Malachi Sermon - 3

Malachi: The Heart of Worship

Malachi 1:6-14

1. Introduction – This morning, I want us to try and gauge the spiritual temperature of Malachi’s day.

a. Let’s gauge the spiritual temperature of the clergy, gauge the spiritual temperature of the people and see God’s response to them.

i. Let’s stick a thermometer in there and see if their running a fever or if they are hypothermic.

2. Priests – Take note of the masterful way God addresses this problem in the priesthood.

a. First, the audience is drawn in. They are drawn in with factually true statements.

i. A son honours his father…is after all the 5th commandment.

1. And a servant showing honour to his master is also lawful.

b. The priests – who would have been fathers of sons, would most likely be nodding their heads in agreement.

1. Until, that is, the punchline is delivered. A scathing indictment on the priesthood is given.

c. In describing the priests’ work – God uses words like, ‘despised,’ ‘defiled,’ ‘polluted,’ and ‘evil.’ Wow.

i. So, what’s the spiritual temperature of the priesthood – of the spiritual leaders of Israel…hypothermic.

1. Why? What’s going on?

d. Well, the issue that God addresses through Malachi is the priests’ acceptance of unacceptable sacrifices.

i. The standard for sacrifices is laid out pretty clearly in the book of Leviticus.

1. And without getting into the gory detail of sacrifices…they were to be the best someone could offer.

ii. It was explicitly forbidden to bring a sick, blind, lame or otherwise disfigured animal as a sacrifice.

1. An offering was to be from the best of the flock, or the first fruits of the harvest…

i. It was to be the best…not the leftovers.

e. But what’s happening here? Did you notice the words “sick, lame and blind?” What was forbidden in God’s law, was now being accepted by the priests.

i. The sacrifices weren’t sacrificial at all. Instead of being the best of the best from a flock or crops…the priests were offering sacrifices that didn’t cost anything…which is actually an oxymoron.

1. There were exacting standards when it came to sacrifices, and the priesthood in general, and the priests of Malachi’s day weren’t living up to those standards.

3. The People – So that’s the spiritual temperature of the priests. They are accused of dishonouring, despising, disrespecting, and defiling God’s name….they were hypothermic…cold.

a. They were so cold that when they were confronted with the truth, they objected. Even though they aren’t directed addresses in the passage, we can learn about the spiritual temperature of the people too. Are they burning with red-hot passion for the ways of God…or are they experiencing frostbite?

i. Well, unfortunately the people of Malachi’s day weren’t much better than the priests…as the priesthood went, so went the people.

1. The priests were guilty of offering unacceptable sacrifices…but it was the people who brought those sacrifices in the first place.

a. The priests didn’t offer their own sacrifices, but sacrifices on behalf of the people.

ii. It was the people who were bringing sick, lame and blind animals to the priests, and the priests were offering them up to God.

b. It shows that the presenting issue was improper worship…but the source of their improper worship was that they no longer respected, revered or gave honour to God’s name.

i. They no longer thought God was worthy of their best. God gives 2 examples to bolster his accusation.

c. First – God says, try giving your Governor a gift of a lame or sick animal. See how that works out for you.

i. Do you think a Governor would respond favourably to you? Why would God?

1. Give him a sick gift – then ask him to bless you…see how far that gets you.

ii. Or bringing it closer to home – men…trying giving your wife a half-dead bouquet of flowers…or a half-eaten chocolate bar…

1. Or giving her the lamest possible gift, you could imagine…

a. How far do you think it will get you? Will you get favour in return, or a trip to the dog house?

iii. That’s what’s going on here – the people are bring lame gifts to God…and asking for his favour and blessing – how do you think it will go for them when they aren’t presenting their best to God?

d. Next, they show dishonour to God by not following through on their promises.

i. In v.14, God is talking about a person who promises to give his very best if & when God gets him out of a bind.

1. But when deliverance comes – the offer is retracted and something else is given instead.

a. And unfortunately, this still happens today.

i. When I’m in a better financial position, I’ll give more to the church.

1. When life settles down a little bit, I’ll serve in the church more.

2. Only when the finances roll in or life settles down…sometimes instead of fulfilling our promises to God – we enjoy the financial security over giving more to God…or we enjoy the leisure time over serving.

e. God doesn’t look too favourably on people who do this….look at the first word of v.14…Cursed.

i. God’s people ought to be people of integrity – doing what they say.

1. God’s people ought to honour God by bringing him their best sacrifices…one’s that actually cost them something.

a. If they really thought God was their father…they would honour him appropriately.

i. If they really thought of God as their master – they would respect him.

4. God’s Response – So we’ve seen the spiritual temperature of the priests and people…cold. Really cold.

a. So, what’s God’s response to their hypothermic spiritual condition?

i. What is God’s response to their lame gifts? To their non-sacrificial sacrifices???

b. Look at v.10 for God’s response. Shut the doors. NO service, no sacrifice at all would be better than the lame offerings you’re bringing.

i. The statement is shocking – it’s supposed to be shocking.

1. The temple was the centre of Jewish worship, the centre of the city. The temple was integral to who they were as God’s people.

a. But when people come out of habit and ritual, when they bring sick and lame offerings…when they cease to honour and respect God’s name…

i. It is better that the doors are closed and nothing takes place there.

c. The truth of it is this – sacrifices cost something. For the Jews…it cost them their first fruits…the animal that was perfect for breeding…

i. They were to bringing those to God as an act of trust…trusting that God will provide for them, even though they gave up their first and best of their harvest…even though they gave a perfect animal from their flock.

1. But instead, the people of Malachi’s day brought what was left.

a. So, do these people deserve to have their prayers answered?

i. Does God have to accept half-hearted worship?

1. Isn’t it his job to accept it?

d. Well, the biblical answer is a resounding, “No!” Because God looks at the condition of the offerer before he looks at the offering.

i. The offerers in Malachi’s day presumed on God’s grace and favour. “God has to accept my sacrifice, its his job. At least I brought one!”

1. But that is not how God’s people are to come to worship.

a. Psalm 24 lays out some pretty solid standards a worshipper must exhibit. Look at the criteria.

i. The statement of Malachi 1:10 was meant to wake up and shake up God’s people.

1. Priest and people were to be startling by this alarming statement.

5. Us Today – And as uncomfortable & daunting & intimidating as it might be – we have to ask this question…we have to explore this…

a. Does God ever say this about our church? A question we’d rather not ask…and definitely not have it answered.

i. Does God ever say of our church – it’s better that the building remains silent this week.

1. Don’t let the band play. Don’t let the preacher preach…don’t let the people sing or the Sunday School teachers teach…let the people say in bed. It’s better that way.

a. It’s uncomfortable to think about – and if you’re not uncomfortable, you’re not paying attention!

b. It’s shocking to contemplate – it’s supposed to be shocking – a statement made by God to shake his people out of a spiritual malaise.

i. A statement made, that should cause us to repent of our improper worship and refocus ourselves to come to God with clean hands and a pure heart.

c. That fact is this – I am guilty of this.

i. There are weeks were God says, “Michael, you should have kept your mouth shut.” There are weeks where I don’t bring my best into the pulpit with me and I need to repent of that.

1. But the truth is, you are guilty of this too…

a. And it would be really easy to deny this, to ignore this and move on like this passage doesn’t apply to us…but we need to explore this.

i. We need to acknowledge this.

ii. I am guilty of half-hearted worship. I’m not trying to make a show…I’m making a confession. Who else wants to make that confession with me?

1. When we acknowledge this, we can address it and begin to remedy the problem.

a. Who else here is guilty of half-hearted worship? Not bringing your best to God?

i. Great…so the question I want to focus on for the rest of our time together is this…what are we going to do about?

1. Give lip service to it but do nothing about it? Ignore the prompting of the Spirit in our lives?

a. Are we going to be like the priests and flat out deny it?

iii. Or are we going to do something about it? Hopefully you are willing to do the hard work of addressing the issue and remedying the situation.

6. What do we do? – And the good news is this…we’ve already taken step 1.

a. Confess your sin of improper worship.

i. Repent of it – ask God to forgive you. We know that when we repent and confess our sin, God is faithful to forgive us.

1. As a church, as individuals – we have confessed this sin to our gracious heavenly Father…know his forgiveness…

a. But repentance is useless if it doesn’t result in a change of attitude and action.

7. Attitude – We’ll start with attitude. The people of Malachi’s day assumed that God would accept their sacrifice simply because they brought one – no matter its condition.

a. Well, we don’t bring animals and crops to give to God. We offer ourselves as living and spiritual sacrifices.

i. So what’s the condition of the offering and offerer?

1. What’s your attitude towards worship and specifically going to church?

a. Do you come with a consumer mindset – what can I get out of this? Or is your worship sacrificial? Costly?

b. As we saw when we studied Revelation – worship God isn’t about ‘getting something out of it”…worship is about entering in.

i. Entering in to the ever on going, already in progress worship service that is happening around the throne of God.

1. That’s the attitude we must develop and have when we worship. I get to enter in this morning.

ii. When the musicians are playing…I get to enter in and join my voice to the heavenly choir.

1. When prayers are being offered – I get to add my voice to the prayers of the people and boldly approach God’s throne.

a. When the offering is being taken up – I get to enter in by sacrificially giving to God.

i. Giving to him from my best, not from whatever is left.

1. I get to enter in, not because I have to, but because God has given so much to me – that I will joyfully give some of it back to him.

2. When the preacher is preaching, I get to enter in to worship by being in God’s Word.

a. I get to enter in by allowing God’s Holy Spirit to convict, heal, challenge, comfort and encourage me through the reading and preaching of God’s word.

iii. Our worship service is not a spectator sport – not entertainment…worship by its very nature is participatory.

1. We come together and we get to enter it. The attitude of a worshipper – ready and willing to participate body, soul and spirit in the worship of our Great God.

8. Action – So if our attitude changes, then our actions must change also. We must prepare our hearts and minds to enter in. And this is something that we all must do for ourselves.

a. My pastor growing up had a saying, “Sunday morning begins Saturday night.”

i. I do this – I do my best to get a lot ready on Saturday night. I pick out my clothes, I iron my shirt and press my suit if I choose to wear one that week…

1. Yes, I watch football, but I also start preparing myself for Sunday morning.

a. I prepare the physical stuff ahead of time so I can better prepare my heart and mind to lead.

b. But this saying has for deeper implications then simply picking out your clothes or shaving and showering on Saturday night instead of Sunday morning.

i. It’s not a surprise that our service is Sunday morning at 9:30. For the last 9.5 years that I have been here, our service has been at 9:30 on Sunday morning.

1. It’s not like we change times and days and locations on a weekly basis…It shouldn’t come as a surprise.

a. So, if worship is sacrificial – if it costs us – then maybe we leave the party early on Saturday night so we can get to bed at a reasonable time so we are well rested for church in the morning.

c. Maybe we turn the TV off before the 3rd period is over so we aren’t dog tired on Sunday morning. Set your alarm so you wake up at a decent time in order to get here, prepared to worship.

i. We jealously carve out time to watch the game, or have some social time with our friends… but when our calendar fills up, it seems like church is the first thing crossed off the list. Oh, I’m too busy to go to church.

1. I stayed out to late last night, I overslept…all of those things can be remedied.

a. We carve out time for our idols, but we don’t jealously carve out time for God…seems backwards to me.

d. Our actions must be the opposite…guard this time…our time together as a church family. 9:30 every Sunday morning…write it in stone. Don’t let anything preempt this time.

i. But preparation for Sunday morning begins on Saturday night.

1. Spend time reading the passage that we’ll be studying. It’s not a surprise. We’re in Malachi from now until Christmas. And at Christmas time, we’ll be studying the Christmas story…

a. It’s why a preach in series…so you know what’s coming.

ii. On Saturday night or Sunday morning before you come…spend time preparing yourself to enter in.

1. Read the passage so you are familiar with it. Pray that God will help you understand it.

a. Pray that your worship will be pleasing and acceptable to God. Repeat Psalm 19:14…may the words of my mouth…

i. Pray for me…that I will preach clearly and boldly, yet filled with grace.

e. Preparation in worship is of utmost importance. We must realize the magnitude of what it is we get to do together.

i. We must not presume on God’s grace that he has to accept our half-hearted worship because it’s his job.

1. No, we must come prepared…bringing our best, because he is God and worthy of our praise.

f. And when we come, prepared body, soul, mind and spirit…we’ll be able to enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise…

i. We’ll come into God’s presence with clean hands and a pure heart to give God the honour, respect and worship he so rightly deserves.