August 1, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“‘You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing Me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test Me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty,’” (Malachi 3.9-10a)

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

I read a very complicated devotion this morning. Far too difficult to share except the very heart of it was simple. The simplicity of it was the very reality of Jesus in three persons: the Son of God, the Son of Man and the Dwelling Place of the Holy Spirit. Do we have a tendency to focus more on the Son of God and the Son of Man and move through the gospel with the assumption of the indwelling and on-dwelling of the Holy Spirit? Do we take it as a matter of fact that because Jesus was born of Spirit and of flesh that He is, as I have heard from one pastor, a “God in a bod”? Jesus, the son of Mary (and stepson of Joseph) was indeed flesh. His earthly being was not a facade. It was real. Because Jesus was, as the Council of Chalcedon declared, “fully God and fully man,” He represented both entities as one truth on earth in the world. This does not mean He was 50/50. No, Jesus was 100/100. As such, He was the full image of God (John 14: “If you have seen Me, then you have seen the Father for the Father and I are one.“) He was also the full image of “man.” He was able to demonstrate the greatest strength and power known to humankind: faith. Jesus was able to reveal to all the world the power of faith as it would exist in a human being. The gospels spare no effort to make sure those who hear the gospel know the power of the presence of faith. While many may consider such acts of faith as “other worldly,” Jesus demonstrated that living by faith was intended to be the “normal” state of affairs. He taught, for example, “Because you have so little faith (in yourself and in God), I tell you this: if your faith was the size of a mustard seed, then you would be able to say to this mountain ‘be moved to the sea’ and it would move. I assure you that nothing will be impossible to you [if you live by faith.]” (Matthew 17.20) Later we would hear Jesus declare, “Because I am going now to the Father, I tell you this: greater things will you do than I have done. Whatever you ask in My name [that is the true caveat] I will do it.” (John 14.12) Jesus did not mean He would do anything we asked because we are “Christian name droppers.” No, He meant that as His representatives of faith, hope and love in the world, we would ask Him to do the things of faith which faith requires: justice, mercy and humility. Are our requests of Jesus, as we speak them in acts of prayer and authentic service, representative of such things? One can only hope. Only you know the truth of your own request as you stand and bow before the Lord your God.

I would dare say that such was not the case for those priests and Levites in the Temple of Malachi’s day. They had fallen back into the practices of their forebearers. They acted with compromised and diluted faith. Their thoughts and purposes were not pure and clean. They were not altogether righteous. We hear of a New Testament example of such in the story of Ananias and Saphira. They had determined to only bring a portion of the sale of their property to be included in the “Acts 242” community. As one came before the apostles who were administrating the resources for the sake of all and then the other, they were both found out. They lost their lives and thus forfeited what they had to the whole. What was it that Jesus said, “What does it profit a person to gain the whole world but forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8.36) Thus it was for those in the days of Malachi who only brought a portion of their tithes and offerings to the storehouse of God, the Temple. There was less than the whole brought into the Temple and then less than that brought before the Lord for the blessing and prosperity of the community of faith in God. Is it too hard to imagine why with so little investment of faith and resources little was returned back to the people? Why complain that they had so little when they had given so little? Luke remembers the words of Jesus which said, “Much is given so much will be required.” (Luke 12.48) The converse of that would be equally true: so little is given so little is returned to be put into action. I shake my head when I hear a coach say to his or her players, “Come on, give 150%.” We only have 100% to give, but if we are only giving less than our best, why believe there would be a greater return. Mighty ones of God, do we actually know what it means to live by the “give 100%”? Of course we do because we know the gospel of Jesus the Christ who gave His all that we might receive His all. This is the Malachi challenge to those in his day as it was extended by God who said, “Bring Me your full tithe.” Strange, is it not, that we often interpret such a challenge as bringing all that we have. God asked that we give all of our tithe, the full tithe (of which there were three), and see how He would multiply it and cause it to prosper. This is the meaning of the “first fruits” which we hear about in Peter’s Pentecost preaching. Jesus was the first fruit. The Church is the first fruit. Bring that to God and trust in Him, put your whole faith in Him and see what He will do.

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.