Do I Worship You? pt 2

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a great joy to share the Word f God with the Saints of Durbin Memorial Baptist Church this morning.

At the risk of alienating half of our congregation this morning, I want to begin this morning with a male-centric illustration.

Men, we are really good at overestimating our abilities. There is something woven into the fabric of our being that often gives us a major dose of undeserved confidence. I was recently at a baseball game with a group of pastors, we were marveling at the speed of the pitches when one of the guys said, “You know, if I you gave me 10 pitches, all strikes, from a Major League Pitcher, I think I could get one out of the infield.” Now I know baseball is not my thing. I don’t think I’d even make contact. But recently there has been a debate on if an average guy like me could gain one yard rushing in the NFL. There is a small, most likely delusional part of me that thinks, “I could do that!”

Some 15-20 years ago, there was a television program that tried to give folks an opportunity to really test out their regular abilities against recently retired athletes. It was called Pros vs Joes. As the name implies regular guys would test their against pro athletes. Dudes that looked like me would go head to head against Bo Jackson, Hershel Walker, Jerry Rice, Mugsy Bouges and even wrestle Goldberg. The show only lasted a few seasons, and went about as well for the Average Joes as you might expect. Goldberg was quoted, reminiscing about his time with the show saying, “I head-slapped a dude and he went to the hospital. I think that was the first move. There was definitely a part of me that wanted to crush anybody who thought they could just walk in and get up off their couch and compete with a professional athlete.” Hubris was quickly destroyed in the face the of relative greatness.

I bring this up this morning not to promote that show, but to illustrate how an ego can be inflated when someone loses perspective on what greatness really is. When our focus is on our immediate circumstances, we begin to think that they are all that matters. We become the big fish of our own small ponds

And this is true with over inflated self-confidence, but its also true with pain and difficulty. When our perspective is limited to our immediate surroundings, we begin to think that everything happening to us is the ultimate of crises.

In regards to to our series walking through the book of Malachi, we’ve touched on this a bit already. The Israelites are thinking that everything happening to them is as bad as it could be. They are under Persian rule, they are having a hard time with the harvest. These are admittedly rough conditions, but the Israelites allowed their conditions to overshadow the fact that they have been, are, and will be loved by God. Last week we saw that they allowed their conditions to influence their apathetic worship. We will continue looking at the idea of worship this morning.

If you have not already, open your Bibles to Malachi 1. In a moment, we will be picking up in verse 11. As you are turning there, I want us to note that today’s section is God reintroducing the Israelites, and particularly their priests to His greatness. In their low-view of God, they had forgotten just how great He is, just how worthy He is to be served.

I’m almost certain I’ve told this story before so I’ll just say it quick. In high school I thought I was good at basketball. I lit it up at church in the youth group, so I thought that Bryan Station would be lucky to have me bless their team with my presence. I’ll never forget going to tryouts and in my first scrimmage, I was on the receiving end of a dunk from a senior who would go on to play in two NCAA Championship games and then play point guard in the NBA for about a decade. The Pro showed the Joe what’s up that afternoon. It was a humbling experience. In our text this morning, God is reminding His people just how great He is, not in an attempt to embarrass them, but to show the right and natural order of Creation. We should all leave this text today feeling humbled.

Let’s begin in verse 11.

Malachi 1:11 ESV

11 For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.

When you are reading the Bible and come across a conjunction like for or therefore, it tells you that the thought in this section is connected to the section prior. In the case of verse 11, we have to tie this thought back to verse 10.

When we ended last week we saw that it was better for the temple to close its doors than to continue offering up vain, offerings that were the leftovers of the flock, things that weren’t actually a sacrifice from the people. God says He will not accept an offering from the priests when they are offering up such sacrilegious offerings.

In verse 11 God is explaining more of the reason why He will not accept their paltry offerings.

You see on some level, maybe even in the back of their minds, Israel thought they were hot stuff. Despite their lack of zeal in their service, they knew that they were the One True God’s chosen people. They thought they were doing a service to God by simply going through the motions in worship.

This is something that Israel had been warned against from their early formation. Before entering the Promised Land in Deuteronomy, God warned the people not to think too highly of themselves. Deuteronomy 9:4–6 “4 “Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you. 5 Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 6 “Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people.”

God chose to work through the people of Israel, they weren’t special because of their own righteousness, they were special because God made them special! God chose to work through Israel to bring about His plan of redemption. In our text this morning from Malachi, He is using a similar tone in what He said to the Israelites before they ever entered the Promised Land. Look again at what He says. Look at the emphasis!

Malachi 1:11 “11 For from the rising of the sun to its setting MY NAME WILL BE great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For MY NAME WILL BE great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.”

In other words, Israel, you might not get it, but My will is bigger than you! My Kingdom Will come, My Will WILL be done! The nations are going to know who I am and offerings will be given to My Name. My Name will be great among the names, with or without you, says the Lord of hosts!

There are two major points to note in this verse.

First, this declaration demands humility.

Second, what does is mean that His name will be great among the nations, when will that happen or has it happened already?

Let’s first look at the humility this declaration requires. We often think that we are the most important piece to the puzzle of life. In the life of the church, we are sometimes tempted to think that God’s will in our church is dependent upon ourselves. Our God is certainly a God of means, who works through His people to accomplish His mission in Creation, but we mustn’t think so highly of ourselves that we believe we are the ringer or the force behind the mission. Thinking like this leads to a few problems. One way is that it can lead to burnout. We fill up our plates with so much that we serving God transitions from a God-fueled response to grace to a self-serving point of pride. We hold on to positions or ministries that are no longer bearing fruit because that’s the way we’ve always done and that’s way we like it, whether its being used by God or not. The other problem with viewing God’s mission as dependent upon us is actually when it leads to opposite outcome. When we believe that evangelism is dependent upon our personal abilities, we say I could never know enough, I could never say the right words, I could never lead some one to Christ, so I just wont even try. We often either put the whole responsibility upon ourselves or we become paralyzed by our own inadequacies. Both of these are self-center and have a low view of God. God doesn’t need us to do it all, but he graciously invites us to participate in His mission. Neither does God need us to have perfect knowledge to present the gospel, His Word is perfect and through His Spirit He is made known.

We must rest in the glorious understanding that God works through us to accomplish His Will, He has all the power, and He gets all the glory. Let us not forget what the Lord proclaimed through the prophet Isaiah: Isaiah 46:9–10 “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’”

The second major point we must grapple with in this verse is the understanding of when the name of God will be great among the nations. Some suggest that this part of the prophetic literature has already been fulfilled today. They cite the vast spread of Christianity around the globe. They suggest on the day of Pentecost, men from every nation under heaven were there, heard the gospel, and took it back to where they were from.

That may very well be a partial fulfillment of Malachi 1:10. There is certainly a vast and growing acknowledgment of the One True God, but it does not account for the latter half of verse 10. We may see a growing familiarity with the name of God, but we do not yet see an unadulterated worship of God. “From the rising to its setting” refers to the entirety of the globe, in every place. This is referring to the time when every tongue will confess, every knee will bow and proclaim with full force that Jesus is Lord! We’re living in the already and the not yet. Jesus IS King. Christ IS Lord. That message has been spread and is spreading. On Christ’s return the reality of that truth will be undeniable and heaven and earth will be full of His praise. God has worked out that plan through Israel in bringing the Messiah. He is working out that plan through the spreading of the Gospel. And will work out that plan through the coming of Christ.

We can take it to the bank that the Name of the Lord is and will be great among the nations.

The Israelites and specifically the priests need to be reminded that God’s plan is bigger than them. It was a grace that He allowed them to be a part of it, but His success in accomplishing His will was not dependent upon it.

Look to verses 12-13

Malachi 1:12–13 ESV

12 But you profane it when you say that the Lord’s table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised. 13 But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the Lord of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the Lord.

Through Malachi, His prophet, God tells the Israelite priests that they profane His name with the polluted offerings they give at His table.

That word “profane” is interesting. In modern usage I typically see it used in regard to using bad language. But the usage here in Malachi show something else. It comes from the Latin “profanum” “pro” meaning “out from, or in front of” and “fanum” meaning which is latin for temple or shrine. Profane means something that is not allowed in the temple. It is something that is dishonoring something that is supposed to be holy.

Certainly language can be profane. There has been much debate in Christian circles about the usage of certain curse words, but I would say that we should all seek to have clean language regardless of what the world’s changing standards on language are. From a New Testament perspective, if we believe we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit, our bodies are the temple. If we wouldn’t curse in church, we shouldn’t curse in the world. But that is a digression from the point of our text this morning.

These priests were profaning the temple with polluted offerings. They were taking the names of God, they claimed the relationships those names imply, the Father and Master, that we looked at more in depth last week. . They called Him Father, but showed no honor, they called Him Master but had no reverence. They made no efforts to protect, honor, or even promote service in the temple. They simply went through the motions.

The British Evangelist G Campbell Morgan said something very poignant on this for our application this morning. He said, “There is no profanity which is so awful as that of orthodox expression and heterodox heart.”

Now, that has a lot of seminary type language in it so let me break it down a bit. In the theological world, orthodoxy refers to something being in line with Scripture. When Morgan talks about about “orthodox expression” he is talking about acting out service in the church that is in line with what we read in Scripture. Heterodox simply means the opposite of orthodox. So what Morgan is saying, is that “There is no profanity which is so awful as when our biblical actions occur while having an unbiblical heart.” We profane God when we go through the motions. When we view service to Him as a simple item on a checklist. Let us not forget the fearful words of Christ towards the end of the sermon on the mount, Matthew 7:21–23 “21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

Lord did I not do all these wonderful things for you? Didn’t I do many great works? How is it possible that Christ will then respond, “depart from me, I never knew you, you workers of lawlessness”?

But when you look closely at what is being said in that interaction in Matthew 7, the problem with the people becomes very clear. Notice their inflection, notice their emphasis. Lord, did WE not prophecy, did WE not cast out demons, did WE not do many mighty works. Their emphasis is on themselves! Dear hearer, made in the image of God this mornign, ehar this clearly. Your best works are nothing more than dirty rags before the Holy God. On the day of judgment, your entrance to heaven will not be granted by anything that you have done. The only reason you will be granted entry to the kingdom of heaven, as one pastor put it, is because the man on the middle cross said you can come. The only reason we are granted heaven is because Jesus provides it for us by the grace of God through Faith in Christ Sealed by the Spirit. It’s not our works! The same pastor I mentioned a moment ago said, “[Christ] is the only answer. And if I don’t preach the Gospel to myself all day every day, then I will find myself beginning to trust myself, trust my experience, which is part of my fallenness as a man. If I take my eyes off the cross, I can then give only lip service to its efficacy while at the same time living as if my salvation depends upon me. And as soon as you go there, it will lead you either to abject despair or a horrible kind of arrogance. And it is only the cross of Christ that deals both with the dreadful depths of despair and the pretentious arrogance of the pride of man that says, “You know, I can figure this our and I’m doing wonderfully well.” No.”

That is what had happened to the priests in Malachi’s time. Sure, the cross had not yet occured, but they were supposed to be looking forward to it. They were supposed to be trusting in the Lord to work out His plan of salvation. They were supposed to know that God is Father and Master, worthy of honor and fear, worthy of their firsts and their bests. But instead they focussed on themselves and their own efforts. They somehow slipped into both self-centered arrogance, and abject despair. And in their benign obedience they were profaning the temple of God.

Y’all if we don’t keep our eyes on the cross we are quick to do the same thing.

Notice in verse 13, God quotes the priests as saying, “What a weariness this is.” This is referring to their duties in the temple. A position of honor, a grace that God would even allow them to serve in such a beautiful role, and yet they look at it as a burdensome slog.

Church, the difficult question that we must honestly wrestle with in this very moment is this: Are you tired of God?

It feels inappropriate to even suggest this, but we can’t avoid it. Are you tired of God?

You say of course not! But what does your life say? What does the dust on the cover of your Bible say? What do the conversation topics with your unsaved friends say? What do unused prayer benches in the front of our building say? What does your bank account say? What does your snooze button on your Sunday morning alarm intended you wake you up for Sunday School fellowship say? What does your Sunday evening activity say? What does your music playlist in your car say?

Do not hear me wrong hear. I am not trying to prescribe to you another sort of checklist that you can complete to finally be a good Christian. I am trying to impress upon all of us, myself included, that God, Father, Master, Savior, Lord is worthy of the first and best in our lives. He is worthy to be served well. He is worthy of our attention. He is worthy of our calendars. He is worthy of it all!

In seasons of life, as we walk through the drudgery around us, we can take our eyes off the cross, and begin to see serving God not a the blessing it is, but asa wearisome burden. We may even do the things we used to do, but we do so out of obligation. We snort at God, go through the motions, then go on our way. Look if that is you this morning, repent! Today is the day. That’s what I am doing! As I was preparing this message, I realized just how lax I have become in my discipline of memorizing God’s Word. I can’t tell you the last the time I opened my memorization app. But today is the day, by the grace of God that I repent. I see the goodness of God’s Word, I want to meditate upon it, not to earn good Christian points, but because God graces me through it! I don’t know the area of deficient, apathetic, or even none existent worship in your life, but I know if you are living in the flesh, you certainly have one. Church, what would happen if today were the day, that as a whole, as a church, we repented and returned to our first love! What would happen if we lived in joyous response to the grace we have received?! How might that embolden our worship? How might that grow us together? How might that impact our witness to the world around us? How about we find out! today!

Church, God doesn’t need our service in that He is in any way lacking. He allows us to serve Him and it is an honor to do so. Don’t mistake the honor for burden. Cherish the responsibility with joy that we GET to understand Christ as Lord and follow His command.

Let’s look to the last verse of our text this morning.

Malachi 1:14 ESV

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.

The “cursed cheat” here in verse 14 serves for us a pertinent warning for us this morning as I just made an impassioned plea for repentance in our midsts.

We have to really break this down to understand it as in our context, we are less familiar with the sacrificial system employed by the Israelites. The “cheat” here in verse 14 is a man who wants to make a good impression in public. He wants all eyes on him so that others see who is he is. He takes the best animal from his flock and parades it around the people. He may even give a boisterous, loud, public dedication of the animal. He let’s everyone know, “this is my best! I’m giving it to the Lord!” Then at the last second, out of the view of the public, he slips out his best animal and replaces it with one that is blemished. He slips in an inferior animal and keeps the best for himself. There was no real sacrifice. The man was profaning the name of God by making a show in front of the people, gaining their glory, while all the while knowingly and intentionally dishonoring God.

Why would someone do that? HOW could someone do that?

Well it’s actually very easy when you don’t really believe in God. You see the delay of judgment on the wickedness around you and assume there must not be a God, or at the least there is no consequence. So then, if there are no consequences, why not use the name of the Lord for personal gain? Why not make a show out of it all?

The big problem is that there are consequences. God will not be mocked. He may get away with it in the moment, but God sees.

I say this is a warning for us this morning, because I genuinely do hope that today would be a day of repentance for us all, but I implore you not to make a show for the sake of gaining some sort of clout amongst the people. If you are genuinely repentant, AMEN! Let us celebrate that together and walk through that together. In a moment as we have a hymn of response, come forward and allow me to pray with you and for you. Allow me to help you as you think through practical steps of serving the Lord with a full heart. But if you have no intentions of actually turning the Lord this is not the place to gain brownie points. God will not be mocked.

Read again the last half of verse 14, “For I AM a GREAT King, says the Lord of hosts, and MY name WILL BE feared among the nations.”

God doesn’t need a huckster to fane service to His name. He graciously crushes the heart of stone and replaces it with a heart of flesh. He enables us to serve Him for our good and His glory. He IS King. He WILL be feared among the nations. His plan of redemption and glory is happening whether you are on board or not. It is a grace that He would allow us to be a part of it. May we cherish that. May we serve fervently because He has saved us. May we love Him and Worship Him. Church, may we repent and believe today, for the kingdom of God is at hand. Let’s pray.