Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,?
says the LORD Almighty, ?and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much
blessing that you will not have room enough for it. Malachi 3:10

You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; ...But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. Hebrews 12:18,22

Donald Drusky of Syracuse New York took God to court. The one-time employee of USX Corporation blamed God for failing to rectify the wrong done to him when he was fired in 1968. Drusky waged a 30-year battle with the steelmaker, before deciding to take legal action against God. The suit reads:

The defendant, God, is the sovereign ruler of the universe and took no corrective action against the leaders of his church and his nation for their extremely serious wrongs, which ruined the life of Donald S. Drusky.

For damages, Drusky asked for the return of his youth, the skill of a great guitarist, and the resurrections of his mother and pet pigeon. Drusky hoped that God would fail to appear in court, allowing him to win the case by default.¹

Drusky?s case was declared frivolous and thrown out by a Syracuse court, but I imagine he made a bit of money on the late-night talk-TV circuit.

Some folks quicky turn to blame God when life hands them disappointment, but thinking we can turn the tables on God is even too much for a court-room.
We forget that God is the law-giver and the judge of all the world.
If He were just our judge, and nothing more, then humanity might be understood if we spent our time thinking of ways to outwit our creator, as futile as that would be.

But God is not just creator, though that is enough to hold us accountable for all the law and commands we have been given. God is creator, and redeemer. He has created us and has purchased our freedom from our failures by the price of His own son.

Today I want to look at how we position ourselves in relation to the Old Testament requirement of tithing, especially in light of the fact that we do not live under law, but under grace.

I want to start in the book of Malachi, the last of the Old Testament prophets, sometime in the mid 400's B.C.
They have returned to Judah from Babylon. The work of Nehemiah is long completed. Jerusalem and the temple are reconstructed, but there is total apathy in Judah. Few, including the priests themselves seem to have much regard for God. In much the same spirit as Mr. Drusky, the attitude is ho-hum, what have you done for me lately, God?

They are saying, "Obey God?...what for? God doesn't care one way or the other. It's really much too tedious."
And so God sends along this fellow, Malachi. We know virtually nothing about him. We are not sure his real name is Malachi, which means, "my messenger".
But what he says is clear and to the point. He says to them, you have been wearying ME with your half-hearted obedience. He reminds them that is is He, the Lord who has looked after them and cared for them, not the other way around.

He offers them a challenge if they think He is really uninterested in their lives. He says:

The Old Testament standard for giving to God was the tithe, or tenth. In actuality, it was the FIRST tenth, not what was left over. He tells them, "you think I don't care and that any half-hearted attempt is good enough. It's not, but check it out and see if I don't make good on my word. Make your offering an honest tithe and see if I don't respond to you in overwhelming ways. Try it and see."

In a sermon on giving, Dave Ferguson, pastor of Community Christian Church in Naperville, Illinois, read this letter from Jeff and Julie, who attend the church:

Julie and I started attending Community Christian Church in January 1993, after moving here from California.

We moved here for a business opportunity that ended up not working out, and we soon found ourselves in a desperate financial situation. We were behind in our rent and our car payments. We had back-IRS payments, 16 credit cards with more than $40,000 in debt, and not enough food in the fridge to keep our tummies full. And on top of all that, we decided to start a business.

Well, in the middle of this, Jon had challenged us to include our finances in our commitment to following Jesus, and I really struggled with this. It wasn't that I didn't want to support CCC or set an example for others to follow. It was, in fact, that on occasion Julie and I were so broke that we ended up going to a friend's restaurant to ask for free food. I thought, If I'm struggling to keep my family, how can I commit what I don't have to God? What am I supposed to do; just write a check for ten percent of my income and hope that something happens? Jon urged me to trust God and give it a shot.

After prayer and discussion, we decided that God would get the first portion of every check and not just what we were willing to give up each week. We learned to make God the first priority in our lives, and we had no idea how we'd get by.

During the week after this decision, my brother and I were dropping off flyers at a construction site looking for work. We'd started a carpentry company. We met a builder, and he asked if we would be interested in doing their work. He had a house that was ready for us to start immediately and about twenty more to do during the next twelve months.

Julie and I no longer questioned how we'd honor our financial commitment. Julie and I decided to increase our giving.

If our story ended there, it would be a good story. However, you cannot outgive God. Over the next couple of years through a complicated and divinely orchestrated series of events, Julie and I also went from renters to homeowners. Owning a home has given us the ability to restructure our debt and give us some security and stability. I felt the need to tell our story. The story is much, much more than about finances. It's about faith, stepping out and trusting God with all that we have?our lives, our future, our relationship, and even our finances.

Now as I reflect on this story and what we experienced, I'm still trying to answer one question. What was it that we sacrificed?^2.