Sermon Tone Analysis

*Why Don’t You Answer My Prayers?* by Tom Osborn \\ \\ Malachi 2:10-2:16 \\ \\ Why Don’t You Answer My Prayers? \\ Malachi 2:10-16 \\ \\ \\ Intro: Please turn with me to the Book of Malachi, chapter Two.

This morning we’re continuing on in our series of messages from the Book of Malachi which we’ve entitled, “Questions People Ask.” Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament.

At it’s core it’s a beautiful love letter from God to His people.

God calling out to His people - calling for them to trust Him with their lives.

In Malachi there is a dialogue between God and His people.

During that dialogue there are a series of questions that the people ask God - questions that people today are asking God.

As we’ve been going through Malachi we’ve been looking at these questions.

This morning we’re coming to the third of these “Questions People Ask.” \\ \\ Bring up the subject of divorce today and people get nervous.

The tragedy of a broken marriage however can have severe impact on our children, our culture, and our faith.

Marriage is a sacred relationship, not a secular one!

We need to understand it as such, and the world needs to see it as such.

The world’s attitude toward marriage is NOTHING like the Christian’s view!

\\ \\ Two men were talking about the upcoming wedding for one of them.

The engaged one says to his friend, "You know, it’s odd, but now that I’m actually engaged I’m starting to fell nervous about getting married."

His buddy responds, "I know what you’re saying, it’s only natural to be nervous, marriage is a big commitment, 7 or 8 years can be a long time!" – \\ \\ The most fundamental relationship created by God outside of our relationship with Him is our relationship to our spouse.

So critical is a right relationship in marriage that an improper relationship with a spouse can actually hinder our prayers!

\\ The Bible teaches that our marriage must be healthy for our spiritual life to be healthy.

One affects the other!

So people ask God, “Why don’t you answer our prayers?”

The answer has more to do with our unfaithfulness than anything else.

So let’s look at this question and God’s response this morning.

But first, let’s pray.

\\ \\ \\ I.

The Problem of IRRESPONSIBLE Relationships – 2:10-12 \\ A. Profane PEOPLE 2:10 \\ Mal.

2:10 – “Have we not all one Father?

Did not one God create us?

Why do we profane the covenant of our fathers by breaking faith with one another?”

\\ \\ 1.

The problem of divorce was common in Malachi’s day.

\\ a) It had become more of a civil institution than a sacred one … and when this happened it wasn’t taken seriously.

\\ b) We face this same problem today!

\\ 2. Once it is NOT viewed as sacred then the door opens for experimenting with it.

\\ a) As in our culture today, people will often live together first to see if it "works" for them.

\\ b) Yet any deviation from God’s plans for marriage will always be less than ideal!

\\ 3. ILLUS: According to an article by Felicity Barringer of the New York Times, trial marriages do not increase the chance of a marriage lasting or being successful.

In fact, those who live together before marriage, separate and divorce in significantly greater numbers than those who go directly to the altar.

-- Robert C. Shannon, 1000 Windows, (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company, 1997).

\\ 4. In Malachi’s day the people of God had taken their marriages lightly, and they had no problem marrying unbelievers or getting divorces.

\\ a) The failure to view marriage as sacred will produce this kind of attitude.

\\ \\ b) Stripped of a spiritual context marriage is nothing more than another civil contract, sometimes they last, sometimes they don’t.

\\ 5. Israel in Malachi’s day had broken faith with one another in marriage.

\\ a) The only thing viewed as sacred was their prayer life at the temple.

\\ b) They had compartmentalized their spirituality.

\\ \\ B. The Problem Of TOMORROW.

2:11-12 \\ Mal.

2:11-12 – “Judah has broken faith.

A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord loves, by marrying the daughter of a foreign god.

12As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the Lord cut him off from the tents of Jacob--even though he brings offerings to the Lord Almighty.”

\\ \\ 1. Marrying an unbeliever was forbidden by the law of God, yet they had no problem showing up for worship at the Temple of God in spite of it.

\\ a) What they believed and how they behaved didn’t always match up! \\ b) Tragically, what they didn’t realize was that such marriages meant that their children would be drawn to other gods by these unbelieving spouses and the future for them as God’s people would one day be in doubt if this continued!

\\ c) The vast record of history reveals that "missionary" marriages usually drag the believer down rather than raise the unbeliever up to the believing status! \\ d) Such a sacred union should be just that, "SACRED."

\\ 2. Idols can be fickle, and marriages based on this world will be also.

\\ 3. How different God’s concept of marriage is from this world, He teaches us to love our spouse for a lifetime.

\\ a) Quote: “A successful marriage is the result of falling in love often -- with the same person.”

-- Croft M. Pentz, The Complete Book of Zingers (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1990).

\\ 4. God was concerned with what would happen to Israel’s posterity if they continued these flimsy marriages of being unequally yoked.

\\ a) We often fail to consider the impact divorce has on children, yet it can affect them for a long time!

\\ b) ILLUS: In her book Second Chances, published in 1989 by Ticknor and Fields, California psychologist Judith S. Wallerstein reports that divorce is devastating to children.

She studied one hundred children for more than a decade and concluded that almost half were afflicted with anger, anxiety, and low self-esteem when they entered adult life.

-- Robert C. Shannon, 1000 Windows, (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company, 1997).

\\ c) It wasn’t just the couples at the time God was concerned with, but the future of the institution of marriage and the identity of God’s people as a sacred people.

\\ d) We don’t fix the problem of tomorrow with a legislative act, it comes from devoted love in a marriage!

\\ 5.

It is tragic that the divorce rate in the Church is the same as in the world, this really should not be!

\\ a) Perhaps we need to teach more on the sacredness of marriage!

\\ b) We certainly need to provide strong models of marriages for our children who will see other weaker models in our society.

\\ 6. There’s a consequence.

They can’t keep doing this and still come and worship as one of God’s people.

This is serious sin we’re talking about.

\\ 7. God did not just want their attendance at the temple, nor their offerings in worship if they were unwilling to take seriously their marriage vows! 2:12 \\ a) The same is true today, we cannot just show up for Church and cry out to God and offer up our sacrifices … there must be real substance to the way we live outside of Church! \\ b) It is critical that our theology has legs to it!

\\ \\ \\ II.

The Problem of IMPROPER Responses - 2:13-16 \\ A. Self-centered PRAYER.

2:13 \\ Mal.

2:13 – “Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears.

You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands.”

\\ \\ 1.

The response to Malachi’s challenge was predictable … they flooded the altar with tears, but didn’t change a thing about their marriages!! \\ a) Why were they crying?

Because God wasn’t answering their prayers anymore, not until they get serious about their marriages again!

\\ b) It is hard for God to answer our prayers when we aren’t right with each other, much less our spouse!

\\ 2. They needed to learn the importance of God’s injunctions for marriage.

\\ 3. It is not always impossible to turn around a bad marriage, sometimes it can happen with a steadfast godly love! \\ a) ILLUS: A woman came to a lawyer and said, "I want to get a divorce.

I really hate my husband, and I want to hurt him.

Give me some advice."

In addition to wanting to get the gold and give him the shaft, she was wondering about some other way that she might do him in.

The attorney said, "Look, you’re going to divorce the guy anyway, so for three months don’t criticize him.

Speak only well of him.

Build him up.

Every time he does something nice, commend him for it.

Tell him what a great guy he is, and do that for three months.

After he thinks that he has your confidence and love, hit him with the news and it will hurt more."

The woman thought, "I can’t go wrong on this.

I’m divorcing the guy anyway.

Why should I speak badly about him anymore?

I’m going to speak only well of him."

So, she complimented her husband for everything he did.

For three months she told him what a great man he was.

You know what happened to that relationship?

After three months, they forgot about the divorce and went on a second honeymoon.

-- Erwin Lutzer, "Learning to Love," Preaching Today, Tape No. 99. \\ b) Admittedly most marriages can only be saved if both parties make the effort, but there are times when the power of love even by one can change the other.

\\ c) This may be what Paul had in mind in 1 Cor.

7:12-13 - "To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her.

And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him."

It may be that Paul thought there could yet be a chance through godly love to convert the unbeliever so there should be no rush to divorce them.