Pet Rock Worship

ATTN

He was sitting in a bar listening to his friends complain about how bad their pets were. Gary Dahl, an advertising executive listened to the griping and suddenly came up with an idea. He would find a pet that didn’t need to be fed, walked, bathed or groomed. It would not die, get sick and cost a lot of money at the vet. How would he do that? He’d come up with a new pet: a “pet rock.”

PIC - PET ROCK

Through slick advertisement and a nifty, fun manual that explained how to care for a pet rock, Gary sold a million of them for $4.00 a piece, becoming a millionaire himself in the process.

There’s only one problem: Strictly speaking, a pet rock really isn’t a pet. It is an inanimate object that cannot rub up against your leg or lick you in the face. It isn’t alive. It isn’t capable of any kind of relationship. It’s really just a sham.

You say, that’s great Rusty, but why are you talking about it. Simple really. Many believers have a “pet rock” relationship with worship. To them, worship is something that exists primarily to make THE WORSHIPER feel better, not to praise a being Who really exists. That’s why they get so bent out of shape if the music’s not quite their style. They’re looking to receive, not looking to give. It’s about their control, not about a real relationship with a living Being. It’s pet rock worship.

And because it’s all about themselves and not about God, there is no reality apart from the reality they, themselves, dream up in the moment. And after a while, making something out of nothing just doesn’t work anymore. Emotion with no reality cannot satisfy the heart, so these kinds of worshipers either admit the farce and just stop, or they muddle through unengaged and really unengageable. I call them “pet rock worshipers.” Know any of them?

BACKGROUND

Malachi did! Malachi the prophet, that is. He wrote to a people who were deeply disappointed with their God. When He miraculously brought the remnant back from their Persian captivity, they were joyful and confident. They expected things to really turn around and go in a good direction. They didn’t. In fact, war ravaged their land. The Egyptians to the west and the Persians to the east met for war in Judah and the result was that the wall of the city was once again breached and torn down. To pay for the war, the Persian empire required the Jews to pay exorbitant taxes. The wealth that was available went into the hands of only a few and they used it to enslave their own countrymen. With all of these disappointments, it was hard to worship.

Their worship went from heart-felt praise to have-to ritual. They no longer really believed God they just said the right things. They may have even doubted the reality of His presence because, as far as they could see, He wasn’t helping them very much. Things went from bad to worse. Sacrifices were neglected. The once which were offered did not meet the criteria that had been established for sacrifices. They got to the place that they knew that what they offered wasn’t acceptable and they really didn’t care. That’s why God tells them in Malachi 1:10:

Malachi 1:10 NKJV

“Who is there even among you who would shut the doors, So that you would not kindle fire on My altar in vain? I have no pleasure in you,” Says the Lord of hosts, “Nor will I accept an offering from your hands.

Because they felt like God had let THEM down, they did not really care if they lifted HIM up. And God had enough of it. He says, “Hey Judah, just shut the doors. You’ve got nothing to offer that I even want. All of your worship is vain. Just Stop!

NEED

Wow! That’s kind of hard to hear, isn’t it? It’s kind of hard to think about God crying out to us, “I see you attempting to worship, but your worship is worthless to me. Just stop!” I tell you this is not what I want to hear from God and I don’t think you want to hear that either. The reason I say that is because you and I were CREATED to worship God and, if we don’t fulfill the purpose for which we were created, we will always have that empty space inside of us. I tell you worshiping well is truly essential. Pet rock worship won’t cut it.

TRANS

D1 –

I worship well when I grasp God’s love.

EXP

Even though God is about to strongly confront these people, He begins this message to them through Malachi with a declaration of His love. He says in v 2:

Malachi 1:2 NKJV

“I have loved you,” says the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’ Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” Says the Lord. “Yet Jacob I have loved;

I have loved you. Wow! Those four words can change everything. “I love you” says the Lord. Yet, even though it is the creator of the universe saying it, these people doubt. They respond to this declaration with a question. They ask, In what way have You loved us?

Out of their despair at their circumstances, they find it hard to really believe that God loves them. God knows their answer before they even ask the question and he responds by taking their focus from their circumstances and focusing it on His choice. He describes that intentional choice that he made in v3:

Malachi 1:2–4 NKJV

“I have loved you,” says the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’ Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” Says the Lord. “Yet Jacob I have loved; But Esau I have hated, And laid waste his mountains and his heritage For the jackals of the wilderness.” Even though Edom has said, “We have been impoverished, But we will return and build the desolate places,” Thus says the Lord of hosts: “They may build, but I will throw down; They shall be called the Territory of Wickedness, And the people against whom the Lord will have indignation forever.

So here’s the picture: God says that He loves them; they respond with asking how He could possibly love them given what they had gone through. He answers by telling them that His love is proven not in the circumstances of their lives but in the choice He made to make them His. Because they looked for His love in the wrong places (their circumstances) they did not FEEL—EXPERIENCE His love. In v5 God predicts that this will change. They will once again experience His love. He says there, is love. In v5 God predicts that this will change. They will once again experience His love. He says there,

Malachi 1:5 NKJV

Your eyes shall see, And you shall say, ‘The Lord is magnified beyond the border of Israel.’

Here’s the point: These people were treating their worship haphazardly because they were not deeply experiencing God’s love. I tell you that it is not enough to just say, “God loves me;” those words have to go deep into your heart and ring the bell in your soul. By the way, Paul echoes this truth in his letter to the Ephesians. In chapter 3 he says,

Ephesians 3:14–19 NKJV

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

I love those verses, especially vv 17-18: Paul tells us there that he wants us to be “rooted and grounded” in God’s love so that we may “comprehend” His love. That means that we may grasp it with our minds. But it doesn’t stop there. He goes on to say in v19 that we may “know” the love of God. That’s the same word that is used in the Old Testament to speak of the intimacy between husband and wife. It is a word that means to experience it in your heart.

And here’s what I’m here to tell us today: Love for God must be comprehended in our minds, yes, but it also must be experienced in the depths of our soul and when THAT happens, WORSHIP happens.

ILL

My mother was not a very outwardly expressive person. If you tried to hug her, she would stiffen up and be very uncomfortable. Even when I did it, she was not very welcoming. In fact, when I went to see her on her birthday, the day before she passed away, I walked in with a birthday cake. She had been laying down back in her bedroom because she didn’t feel well, and she came out to the living room because I was there. When I tried to walk up to her, she held up her cane and told me that she had not been feeling well. Now some of that may have been that she was in pain, I really don’t know, but she wasn’t that expressive.

But I knew she loved deeply. Going through her things was a revelation of that. I found old Vacation Bible School graduation certificates from when I was in kindergarten. I found letters I wrote to her more than 30 years ago. She loved deeply.

As some of you know who have done it, working through those things when I cleaned out their house was very emotional, but I have to say that I never felt nearer to my mom than I did as I looked at what she kept that showed her love. You see, she would have said she loved me, and I would have said I loved her, but when I looked at what she kept, I experienced that love.

APP

Grasping God’s love unleashes your worship. If you wait, however, for your circumstances to confirm His love, you may not find enough evidence to convince you because you’re looking for evidence He’s never promised you. As a matter of fact, Jesus said that in this world we will have trouble. If you’re looking for the end of trouble to prove God’s love, you’ll often look in vain. That’s because God’s love is all about WHO YOU ARE in Christ, not about WHAT YOU ENDURE in life. He chose you. That’s how He proved His love.

So are you regularly and consistently experiencing the love of God? You might say, “Well, no, Rusty, I can’t say that I am. What can I do about that?” Well I have a suggestion: Stop looking at your problems and look at your identity. Focus on His choice, not your circumstances. If you do that, guess what will happen? Worship!

TRANS

I worship well when I grasp God’s love, but I also worship well when I

D2:

I worship well when I value God’s character.

EXP

The returning remnant were not worshiping well because they didn’t grasp God’s love. But they also worshiped badly because they actually despised God. God indicts them for this in 1:6. He says:

Malachi 1:6 NKJV

“A son honors his father, And a servant his master. If then I am the Father, Where is My honor? And if I am a Master, Where is My reverence? Says the Lord of hosts To you priests who despise My name. Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’

God knows that they have lost their honor and respect for Him, but they do not see it. That’s why they ask the question in v6: Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name? In answer to this question, God shows them how they have despised Him.

They despised God by their contempt.

First, they despised Him by their CONTEMPT. V7 says,

Malachi 1:7 NKJV

“You offer defiled food on My altar, But say, ‘In what way have we defiled You?’ By saying, ‘The table of the Lord is contemptible.’

To say that they treated God’s table with “contempt” is to say that they saw God’s “table” as worthless. They saw no value in God nor in worshiping Him. They despised Him by their contempt.

And then

They despised God by their presumption.

V8 says:

Malachi 1:8–9 NKJV

And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, Is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, Is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably?” Says the Lord of hosts. “But now entreat God’s favor, That He may be gracious to us. While this is being done by your hands, Will He accept you favorably?” Says the Lord of hosts.

When I say that this shows presumption, I am saying that they felt completely justified in their conduct towards God. That phrase “Is it not evil?” is better interpreted “What’s wrong with it?” The idea is that they are offering to God sacrifices of the lame and the sick (which the law told them not to do) and then asking, “What’s wrong with it? What’s the big deal?” I can hear the excuses now! They bring a lame lamb to offer and say, “Well, the thing is lame and it’s just going to be killed anyway, What’s the big deal?”

Well it was a big deal because of what it said about them. It says that they no longer valued their God and were just going through the motions.. And this devaluing of God leads to this last indication of how they despised Him.

They despised God by their boredom.

V12 says: 2 “But you profane it, In that you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled; And its fruit, its food, is contemptible.’ 13 You also say, ‘Oh, what a weariness!’ And you sneer at it,” Says the Lord of hosts. “And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick; Thus you bring an offering! Should I accept this from your hand?” Says the Lord. 14 “But cursed be the deceiver Who has in his flock a male, And takes a vow, But sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished—

They had become apathetic worshipers who found God to be a big bore. By doing that, they revealed how little they knew about God. In fact, in v 14 God sets the record straight. He says, For I am a great King,” Says the Lord of hosts, “And My name is to be feared among the nations. In other words God is telling them, “If you think I am boring, you don’t know Me, you just think you do!

And even more important, the very definition of God is literally to attribute great worth to God. When you understand Who He is and come into His presence, you might be a lot of things, but bored will not be one of them.

APP

And how the church needs to hear this today! Hey listen! If worship bores you today, there’s a reason for it. You see, worship reflects worth. If you deeply value God, you will be able to worship Him well. I think that, when we gather to worship, so often we hardly even think of God at all. We walk into the room and talk about it’s temperature or it’s décor or comment on it’s terrible sound or whatever. Our focus is on the wrong thing and we do not worship. In order to worship, then, you must focus on God and on Who He is. So just WHO is this God we worship? Take a look at this:

ILL – Amena Brown Video – He is here

TRANS: You see I worship well when I grasp His love and value His character and then I worship well when I

D3 –

I worship well when I trust God’s plan.

EXP

Nestled in the middle of this prophetic chapter, Malachi makes a significant messianic statement. He has just blasted the people for their unwillingness to recognize how awesome and powerful their God is. He takes them to task for offering up despicable worship and then says in v11:

Malachi 1:11 NKJV

For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; In every place incense shall be offered to My name, And a pure offering; For My name shall be great among the nations,” Says the Lord of hosts.

This is an amazing statement because of what it looks forward to: The day when the GENTILES will worship God and offer up better worship than what those Jews of that day were offering up. How is that possible?

Well it is only possible because there would be a perfect sacrifice. You see, even if these people stopped bringing the lame and the blind animals as sacrifices; even if they offered up their very best, it would not be enough. One day the perfect Lamb of God would offer Himself up for the sins of all mankind, not just for the Jews. He would become the once-for-all, perfect sacrifice for everyone

And because He would offer the perfect sacrifice, a NEW WORSHIP would be instituted. The Jews and the Gentiles would be united in their worship of God. Paul writes about it this way in Ephesians 2:19:

Ephesians 2:19–22 NKJV

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

That’s how Malachi can say that the Gentiles would offer up a pure sacrifice to His name and that He would be great among the nations. And that worship would not take place in the temple at Jerusalem, O No! You see, the temple at Jerusalem was important because it was the one place on earth where Jehovah lived. His presence could be found in the Holy Of Holies in the Jerusalem temple. But notice what Paul says about the temple in these verses. He says that “we are joined together in Him, BECOMING a holy temple for the Lord. Through Him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by His Spirit. V11 looks ahead to the time when our worship will be made all over the world as God’s Spirit lives in each one of us.

You see, even though the Jews were disillusioned with their circumstances and disappointed at how things were turning out, they needed to remember that their God was up to something HUGE. They needed to trust that His plan was much bigger than their immediate circumstances. They needed to worship God fully aware that one day His plan would bring a powerful change.

APP

And I really believe that you and I need that same kind of trust in God when we come to worship. In the final analysis, real worship comes down to faith. If I really trust that Jesus has saved me and that my life here, no matter how good it is or how bad it seems, is just a preparation for a much better future, I can worship in faith, even though things are crashing all around me. On the other hand, if I am looking for my comfort now; if I am expecting “my best life now,” I will often be disappointed, think that God is being unfair with me, and be a bored worshiper who actually despises the God I claim to love.

So in a very practical way, how can this message from Malachi help me when I actually come to church to worship, or simply worship in my quiet time at home? Let me make three concrete suggestions:

To feel His Presence, grasp God’s love.

First TO FEEL HIS PRESENCE, GRASP GOD’S LOVE. When I come to worship, it isn’t enough to just mouth the words of the song I sing, I have to internalize those words and connect them to me personally. I must grasp the amazing fact that God CHOSE me in Christ from the foundation of the world and that, whether my life is comfortable at the moment, His love is real and capable of being tangibly felt. You cannot think long on God’s love for you without being moved to worship.

To experience His deliverance, trust His plan.

Second, TO EXPERIENCE HIS DELIVERANCE, TRUST HIS PLAN. God has a plan to deliver us and it has little to do with whether we are rich or poor, sick or well, happy or sad, married or unmarried, employed or unemployed. God’s plan to deliver us has to do with sending His Son to die so that, all over the world, we can be covered in His love and bring Him glory. In our worship we can be delivered from our bondage and frustration, but we’ve got to come to worship to surrender to His terms, not to dictate our own. We come trusting His plan and believing that He is at work.

To comprehend His greatness, learn His character.

Third, TO COMPREHEND HIS GREATNESS, LEARN HIS CHARACTER. Often our worship is so weak because our understanding of God is so limited. We think that we know Him, but we don’t really know Him at all. I don’t care if you studied in the Seminary for the rest of your life, your understanding of Who God is would still be limited.

I would say that the greatest Theologian who ever lived aside from Jesus Himself was not John Calvin, St. Augustine, nor Thomas Aquinas. O no, the greatest theologian other than Jesus had to be the Apostle Paul. His book to the Romans was probably the most complete explanation of the Christian life you can find and yet this same Apostle said in his letter to the Philippians, “I want to know Him.” I think Paul would have said if you’d asked him if he knew Jesus, “Yes I know Him, but when you compare what I don’t know to what I do know it makes what I do know seem like I don’t know Him at all.”

And I tell you that, if you want to worship Him, really worship Him, you must comprehend His greatness by learning His character, so Do you know Him?

VIS

PLAY VIDEO – THAT’S MY KING