"Get Yo hand Out My POCKET!" by Pastor Aamon R. Miller

01/07/2013 10:43

"Get Yo hand Out My POCKET!"

The year was 1992. I was a Freshman at Illinois State University in Normal, IL. Spike Lee's movie "Malcolm X" debuted at University Theaters on Main Street and EVERY black student on campus skipped whatever classes he/she had to make our way to see this groundbreaking film! In the end, it was everything that I expected AND nothing that I was prepared for: the emotion, the anticipation, the personal challenges.

The funny thing is that some 20 years later, the most memorable quote from the film that has been a mainstay in our community is the line shouted twice by Malcolm X's assassins, the proverbial, "Get Yo hand Out My POCKET!". . . The first time it was said, it foreshadowed what was to come. Then, the next time, it rang out just as loudly as the sound of the bullets that killed the minister at the Audubon Ballroom.

"BRAVO, Preacher! What's the point? I got coffee to drink"!!! . . . My point is that the same line that preceded the death of Malcolm X is the SAME LINE that should precede the death of the CURSE that has been held over the heads of God's people for generations! -- "What Curse?", you say. -- The curse found in Malachi 3:8-12 that says,

8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.

“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’

“In tithes and offerings. 9 YOU ARE UNDER A CURSE — your whole nation — because you are robbing me. 10 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 there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.

Yep, THAT curse! It would take 20 blogs to appropriately debunk this CURSE with all of the scripture references needed to show what a "tithe" REALLY was, how it was applied in the life of the Israelites, and how it does NOT apply to the New Testament Church today. So, I will simply do it this way, with this question: HOW CAN WE BE CURSED IF THERE IS NO CURSE? . . . “What the devil? This preacher has gone mad!” Nope, I have not! Here is evidence in Galatians 3:13-14:

13 Christ REDEEMED us from the CURSE of the law by BECOMING A CURSE for us, for it is written: “CURSED is everyone who is hung on a pole.” 14 He REDEEMED us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the PROMISE of the Spirit.

Do you SEE it??? "Was there a curse?" YES! . . . "Who was cursed?" The entire nation of Israel BECAUSE OF THE ACTIONS OF THE PRIESTS, as they were all under the Covenant of the Law in Deuteronomy 28. . . . "Why were they cursed?" Because the PRIESTS broke the Covenant that they ALL agreed to keep. . . . "Wait, so the PRIESTS messed up, NOT the people?" Affirmative! . . . "So, are WE cursed today for not tithing?" A-B-S-O-L-U-T-E-L-Y NOT! Galatians 3 CLEARLY tells us that CHRIST became the CURSE for us and REDEEMED US (bought us with the price of His Blood) from the CURSE!

You are NOT cursed! I am NOT cursed! WE are NOT cursed! God loves a CHEERFUL giver, NOT someone who gives out of force, fear, pressure, or coercion (2 Corinthians 9:7). I mean, REALLY? You skipping light bills, car notes, and making groceries to keep up the appearance of paying tithes? That is not FAITH. That is FOOLISHNESS! . . . 1 Timothy 5:8 says, "But if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." And INFIDEL is an unbeliever. And those who neglect their OWN homes, while claiming FAITH, are worse than those who have no faith.

My brother & my sister, GIVE cheerfully to bless your church and your community that is served by your church. But, please be RELEASED from the condemnation of a misapplied scripture! Tell that CURSE to "Get Yo hand Out My POCKET!" And be made FREE in the Christ who has redeemed you & me from the curse!

 

-- Pastor ARM