Reality Check

As Chris has said, summer will be a little different for us this year but after multiple summers of covid I think we will be just fine. This summer will be an opportunity for some reflection, healing , and hopefully we will be changed by God. Even though Chris will be on sabbatical we need to take some time to look at what we are doing and what God’s will for us is.

This is an interesting week to preach, because the last couple of weeks have been full of some big events. There continue to be shootings around the country, we continue to wrestle with the challenges in our denomination, we have the overturning of Roe V Wade and the emotional response on both sides of the isle as a result of the decision. Our political climate is ramping up into the battle between who will be in charge of our country and states. We have insane housing costs, gas prices are painful and we have inflation on the rise that most of us have not been apart of before.

Before we can work through many of these things we need to have a correct perception. My father in law used to always tell me the economy was fine because it wasn’t a double digit economy, Inflation, interest rates, and unemployment were not all over 10%. I am not saying he is right I am just saying that he had a different reality than I have experienced. His reality is different than mine. From the beginning people have been creating their own reality.

What do I mean by creating their own reality? I mean is this. there are facts and truths that define the world around us. As we grow, we gain a better understanding of the facts and truths that exist and then based on what we do with those facts we perceive the world around us and that defines what is real to us. A child’s perception of the world around them is constantly changing. But they universally understand that gravity is at work. I have never met a child who walked around holding onto heavy objects because they believed that they would float away at any moment. A child’s world is always changing and they are very nimble to adapt to the changing facts but as we get older our adaptation to the reality of the world can be polluted.

Sometimes we just don’t have all of the facts. Have you ever been there. You made conclusions and reacted a certain way and later you learned that you did not have all of the information to understand what was going on.

Sometimes we get our facts from the wrong place and the wrong people. I was on a trip last summer hanging out in the hotel and there was a covid outbreak in a certain city that was highly vaccinated. I watched the news on a station use the statistics of the event to talk about how it was all of the non vaxers fault and that this was what happens when people are selfish. I flipped the tv a couple of channels forward to another news program and they were using the exact same statistics to talk about the fact that vaccinations are ineffective because outbreaks can still happen. Who was right? we must be careful where we get our information from and even more careful to come up with our own conclusion because if the last 3 years have taught us anything is that you cannot believe every thing you hear on tv.

And another thing even more worrying is that something begins to develop in us as we grow into adults where we can ignore certain facts and truths to support a false reality. I am not going to say who is right or wrong but how is it possible that grown adults cannot determine if the world is flat or not. At one time the world did not have all of the facts and they made false assumptions. But now don’t we have enough facts to come to a conclusion or are more facts required.

We have a breakdown of reality going on in the world (those outside the body of Christ and those inside the body of Christ). This is nothing new and as history shows, it will continue to be a way of life for us until Jesus returns and wipes out sin. So what does this mean for us?

We are going to have a reality check this summer. We are going to ask the questions, are we ignoring facts and truth, are we getting our facts and truth from the right place, do we have the correct perception, is our reality false or does it need to be redefined.

Who is willing to go on this journey this summer. Know that we are doing the will of God. Living a life that brings Glory to him.

We are going to take a detour from Ephesians for the summer. Chris will return and pick up where he is leaving off and we are going to go to the book of Malachi for the summer.

We will dive into the last book in the OT. It is a great book for us today. It is my prayer that God will speak to us through this book in a powerful way this summer. Let us begin with a little background.

There are two views on who the writer is. Malachi means “my messenger” and since we know literally nothing about him from the bible, many believe this could be an anonymous prophet. The majority believe that a man named Malachi wrote the book. The book starts out consistent with other prophetic books which are clearly written by the one addressed.

Where this fits into the story of the OT is not direct either. There are no dates or events in the book to give a definite timeline but the themes and issues in the book relate to the same issues that Nehemiah and Ezra were addressing which would put this book at the end of the OT. Isreal had been in captivity and Nehemiah was given permission to rebuild. He went to Jerusalem twice. The first time to build the wall back up and second time to address issues that were going on. It has been over a century since the last prophesies were written and Isreal is impatient and now cynical and skeptical.

He addresses the issues in what is call a disputation style or in other words questions and argument. He will actually ask the questions they are thinking and then he will provide argument against those questions. So let us Pray as we enter into his word.

Pray

Stand with me as we read Malachi Chapter 1 verses 1-5. This in a section titles the Lord’s Love for Isreal.

Malachi 1:1–5 CSB

1 A pronouncement: The word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi. 2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. Yet you ask, “How have you loved us?” “Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” This is the Lord’s declaration. “Even so, I loved Jacob, 3 but I hated Esau. I turned his mountains into a wasteland, and gave his inheritance to the desert jackals.” 4 Though Edom says, “We have been devastated, but we will rebuild the ruins,” the Lord of Armies says this: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called a wicked country and the people the Lord has cursed forever. 5 Your own eyes will see this, and you yourselves will say, ‘The Lord is great, even beyond the borders of Israel.’

Reality of God's Love

The book starts with “a pronouncement”. Your translation may say a burden or an oracle. This is a prophecy of the Lord through the man Malachi. Malachi is very direct with a statement of the Lord. “I have loved you.” The usage here is a great affection of deep care for his people. A love that choose them solely because he chose to love them. It is a complete first person love. He is not saying I loved you in the past he is saying I choose to love you past, present, and future. He has continually demonstrated this love throughout the history of Isreal.

Deuteronomy 7:6–8 CSB

6 For you are a holy people belonging to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be his own possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth. 7 “The Lord had his heart set on you and chose you, not because you were more numerous than all peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. 8 But because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors, he brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from the place of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

For about the last three years we have been going through the narrative of the bible with our students. We are in our second time in the old testament and I am baffled by God’s chosen people. I read about the power and Glory that God showed them and I go how do you forget so fast. Starting with Adam and Eve and the fall and how short a time it takes to forget. Did you realize that Noah was the first in the line of Adam that would not be able to talk to Adam face to face. On top of that, at the time of the flood Methuselah and Lamech both were alive for over 60 years before Adam died and they perished in the flood. That means that during the time of the wickedness of the people that there were people who had probably heard 1st hand accounts of Adam and Eve’s life with God and how they were created.

Then you have Jacob’s family lead to Egypt by God through Joseph and then the exodus form Egypt. The parting of the red sea. Can you imagine? Then Moses goes up on the mount for 40 days and they are like. I guess he is not coming back so lets make a new God. Hey Aaron help us out. Ok. What? isn’t Moses your brother? Isn’t it you families story on your brother being raised by pharaohs daughter and then God using him to lead his people out of Egypt. How can you forget so fast.

God is once again reminding them of what he has always done. He has always loved them.

Everything that comes after this is from God’s love. It is from his love that he rebukes them throughout this book.

Proverbs 3:11–12 (CSB)

11 Do not despise the Lord’s instruction, my son, and do not loathe his discipline; 12 for the Lord disciplines the one he loves, just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.

And why do they need to be rebuked because they have forgot. Malachi says they ask “How have you loved us?”

They have the entire history of the old testament and there hearts have gone astray. They just returned from captivity and the walls of Jerusalem have been rebuilt and their hearts are just not focused on God. They are still blaming him and they are hard towards him.

Does this still apply to us today? Do you know that God loves you? Not in your head but in your heart. Can you define today what God’s love looks like for you today? Do we rely on the OT histories? or what. We are saved the same way they were in the OT by faith through grace. They were saved looking forward and we are saved looking backwards. So what does love mean for us?

1 John 3:16 CSB

16 This is how we have come to know love: He laid down his life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

1 John 4:9–10 CSB

9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10 Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Do we need a reminder of his love? Would God tell us that in our hearts that we question his love? Have we fallen away from our true love? From the source of love itself? If those are questions that you have, you are not alone. Many people I talk too question so much right now and we need to point not to the world that builds truth on sand but to the cornerstone, the solid rock we stand on.

This is the reality of God’s love that he sent is son to die for the punishment of our sins. To redeem the lost to himself.

And Why did he choose us? Because he wanted too.

Reality of God's Choice

Malachi 1:2–3 CSB

2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. Yet you ask, “How have you loved us?” “Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” This is the Lord’s declaration. “Even so, I loved Jacob, 3 but I hated Esau. I turned his mountains into a wasteland, and gave his inheritance to the desert jackals.”

The question God asked was rhetorical. This question was to reaffirm the relationship with Jacob and Esau in order to set up the next statement. I loved Jacob and Hated Esau. God is not specifically addressing Jacob and Esau he is using their names as the head of the family lines. He loved the people of Jacob and hated the people of Esau. Jacobs family would become the chosen Isreal and Esau’s family would become the wicked Edom that is rejected. Love here means choosing and hate means rejecting.

Esau would eventually be the people of Edom. They were wicked people and were enemies of Isreal. Edom and Isreal shared a boarder and they have conflict throughout the histories of the countries. Edom was know to be wicked they would do things like wait for someone else to attack Isreal and then they would attack and raid. There are prophesies in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel along with this one that told of the Lord punishing Edom.

The point of the statement wasn’t so much about Isreal and Edom as it was about God’s action of choosing Isreal to be his own people. No one tells God what to do. There is no authority over him. He is Sovereign.

Define sovereign

Isaiah 45:7–9 (CSB)

7 I form light and create darkness, I make success and create disaster; I am the Lord, who does all these things. 8 “Heavens, sprinkle from above,

and let the skies shower righteousness. Let the earth open up so that salvation will sprout and righteousness will spring up with it.

I, the Lord, have created it. 9 “Woe to the one who argues with his Maker—one clay pot among many. Does clay say to the one forming it,

‘What are you making?’ Or does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?

God is telling them that his love is demonstrated to Isreal through his free choice to choose them. That the creator of the universe chose them above all others. Not because they were better but because he chose to do so. This love is the same love that is bestowed on us today as well.

Ephesians 1:4 CSB

4 For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him.

He choose us. He chose you. For no merit of your own but because it was his will to do so. But just like Isreal we can forget that living as a follower of Jesus isn’t about our want and desires. It is about his. We came to Christ because he chose us to do so. He will bless who he blesses and curse those he curses.

Have we forgotten that we were chosen? Have we forgotten that we were chosen not because of who we are? That each and every person stands before God with nothing to give. Just our sinful hearts focused on our own desires.

When was the last time you sat down and looked at you motivations. Why do you do what you do each and every day? What drives your actions? Are you driven by the love of Christ or by your own desires? Have we turned our back and become impatient?

This is the reality of God’s choice.

Reality of God's Glory

Malachi 1:4–5 CSB

4 Though Edom says, “We have been devastated, but we will rebuild the ruins,” the Lord of Armies says this: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called a wicked country and the people the Lord has cursed forever. 5 Your own eyes will see this, and you yourselves will say, ‘The Lord is great, even beyond the borders of Israel.’

God tells them that Edom will try to rebuild but God will prevent that. The title Lord of Armies can be Lord of Hosts. It literally means horde. It is a title that is used to describe God’s immense resources to accomplish His will on the earth. God simply says you will see me at work in your enemies and you will know that I am great. Everything is for his Glory.

Everything God does is for his Glory and is alone. Everything is to reveal his awesomeness to us. I used to describe it this way.

Mansion Analogy.

The reality of God’s Glory is this.

Matthew 25:31–34 CSB

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

In the end every person will know God’s Glory, Justice, and Love. It will be exactly what is in this book.

Are we willing to wait till the end?

Conclusion

I absolutely believe that perception is reality. But people have a perception problem. It comes from a deceptive heart and a complacency about the time we have.

The 50,0000 Israelites that were left were in need of a heart change. Malachi was a call to change through the love of God. After this time Isreal enters the 400 years of silence that exists between this book and the beginning of the gospels. We see that in the end Isreal would end up a nation ran by religious leaders that not only could not recognize the fulfillment of the old testament prophesies but would also accuse him of working for satan and ultimately would devise a way to have the awaited messiah crucified on the cross. Their hard hearts would bring about the fulfillment of God’s words in the OT.

We are in a time like that of Isreal. We are fleeing from the God of the bible and it is not just the lost world. It is the church. We live in a time where people are not concerned about other people’s reality just their own. But this is not the way for true followers of Jesus.

1 John 3:16–18 CSB

16 This is how we have come to know love: He laid down his life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has this world’s goods and sees a fellow believer in need but withholds compassion from him—how does God’s love reside in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.

Malachi is addressing the heart issues of Isreal and we have the same issue today.

As we talk about the problems we are dealing with is compassion and love at the forefront of your heart. We talk, debate, accuse, pontificate, slander, yell, and make fun of those who are not of the same opinion that we are.

Love: The shootings: do we talk about it, ignore it, or does our heart go out to young men to help them before they become shooters. Who of the next generation are we pouring into? Do we think about the families that raised these men and are our heart filled with compassion to help moms and dads raise their children. Are we pouring truth into young people, preparing them or a God honoring marriage that will raise God honoring children? We need to support the victims but we have the hope to keep the shooter them from pulling the trigger. Young men are struggling and are we doing what needs to be done.

Love: We speak for the unborn that cannot speak for themselves. This is a must for us but where is our compassion for young women. Where is our action to help young women be confident in who God created them to be. To prepare them to Glorify God with their minds and bodies to be faithful to God first and men second. And when the evil of this world finds its way to the woman of our country where is our compassion for them. To carry them through. Where are we training men to see and honor women the way God commands? How do we help abortions from needing to be a choice at all?

Pick the topic. Same sex marriage, Southern Baptist Convention, Covid, the list goes on and on. They are all heart issues, sin issues.

If i were to put a penny in my pocket for every time someone talked about one of these issues, every tweet, facebook post, locker room conversation, dinner conversation how fast would I become a millionaire?

It i were to put 100 dollars in my pocket for every time someone acted to love people who are dealing with these issues how fast would I become a millionaire?

Almost everyone I have interacted with talks about these things but not many are asking how do we love these people. And yes this verse is talking about brothers and sisters but we can go back the Jesus’ teaching on the good Samaritan and the greatest commandments and many others to know that how he wants us to deal with these issues is to take Jesus to these people.

Where is our drive to help the world around us. When does our love for Jesus take the correct place in our lives. I look at great ministries like HRC, Big Table, and many other and they are acting in love. They are not just speaking love.

When will kingdom work become the most important thing for us. When will we interrupt our work schedules when they conflict with our service for God. When will the work of the people of God become the priority of our lives.

In all of history there was always a remnant that kept the correct perspective and it is my hope that we will not be complacent or blinded by our own desires and move away from God foolishly content with the life we have.

Now we cannot do everything but we can do something and man can we do a lot with who is here. In business, people are changing the world with a lot less people than we have and they do not have God helping them along the way. The best thing is that we don’t have to go very far to start.

Children, Men, Women, Families, Neighbors, Coworkers.

We have an opportunity this summer to get a healthy perspective on Reality. I am excited for this series and I am excited to see what God does in Chris’s life during this time. We have a lot to do but I will need help this summer.

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