The Heart of Worship: Offering Our Best to God

Introduction

We explained how this book is written in a dialectical or disputational style of writing. God says something, a claim or an accusation and then Israel would disagree or question God’s statement. Then God would respond or offer the last word

We are continuing in our journey through the book of Malachi. Last week we dealt how God declared his love towards Israel and how Israel was doubting this love based on their circumstances.

God reminds Israel that his election of Israel demonstrates His love, considering that all other nations are left to their own fate while God’s promises, blessings, redemption are reserved for His elect. God promises that they will see His justice as those who are not under His covenant come to ruin while those under his covenant experience his mercy and His grace. But, affirming the unconditional love God has for His people Israel did not absolve them of their guilt.

indicative followed by the imperative

Today we will examine the second half of chapter one (vv. 6-14). Here God rebukes His people for offering inferior sacrifices, revealing that their lack of respect for Him has led to a diminished worship experience. This passage underscores the importance of giving God our best in worship and honoring Him appropriately. Today we will wrestle through our main passage taking 2 -4 verses at a time as we discover our need to practice three major actions,

Examine Our Offerings: realizing that our offerings to God reflect our attitude towards him

Embrace Authentic Worship: because there are consequences to be suffered for insincere worship.

Honor God’s Name: adopting a mindset of reverence and gratitude, so that every aspect of our lives is an offering that honors God’s Name.

Examine Our Offering (vv. 6-8)

Malachi 1:6–8 (LSB)

6 “‘A son honors his father, and a slave his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is the fear of Me?’ says Yahweh of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, ‘How have we despised Your name?’

7 “You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, ‘How have we defiled You?’ In that you say, ‘The table of Yahweh is to be despised.’

8 “But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Please, bring it near to your governor! Would he accept you? Or would he lift up your face?” says Yahweh of hosts.

God begins his rebuke with a generally accepted statement. A statement that has transcendental truth to it. But forget transcendental for a minute and lets stick with how Israel would have taken this; sons honor their fathers and slaves their masters. These where normal and proper societal relationships.

The question is which of these relationships would the Israelites consider themselves comparable to. The analogies had been used before

Exodus 4:22 (LSB)

22 “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Israel is My son, My firstborn.

Isaiah 64:8 (LSB)

8 But now, O Yahweh, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand.

So if the nation considered itself a son of Yahweh. Should a son of the LORD be less obedient?

When a son honors his father he is acknowledging his weight, his importance, his authority. Consider the

But perhaps some in Israel might have considered the LORD the Master of Israel. The word here translated as slave is the Hebrew word ‘ê’•bêd also means servant and this concept had also been used already.

Isaiah 44:1–2 (LSB)

1 “But now hear, O Jacob, My servant, And Israel, whom I have chosen:

2 Thus says Yahweh who made you And formed you from the womb, who will help you, ‘Do not fear, O Jacob My servant, And you Jeshurun whom I have chosen.

So God is saying if I am indeed a Father where is my honor (glory)?

The fact that glory and honor are due Him is without dispute. He is even called the King of glory (Ps 24:7-10).

Or if I am Master then where is my “fear” also translated as “respect”.

Turning from the people to the priests, God asks, whereas His love to the people was so great, where was their love towards Him? If the priests, as they profess, regard Him as their Father (Is 63:16) and Master, let them show the reality of their profession by love and reverential fear (Ex 20:12; Lu 6:46). He addresses the priests because they ought to be leaders in piety to the rest of the people, whereas they are foremost in “despising His name.”

How can you be a priest of the Lord and despise the very object of your worship. But God’s indictment still stands. Jesus offers a similar indictment but in the form of a question.

Luke 6:46 (LSB)

46 “Now why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?

Your actions, your behavior sends out cues concerning what is really happening in your heart. Have you ever heard the expression “nice nasty”

“The expression ‘nice-nasty’ refers to behavior or communication that appears polite or pleasant on the surface but carries an underlying tone of hostility, sarcasm, or passive aggression. It is often used to describe interactions where a person is outwardly "nice" but subtly or covertly mean or critical.”

- ChatGPT

When asked why do people use this?

Avoid Confrontation

Maintain Appearances

Exert Control

- ChatGPT

Some people are really good at detecting “nice nasties” other people are oblivious are clueless when they are subjected to this type of treatment.

Others are not even aware that they are being nice nasty because they have successfully deceived themselves. However, what you are and how you really think will eventually show up in your actions

Renowned motivational speaker and author Zig Ziglar would say that ”You cannot consistently perform in a manner that is inconsistent with the way you see yourself." But my mentor taught me something a bit different.

No one can consistently act in a way that is inconsistent with who they are and how they think.

In other words, your actions will eventually reveal the content of your heart no matter what appearances you might want to conceal.

Matthew 12:34 (LSB)

34 “You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.

So back in Malachi, the priest object, “How have we despised Your Name?” Basically look at the stuff we do. Did we not prophesy in your Name, cast out demons in your name… Jesus still calls them workers of iniquity. It was all appearances.

So the Lord tells them look at what you are offering me. Because what you are offering me reflects what you think of me. The sacrifices offered. They gave God what they did not want. The blind, lame, and sick animals.

The Lord’s reference to defiled food should have been enough to cause the priest to repent. They had specific instructions concerning defective sacrifices.

Leviticus 22:17–19 (LSB)

17 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

18 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘Any man of the house of Israel or of the sojourners in Israel who brings near his offering, whether it is any of their votive or any of their freewill offerings, which they bring near to Yahweh for a burnt offering—

19 for you to be accepted—it must be a male without blemish from the cattle, the sheep, or the goats.

They were warned against offering such sacrifices lest the priests thereby profane and defile God’s name

Leviticus 22:2 (LSB)

2 “Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they set apart to Me as holy, so as not to profane My holy name; I am Yahweh.

Leviticus 22:32 (LSB)

32 “And you shall not profane My holy name, but I will be treated as holy among the sons of Israel; I am Yahweh who makes you holy,

The priests asked, How have we defiled You? They did not say “We have not defiled You,” for they could not really plead ignorance of the Law. So they asked how they had profaned the Lord. The fact that they saw the charge of improper sacrifices as a defilement of God Himself showed that they were familiar with Scriptures we just read. But, their hearts had become so hardened and had so rationalized their sin that they dared God to spell out their wrongs.

Examine what you are offering to God and that will tell you the state of your heart. That is why God could say to them you are despising me which is a heart condition based on what they were offering which was outward actions. This is way beyond what happens in this building.

If your heart is sincere your offering will also be. If the Lord is the best thing in our lives then what we offer him will be nothing less than our best.

God said to them, try offering that stuff to the governor’s table which was a lavishly prepared banquet. Some of the best life performances I have ever seen are performed at the White House before the president of the United Stated…

Psalm 33:3–4 (LSB)

3 Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a loud shout.

4 For the word of Yahweh is upright, And all His work is done in faithfulness.

The priest had the audacity to offer God what their governor, as a form of taxation, would have never accepted. They were more fearful of the governor’s rejection than of God’s

Embrace Authentic Worship

There are consequences to insincere worship because God cannot be fooled and He expresses His displeasure.

Malachi 1:9–10 (LSB)

9 “But now, entreat God’s favor, that He may be gracious to us! With this thing which is from your hand, will He lift up any of your faces?” says Yahweh of hosts.

In other words, go ahead and beg God for his mercies but when you bring that kind of offering to him why should He show you any favor. God has no issues with codependency. He is not going to reward or encourage wrong behavior.

10 “Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not light a fire on My altar in vain! I have no delight in you,” says Yahweh of hosts, “nor will I accept an offering from your hand.

In other words, may as well shut the temple doors, shut the whole operation down so that these worthless insignificant sacrifices would not be offered, I am not pleased with you and I will not accept your offerings.

This is an invitation to repent though it is offered through irony. How could they expect God to extend grace while they are insulting Him?

God would rather they offer nothing.

Isaiah 1:11–13 (LSB)

11 “What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” Says Yahweh. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle; And in the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats I take no pleasure.

12 “When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts?

13 “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of convocation— I cannot endure wickedness and the solemn assembly.

Matthew 15:7–8 (LSB)

7 “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:

8 ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me.

It is a heart thing. True worship begins and ends with the exaltation of God for His character, His redemptive work through Jesus Christ, and His ongoing presence in our life

True authentic worship begins with an honest acknowledgement of God as sovereign, holy, and worthy of praise.

True authentic worship is not confined to singing or church services, it is the offering of our lives as living sacrifices according to Rom 12:1.

Worship occurs in personal devotion and in the gathering assembly of believers.

True authentic worship begins from living a God centered life recognizing that everything and everyone surrounding you is competing for that slot willingly or unwillingly, consciously or unconsciously, and we must resist the temptation of put other things (mainly ourselves) in that spot.

At any case, God then predicts what will happen when every knee bows and every mouth confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Malachi 1:11 -12(LSB)

11 “For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be presented to My name, as well as a grain offering that is clean; for My name will be great among the nations,” says Yahweh of hosts.

12 “But you are profaning it, in that you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is to be despised.’

This is why the Lord is seeking those who would worship Him in spirit and truth. And those who do are truly His people, His elect, those whose hearts have been transformed and have gladly accepted the Lordship of their savior.

Honor God’s Name

Malachi 1:13–14 (LSB)

13 “You also say, ‘Behold, how tiresome it is!’ And you disdainfully sniff at it,” says Yahweh of hosts, “and you bring what was taken by robbery and what is lame or sick; so you bring the offering! Should I accept that from your hand?” says Yahweh.

14 “But cursed be the swindler who has a male in his flock and vows it, but sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord, for I am a great King,” says Yahweh of hosts, “and My name is feared among the nations.”

But here God hears what people say in their hearts . Here the Lord is saying to Israel, “you dishonor my name with your actions by bringing detestable food, but what makes matters worse, they were complaining that worshipping God had become wearisome. They did not enjoy worshipping God because God was no longer a delight to them. This is what is meant by

Psalm 37:4 (LSB)

4 Delight yourself in Yahweh; And He will give you the desires of your heart.

In our men’s meeting one of the guys said…

Look at what Jesus says to the Ephesian church,

Revelation 2:4 (LSB)

4 ‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

So the actions of the priests were condemned; here their attitude was condemned. Their attitude was one of contempt. Apparently the priests recognized that these sacrificial practices were irregular, but they did not care to take the trouble to set things straight. Being involved in offering the sacrifices was just a burden. Such a response was a form of contempt.

Not only were they giving defective animals, they were also stealing animals offering them.

Believers are happiest when we are living for the glory of God rather than for our own prosperity and prominence. Nothing in life will bring the level of deep satisfaction that all of us inherently crave but the unfettered worship of the Creator and Sustainer of all.

Malachi implores the people of God to offer gifts to the Lord that are befitting of his greatness (v. 14). Half-hearted responses will never produce the level of worship that is due to God, nor the joy that is meant for the worshipper. However, offering God the best of all that we have, including our hearts, time, money, and energy will bring about a satisfaction that surpasses all other joys this world promises.

People often attend church, give, serve, and worship based on what they get out of the experience, hoping that their return on investment is appropriate to their level of commitment.

This is a self-focused religion that reduces God to a cosmic vending machine. We must worship God as the very center of our lives and offer him the very best of all that we have which is reasonable since He has already given and continues to give the very best He has, Jesus Christ.