Malachi 3:16-4:6 "Prepare for the Coming"

I want to begin today by reiterating something that I only briefly mentioned towards the end of our time together last Sunday.  Last week, I told you that I realized that over the past few weeks that I had made a lot of comparisons between Israel and Christians today, people just like us.  I also acknowledged that the past few sermons might have come across as somewhat condemning or admonishing.  They may have seemed a little harsh to some.  Now, the same as last Sunday, I want to clarify that I’m simply stating that I realize it, not that I am apologizing in any way.  You see, the words that Malachi gave to Israel were very much needed at that point in their history.  They had drifted away from God’s commands and they needed to be brought back to reality.  The words of Malachi and the reminder (so-to-speak) of the priority in which we are to give to God and God alone are very much needed today as well.  It’s not necessarily a bad thing for us to hear sermons, read articles, sing songs, or listen to speeches that point out our failures instead of just pointing to the things that we do well.  Not only do we learn from seeing our flaws, but it makes us appreciate the good things that we enjoy in spite of or despite our flaws.  Hearing how far I have fallen makes me appreciate even more the grace that God has shown me in his calling of my to be his child.

However, Malachi’s words beginning in 3:16 have a much different feel to them than all of what he has said up to this point.  After laying out critical abuses of inadequate offerings, living immoral lives, improper priorities, lackluster commitment, and the judgment and condemnation that accompanies these offences, Malachi begins to speak of those who fear the Lord and are actually faithful to him.  He calls those who have been faithful to him and who have kept him as their main priority by a very special name.  He calls them his “treasured possession.”  This title, which was first used of God’s people back in Exodus chapter 19, connects both the covenant between God and Israel at the time of his giving the Law to Moses at Mount Saini and the covenant as it exists in its current context, just prior to the coming of the Messiah.  You see, God’s not making things up as he goes along, this is part of the plan that he has had since before the foundation of the earth.  God’s covenant with his chosen people is not a series of covenants, but one continuous relationship and covenant that has found greater and greater fulfillment as time has passed.  The words of comfort here for his people are a reassurance of sorts that yes, things are bad at that time from a spiritual health perspective, but those who are faithful to God are to continue in their efforts.  These words carry with them great meaning for us today as well.  We’ve said numerous times that we live in a world that seems to by the second become more and more separated from God.  However, as Christians, those called by God as his children, our responsibility is to not be transformed by the world.  We are to be in the world, not of the world.

Beginning next Sunday and running all the way through our Christmas Eve service, we will observe what is known as the season of Advent.  Now, Advent season looks different in almost every Christian denomination, and every church for that matter.  However, the title of Advent means the same regardless of what direction you approach it from.  The word advent comes from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming.”  You see, Advent is simply a time in which we remember, honor, rejoice over, and thank God for the coming that was about to happen at the time of Malachi (relatively speaking) and the coming that we call Christmas.  We celebrate the coming of the Messiah to earth.  We celebrate the coming of the King of kings, Lord of lords, and Prince of Peace.  We celebrate the coming of the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ.  We celebrate God himself becoming man, humbling himself, taking the form of a servant, living the life-to-perfection, and dying for our sins upon the cross.

Through Malachi, God tells Israel that this day is coming.  He tells them that the day of the Lord is coming.  Now, there are some that take “day” mentioned here as the final day of judgment.  While I do acknowledge that it is not uncommon for a reference to “the day” to be that of the Day of Judgment, I don’t think that is the case here in Malachi.  I find myself in agreement with John Calvin, who interprets the “day” mentioned in Malachi 4 to be the day of Christ’s first coming into the world.  I want you to take a second and notice the difference in the reactions pointed out by Malachi between those who have God as their priority and those who don’t.  Our text refers to them as those who serve God and those who don’t, as well as the righteous and the wicked.  For the righteous, those who serve God, the coming of Christ will be like a healing warmth.  It will be something that gives us new life and causes us to feel as if there is no limit to what we can do.  It will cause us to have that feeling that you get after walking out of a cold room into the warming sun.  However, for the wicked, the warmth is a burn.  We’re told in our text that it will be like an oven.  The light that is coming into the world is magnified to where instead of simply providing warmth, it causes pain and destruction.  For the Christian, those who truly place God as their priority, the coming of Christ, the closeness of God, and a deepening relationship with Him are not things to be feared (at least in the anxious sense), but things to be welcomed and embraced; it’s like the notion of death.  Sure, when we lose someone it hurts, but not for that person.  For that person, it is a joyous time of going to the Father.  Well, for the ones who do not worship God, it’s just the end.  There’s nothing joyous about it.  For the non-Christian, death is something to be fear and not a joyous occasion to celebrate a person’s uniting with Christ in heaven.

The final words of God spoken through the prophet Malachi prior to the coming 400 years of silence are a bit of reminiscence.  We find mentions of two men, Moses and Elijah, who were prominent figures in the Old Testament.  Moses is largely considered to be the greatest mediator not named Jesus between God and his people.  Elijah was one of, if not the, greatest prophet who ever lived.  He’s probably best known for his being used by God to defeat the prophets of Baal, leaving those who worshiped false gods to acknowledge the greatness of Elijah’s God.  Well, as we mentioned earlier, there is one who is coming who is a greater mediator than Moses, a greater, prophet than Elijah, a greater king than David, and a greater priest than Levi.  Jesus Christ, was soon to enter into the world, and things literally would never be the same again.  Now, we live on this side of Jesus.  We live after knowing what Jesus did and what he ultimately would accomplish.  Knowing all of this, how could we ever allow ourselves to mirror Israel during Malachi’s time?  How could we know what we know about the magnitude of what God was soon to do and yet find ourselves struggling with the same things that Israel did prior to Christ’s coming?  If we mirror Israel and yet we actually know what Christ has already done, doesn’t that make our sin so much worse?  Well, I’m not going to get into a discussion about the hierarchy or levels of sin, but I want us to see the severity of the issue that not placing God as our priority creates.  I want us to realize that when we don’t have God as our central focus, then everything else isn’t as it should be either.  For the people of Israel, Jesus was soon to come into the world and put things into their proper focus.  As we prepare for this holiday season, don’t let our celebration of Christ’s coming into the world be the very thing that causes you to lose focus.  Friends, we are blessed with so many great and wonderful things in this life.  However, it is only when we have God in the right place in our hearts, minds, and priorities, that we can enjoy everything else as we ought to and not become overwhelmed by the world around us.  We have to continue to look to God first and as the primary focus in our lives.  Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Malachi 2:17-3:15 "Who's Is It, Really?"

                Now, as we begin today, I want to remind all of you what we have said about the chronology of Malachi’s prophesying in Jerusalem.  Remember that after the book of Malachi ends, then there is a period of some 400 years of prophetic silence from God, ending with John the Baptist.  So, in essence, Malachi is setting the stage for John the Baptist, who in turn sets the stage for Jesus himself.  Now, over the past two Sundays, we’ve looked at how the priests and the people of Israel had so corrupted the spiritual situation there that things were pretty much in complete chaos.  There were offerings and sacrifices that weren’t anywhere near what they ought to be.  There was a welcoming of pagan peoples into the families of Israel.  There was unmerited divorce, which in no way fit the model for divorce that God had given to Israel through Moses (yes, God did allow for divorce in certain cases).  There was a general sense of whatever anyone wanted to do, they did.  Not only, were these types of things taking place, but seemingly everyone was taking part in them.  Not only was everyone taking part in them, but they were getting positive reinforcement from the priests about their behavior.  The people of Israel had so drifted from God that they didn’t even have a clue that the way that they were living their lives was completely the opposite of how God had actually commanded them to live.  They took God’s silence as an indication that they were living as they ought to.  As long as they weren’t being told specifically that they were wrong, they just assumed they were right.  Kind of sounds a bit too familiar doesn’t it.

Now, we’re told in our text that they said, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.”  And they even asked the question “Where is the God of justice?”  Well, God answered their questioning; he answered it in a mighty way that would set the stage for what was to come in about 400 years.  He tells them that he will send his messenger that will prepare the way for him.  Notice that he doesn’t say that he’s sending someone to prepare the way for someone else, but that his messenger was coming to prepare the way for him.  The one who was ultimately to come wasn’t a prophet like Malachi or an angel or any other messenger, but God Himself.  We know from our viewpoint that he’s talking about Jesus, but think for a second how this statement ought to have scared the pants off of Israel.  God was this being who no one could see his face or even say or write his name, and now he’s telling the people that he is coming near them.

Now, God doesn’t just say that he’s coming and everything will be rainbows and sunshine.  No, God, through Malachi, told the people of Israel that when he came that there was going to be a time of cleansing that would not be easy by any means.  The language used here in verses 2 and 3 is that of the process of refining metals.  Now, I’m sure that there are some of you who know the steps to this process, but just in case there are those who don’t know, let me walk you through a rough outline of the process.  First, the raw materials are heated until they melt.  The impurities in the metal separate and rise to the top of the now boiling liquid.  As they rise to the top, they are skimmed off and removed.  Once the impurities are removed, then the remaining liquid can be cooled back down and what you are left with is a pure metal.  The most important step to achieving a pure substance is the removing of impurities.  What distinguishes the quality of metals is how much of the impurities the refiners are able to remove.  It’s a harsh process, but one that must be done.  Well, the coming of God was going to be harsh, but it must be done.  The days of everyone walking around doing whatever they wanted and feeling like they were in right standing with God are to end.  The days of living like Israel while still claiming to be part of God’s people are ending.  God says specifically here that he will judge the sorcerers, adulterers, liars, and the oppressors of the poor, widowed, and orphaned.  God says that those who live lives that are outside of his will, lives in which there is no fear of the Lord, will know quickly that He has come.  The same stands true today.  When someone lives a life that is outside of God’s will and then God finally reveals Himself to them, they know in an instant that they are guilty.  Although, I do fear that there is a growing number of Christians who live doing whatever they want, and yet they are oblivious to God’s commands for their lives.

However, there is a hopeful promise made in the midst of these words.  God reminds us that He doesn’t change and that His promises that He has made with Israel’s fathers, our fathers, do not change either.  Now, we need to take great comfort in the fact that neither God, nor His promises, will ever change.  However, we have to be very quick to realize that it comes with some pointed news as well.  There are many Christians out there today, good, Bible-believing folks, who want to live according to God.  They want to live like the folks that are set before them in Scripture as examples to follow.  These folks just want to live right lives.  However, there’s something missing.    When these folks come across biblical passages about sacrifices, jubilee years, Sabbaths, and other festivals, they quickly gloss over them and say that things are different now.  Well, true, they may be different in terms of the exact objects or actions, but the substance or essence is still there.  We have to be very careful of “modernizing” Scripture and giving it a completely new meaning.  Remember, Scripture is just as applicable today as it has ever been, and it doesn’t need me or you to make it fit in today’s world.  No, it may not tell me what shows my kids are alright to watch, but it does lay out the guidelines for how I am to raise my children.  Bridging the gap between instruction and practice is my job as their father and Amy’s job as their mother, but Scripture doesn’t need to change one bit for this to be accomplished.

You see, even at this time, Israel was a very different people than they were during the time of Moses.  When they left Egypt, they had nothing and virtually all that they had, they had to rely upon God to give them.  Time had passed and their reliance upon God seemed to diminish.  Now, we know that their reliance upon Him hadn’t changed (seeing as He is the source of all that is good), but the people of Israel felt more self-sufficient.  I think that we can very easily relate to the feeling and sentiment in which Israel displays.  We, like Israel, think that the things that we enjoy are ours.  That somehow we actually own all that is in our lives.  You know; “I paid for it,” “It was given to me,” or “I found it.”  Somehow we think that everything that we claim ownership of actually belongs to us.  We quickly forget that God has given us, out of His own free will and not because of anything especially good within us, everything that we have.

As Israel was withholding their firstfruits from God, He reminded them of how they were robbing Him.  The Israelites were confused.  After all, it wasn’t as if anyone was stealing from the temple, and we’ve already said that everyone thought everything was fine since God didn’t reprimand them.  Well, robbing God has many different forms.  You don’t have to steal something in order to rob someone.  If you pay your bills each month, yet the power or the water never gets turned on, then you would say that you’re being robbed.  Well, remembering that everything that we have comes from God and that He commands that we give back to him (and we’re told in verse 10 that that is a whole tithe), we begin to see that not giving God what He commands is the same as taking something from Him.  Well, when we, like Israel, don’t give to God what is rightfully His, then we are robbing from Him.  Not giving what He is “owed” is the equivalent of stealing from God.

Throughout the last few weeks, we’ve made a point of emphasizing that we have to give to God out of our best, and not just what’s left over after the world has had its way with us.  Now, I know that the past few Sundays have maybe come off a little harsh and a bit preachy, but isn’t that what I’m supposed to be doing.  I’m not apologizing for it, but I am letting you know that I am aware of it.  However, we have to, from time-to-time, be hit with the cold hard truth in order to evaluate ourselves properly.  A business that never has a deficit is less likely to examine their practices than a business that seems to always be in the red.  Well, we are always in the red when it comes to keeping in line with God’s will, but we like to think that we’re in the black.  Sometimes we need the wakeup calls and harsh criticisms like Israel got from Malachi.  Sometimes we have to be confronted with the sins in our lives in order to recognize them.  God is beginning the process of refining his people for the coming of the Son.  He’s beginning to re-instill in them the fact that He should be the number one priority in their lives.  For them, that has to begin with giving to Him properly and stopping their robbing of God.  They have to be more concerned with living in accordance with God’s will than doing what they want to do.  And the same holds true for us today.  God is already at work in us today.  The process of shaping us in the image of Christ and making us holy (a process called sanctification) is already underway.  The question that I think we need to ask ourselves at this time (a time right before we remember and celebrate the coming of our Lord) is:  where is my priority?  During the holiday season that is soon to be underway, is my priority on seeing my family, ending the business year strongly, getting all the right gifts, etc., or is it on God?  Is my priority on celebrating the fact that God himself came to earth, taking the form of a servant, only to live a life of complete obedience to the Father and offer himself up as a sacrifice for my sins.  Friends, let the time that we have remaining before the “holiday rush” attacks us be a time in which we put priorities into their proper focus.  Let this be a time in which we remember that God and God alone ought to be our primary goal, our chief end.  Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Malachi 2:1-16 "Witness Through Works"

                As we continue our very quick look at the book of Malachi, I want to remind you of where we ended things last Sunday.  You see, the majority of the first two chapters of this book is really just one long list of condemnations of both the priests and the people of Jerusalem.  We looked last week at the first fourteen verses and what we ultimately took away from them was that Israel showed great apathy towards God.  They gave to Him the things that they either didn’t care for or didn’t want instead of giving their firstfruits and their best.  We talked about how we have to be very careful ourselves of falling into the trap of allowing the world to dictate our faith.  We have to take steps or measures to make sure that we are giving to God out of our best and our first and not just what is left over after we have given to all the other areas of our lives.

                As we begin looking at chapter two of Malachi, we find a very stern and harsh condemnation of the priests in Jerusalem.  God, speaking through Malachi, tells the priests that not only will He curse them, but that He has already done so.  They were not only failing to honor God, but they were going even further and actually dishonoring Him.  It was one thing for the people to bring the lame animals to sacrifice, but the priests accepting such sacrifices was taking things to an entirely different level.  When I let my kids dress themselves, there is usually some assortment of rubber boots, capes, or mismatched clothes involved.  For them to pick out such clothes is one thing, but for me to throw them in the car are go to school dressed like that is a whole different matter.  Now, that’s not an exact comparison, but you get the picture.  When a person of authority, in this case the priests, allows those under their supervision to get away with lackluster efforts and practices, then the person of authority is at fault even more so than those under his/her supervision.  The priests no longer resemble their ancestor Levi, this obviously referring to how God set apart the tribe of Levi as God’s priests.  The priests no longer resemble the ones who have been entrusted with the task of caring for and keeping pure and holy the places and practices of worship and sacrifice.  Now, I’m not taking any of the blame away from the people of Israel, but it’s pretty easy to see that the corruption and apathy of the priests didn’t help the situation as it pertained to the devotion and commitment of the people to God.  The priests acted in a manner which enabled the people of Israel to continue in their apathy and corruption, which in turn led to a worsening of the spiritual condition of Israel.

                One of the responsibilities that I have to have as a pastor and as the shepherd of this flock, this congregation, is that I have to be willing to make the unpopular statement or to call someone to the carpet when it is necessary or required.  If I’m not willing to do so, then things would begin to degrade within both the church and the lives of my people, and over time there would become a real faith issue within both the church and the people.  Imagine if a pastor found out about some adulterous affair between members of his church and he did and said nothing about it (and I’m not talking about making a scene here).  Well, eventually those types of things spread to either worse behaviors, or to more people.  Well, that’s exactly what happened with Israel.  I’m sure it started out with only a few people bringing a less-than-worthy sacrifice, but they were not admonished as they ought to have been.  Instead of rejecting their offerings as less than adequate, the priests accepted them.  The priests were so lax in their responsibilities that they allow such behavior to continue and over time increase.  The priests allowed all of Israel’s faiths to degrade instead of nurturing them to a healthy status like they ought to have done.  Now, remember, I’m not absolving the people of any wrongdoing, but I’m simply pointing out that the behavior of the priests didn’t help matters.

                After spending a good deal of time on the priests, Malachi turns his attention to the people of Jerusalem in general.  Have we not all one Father?  Has not one God created us?  Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?  It’s not like many of us today go around openly saying that we either dislike God or that we have chosen other things to place above Him.  It’s rare, almost unheard of even, for someone to list their priorities and say something like:  family, friends, job, vacations, and then somewhere down in the low teens list God.  You would never find someone, at least a Christian, who would say this.  When asked, we all give the priorities in the form of the 3 F’s:  Faith, family, and friends, and usually we say it in that order.  However, what order do our actions place our priorities in?  Remember, we said last Sunday that saying that we are going to do something and actually doing it are two totally different things.  Saying that we believe something and actually believing it are different as well.

                In our text today, the men of Israel were taking pagan wives, divorce was running rampant for no reason, and people were pretty much doing whatever they wanted to without any recourse.  What’s even more unsettling is that fact that in verse 13 it seems as if the people of Israel don’t really know why God would be unhappy with their sacrifices.  The fact that they were living immoral lives and inadequately worshipping God was completely lost on them.  Once again, I often fear that our modern state of things mirrors that of Israel during Malachi’s time.  We love God.  I don’t think that there is a person here today that would disagree with that statement.  However, I do fear that our actions, much like that of Israel, would indicate that maybe our commitment isn’t what it ought to be. 

                We all want to please God and we want to do our best in terms of living out our faith, but we allow so many other things to get in the way.  We allow other things in our lives to take precedence and priority over our relationship with Him.  However, we’re very quick to turn to God in times of trouble and to ask why we are being punished.  Now, let me clear one thing up, I’m not saying that our hardships and struggles come about as punishment for things that we have done or not done.  What I’m saying is that we wonder why we aren’t rewarded like we think we ought to be.  Well, Israel was in that same boat.  They wondered why their less than acceptable lives and offerings were not well received by God.  Like many Christians today, they just assumed that the point was that they were giving something to God and that as long as they were doing that then everything was okay.

                Imagine if you will, a man or woman or family that regularly attend church.  Let’s say that that family has been very fortunate in terms of their prosperity; they want for nothing really.  This person or family gives to the church in terms of donations and volunteering every so often.  However, their giving is in no way proportionate to what they have and their volunteering is really more self-serving than that of serving others.  Let’s say that their lives outside of church reflect in no way a close personal relationship with the Lord.  We often see people like this portrayed on TV and in movies.  For example, it’s not uncommon for career criminals to be involved in church and everyone knows what they do, but their faith changes nothing of their lives outside of worship.  Do we really think that this type of person is offering up a pleasing sacrifice to God?  Now, we have to remember that in terms of our sacrificing to God, Jesus Christ has already been offered up as our once-for-all sacrifice; a fact that I am very thankful for because none of us are even remotely capable of offering up a sacrifice that is completely worthy of God.  However, that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try or that it doesn’t matter what we do since our sacrifice has already been made.

                We know that we live on this side of Christ.  We know that we live on this side of the cross and the resurrection, but our failures are just as glaring as those of Israel during the time of Malachi.  Malachi points out much of Israel’s failures by talking about their breaking of the covenant of marriage.  However, we don’t want to limit this condemnation strictly to marriage, although we cannot dismiss it from applying to marriage either.  What Malachi is doing here is pointing to one of the many ways in which the people of Israel have defiled the ordinances, statutes, and commands of God.  He’s pointing to one of the ways in which we corrupt a gift and blessing that God has given us today.

                The bottom line of all of this for us today is that our lives are our offerings to God.  We are to present ourselves as a living sacrifice to God.  What that looks like, is both the devotion and commitment to strengthening that relationship that we talked about last Sunday, and our keeping of His statutes in our daily lives as well.  I’ve said numerous times from this very pulpit that the greatest witness that we have to those around us is the way in which we live our lives and conduct ourselves as God’s children.  Our lives are also the greatest gift that we have to offer up to God’s service.  If we take the basic principle of God giving to us and our returning a portion of it back to Him, then it makes complete sense in terms of our living.  God has given us life.  Each of us has had thousands or millions of moments where we could have been plucked from this earth.  Myself, I stand before you a child who was born 9 weeks early, weighing three pounds, having spent the first few months of my life in an incubator, as the only child of parents who had to deal with the tragedy of miscarriage prior to my being born.  I’m someone who has done a lot of dumb things in my life where I’m lucky I didn’t get killed.  I’m sure all of you have similar types of experiences.  God has given us the lives that we have.  It’s really not asking too much for us to give back to Him in the form of Christian service.  God doesn’t call us to spend every waking moment in the context of a worship service.  He gives us our jobs, our recreational activities, and our friends and family as things to enjoy.  What He does command of us, however, is that we conduct ourselves in all of these areas of life, and every other area of life, as children of grace.  He calls all of us to live our lives and conduct ourselves as hearers and receivers of the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Shouldn’t our response to all that God has given us and blessed us with be to offer up our lives, and all of it, as a worthy sacrifice?  Should there ever be a part of our lives when we are able to set God aside and live as if He hasn’t called us to be His children?  Let your lives be your worship, your sacrifice to God.  And if you are someone who thinks that they need help in this area, it would be a great privilege and honor for myself and this church to help you along this path.  Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Malachi 1:1-14 "Don't Just Find Time, Make Time"

Any time I begin a new sermon series, I like to give a little bit of insight as to why I chose the book or texts that I did.  Sometimes there’s a good reason and other times there isn’t.  In being completely honest with you, the biggest challenge for me this time was the time constraint.  As many of you can tell if you’ve walked around many stores today and seen that Christmas decorations are on full display, we’re not that far from Christmas, and in terms of worship, Advent Season.  Now, after Advent has passed, then we’re going to spend some time looking at the 10 Commandments, followed by the book of Acts.  I didn’t want to stop halfway through the commandments and then pick back up in January.  I was afraid that everyone, myself included, would forget everything that had been said.  Then, it came to me; why not do a pre-Advent series?  After all, it’s very likely that many of you haven’t heard too many sermons from the book of Malachi (the final Old Testament book and the last information that we have before the intertestamental period).  So, there’s my reasoning.  It’s probably not that good, but I do think that gaining a sense of what the world was like just prior (relatively) to Christ will help us immensely when we begin our look at the birth of our Savior here in about a month.

               Read Malachi 1:1-14

                Now, I don’t know what everyone’s knowledge of what life was like in the Old Testament is.  So, let me give you a brief timeline as to when Malachi is prophesying in Jerusalem.  In 538 BC, the first exiles are allowed to return home from exile.  After only a few years, in 536, the reconstruction of the temple begins, but it quickly stalls.  The prophets Haggai and Zechariah came in and called Israel to renew their efforts to complete the temple, and eventually it was completed in 516.  However, even though it was built, didn’t mean that the work was done.  Ezra and Nehemiah came in a little later on at different times and worked to rebuild Israel’s spiritual status and the city walls of Jerusalem respectively.  Then, almost 100 years after Israel first returned from exile and began rebuilding the temple, Malachi came onto the scene as a prophet of God.  The biggest problem for Israel during Malachi’s time was apathy.  They had grown lax in their faith and disinterested since the time of prosperity that they thought was at hand had yet to come to them.  They cared nothing for the worship of God and they really only gave it “lip service”, a problem that I think many Christians today can relate to.  Their faiths were in essence part of their daily routine, and nothing more.

                Malachi begins his words to Israel by reminding them of the story of Esau and Jacob that we find in Genesis 25.  However, Malachi isn’t comparing the Lord’s anger with Israel to His anger with Esau.  What Malachi is actually doing is telling the people that they are Jacob (mind you, Jacob’s name was changed to Israel later on in his life); they are the ones whom God has chosen.  He’s reminding the people of Israel that they are set apart, that they are holy; they are different from all other people groups because they have been specifically chosen by God Himself.  They are the ones that God looks upon and calls “MY people.”  However, this does not make them immune to straying from the will of their Father; they are rejecting him even though they have been chosen.

                Malachi goes on in this first chapter to talk about the poor offerings that they are giving to God.  Instead of bringing animals that were strong and fit, or at the very least healthy, for sacrifice the people of Israel were bringing their diseased, crippled, blind, and in some cases dying animals for sacrifice.  They were only giving to God the things that they didn’t want in the first place.  They weren’t giving to God out of their firstfruits, but out of their excess.  This is very similar to an often deadly (in terms of spiritual health) habit that we have in our world today, and I’m not talking about our giving or donations, although that is many times the case as well.  Each and every one of us is busy.  There’s almost no way to escape it.  Heck, I’ve got three different calendars that I use to keep myself organized that are filled with appointments, dates, practices, meetings, and events that I have to be at or that I have to get my kids to.  There are literally days in which Amy and I see each other at 6:30 am when she leaves for work and then we don’t see each other again until dinner or even later, sometimes not at all.  Sometimes, I get exhausted just thinking about all of the things I have to do.  However, I have to remind myself many times of a few important things.  The first is that many of these things are things I chose.  They’re not things that have to be done but things I wanted to do.  The second thing is that many of them are temporary.  I won’t always have the responsibility of dropping off and picking up my kids from school.  I need to take time and enjoy what I have and not see everything as a bothersome chore.  The third thing, and this is the most crucial, is that I have to remember my priorities.  When I’m running all over the place and hurrying from one activity to the next, what about my faith?  Am I setting apart time each day to work on my relationship with God, or am I letting the world around me dictate what type of relationship I have with the Lord?  You see, it’s all well and good to squeeze in a quick look at Scripture when we’re waiting for our oil to get changed or sitting in a doctor’s office, but is that giving our firstfruits to God, or just what we can spare?  And don’t get me wrong, when I have a free moment, I’m very quick to pull out my phone and start reading my Bible, but that ought to be in addition my daily devotion and prayer.

                The nation of Israel was giving to God what it either had left over or what it didn’t want, are we doing the same?  Even the priests, Malachi says, feel like they are burdened and bothered by the work that they have to do.  If that’s the priests’ mindset, I can’t even imagine what the people must have felt towards worship.  I can only imagine what your opinions of worship would be if I walked around all the time talking about how awful worship was and how it was such a worthless endeavor.  Can you fathom a pastor talking about how much worship got in the way of everything else?  No, because worship of God ought to be what is primary in the eyes of the Christian, especially the pastor.  Now, if you happen to still feel that way, then maybe you and I should have a little talk after the service today.  However, what I want us all to think about is how the words of Malachi, in the midst of an attempt to rekindle the flames of devotion and worship that once burned bright within Israel but now only flicker every once in a while, apply to us today.  You see, as I said earlier, I don’t think that we live in a time that is all too different from that of Malachi.  We’ve allowed our devotion or commitment to worship to be aimed at other things.  We’ve allowed our passion for athletic events to surpass that of worship, and I’m not just talking about church attendance here.  We’ve allowed the structure of our weekend to cause us to think, “If only I didn’t have church on Sunday morning, then I could…”  We’ve allowed our time spent with God to be taken out of what we can spare instead of dedicating time to Him daily.  And don’t get me wrong, I’m just as guilty of these things as anyone else. 

                I want you to hear again what Malachi says in verse 14, “Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished.  For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.”  Those who give only what they are willing to spare are called “cheats.”  Modern context aside, the sacrifice of the fittest male livestock was the highest form of offering that could be given during this time.  To offer up a strong male and then present a crippled animal was not keeping of one’s commitment.  When we became Christians and we promised and vowed to give all that we are to the glory of God and to live for Him, didn’t we vow to bring the best of our flock, the best of our lives to Him.  When you all joined with my family in pledging before God that you would help Amy and I in raising lil’ Bert in the Lord, didn’t we all dedicate his life to the Lord, agreeing to nurture him, and set a godly example for him to follow?  Well, what are we doing when we only offer up to God the parts of our lives that are left over and unwanted?  What are we teaching those around us about what it means to be a Christian when our faith is something that we can set aside at a moment’s notice and act as if it’s not a part of who we are, much less all that we are?  We mirror Israel in our disinterest of worship having not received the prosperity that we thought would be a reality by now.  Somehow, a lack of wealth (in whatever areas that may be defined) has caused us to be disinterested, or at the very least, slightly separated in our commitment to God.  Now, I don’t mean that we say that we won’t worship until God has blessed us with some reward, but we often do set God aside in pursuit of earthly things.

                The question now becomes what to do about it.  Well, we’re going to answer part of it today, and we’re going to keep answering it over the next three Sundays.  For today, let me offer up these suggestions.  The first is to set aside a time for the Lord each day.  Some of you may already do this and my advice to you is to keep it up.  Set aside a time that every day you will offer prayer (even a quick one) and read at least some verse(s) of Scripture.  The second suggestion is to take a look at your life and try and figure out the things that you are placing before God or even close to God in terms of priority.  Now, this one can be a bit tricky, because many times we don’t even realize it, but it must be done.  When we find out what those things are, then we have to work at keeping them in their proper place.  And the final suggestion is to find someone, a spouse, sibling, friend, child, etc., who will help keep you accountable.  Find someone to talk to about your time with God.  Find someone who will take part in a daily reading with you.  Just like a jogging partner or a personal trainer, sometimes we need someone pushing us from the outside.  Friends, we run the risk of looking evermore like the Israelites that let their faith become devoid of emotion.  The only way that we are ever going to get back to where we need to be, is to start taking action against those things in our lives that are pulling us away from our Maker.  Let today be the day that you decide that is not going to happen.  Let today be the day in which you commit or recommit everything you have to the kingdom of heaven.  Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.