Last week I was talking with a man who owns a rental property in this neighbor-hood. It is a nice looking house and he told me that he had just finished fixing it up – again. “People just don’t care,” he told me. “My last renters put holes in the wall, broke three windows plus the glass in the front door, tore the digital thermostat off the wall leaving only the two bare wires, and ruined the garbage disposal.”
He said he had installed the disposal, thinking that renters would appreciate it, but they had put stuff in it that didn’t belong there and burned out the motor. “Never again,” he said. He had tried to provide a nice place for people to live and when his renters got behind in their rent he tried to work with them so they could catch up, but in the end, he had to evict them.
“People just don’t care,” he said again. “They have no respect.” He went on to say, “If you are going to live in this world, you need the Lord. I figured that out when I met my wife. She showed me the way.” But his renters had not figured it out.
We all know that some landlords are in the business only for the money and sometimes don’t keep their end of the deal, but most of those I know really want to provide quality housing for people because they believe that is what God wants them to do. Unfortunately, renters don’t always appreciate their efforts.
Bible Scenario. Our scripture from Malachi describes a similar scenario between God and his people. Even though God had graciously provided for his chosen people, they didn’t honor him. The priests didn’t revere him. The people didn’t respect him. It was like my friend said, “People just don’t care.” And, eventually, God had them evicted from the land he had provided for them.
The very first words of Malachi’s message are “I have loved you, says the Lord.” Note that he doesn’t just say, “I love you” or “I loved you,” but he says “I have loved you.” The grammar of this sentence means that not only had God begun to love them, not only had he loved them in the past, but he continues to love them. This is the way God is. He is a God of love. Deut. 7:8 says, “It was because the Lord loved you that he set his heart on you and chose you.” And if you haven’t heard it recently, let me remind you that God loves you. He loves your family. He loves his church. The story of salvation is one of love. The key verse of the New Testament, John 3:16, declares that God so loved the world he sent his son to die for our sins. I have loved you,” says the Lord. I hope that truth finds its way deep into your soul.
So if God has chosen you, has brought you out of Egypt, has freed you from slavery, has led you through hardship, has provided food to eat, land to live on, leaders to guide you, and a covenant to live by, how are you going to respond? You are going to love him and offer yourself to him, right? You will honor him, respect him, reverence him, and worship him.
But herein lies the problem, because that is not what God’s people did. Malachi says they despised God’s name. In spite of all that God had done for them, the people just didn’t care. So God sent prophet Malachi with a message. And Malachi makes a blistering attack on the religious leaders, but he doesn’t end there. By the time he is finished, the priests, the people, and we ourselves, all realize that we have not honored God’s holy name.
When I studied chapter 1, I was amazed at the prominence of God’s name in these verses. The phrase “my name” is used six times in these verses and implied another time. We all understand that a name represents the person or entity behind it. The advertising world certainly understands that. If they can get more people to buy products with names Nike or Sony, Verizon or Honda, they have succeeded in making that product popular. The name of God represents the person and honor of God. So despising the name of God is the same as despising God himself. Malachi not only accuses God’s people of despising God’s name, he sets out guidelines for honoring God’s name.
So how do we honor God’s name? After all, as v.11 says, God’s name is great among the nations, but it doesn’t seem great among God’s people. God’s name is honored in other places, but it isn’t honored here. What do we need to change in order to honor God? This passage identifies four changes we need to make.
1.From Hypocrisy to Authenticity. (6-7) Verse 6 says. “A son honors his father, and servants their master. If then I am a father, where is the honor due me?” This verse reminds us of one of the ten commandments, “Honor your father and your mother.” Most people think that is a reasonable expectation. After all, your parents brought you into the world and made life possible for you. Why shouldn’t you respect them and honor them? The Old Testament law took that command seriously. In fact, Lev. 20:9 says “anyone who curses his father or mother shall be put to death.” They were to honor their earthly parents.
But it seems they forgot who their Heavenly Father really was. Oh, yes. They paid lip service to God; they said they honored him. They went through the motions, but they didn’t live up to what they professed. Verse 6 says they despised his name. They disrespected him; they dishonored him.
No one likes to be called a hypocrite. And if you read through these verses you will see that these priests weren’t willing to own up to their hypocrisy, even though it was God who was calling them on the carpet. Did you ever try to referee a fight between two kids by asking who started it? It doesn’t work, does it? That is kind of the way it was with the priests. They just threw the question back at the prophet. They had an answer for everything.
But at the end of v.7 we see that God accused them of being dishonest in their offerings. It would be something like promising to give your wife or fiancée a valuable piece of jewelry, but then substituting a fake you bought at Dollar General. They were bringing gifts to God that did not meet his standard. Their hearts were impure and their gifts were fake. And they had allowed themselves to think that it didn’t matter. But if we are going to honor God, we need to be authentic, not hypocritical. Their words and their actions didn’t match. It was like doing the right thing on Sunday, but doing the wrong thing when Monday rolls around. I hope there is no one like that here today.
God always inspects the one who offers the gift before he inspects the gift. He looks at our hearts first; then he looks at our offering. Maybe we should get bigger offering plates so we could do what the little boy did in the children’s story- put ourselves in the offering plate first, then deposit our offering.
Our son is a deacon at his church and he helped pass the communion trays to the congregation a couple of weeks ago. As he approached one of the benches to pass the tray down the row, he saw a woman get a bottle of hand sanitizer out of her purse and pass it down the row ahead of the tray. Now there is nothing wrong with taking precautions so we don’t pass the flu to someone else. If you know you have symptoms of the flu, then just wave instead of shaking hands. But when our son saw the hand sanitizer, he said the thought went through his mind, “Shouldn’t we be more concerned about purifying our hearts?”
Malachi reminds us to turn our hypocrisy into honesty when we worship, lest we be accused of despising the Lord’s name. If we are going to honor God, we must be authentic. And if God is speaking to you about hypocrisy in your life, confess it.
2.From blemished gifts to genuine offerings. (8-9) When Sue and I were missionaries in Japan, kind and generous people in the U.S. sometimes sent us things we were unable to buy there or could not afford. It was heart-warming to experience that support, but we heard stories from missionaries in other countries who received less wonderful things, including worn-out clothing and (get this) used tea bags.
In Malachi’s day, when people worshiped God, the gifts they brought for the offering consisted not just of money, but of animals and grain. And the expectation was that these gifts should be the cream of the crop. From Exodus to Deuteronomy we read again and again that these gifts were to be healthy and free of blemishes. But some people were offering less than the best. They were bringing animals that were blind or sick or lame. These gifts did not honor God.
Malachi says, “Would you treat your secular rulers like that? If not, then why treat God that way?” The other day I stopped at the house of a teenager who was scurrying around trying to find two socks that matched. I asked him why he just didn’t go without. He said, “I’m going to see my girlfriend and I want to appear respectable.”
But many people don’t even think that far when they bring their gifts to God. When it is time for the offering, they give what’s left in their pocket at the end of the month, rather than honoring God with an offering off the top. Or they check their pockets for change rather than preparing an offering to bring. They drag themselves to church on Sunday morning with sleepy eyes and tired bodies rather than getting enough rest to prepare for meeting God in the worship service. They help with service projects if they have nothing else to do rather than making them a priority.
Is God pleased with your gifts? I’m not talking about giving to God something big that you don’t have. God never commands us to do that. I have heard of people who have tried to make a good impression by giving big gifts, but you can’t impress God, can you? The gifts we offer should honor him and show our reverence for him.
3.From meaningless ritual to true worship. (10-12) The sacrifices these people had brought were so outrageous that Malachi suggested locking the doors of the temple and blocking access to the altar. (V. 10) No worship at all would be preferable to the worthless worship that was taking place. Maybe locking the doors, blowing out the candles, and closing down the altar would shock people into reality.
What their religion had boiled down to was meaningless ritual. Oh, they showed up for worship. They put in their time. They brought their offerings. But their worship had become purposeless and useless. And what they were doing lulled them into a state of false security because they were going through the motions. They needed to be reminded that true worship is more than meaningless ritual.
But if the idea of closing the temple doors shocked Malachi’s audience, the next words would really open their eyes. Verse 11 explodes with good news. Hear v. 11. When we gather Sunday after Sunday, we tend to forget that people are worshiping God in lots of places around the world. Some may be in huge cathedrals, some in the open air, others in homes and even in caves because of persecution. God was reminding these people that even if they failed in their worship of God, people in other places will worship him. Do you recall when Jesus entered Jerusalem on the donkey and people objected to the cries of those who were praising God? Jesus said, “If these were silent the stones would cry out.”
Malachi says something like that here. In v. 11, Malachi announces that even if their worship is unacceptable, the knowledge of God’s name would reach around the world, and people in every nation would join in worshiping him. Locally, our worship may be weak and even unacceptable, but globally God’s name will be known and He will triumph. This verse is an announcement that God is about to do a new thing and he will gather people who will bring him true worship. It hints at the coming of the Messiah.
4.From boredom to engagement. (13,14) We have all heard kids say, “I’m bored.” And sometimes it is just because they don’t have their cell phones. I have heard people say their work is boring. School is boring. Even worship is boring.
Malachi writes about people who are bored with God. Even the priests were saying, “What a weariness this is,” as V. 13 says. The attitude these people held toward God was deplorable. Their worship became tedious and empty. They begrudged even the few minutes they spent in the service and worship of God. It was like some people say today, “I don’t get anything out of it.” They even sneered at the offerings they brought, some of which were even stolen. It would be like robbing a bank to give an offering to God. I have wondered how God looks on the offerings people give from money they have gained from the lottery or from selling drugs.
Even worse is the cheat mentioned in V. 14 who promises God an offering if God will just heal him or get him out of some problem. And then when the time comes, he forgets or offers a poor substitute. How often does that happen to people today?
I wonder how many people are bored with God these days. I have heard of people who sit through long concerts and sporting events that even go overtime and who don’t seem to mind, but who get upset if the worship service goes a few minutes longer than usual. How can we get past boredom and become engaged with God in worship? Here are some steps you can take:
a. Go back and reconsider God’s love for you and your neighbor.
b. Take off your mask of hypocrisy and be honest before God.
c. Take new steps in serving God. Is there one new item you can check on the list in your hand (not out of obligation, but out of a deep love for God who has done so much for you)?
d. Consider the meaning of each step of our worship. Take the children’s folder home and think about the meaning of what we do in worship.
e. Come each Sunday prepared to worship God. Some of you are experiencing spiritual renewal. Our study of Malachi can serve as a tool in that process, both personally and as a congregation.
Do these things and you will be on the way to honoring God’s name.
Resource: Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., The Preacher’s Commentary. Vol. 23.
