SERMON TITLE: Return to Me
SCRIPTURE: Malachi 3:6-12 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 11-8-26
Sermon Discussion Guide
Take notes here
As always, it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time or if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.
We’re continuing our series in Malachi this weekend. Our passage is found in chapter three of Malachi. Specifically, verses six through twelve — if you want to turn there in your Bible. We’ll be in Malachi chapter three — beginning in verse six today.
But before we get to our Malachi passage, I want to remind you of a story found earlier in the Old Testament. And this story illustrates what our verses in Malachi want to teach us. The story’s from the life of King David.
I’m sure many of you are familiar with King David, but some of us may not be. David was the second king of Israel. And as a boy, he defeated the giant Goliath. He was the youngest son of his father, Jesse, and he had seven older brothers. But despite being the youngest, God chose David to be king of his people.
David had many admirable virtues. The Bible describes him as a “man after God’s own heart,” but he wasn’t perfect; he was also a sinfully flawed man. And this tension — David being someone who’s both a man after God’s own heart and sinfully flawed — this is the tension I want us to focus on.
For the man who wrote…
Psalm 18:1–3 NLT
1 I love you, Lord; you are my strength. 2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. 3 I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies.
Who also wrote…
Psalm 27:4 NLT
4 The one thing I ask of the Lord — the thing I seek most — is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple.
Who also wrote…
Psalm 63:1–8 NLT
1 O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. 2 I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory. 3 Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you! 4 I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer. 5 You satisfy me more than the richest feast. I will praise you with songs of joy. 6 I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night. 7 Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings. 8 I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely.
I mean, what words of faith! What words of love for God! What words that I hope inspire you to want that kind of relationship with God.
And though I can’t say with certainty whether David wrote these words before the moment I’m about to describe to you, regardless of when he wrote them, we see that he was indeed a man after God’s own heart — David was a man who loved God.
And this same man is the one who, while his army was off fighting on his behalf, saw a woman bathing on a rooftop and sent someone to go get her so he could have sex with her.
The woman was married, by the way, and so was David. She was married to one of David’s most trusted soldiers. And, after their sinful act, she became pregnant. Which, you can imagine, caused quite the panic.
So, to cover up the situation, David called for her husband, Uriah, to come back from the front lines of war. David hoped Uriah would want to spend some special “alone” time with his wife, but that didn’t happen. And when David saw that his plan wasn’t working, and in wanting to keep his sin secret, he sent word to have Uriah placed in battle so that he’d be killed, which is what happened.
And after having her husband murdered on the battlefield, David married Bathsheba. And he thought all was well. His sin was covered up. No one was the wiser.
Until one day, when…
2 Samuel 12:1–13 NLT
1 So the Lord sent Nathan the prophet to tell David this story: “There were two men in a certain town. One was rich, and one was poor. 2 The rich man owned a great many sheep and cattle. 3 The poor man owned nothing but one little lamb he had bought. He raised that little lamb, and it grew up with his children. It ate from the man’s own plate and drank from his cup. He cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter. 4 One day a guest arrived at the home of the rich man. But instead of killing an animal from his own flock or herd, he took the poor man’s lamb and killed it and prepared it for his guest.” 5 David was furious. “As surely as the Lord lives,” he vowed, “any man who would do such a thing deserves to die! 6 He must repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and for having no pity.” 7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! The Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul. 8 I gave you your master’s house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more. 9 Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife. 10 From this time on, your family will live by the sword because you have despised me by taking Uriah’s wife to be your own. 11 “This is what the Lord says: Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view. 12 You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel.” 13 Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan replied, “Yes, but the Lord has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin.”
When Nathan told him the story of the rich and poor man, David could clearly see that the rich man had done wrong. He could see someone else's sin while remaining blind to his own.
And what this story from David’s life illustrates is a question that our passage from Malachi will ask us to wrestle with. And the question is this: What sin have I learned to excuse that God is calling me to repent of and change? What sin have I learned to excuse that God is calling me to repent of and change?
Let’s all make this question personal. Ask yourself, “God, what sin have I learned to excuse that you’re calling me to repent of and change?” And, unless you’re perfect, surely something just came to mind.
Let me show you how this plays out in Malachi. We’re in chapter three — beginning in verse six.
Malachi 3:6–12 ESV
6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7 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?’ 8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10 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. 11 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. 12 Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.
As we wrestle with our question — what sin have I learned to excuse that God wants me to repent of and change — we’re going to be reminded of God’s faithfulness to his people, then we’ll see how he graciously exposes our sin that we’re blind to, and — finally — we’ll see what it means to truly repent. God’s faithfulness, his grace in exposing our sin, and what it means to repent. And yes, because the focus in our verses is financial giving, we’re going to talk about money today. So do whatever you need to do to prepare yourself, because the preacher is going to talk about money.
But let’s begin answering our question — what sin have I learned to excuse that God wants me to repent of and change — by reminding ourselves of God’s faithfulness to an unfaithful people. We’re back in verse six.
Malachi 3:6–7 ESV
6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them.
“I the LORD do not change. And that’s the reason why you, descendants of Jacob, are not consumed.” We looked at this verse last week, and we’re doing so again today, because this verse is a pivot point in our chapter. It explains both what came before it and what comes after. That’s why I decided to include the verse in both last week’s and this week’s sermons.
For when it comes to our question — what sin have I learned to excuse that God wants me to repent of and change — God being immutable — meaning, the truth that God doesn’t change — that he’s the same today as he’s always been and will always be — we need to remember that the reason why unfaithful Israel hasn’t been destroyed is that God’s faithfulness to them hasn’t changed.
But why is he faithful to them? Because they deserve it? Because they’ve earned it? No, and no. God’s faithful to them, despite their unfaithfulness, because being faithful to his people is who God is. His faithfulness, not theirs, explains why the Jews haven’t been consumed.
And notice that this isn’t a one-time slip-up on the part of the Israelites. God says…
Malachi 3:7 ESV
7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them.
The people’s unfaithfulness goes back generations. Their repeated, ongoing disobedience contrasts with God's unchanging, never-ending faithfulness.
So why does that matter to you? Here’s why it should matter. Our hope rests in God's character, not our spiritual performance. Meaning our hope is ultimately based on God’s faithfulness to us, not our faithfulness to him.
Many people think their performance earns their acceptance with God, but they do so while — like David — being blind to the countless ways they “are that man or woman,” to quote Nathan. We’re so used to being judged by what we do that we don’t know how to just be loved by God. But, friends, you’re a human being, not a human doing. So stop trying to do things that’ll win you points with God. And instead, just let him love you. For his love is what will change you.
Think of the apostle Peter. Listen to what Jesus said to Peter.
Luke 22:31–34 NLT
31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. 32 But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.” 33 Peter said, “Lord, I am ready to go to prison with you, and even to die with you.” 34 But Jesus said, “Peter, let me tell you something. Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.”
Jesus tells Peter, “Pete, Satan wants you, but don’t fear. I’ve pleaded in prayer for you so that your faith won’t fail.” And Peter, who at this point still thinks it’s about his spiritual performance instead of Christ’s faithfulness, tries to tell Jesus that he’ll be able to handle whatever comes his way. Only to be told that, “When the going gets tough, Peter, you’re going to be unfaithful.” Which is exactly what happens.
Now, if you can relate to Peter’s failure — if you sit under guilt and shame because you’ve failed to be faithful time and time again — you’ve made countless promises to God about finally getting your act together and are still a mess — if you can relate to any of this — let me remind you that Peter’s story doesn’t end with the rooster crowing. For later, after his resurrection, and…
John 21:15–19 NLT
15 After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.” “Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him. 16 Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.” “Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said. 17 A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep. 18 “I tell you the truth, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked; you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will dress you and take you where you don’t want to go.” 19 Jesus said this to let him know by what kind of death he would glorify God. Then Jesus told him, “Follow me.”
After his repeated failure and unfaithfulness, Jesus restores Peter and commissions him to a work that will require even greater faithfulness on Peter’s part. And Peter will rise to the occasion by depending on Christ’s faithfulness to him, and not his performance.
Some of us need to recognize that our failures and sin are real. There are sins you’ve learned to excuse that God wants you to repent of and change, and start heading in a new direction. But for others among us, you know your failures and sin are real, and what you need to be reminded of is that Christ’s finished work on the cross is sufficient not only to atone, or pay, for your sins, but to forgive you of your sins.
Being convicted of our sin leads to repentance — where we turn away from our sin as we turn to Christ and his faithfulness — which leads to our joy. Condemnation, on the other hand, doesn’t turn us to Christ — it only leads to despair as we feel the weight of our sin without the hope-giving power that’s found in Jesus our Savior.
God doesn’t change. He is and will always be faithful to his people. But his faithfulness doesn’t mean that he overlooks or turns a blind eye to our unfaithfulness. In fact, instead of turning a blind eye to our sin, in love, God confronts it.
Which leads us to how God is gracious to us by exposing our sin. We’re in the last half of verse seven.
Malachi 3:7–9 ESV
7 Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ 8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.
Here God calls the people to return to him. And he makes a promise to them: If you return to me, I will return to you. Now remember, God’s remained faithful to them because he doesn’t change. But his faithfulness has always included both blessings and curses. And this may be a new idea for some of us, but God is just as faithful when he blesses as when he curses. He’s just as faithful in forgiving those who repent of their sins as he is in judging the unrepentant.
Blessing and curse, forgiveness and judgment — these are all proof of God’s never-changing faithfulness. Yet we tend to interpret God’s faithfulness to us based solely on whether we’re experiencing blessings and forgiveness. And when we experience just consequences for sins that God wants us to repent of and change, we tend to question his faithfulness.
“Return to me, and I will return to you,” God tells them. And how do they respond? They do what they’ve been doing this whole book. They question him: “How shall we return?”
I like how the New Living Translation expresses their response.
Malachi 3:7 NLT
7 How can we return when we have never gone away?
Friends, this is spiritual blindness. This is them failing to recognize that they’ve disobeyed God and have sinned against him. But since they ask, God tells them exactly how they’ve gone away from him.
“Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me.”
“You want to know how you’ve gone away both from me and from being faithful? OK. Let’s talk about your giving.”
To which the people reply, “How have we robbed you?”
And, again, I just want you to see what spiritual blindness does to us. They know they’re not tithing. We know this because of something found in another Old Testament book. Nehemiah, a man who stepped into leadership as the people returned to their homeland, recorded this scene.
Nehemiah 13:10–12 NLT
10 I also discovered that the Levites had not been given their prescribed portions of food, so they and the singers who were to conduct the worship services had all returned to work their fields. 11 I immediately confronted the leaders and demanded, “Why has the Temple of God been neglected?” Then I called all the Levites back again and restored them to their proper duties. 12 And once more all the people of Judah began bringing their tithes of grain, new wine, and olive oil to the Temple storerooms.
This happened around the same time Malachi is speaking on God’s behalf. But Nehemiah shows us evidence that the people weren’t tithing. This meant the people God had appointed to lead the nation in worship had to work in the fields because the people weren’t supporting them as God commanded. This resulted in the Temple — the place of worship — being neglected because those who were supposed to care for it had to go out and make a living since they weren’t being provided for as God had commanded his people to provide for them — through their tithes.
My point is this: The people Malachi confronts had become comfortable with behavior God had called sinful. They’d become so comfortable with it that they’d normalized it and had become blind to their disobedience and sin. And their particular sin involved robbing God by not tithing.
God, what sin have I learned to excuse, that you’re calling me to repent of and change? What sin am I blind to — what sin have I normalized — what command of yours am I ignoring — that you want me to repent of — to turn away from sin — as I turn to you in faith and obedience?
Where do we find the answer to our question? Is it from a vibe we get — where if something feels good, it’s gotta be something God approves? Do we find the answer from politicians, celebrities, or some influencer? Where do we find the answer?
God’s Word.
When you read God’s Word, which I hope you do, and do so regularly — and if you don’t know where to begin, please stop by the Resource Center at your campus and pick up a copy of my booklet titled How to Make the Most of Your Devotional Time — it’ll help you get started. But when you read the Bible, do you read it as a mirror or as a window?
When we read the Bible as a window, we read it and think of all of the people who aren’t doing what it says. Meaning that, as we read it, we’re seeing everyone else’s blind spots.
But when you read the Bible as a mirror, you read it, but you’re really letting the Bible read you.
When you open the Bible, are you looking for what's wrong with other people, or are you letting God expose what needs to change in you?
Now, the specific example God uses against the Israelites is their lack of giving. But don’t worry, I’m not going to turn this into a lengthy sermon about giving money to the church — though some of us may need to consider whether your lack of giving to the church is the sin you’ve learned to excuse that God’s calling you to repent of and change. But I’m not turning this into a sermon on giving, because you’re already a generous church.
Financial predictions are always hard to measure. The economy’s been doing well in some ways and, in others, has strained American households. Despite all of that, we’re still on pace to make our budget this year — though our margin is the smallest it’s been in over five years. But thank you for your generosity. We’re able to lead our denomination in global missions and raising up the next generation of pastors and church leaders — through our residency and internship — because of your faithful giving.
So our problem, corporately, isn’t exactly what the Israelites' problem was. But let’s not believe that faithfulness in one area eliminates the need for repentance in other areas. And this is true for us both corporately and individually.
Here’s another question for you to ask: Where have I stopped asking what God commands of me and, instead, have started collecting reasons why I don’t have to obey him?
Maybe how you reacted to some of the examples I gave is a good place to start. Or if me briefly talking about giving to the church amped you up — Did he say that not giving to the church is a sin? — maybe God wants to talk to you about that.
But here’s the good news. God doesn’t leave us in our sin. In fact, identifying our sin isn’t the end. God calls us to return to him through genuine repentance. We see this in verse ten.
Malachi 3:10–12 ESV
10 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. 11 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. 12 Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.
Here’s what I want you to take from these verses: Returning to God, through repentance, requires change. God doesn’t tell them to just feel bad about not tithing. No, he tells them to start tithing again. You see, repentance isn’t just saying, “I’m sorry.” It includes being sorrowful, but you can be sorrowful without changing your behavior — and that’s not repentance. Repentance involves more than just acknowledging that you’ve done wrong. True repentance is turning away from your sin as you turn to Christ. And turning away from sin while turning to Christ will always result in changed behavior.
So to our question: God, what sin have I learned to excuse that you’re calling me to repent of and change? We now add, “And what step of obedience are you telling me to take?”
And now we’re ready to understand the promise God gave the Israelites when he told them to put him to the test — where he tells them that if they returned to him, he’d open the windows of heaven and pour down blessings upon them.
These verses have been used to promote an ungodly idea that our obedience earns God’s material blessing. We won’t get this right unless we remember that Israel had a special relationship with God, including the promise of a fruitful land. Their relationship with him also included consequences for the land if they were unfaithful. And that’s what they were experiencing: some sort of devourer was destroying their crops.
But for us who follow Jesus today, our promised blessings are different than the promises given to the nation of Israel. Some of our experiences do depend on our faithfulness. For example, no matter what the temptation of sin promises you, God’s Word tells us our joy will always be full and complete when we resist and flee from sin and temptation—not when we give in to it. So, like the Israelites, we can experience real and devastating consequences because of our sin. Yet other promises are secure regardless of what we do. And when we really grasp the wonderfulness of these promises as gifts to us —not performance-based, just free gifts —then our desire to repent of our sin and turn to Christ in faith and obedience increases, because it’s fueled by grace.
Promises like…
King David, a man after God’s own heart, needed Nathan to bring to his attention sin in his life that he’d excused away. And after being confronted, David repented of his sin and was a changed man.
The question I’ve been having us all ask over and over today has been: God, what sin have I learned to excuse that you’re calling me to repent of and change? And my hope is that God has used me and this sermon to be a Nathan in your life.
Remember: God's faithfulness is greater than your unfaithfulness. And because he’s always faithful to us, we can recognize and repent of our sin, as we return to him through faith in Christ. Let’s pray.
Our Father in Heaven, having heard your word to us today, we now join David and say…
1 O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you…3 Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you! 4 I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer. 5 You satisfy me more than the richest feast. I will praise you with songs of joy…7 Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings. 8 I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely.
Spirit, help us to cling tightly in faith as we trust that it’s your grip on us that is our security.
And, Jesus, none of this good news is deserved. None of us have earned it. But we thank you that you earned for us the privilege of all of these wonderful promises being ours. What love you have for us. Thank you for your love. In your name we pray. Amen.
May it be your joy to turn from sin and return to your always forgiving and gracious God. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
Stories, news, and resources for things happening at Gateway Church.
%20(1).png)
