A Generous Life; The Benefits of Generosity - Pastor Jim Miller

Malachi begins with a people who still want the benefits of belonging to God but have gotten lazy about actually following him. God calls them to return, using a word that means radically changing direction. God promises that when his people turn toward him, he turns toward them. God becomes their ally, the one who stands beside them to the end, not somebody trying to wipe them off the board.

God then puts the people on trial. The courtroom question is sharp: “Will a mere mortal rob God?” The people cannot see the theft, so God names it: tithes and offerings. The tithe means the first tenth, given before everything else gets budgeted, because worship was meant to sit at the center of Israel’s life and identity.

Tithing is not presented as a church manipulation scheme or a way to make God happy with a payment. God turns the charge into an invitation: “Test me in this.” The floodgates of heaven picture rain in a farming world, the difference between life and starvation. God promises provision against the world that cannot be controlled, against enemies that devour, and even against the ways people become their own worst enemy.

Trust becomes the real issue beneath money. Money easily becomes God’s leading competitor because it feels safer to trust hard work, productivity, savings, and personal ability. God does not call his people to irresponsibility. God calls them to put the whole thing in his hands and find out that he is good.

Jesus carries the same promise forward in Matthew 6. Jesus tells anxious people not to live consumed by food, clothes, and tomorrow. Jesus says, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,” because the Father knows what his children need. The gift is not merely having enough stuff. The gift is discovering that God is the giver, and that life in his hands is better than life built on fear.

John Wesley’s picture of stewardship gives that trust some practical shape: gain all possible through faithful work, save all possible without waste, and give all possible with generosity. God owns it all, and people manage what belongs to him. God is not playing Risk, trying to conquer and discard people. God is playing truth or dare: the truth is that human beings are not naturally generous, and the dare is to put everything in his hands and see what he does.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. God invites radical return and trust God’s call to return is not a minor adjustment or a religious cleanup project. God asks for a changed direction, a life turned toward him instead of toward self-reliance. God’s promise is equally radical: he will turn toward those who turn toward him and become their faithful ally. [29:34]
• 2. Tithing puts God first, not leftovers The first tenth challenges the instinct to give God whatever remains after every other obligation has been covered. Tithing declares that worship belongs at the center of a person’s life, not at the edge of a budget. The practice exposes where security is really being sought. [34:36]
• 3. God says, “Test me in this” God’s invitation is remarkable because it calls people to trust his character in a concrete place where fear often runs deep. The floodgates of heaven do not promise an easy life or a magic formula for wealth. They reveal a Father who provides, protects, and knows how often people need protection from themselves. [39:54]
• 4. God owns, people faithfully manage Stewardship changes when possessions, income, work, and opportunity are received as God’s resources rather than personal property. John Wesley’s pattern calls for productive work, wise restraint, and openhanded generosity. The owner is always on the side of his managers, so generosity can grow without panic. [49:40]
• 5. Jesus takes worry into his hands Jesus does not shame anxious people for having real needs. Jesus directs fear away from tomorrow’s uncertainty and toward the Father’s care. Seeking God’s kingdom first becomes a way of sleeping at night because life is no longer carried alone.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [25:43] - Why Money Can Feel Manipulative
• [27:42] - Malachi Calls God’s People Back
• [29:34] - God Becomes Their Ally
• [32:50] - The Charge: Robbing God
• [34:08] - The Meaning of the Tithe
• [37:29] - Test God and See His Provision
• [40:26] - Learning to Trust God’s Call
• [43:19] - Making Room for One More
• [45:46] - Jesus Says Seek First the Kingdom
• [47:22] - John Wesley and God’s Ownership
• [48:33] - Gain, Save, and Give All You Can
• [50:03] - Truth or Dare with God
• [51:08] - Putting Everything in Jesus’ Hands

Bible Reading

Malachi 3:7-12
“From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.” [28:45]

Matthew 6:25-34
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” [45:46]

Observation questions

1. In Malachi 3:7–12, what pattern of behavior had marked God’s people, and what did God call them to do differently? [29:20]
2. What charge does God bring against the people, and how do they respond to that charge in the courtroom-like exchange? [33:02]
3. What was the purpose of bringing the first tenth into the storehouse, and what did that practice show about the center of Israel’s life? [34:08]
4. In Matthew 6:25–34, what daily needs and future concerns does Jesus tell his followers not to be consumed by? [45:46]

Interpretation questions

1. Why is the call to return to God more than simply trying harder or cleaning up a few habits? What does a real change of direction look like? [29:26]
2. Why does money so often become a test of trust in God rather than merely a budgeting issue? [27:04]
3. Malachi connects faithful giving with God’s provision and protection. How should Christians understand this promise without treating generosity as a formula for becoming wealthy? [38:44]
4. Jesus connects freedom from worry with putting God’s kingdom first. How might seeking God’s kingdom reshape the way a person thinks about work, savings, needs, and the future? [46:11]

Application questions

1. Where is there a need for a real return to God—a changed direction rather than a small adjustment—in finances, work, relationships, or another part of life? What would one concrete first step look like? [29:34]
2. When financial pressure rises, what is the usual instinct: control more tightly, work more, avoid looking at it, or ask God for wisdom? How could trust in God become visible in that situation? [42:31]
3. Does giving currently come first, intentionally, or only from whatever is left after other expenses? What would it take to begin making generosity a planned part of the budget? [34:36]
4. What is one area where a person may be trying to protect himself or herself through productivity, savings, possessions, or personal ability? What would it mean to place that area in God’s hands? [40:09]
5. John Wesley’s pattern includes faithful work, avoiding waste, and generous giving. Which of those three areas is most challenging right now, and what is one practical change that could be made this week? [48:41]
6. What worries most often interfere with rest or sleep? How can Jesus’ care for daily needs help someone take one next step without carrying tomorrow alone? [50:45]