"Do We Dare Test God"

Malachi 3:8-12 (New Living Translation)
Dr. Anne M. Cameron
October 17, 2010
Lake Highlands Presbyterian Church

      The book of Malachi (the last book of the Hebrew canon of prophets) is a very short book.  Two pages in my Bible.  I encourage you to go home and read the whole thing; it won't take long.  Malachi (whose name means ‘my messenger’ in Hebrew) has two messages to deliver to the people: (1) God is displeased with the lack of piety in the community, and (2) God is going to send a messenger who will reunite and purify the people.

      Like the prophet Nehemiah, Malachi stressed tithing.  Malachi does this even though times were bad:  there was poverty, oppression, and unfaithfulness.  Doesn’t sound like a very good time to encourage people to tithe.  Malachi wants to reassure his people God still loves them.  Malachi tries to rekindle the fires of faith in the hearts of his people. Malachi reminds people what God has asked them to do---tithe.  Malachi’s message, though, is not an easy one to deliver.  The voice we hear in this short passage this morning is the voice of God speaking through the prophet Malachi:

      “Should people cheat God?  Yet you have cheated me!

      “But you ask, ‘What do you mean?  When did we ever cheat you?’

      “You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me.  You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me.  Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple.  If you do,“says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you.  I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in!  Try it!  Put me to the test!  Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease.  Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.  “Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,” says the LORD of Heaven's Armies.

      “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and test Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “See if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.”

      “Test Me now in this”, says the Lord.  “Try it!  Put me to the test!  I dare you!”

      Test God?  Really?  These are bold words, astonishing words.  Do they strike you that way, too?

      All week I have been thinking about testing God.  Seems pretty audacious to me.  I am not sure if I have ever thought of it before this week.

      No, I take that back.  I have thought of it, and I have been against it.

      It is not a good thing to put the Lord our God to the test.  In fact, God commands (in Deuteronomy 6:6) we not do it, and Jesus repeats this.  You remember when Jesus quotes this very Deuteronomy passage back to Satan in the desert?  Satan was testing Jesus.  “Turn these stones to bread.  Jump from this cliff; God's angels will save you! Bow down and worship me.”  In the Gospels, the only ones who ‘test’ Jesus are either really bad, really dumb, or unfaithful.  Satan, Pharisees, Saducees, lawyers, even some of Jesus' followers fall into this camp.

      There certainly are plenty of places in the Bible which speak of God testing US, but so far as I can tell, this is the only place where God invites US to test God.  God throws down the gauntlet here.  It's unusual, to say the least.

      Testing. At the risk of sounding grandiose, it reminds me of something that happened to me when I was a young mother.  It was a ‘testing’ I will never forget.  It seemed outrageous to me at the time.

      Most of you know George and I are blessed with three wonderful children who seem to be moving toward young adulthood rather well.  At least, as we say at our house, “so far so good.”  The jury is still out.

      There was a time when we wondered if we'd ever get here.  Our middle child John, now age 20, was especially challenging to us as young parents.  (I do have John's permission to share this story).  John was a very bright child, but he could not articulate his thoughts well, especially during the preschool years.  As a result, he was often frustrated.  John used actions, rather than words, to communicate his frustration.  We were pretty dedicated to avoiding physical punishment, but I will say John tested my patience in ways even now I find hard to believe!  In my own defense, I will also add that I (not George) spent the lion's share of time with the children when they were small.

      One day when John was about five years old, he and I were locked in yet another battle of the wills.  It was probably not the first time that day.  I was pretty much at my wit’s end.  I cannot for the life of me tell you what it was about, but I remember the confrontation like it was yesterday.  I was chasing after John in the hallway.  I was yelling at him pretty loudly.  I was ‘in his face.’  I was out of control.

      I cornered my son in the hallway and this precious, inarticulate boy, my son, looked me straight in the eye, wagged his finger at me, and very calmly said, "temper, temper."

      He was testing me. He told the truth.  It worked.  It got my attention.  It was a turning point in the way I related to him.  It changed me.

      He tested me, and as a result of this testing, blessings began to pour out in our relationship!

      "Test me.  See what I will do.  Cross this line; see what will happen."

      Anybody ever had a parent say that to you?  I am pretty sure most of you can think of an example of something like this in your own lives.  Parents almost say these kinds of things to discourage prohibited behavior, not to encourage desired behavior.

      "Watch out.  Test me."

      This word from Malachi speaks of God’s invitation to test God.  God is specifically telling us to tithe.  God says, "Test me.  Do this difficult thing; step out in faith, do something challenging for you.  I promise you, good will come of it."

      "Test me, because this will be good for you.  Test me, because I know better than you do.  Test me.  When you do this I will open the floodgates and bless you in ways you cannot even begin to imagine."

      Eugene Peterson's Message translation says,  "I will defend you against marauders, protect your wheat fields and vegetable gardens.  I will pour out a blessing so great, you won't have enough room to take it in!"

      Malachi seems to be saying God promises material abundance when we tithe.  Now, that’s appealing.  But really?  Sounds too good to be true.  If it were true, you might argue, everyone in the church would be tithing, and everyone in the church would be rich.  A win-win.  The only problem with this reasoning is, when you tithe in order to get rich, it rather defeats the whole process of ‘letting go and letting God.”  It rather negates the idea of what tithing should be, declaring God as Lord of your life.  Our motives do matter to God.

      If it's not really tithing = prosperity, then what's being said here?   What does God defend us against?  How does God protect us?

      When we give God our first priority, God protects us against our greatest enemy---ourselves.  God overcomes parts of ourselves which we have so much trouble controlling:  our insatiable appetites, our greed, our self-centeredness.  God gives us courage and strength to face anything that comes after us, anything life throws at us.  We experience the joy of depending on some One who is far greater than ourselves, rather than some THING that's in our wallet.

      And strange as it may seem, when you tithe, it is very possible you may also be materially blessed.  You will certainly learn to be content, and you will be filled with joy.  This is a blessing that is rare in our culture of always striving, always wanting more, of never being satisfied.  It is the gift Paul speaks of in Philippians, when he says,

      “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

      I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.

      I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

      Do we dare learn to be content in all circumstances?  Do we dare learn to be happy even in circumstances of want?  Do we dare tithe?

      Do we dare?