"WHY DON’T YOU HONOR ME?"
TEXT: Malachi 1: 6 A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear(reverence)?
Living for God can become a ritual rather than a relationship!
A ritual causes a lack of genuine joy and poor quality sacrifices.
When it is a relationship we take great joy in sacrificing.
God asked Israel a Question:
… it seemed that God wasn’t pleased with either their sacrifices or service,
They were giving sacrifices to the Lord, they were attending worship services at the Temple … so what was wrong?
It wasn’t just THAT they gave, it was WHAT they gave … sick diseased animals for sacrifices and ritualistic attendance at the Temple without a genuine joy or thanksgiving in their heart toward God!
They had lost their focus on the purpose of worship.
They had lost their focus on WHO GOD IS.
God expects the best from us because He always gives His best to us
I. DISHONORING GOD’S CHARACTER
1: 6 A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say Wherein have we despised thy name? 7 Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say The table of the LORD is contemptible
8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.
9 And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the LORD of hosts.
10 Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand
Their relationship with God slipped into just a weekly commitment to keep at the temple the joy disappeared from worship.
Instead of looking forward to getting to the temple for worship they were looking forward to getting out of temple for home! (ever sound familiar?)
… Instead of giving their best they gave their worst sacrifices and leftovers!
*They were unwilling worshippers!
* They were unwilling givers!
In their prosperity they resented what God wanted from them, (The deceitfulness of riches)
He wanted their very best and not their leftovers … we tend to give better when we have less than when we have more!
They had lost focus on God and got lost in self and the rituals of worship!
They had taken pride in calling themselves "God’s sons" yet did not honor God as a proper father!
God asked, 1:6"If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?"
They were good at declaring it, but not good at showing it!
They still went through the motions, came to temple, brought a sacrifice, said the prayers, did the songs, etc. but their hearts were far from God.
*This was evident by the joyless attendance
*This was evident by the sickly sacrifices
*This was evident by the lousy attitude
God asks them to consider giving the SAME quality sacrifices to their own governor and see how he likes it! 1:8 "Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty."
The problem wasn’t a lack of service, it was the quality of service!
1: 11 For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.
12 But ye have profaned it, in that ye say The table of the LORD is polluted and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible
13 Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn and the lame, and the sick thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the LORD.
14 But cursed be the deceiver (Cheat) which hath in his flock a male, and voweth and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing for I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen
Their not honoring God would not keep God from being honored in the world … God will still be honored by the nations in good time!
Their not worshiping God properly would be THEIR loss.
They were at least giving something!
They did care about their image, so they did give, but they gave their leftovers!
God would accept a poor sacrifice … if it came from someone who was poor.
They had been blessed, but they held the best for themselves while giving God the worst of what they had.
God identifies the problem "Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord."
God calls such a person a "cheat" who can give better sacrifices but chooses not to. They refused to give their best but expected God to continue blessing them.
This can be the attitude of worshippers today too, we want God’s best but don’t give God our best.
We sometimes refuse to give anything for God because we are bitter that God hasn’t blessed us better!
If we have the ability to give to God good sacrifices and we instead give Him poor ones we will not find joy in our relationship with God.
We show the kind of joy we have in our relationship with God by the kind of sacrifices we make to Him.
This is why "God loves a cheerful giver" … because He knows they have joy in their giving.
If you are wondering what this message has to do with you consider the way we are serving God.
In this Christmas season we will see some people in church that only go show up at Easter and Christmas.
Some people only come to service when it is convenient to do so, some would rather go to a birthday party than church. Some are very talented and can teach and sing and work in the church but it is too much trouble, just feel good that they show up when they can.
This Church needs WORKERS not WATCHERS.
Some pay tithes right down to the last penny $9.42 but want a $200. blessiung
II. DISHONORING GOD’S COVENANT 2:1-9
2: 1 And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.
2 If ye will not hear and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.
3 Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.
4 And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.
5 My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name.
6 The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity.
God shows His displeasure towards the ones who failed to correct God’s people, the priests!
The spiritual leaders should have addressed the problem, but they didn’t!
They were too worried about their own popularity rather than God’s honor.
They were afraid to confront the people about their giving, instead they chose to just sit back and complain about the portions they got from sickly sacrifice.
They were full of resentment over what they got, but not enough to confront the people about their giving!
They were cowards in preaching the truth!
In the last days when leaders will be afraid to speak the truth and so will teach what "itching ears" want to hear!
It is imperative that we preach the truth … we get the kind of Church we preach for!
If not challenged, God’s people will wander from the truth.
The role of the priest is not to be popular with man, but with God … and thus he or she must stand in the gap at times and speak the truth in love.
No wonder God rebuked the priests of Malachi’s day … they had failed to do this.
The results were evident in the life of the nation, people worshipped God out of obligation instead of their heart.
You don’t become popular by telling people what they want to hear, you tell them the truth.
A watered down gospel won’t make a preacher MORE acceptable to the world, it will only show a preacher that he or she is a waste of talent if all we have to say is what the world already says!
CONCLUSION:
What really counts in life is that God is pleased with us, the rest comes from respect that others have in knowing we are disciplined enough to follow God’s ways instead of the world.
What would God have to say about your sacrifices?
Do you give Him the best … or the leftovers and diseased stuff?
Do you find real joy in worship, or is it just ritual to you?
Do you find yourself wanting to do less and less for God?
Israel gave the worst sacrifices but wanted God’s best -- instead all they had was an empty heart. How fulfilling is your walk with God, what do you give?
