. The instinct to look after number one runs pretty deep. The idea of contributing regularly, consistently, generously to a common cause – be it the cause of Jesus Christ or not – runs contrary to the natural pulses within us and the self-serving culture around us.
But what about this? “The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” (Psalm 24:1) According to Scripture, everything actually belongs to God.
Okay, technically thats true. God is God after all. But how does that truth jive with the fact that we make sacrifices of our time and labor for our income? God may have given us the raw goods, but we took risks, applied ourselves and ultimately earned that paycheck.
“You may say to yourself, 'My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.' But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth...” (Deuternomy 8:17-18)
So we're reminded that it is God who gives us the ability to produce wealth. This is not a slam on private ownership but a reminder that we are not so much owners but stewards. Entrusted to us are the means to earn a living and the monetary resources we accumulate.
Anyone entrusted to manage another person's money knows this reality well. They do not manage in accordance with their own wishes and wants but in sync with those of the owner.
During my last year at seminary, I worked for the seminary on the buildings and grounds crew. Much of that year I painted one of the buildings, doing trim work on the windows outside and painting the complete interior. One day, early on, I forgot to treat the paintbrushes afterwards in paint thinner. The owners were not happy. Every paintbrush was ultimately ruined. I was told, “You can do as you please with your things, but these do not belong to you. Take care of them.”
The implication? Use the things entrusted to you with respect to those to whom they belong. Muse like Malachi. 'How do we rob you?' the people asked God. 'In tithes and offerings'.
(Malachi 3:8)
It brings to mind a cartoon of a pastor taking a toy from a child as his mother says: “I said he's beginning to teethe – not tithe!” Meanwhile a bubble bursts entitled, 'Building Fund'. A passerby later said to a peer: 'I heard something about tithing and weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
The word, 'tithe', simply means 'a tenth'. The biblical directive is to give 10% of our income to the Lord's work. The reference to offerings is that of sacrificial giving that goes beyond the tithe.
-3-
It's the withholding of tithes and offerings that God equates with robbery. No doubt, to many of you, that sounds rather heavy, even legalistic, in your ear. It brings to mind a man standing by the window, with an alarmed look on his face as he tells his wife about a suspicious stranger walking toward their house: “I think he's an usher from church, and he has a collection plate!”
But that's not the end of the text. Immediately following God's statement on the heist we read this: “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.” (Malachi 3:10)
God wants food in his house. He's interested in a fully-stocked kitchen ready to feed the world. He wants to bless us so that we may be a blessing to others. It's reminiscent of Jesus' final command to Simon Peter. “Simon, son of John, do you love me...? Then feed my sheep.” (John 21:17)
Jesus makes clear the kind of feeding he has in mind has to do with meeting people's spiritual as well as physical needs. God is so insistent on this, in fact, that He makes an incredible promise: “'Test me in this,' says the Lord Almighty, 'and see if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough 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...'” (Malachi 3:10-12)
It's as if God dares us. Dares are offered when something feels risky. It feels risky to give. Very few today, feel as though they have an abundance of resources. More often we feel as though we have less than we need, or at best, just enough. God knows this, so he presents us with a test, a dare. Giving of our resources in this way is not giving because we have an abundance but because we trust that God will provide...and that God will bless us. That's the good news – because He does and will...!
It is only in the taking him up on his dare that we discover so many blessings from God that we will not have enough room for it all! Till we do, our trust is inevitably placed in things and people other than our Heavenly Father, the creater and owner of heaven and earth.
I read of a youth group who took the dare. They went spread out in the neighborhood, knocked at people's doors, and said: “Hi! We're playing Bigger and Better. I've got a dime and I'm hoping to trade up for something bigger or better. Do you have anything you can trade me?”
At one house, the man responded to young Rich by shouting over his shoulder: 'Hey Marge! There's a kid here and we're playing Bigger and Better. What do we have that's bigger than a dime?'
Rich walked away with a mattress. At the next house he traded the mattress for an elk head, which he in turn traded for a Ping-Pong table. Richard kept at it until ultimately he drove home in a used pickup truck. His first car – no lie! He started with a dime and ended with a Dodge!
Are you willing to trade up? What if someone came knocking at your door? As it turns out, someone has. Scripture tells us at one point that Jesus stands at our door and knocks. I would suggest to you that you can't possibly outgive him. According to author Bob Goff, Jesus is basicly saying, “Look, none of the stuff you have is going to last, including you. You've only got about a dime's worth anyway. So come and trade up! I assure you what I have to offer is vastly bigger and better...!”
(from Bob Goff's Love Does)
When we get our security from God, we no longer have to look for it in the world, and that's a pretty good trade. Remember Rich? He wound up giving that pickup truck to his church! How daring!
-4-
Now God dares you! He dares you to tithe and trade up with the enthusiasm of young Rich, not because you have an abundance but because you trust that God will provide...that God loves to bless you so that you may bless others. It's only in the taking him up on his dare that you will discover so many blessings from God – spiritually and physically - that you will not have enough room for it all!
“'Test me in this,' says the Lord Almighty, 'and see if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it...for you are my treasure!” (Malachi 3:10,17)