Leading God's Way
Malachi #trending • Sermon • Submitted
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· 5 viewsDo you sense God's calling on your life to be a leader? Do you aspire to be a godly leader? Have you ever failed as a leader? How can you be the kind of leader that God is calling you to be? One of the trending topics in Malachi's day was poor leadership, and in this passage, Malachi lays out a vision for godly leadership. The good news is that it's not that complicated, and the good news is there is one who is the perfect leader on our behalf.
Notes
Transcript
Please turn to Malachi chapter 2, vs. 1.
Malachi 2:1.
Malachi is the last book in the OT, only 4 chapters, and 55 verses.
and he is a prophet, speaking on behalf of God, about the trending issues that needed addressed.
This series is called Malachi #trending—because on Twitter you can find out what news stories, what issues are current and trending and being discussed.
and Malachi the prophets brings up trending issues in Israel’s day.
Thus far, we have looked at God’s love, and Worship last week, and today it’s leadership.
If you were to study right now, some of the trends being discussed in leadership, here are some of the issues according to popular sites:
in the work world for some of you--one is balancing in person and remote work. some of you worked remotely for a season, some of you still do (some never did and never want to) but what does that look like?
another leadership trend for business and small businesses is retaining your current employees, volunteers, people, and hiring or finding enough help—it’s hard, so how do we take care of our people our people
another leadership trend—is there has been a lot of soul searching for people in their work during the last 2 years. do i like my job? is it fulfilling? am I called to something else. some experts say this year will be the great resignation as more people quit their jobs to try something else.
another leadership trend that leaders talk about is just the challenge the last 2 years have been, dealing with change, dealing with angry customers or clients or people, and how do you persevere.
while all these
Malachi in his day—he doesn’t mention any of these trends—of course it is a different time…but he talks about a trend in leadership that is timeless and affects us all... and he does it by speaking specifically to the priests, the spiritual leadership...
Please stand for the reading of God’s Word:
1 “And now, you priests, this warning is for you.
2 If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.
3 “Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.
4 And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi may continue,” says the Lord Almighty.
5 “My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name.
6 True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.
7 “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth.
8 But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,” says the Lord Almighty.
9 “So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”
Last week, we saw that the problem was with the people of Israel giving God 2nd best worship and sacrifices.
This week, the problem is with the leaders.
And God lays out a vision for what godly priests should look like, and while this applies to pastors, I would argue too that really any leader here in business, education, gov’t, non-profits—there is a lot of application.
and even if you say you are not a leader, leadership is simply influence. all of us have some influence over someone.
You may be a parent and have influence over your kids.
you may be a SS teacher or small group leader and have influence over your group.
you may be a friend and have influence over your friends.
or a coach or teacher or a boss.
all of us have influence.
My sermon comes in 4 parts...
Part 1: Notice the vision of Godly leadership.
What does a godly leader look like from this text?
A godly leader listens to the Lord and His Word (vs. 2)
look at verse 2: Malachi 2:2
2 If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.
Do you have a posture and practice, continually of listening to the Lord?
In fact, how did you do this week being aware of the Lord, His presence, and what He wanted in your life?
you may wonder how—do we listen to the Lord?? Is this some practice reserved for the super elite holy people and super spiritual people...
we may think that because in verses 4-6 he mentions his covenant or commitment to Levi and his descendants.
look at those verses briefly
4 And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi may continue,” says the Lord Almighty.
5 “My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name.
6 True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.
In the book of Genesis, Levi was one of the sons of Jacob, one of the forefathers of Israel (tribes of Israel). and God had made a commitment to Levi and his descendants that they would serve as priests in the tabernacle and temple.
(The law required that all the firstborn, including firstborn sons, be given to God, recalling the slaying of the firstborn at the exodus from Egypt. The Levites’ role in religion was that of being accepted by God in the place of the firstborn sons of Israel (Nm 3:11–13);)
(Elwell, W. A., & Comfort, P. W. (2001). In Tyndale Bible dictionary (p. 1075). Tyndale House Publishers.)
and their role involved several things like taking care of the tabernacle or temple and all its furnishings, helping with the animal sacrifices in worship, and also involved at some level teaching God’s Word.
so if you look at verses 6-7 again—look at how they were to listen to the Lord.
6 True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.
how did the priests listen to the Lord and get that instruction
vs. 7
7 “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth.
that knowledge from the Lord comes from His Word. the priests and the Levites were to teach the people the Word of the Lord. and that only came by reading, studying, focusing on and listening to God in His Word.
and if they did that, it would have a tremendous ripple effect on the people.
in fact, every issue that is brought up in Malachi should have been addressed by the leaders.
so the question for you—do you listen to the LORD?
and if not, what are you listening to? what are you focusing on?
did any of you do a New Years resolution to read God’s Word…in fact, what would your life look like if you personally were in the Word everyday? get up early? what would it look like if you committed to meeting with others to discuss God’s Word in a Sunday morning group, or a midweek group, or another group? What would that look like? (Brad Buckingham -10 minutes a day, 5 hours a month, 60 hours a year)
if you are leader—are you listening to God and His Word—God wants to communicate you—you don’t have to be super spiritual...
if you are a ministry leader or pastor of some kind—are we listening to the Lord—and are you as a church holding us accountable as pastors to listen to God’s Word—and preserve His knowledge?
a godly leader responds by honoring the Lord in his life (vs. 2, 5)
look at vs. 2
2 If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.
look at verse 5 again which spells out that honoring...
5 “My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name.
verse 6 continues that honoring...
6 True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.
because He listened to the Lord, his life then matched it
how is your life, matching up to the Lord’s Word?
can people tell by your speech that you are honoring the Lord?
by your walk?
by how you help others or treat others?
vs. 9 mentions partiality
9 “So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”
a godly leader—the formula is so simple—they listen to the Lord, especially in His Word, and they seek to honor Him. (listen, respond, listen, respond)
if that is the case—it changes everything!!
God takes our leadership and influence seriously—because it affects a lot of people.
I know there are tremendous leadership problems and challenges right now if you are a leader that are trending—but one issue that never gets old or goes out of style is character—character matters!
In fact—in the NT—the vision for being a godly leader—or pastor is almost entirely character based--
1 Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task.
2 Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect.
5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)
6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.
7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.
but here’s the problem.
Part 2: Confess our failure as leaders.
God sets the standard pretty high for godly leadership, and they failed big time.
the Priests and Levites did not listen or honor the Lord.
they did not listen to the Lord and what he wanted.
nor did they live it out.
8 But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,” says the Lord Almighty.
9 “So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”
It’s easy to look at them and say “Oh I can’t believe that. They should know better.”
or it’s easy to look at leaders in our culture—especially big names—and say “They should know better! If I were them, I would be different.”
we talked about inter-generational, multi-generational realities — or if “our generation was in charge, we would have the best leaders and solve all of our cultures’ or our church’s problem...”
we actually love studying leadership failure—when a big name leader fails…we love it. One author calls it leadership failure porn. We love reading about leadership failures.
I recently listened to a podcast called the rise and fall of Mars Hill—about a church started in Seattle in the 90’s and grew to several thousand people, several campuses, lots of influence, but in 2014 it imploded b/c of the character failures of the main pastor.
it’s easy to point the finger and say “If I were in charge...”
but the problem is — if we are honest—all of us fail in this standard that Malachi lays out.
How did you do this last week at really listening to the Lord? Did you take time to listen to God’s Word—to pause and pray and consider what God is calling you to do this week?
If you got stressed at this past week, how did you do at stopping, praying, and listening to the Lord?
How did your life match up to the vision of this passage? Did you honor the Lord with your speech?
One of the good challenges of this passage is that you as as congregation are to hold our leaders—its pastor and board—to really listen to the Lord and honor Him.
So the problem is, we fail...
we deserve what verse 2 says—that God would curse us.
2 If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.
we deserve what verse 3 says—that God would smear our faces with the dung from their festival sacrifices.
3 “Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.
btw—this is a reference whenever the Israelites brought an animal sacrifice and offered it—there were certain parts that were burned, and even given to the priests sometimes, and there were certain parts like the guts, the entrails, intestines, and dung that were taken and burned outside the camp. (made you unclean)
God says he will take that dung and those entrails and smear it on your face to get your attention. He would make the priests unclean and defiled so they couldn’t serve. God is saying I am taking you out of leadership.
and this may surprise us that God talks this way—but He is a holy God. His name will not be defiled. He cares about his leaders and their influence on the people. He is a god of holiness and justice.
There is good news in these punishments that God cares about his people. that even if a leader’s character falls—God’s character doesn’t, and He takes action. He raises up and he takes down leaders (and us btw)
and there’s good news that by doing that—they will and confess and repent.
Malachi confronts them and us—that we will come to our senses.
you and fail in this all the time...
but there’s hope...
Part 3: Look to the Perfect leader
There is one who did not fail in being a godly leader.
The godliest priest and leader of all, is our great high priest Jesus Christ.
Jesus always listened to His Father.
look at John 6:38
38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
when Jesus was tempted by the devil, after fasting for 40 days—Jesus said this:
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Jesus never spoke a careless word.
He was gentle and merciful to sinners.
19 He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets.
20 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he has brought justice through to victory.
21 In his name the nations will put their hope.”
It’s not that Jesus was wimpy—he cast out demons; calmed the storm; raised the dead.
He’s is Almighty God!
If you ever watch those nature shows—i love watching crocodiles…and animals cross the river while the crocodiles lie in wait. Crocodiles can destroy big animals like wildebeests with their big jaws, but they are also gentle enough to carry eggs in their mouth.
Sam Alberry: “This gets us close to what the Bible means by gentleness. It is not the absence of strength, but the application of strength to a tender situation.”
this same Jesus who was gentle with prostitutes and broken sinners, was not afraid to confront and use his words to challenge the religious leaders!
and yet never sinned.
When Jesus was on trial before He went to the cross, Jesus was so full of integrity because he listened and honored the Lord—that they couldn’t get their stories straight at they accused him. They had a really hard time coming up with an accusation against Jesus.
and on the cross, Jesus died innocently (he didn’t deserve it) yet did it for us failures. for those who have wandered from God.
for leaders who have messed up.
for anyone who has failed to listen to God and honor His Word.
as verse 2 says—Jesus took that curse we deserve—though He didn’t deserve it. He deserved blessing.
and in verse 3— Jesus took the dung we deserve—he was crucified outside the city.
He was shamed so we could be honored.
He was disqualified so we could be qualified. unclean so we could be clean.
If we confess before God that we have messed up (and continually) and surrender our lives to the leadership of Jesus, we will be forgiven made new.
and if we continue to submit to Jesus—He by His Spirit will empower us to a new life.
If you are a leader in any way, parent, boss, teacher, coach, friend—we have messed up, especially in these last couple of years. I look back on my pastoral leadership, and there have been times I have said and done such dumb things, careless words, bad decisions, failures to honor the Lord.
I need the Lord.
Thankfully—Jesus is my High Priest—the ultimate priest and ultimate Levite for me in my place.
23 Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office;
24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.
25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
26 Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.
27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.
28 For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.
Part 4 — As you trust Jesus, He transforms your leadership...
how can you listen to God this week?
what area of your life would Jesus challenge if he was speaking directly to you?
Jesus does this b/c he cares about you and the people under your leadership.
and He wants to help.
prayer time for leaders—parent, coach, boss, would you stand if you have influence in some way--
pray for our board and staff
and perhaps you are here and leadership has failed you—at church, at home, at work, at school...
how can you give those wounds to the Lord?
and how might God be calling you to look to Jesus and also get resolution?
Highlight the business mtg.??
at 6pm???