Why Are You Just Sitting There?

When it appears to us that God isn’t doing anything, it might just be that God is actually doing everything.

It’s kind of funny to think about.

We talk about landline telephones like they are these archaic, ancient technology that folks used in the antediluvian days.

But really, it hasn’t been that long.

If you were born since 2000, you grew up with wireless devices, but before 2000?

It was mostly snail mail and princess telephones.

I worked for BellSouth in the early 2000’s.

The handwriting was on the wall - the faster folks got cell phones, the more quickly they took the landlines out of their houses.

I worked in an inbound sales call center that sold landlines for businesses and really, we weren’t in a position to really notice that.

Everyday we came to work - everyday there were customers on the lines with issues for them and sales opportunities for us.

One day our Sr. VP came and announced to us that we were going to be trained to take repair calls.

That was insanity as far as we were concerned.

Think about this - you phone line isn’t working, so you call in and I try to sell you another line just like the one that isn’t working.

How agreeable do you think you’d be?

We all had sales quotas and if we missed our quotas, not only did we not get commission pay, if you missed it enough, you lost your job.

And now we’re going to be taking calls from irate people who will suck our time away from selling to people who might actually buy.

We weren’t happy.

But we didn’t understand the situation.

A few years later, even with taking the additional calls, we started seeing our office shrink.

When I got hired, I didn’t have a desk - there were too many people.

When I came in, I had to find a desk where someone was out that day.

By the time we had been taking repair calls for a few years, half the office was empty.

While we thought management wasn’t doing anything - in fact, when we thought upper management was against us, management was actually scrambling to save the business and save our jobs.

When it appears to us that God isn’t doing anything, it might just be that God is actually doing everything.

God had freed His people from captivity in Babylon and had brought them back to Israel and Jerusalem.

They were so happy, but life was so hard.

The supply chain was broken.

The city they came back to was broken - everything was in disrepair.

Their enemies didn’t want them back and the enemies constantly harassed them.

But they persevered and kept working and kept thinking God was going to do something big.

He brought them back.

It was just a matter of time until they were the king dings of the middle east again.

But 70 years passed and every day was the same old same old.

Now think about this: We’ve been dealing with Covid since March 14, 2020.

Anybody tired of it yet?

Anyone tired of experts like Dr. Fauci saying it’s too early to tell if we can have Christmas gatherings this year?

Does his reality match our reality?

And we have supply chain issues caused by the experts guidance on Covid.

And I even wonder, we’ve taken 60 million people out of the workforce by abortion, I wonder if that’s had an economic effect.

Seems like it would to me.

It seems to me, maybe not to you, but to me that the entire world has gone insane.

And we’ve wondered, I’ve wondered, how long O’ Lord?

And for us, it’s only been a year and 7 months.

Imagine 70 years of this insanity.

Where would we be?

They started to take matters into their own hands.

The started exploring solutions.

Maybe we should explore the gods of the successful people.

Seems to be working for them - bet it will work for us too.

And they started to focus on money.

No matter how much they had, they never had enough.

And slowly but surely, what was wrong before became more right now.

By the way, you know there is a referendum on ballot for packaged liquor sales in Gray, right?

What is the main reason cited for allowing a store to sell packaged liquor - not by the drink that’s already happening I do believe, but a liquor store?

Money.

I know I’m supposed to preach against it being a Baptist pastor and all, but you guys know I’m not necessarily your average bear.

The Bible doesn’t speak against drinking no matter what your mama said.

What it does say and where I do get concerned, is where the Bible says don’t get drunk - don’t lose control of yourself.

Because when you do, you’ll do stupid.

And - and this is worse, you’ll cause other people to do stupid.

So I’m not going to rail against it - I simply want to ask you a single question.

Across the railroad tracks, is the corner store.

What if the owner changes that to a liquor store?

All of the beautification that Downtown Development and Main Street Gray and so many people have worked so hard to do.

And right there, at the gateway of our fair city, is a liquor store.

There is a pretty liquor store in Jackson - they tore down an old grocery store and built it in its place.

You pass it coming home from Atlanta if you go that way - that’s how I know.

That’s one - I haven’t seen many in my life.

I’ve never seen young professionals hanging out outside the liquor store.

Mostly they go in and buy and leave.

But others do hang out there.

I am sure it will raise some degree of revenue.

All governments, even our little city of Gray and Jones County, love to confiscate our money in the form of taxes and you’d better bet a store that sells alcohol gets taxed like crazy.

In addition to sales taxes, there are excise taxes.

Your money you’ll be paying to your government - and they will always want more, won’t they?

So enough of that.

You need to vote one way or another - the turnout will be low so your voices are amplified.

But remember the Israelites - their lust for money caused them to make questionable, then wrong decisions.

Before you vote, ask yourself the question, will the juice be worth the squeeze.

What we get out of it in money, be worth what we get out of it with everything else?

And for anyone who is thinking that a pastor should stay out of anything in the political sphere, let me say this:

Take it up with my boss.

He created the political sphere.

So back to Israel.

Life is hard and they are asking the Lord, “Why are you just sitting there?”

“Why don’t you do something?”

And God called them out.

While they were accusing God of not loving them, he showed them:

That He loved them all of the time.

That He wanted them to have peace.

That He wanted to bless them.

That He was faithful and was to be trusted.

And that He was just.

And now this week, He is going to add dependability, truth and judge to His resume.

The Lord hammers home the point one more time, when it appears to us that God isn't doing anything, it might just be that He is doing everything.

Our text is Malachi 2:17-3:5 and today we’re going to read it in three blocks; let’s look at Malachi 2:17-3:1

Malachi 2:17–3:1 ESV

You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?” “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.

Weary is a great word.

I’ve used it with my kids and with people I’ve supervised.

“You make me weary.”

You make me mentally tired.

I am tired of dealing with you.

You know that’s what children do, right?

They have a parent-o-meter installed in their brains.

And the parent-o-meter measures parent weariness.

The goal is to push the needle as far as you can without tipping the parent into final weariness.

You want to work on them, cry just enough, beg just enough that you wear them down and they give you the candy bar or the toy you want just to shut you up.

But you don’t want to get them to the point where they stop and say, “You have wearied me.”

At that point, their patience is gone and you might as well pack it up - you aren’t getting the candy bar today and you might get a spanking when you get home.

The Lord says He is weary of them.

His patience is worn out.

There’s a lot of theology here we aren’t going to delve into, let’s leave it to say that the Lord has a place where He no longer indulges people.

The Lord has a place where enough is enough.

What pushed him to that place?

When they said to Him, “It appears to us that you are blessing the bad guys. And if that’s not the case, where are you and how come you aren’t doing something?”

The Lord’s answer starts in verse 1, “Behold, I send my messenger...”

He’s not talking about Elijah here - or John the Baptist.

The Lord is talking about Jesus.

See, the Lord is telling them, since I promised Abraham I was going to send a Savior to make everything right, I’ve been working my plan.

You might not see it, but it’s not your job to see it.

You job is to trust me because you know that I am dependable.

I am unchanging and I always do what I say.

I don’t work on your timetable.

I don’t define good by your wants and whims.

My goal is to save you, once and for all.

That’s what you really want and that’s what I’m working on.

You are accusing me of not keeping my word - when you are the ones who aren’t keeping your words.

You are not dependable for me, but I am dependable for you.

Malachi 3:2–4 ESV

But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

Have you ever gone to a party where you were seriously out of your league?

You put on your best clothes, you fix your hair, you even trim your nails.

You look in the mirror and you look fine for all time.

Then you get to the party and you start noticing.

I’ve done this.

My dress shirt is clean and pressed - I cleaned it and pressed it.

But their dress shirts have been laundered and starched - the creases on the sleeves are crisp and perfect.

And you can’t see through their shirts - the cloth is thick and sturdy.

You have your sleeves buttoned - theirs have cuff links.

Their suits are sewn perfectly.

There are no puckers or poofs on their suits.

They don’t bind across their chests or on their arms in the least.

Even their shoes shine brighter than yours.

Where you thought you were fine for all time, well, maybe not.

When Jesus comes to us, that’s what happens and it makes one of two things happen.

Do you remember the story of Zaccheus?

The little short guy who Jesus invited Himself to dinner with and his sinner friends.

Do you remember that at the end of the party, Zacchaeus told Jesus, Luke 19:8 “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.””

If you remember the story, Jesus never said to Zacchaeus that he needed to do any of that.

Jesus just showed up.

What happened?

Truth entered the room and one of the two things happened.

Not only is the Lord dependable, the Lord is truth, and when the truth shows up, all of the flaws of everything shine like they are on fire.

Guys, have you ever been sanding on a piece of metal and it looks like you did a great job.

Then you shine a bright light on it to make sure and you can still see some discoloration.

Yeah, truth entered the room.

What the Lord is telling them is - guys, you are demanding that I do something, and I am, I’m working my plan.

But when I come, will you be ready?

I’m afraid you’re going to be surprised - you’re going to find out that I’m not the one who didn’t clean up for the party.

But here’s the good news.

When you see your stains in relation to my purity, one of two things are going to happen.

One is, you are going to let me clean you up.

You already know, that if you could have cleaned yourself up already, you would have - but you can’t.

But I can.

I will clean you up and then your cries will be acceptable to me.

The Lord is truth.

Malachi 3:5 ESV

“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.

The second thing that can happen when Truth shows up, is you don’t realize how dirty you are.

That’s when the Judge show us, and the Lord is the Judge.

Here’s where modernists can have a field day with scripture.

Malachi says the lord will be a “swift witness against the sorcerers.”

The definition of that word is, “the attempt to control the physical and spiritual world through magical incantations, charms and rituals,” and no sane person believes in that anymore.

Have you ever heard of Kenneth Copeland?

He was a big name in TV preachers a while back and he’s still around.

He had what I called the 100 fold return theory.

Based loosely on something Jesus said, Copeland said if you sent his ministry $1, well God would bless you with $100.

So let’s cut to the chase - if I sent his ministry $10,000, God would make me a millionaire.

Other pseudo-biblical sorcerers sold prayer cloths, anointing oil and holy water that would make the things happen in your life that you want.

There are others now who say if you think the right way, then God will give you the desires of your heart.

You don’t have to have a cauldron or know the spells from a magic book to be a person who is attempting to control the physical and spiritual world through magical incantations, charms and rituals.

You simply have to be someone who wants to manipulate God.

Malachi goes on to call out adultery and lying, people who cheat workers out of their pay and cheat widows and orphans, and people just passing through.

In other words, people who take advantage of vulnerable people for their own gain.

It infuriates me and I know it does you, when you hear of some evil person taking advantage of elderly people and people who don’t know any better.

And what is the sin for all of these people who do all of these things?

They do not fear the Judge.

They do not fear the Lord.

When truth enters the room, one of two things happen.

Either you see truth about who you are and repent.

Or you double down on your sin.

If you repent, the Lord takes you in His arms, He cleans you up and He hears your cries.

If you refuse, Hebrews 10:26-27

Hebrews 10:26–27 ESV

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.

When Truth enters the room, so does the Judge.

Either you follow the Truth, or you fall under the jurisdiction of the Truth and you meet the Judge.

You see, when it appears to us that God isn’t doing anything, it might just be that He is doing everything.

So what do WE do with this?

In our topsy-turvy world, it might just be that we need to quit asking when is the Lord going to do something, because He already is.

Truth is out there - Jesus has come.

We are watching very visibly the sorting.

Those who see the Truth repent and follow Jesus.

We realize we are accusing Him of doing exactly what we are doing.

We are being undependable and following our truth.

And we are broken by our sin, so we repent and the Lord graciously wipes our tears away.

All the others work to redefine the truth - which can’t be done.

They will go their own way.

One of the reasons we don’t think the Lord is working is because we forget what He is all about.

We get so hung up on the immediate, that we forget He is working a plan, and that plan is for our good and for His glory.

When we read the scriptures we are reminded - God is working a plan, and that plan includes me.

When we see the truth and we repent.

Remember, Repenting means we turn to the Lord and say, “I don’t care how you make this turn out.

i. “I’m going to trust you no matter where this thing goes - because you are God.

1. “Because you are dependable and truth.”

When we do that, there is only one - listen to me - there is only one possible ending.

We are saved from our bondage to sin and death.

While we will still sin, sin isn’t our master.

We stop being victims - we become conquerors.

We become free.

And death that so many people seem to be facing lately?

It simply becomes a door to a new adventure.

That’s all it is - because the Truth has set you free.

Let us pray:

(from the Valley of Vision)

Lord God Almighty,

I ask not to be enrolled amongst the earthly great or rich,

but to be numbered by the spiritually blessed.

Make it my present, supreme, persevering concern

to obtain those blessings which are

spiritual in their nature,

eternal in their continuance,

satisfying in their possession.

Preserve me from a false estimate of the whole or a part of my character;

May I pay regard to my princples as well as my conduct,

My motives as well as my actions.

Help me never to mistake the excitement of my passions

for the renewing of the Holy Spirit,

Never to judge my religion by occasional impressions and impulses,

But to my constant and prevailing disposition.

May my heart be right with thee, and my life be lived as the gospel.

May I maintain a supreme regard to another and better world,

and feel and confess myself a stranger and pilgrim here.

Afford me all the direction, defense, support and consolation

My journey hence requires,

And grant me a mind stayed on thee.

Lord I believe, help thou mine unbelief.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen