Malachi 3: 6-12
3:6 “Since, I, the Lord, do not go back on my promises,
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you, sons of Jacob, have not perished. 3:7 From the days of your ancestors
you have ignored
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my commandments
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and have not kept them! Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the
Lord who rules over all. “But you say, ‘How should we return?’ 3:8 Can a
person rob
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God? You indeed are robbing me, but you say, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In
tithes and contributions!
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3:9 You are bound for judgment
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because you are robbing me – this whole nation is guilty.
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3:10 “Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse
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so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter,” says the
Lord who rules over all, “to see if I will not open for you the windows of
heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all.
3:11 Then I will stop the plague
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from ruining your crops,
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and the vine will not lose its fruit before harvest,” says the Lord who
rules over all. 3:12 “All nations will call you happy, for you indeed will
live in
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a delightful land,” says the Lord who rules over all. |
Dear Brothers and
Sisters of the Miami Presbytery,
 This
past August, I had the opportunity with my family to meet with John and
Paula Ewers of Dayton’s College Hill Community Presbyterian Church who are
serving as PCUSA mission co-workers in Colombia. They invited us to their
home, a manse next to the Fifth Presbyterian Church of Barranquilla.
Though small, it was neat as a pin and comfortable. We began to speak
about their time there, their work with Colombia’s displaced persons,
their leadership in the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship’s Accompaniment
Program and the like. John then asked how things were going in Miami
Presbytery, with my new term as Moderator and
particularly
with the new Design.
Because of staff cuts that were
made, committee
sunsetting that took place and budget balancing that was done, our
conversation inevitably turned toward resources, both human and
financial. Suddenly, John got up, left the room and brought in his
Bible. He turned to the Malachi passage above and read it and then he
said, “Do you know this is the only place in the Bible where God
challenges us to test Him?”
We went on to talk about other things and never returned to this
conversation again in the remaining days that we were there. But the
conversation really stuck with me.
Today we live in a culture that places great demands on our personal
resources, our time, our talents and our money. We live in great
abundance yet because our priorities become so divided, we never seem to
have enough. Have we really considered God’s steadfastness and the
abundance with which He responds when we give with the generosity that He
requires of us?
Your Presbytery Council has designated a 2007-2008 church year theme in
Miami Presbytery: “Toward a Spirit of Generosity.” Council will be
discussing and establishing specific goals and initiatives for
demonstrating this spirit within the life of the Presbytery and
communicating those to you in the coming weeks. In the meantime let us
use this new day to renew our faithfulness just as the people of Israel
were called by God through Malachi to do. Let us test God by reordering
our service priorities to offer our time and talents by being open to the
purposes God calls us to. Let us test God by joining in Networks with
others to serve in mission. Let us test God by connecting with our
Neighbors to do ministry together that we cannot do as effectively on our
own. Let us test God by giving more generously to the Mission of the
Church, locally (congregations), regionally (presbytery and synod) and
nationally (General Assembly). Let us be faithful to God’s demands and
experience the abundance that He promises us when we do so.
In Christ,
Tom Milligan,
Moderator
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