July 31, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“‘Return to me, and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty. But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ The Lord asks, ‘Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob Me.‘ But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ The Lord replies, ‘In tithes and offerings.’” (Malachi 3.7b-8)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD TO US:

I would be remiss if I didn’t reflect on God’s answer to the priests’ question of Him, “How are we robbing You?” This reflection will shine on me as it will on many, if not most, other mighty ones of God and those “not as mighty as they could be.” In fact, I would have to include the perspective concerning “justice” in this reflection because of the application of the “cause ” of the words. Let me start with justice because we are hearing more and more the cry for “justice.”

Basically, “justice” is the measure of response to an action based on whether it is a “right” thing to do or a “wrong” thing to do. The basic understanding of “right” and “wrong” ought to be whether it is aligned with “good” or “evil.” (Perhaps it is here that we may see why there are many who do not want to use such terms as “good” and “evil” in spiritual or “supernatural” ways. Confessing the existence of powers greater than human beings who have ultimate authority does limit the authority and the exercise of it by humanity. The posits of the spectrum might look like “God made me do it” or “The Devil made me do it;” but that is too simplified.) We should base our decisions and the resulting actions of those decisions not on what God made us do but more on “what would God do in this situation.” I am not speaking of directing God’s thoughts and actions to accommodate our will for a desired outcome. James and John, the sons of Boageneres (or the sons of Thunder) felt entitled to such a manner of thinking and acting when they asked Jesus: 1) for the privilege of sitting at His right and left hand in the Kingdom to come and 2) for the privilege of calling down “hellfire and brimstone” on those in a city who were not hospitable to Jesus and the band of His followers (numbering from 12 to 120 depending on when and where.) They were demonstrating a more common application of justice which is based on human will and not God’s. Those who do that have a personal opinion on what should be happening based on their own needs. That being said, justice may be more aptly defined as being in accordance with God’s will more than our own. Thus, even Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of His arrest was a cry for justice. He determined, after speaking from His human perspective, to fall upon the mercy of the highest court and confess “Not My will but Yours [Father and Lord] be done.” Jesus knew that God had made His offering for the sake of bringing salvation into the world without distinction of race, creed, age, gender, physical condition, finance or position. God’s intention was that all people be offered the gift and blessing of salvation. He would withhold it from no one. The only requirement needed was to put their faith into believing that Jesus was the Christ of God, His only begotten Son, and commit to following in His footsteps all the days of their lives. Doing so would mean that they would act with justice doing what God would do. Hint. Hint. Jesus taught in His sermon on the mount near Caesarea Philippi, “Be perfect as Your Father in Heaven is perfect.” Only God can perfectly administer justice because there is no malice in His heart. There is only “right” and “wrong,” “good” and “evil.” Remember, mighty ones of God, that “good” means doing what God created us to do from the beginning. We are called to make our decisions based on His blueprint for life not our own design.

What then of tithes and offerings? How do they relate to this perspective of justice? I would draw our attention to the prospectus of “the Law.” Whether it is the Ten Commandments or the Shema, the framework is consistent. The posits on the spectrum of “the Law” are without question: Divine and Human. (Which is to the left or the right doesn’t matter in this reflection because putting human ideals into place as to “liberal or conservative,” or in theological terms of “right hand and left hand” simply muddy the water.) What is critical to this reflection is that there are two arenas of “the Law” and our administration of it. The first is how we direct our thoughts and actions toward our relationship to God (such as “Love the Lord your God” in the Shema and the first four of the commandments in the Decalogue.) The second is how we direct our thoughts and actions toward our relationship toward one another (such as “Love your neighbor as yourself” in the Shema and the six remaining commandments in the Decalogue.) These “rules of righteousness” are descriptors of what true justice looks like. Following those would eliminate the need for adjudication for those who do not maintain them in their own lives. To violate them then puts the person into the “court of the Almighty” and “His will be done.” Of course, human beings infected with sin don’t always follow the rules and don’t trust in God’s “justice.” There we will continue to have a problem. What then of the “tithes and offerings”? Tithes can be placed in the province of what belongs to serving God (the spiritual needs). Offerings would then be what belongs to serving humanity (the needs of the body). The priests were taking all tithes and offerings and putting it toward meeting their own needs. (I remember the story of a man who said he threw his money up in the air and what hit the ground was his and what God wanted could be snatched up in the air. Notice: he never tossed bills into the air!) The priests, and thus the people who followed their example, were robbing from God by being unjust. Because they were unjust they didn’t mind robbing from God. The Temple would fall into disrepair and the priests and Levites would grow fat. The people would grow hungry and have no true advocate before God. Ah, now, mighty ones of God we see our True Advocate and Priest in Jesus the Christ. He acted in justice before God and humanity. He was, is and will for all time be the acceptable tithe and offering bring glory to God and life to us.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works which bring others near to Jesus in faith, hope and love. AMEN.