A Moment of Evaluation
I have to start with a hard question… Do you remember getting your first speeding ticket?
Driving down the road and there is a policeman on the side of the road….Get a knot in stomach. If speeding it seems worse…but most of the time I never know if I was speeding…Because I have a reaction that my foot leaves the accelerator I instantly slowdown.
Whenever I see a policeman, I do an immediate evaluation of my driving and speed.
I hope that this morning will cause a similar kind of a response in your spiritual journey
Is there anyone her that can evaluate your life and your spiritual journey and really claim that you are 100% committed to God?
That would mean that everything in your life orbits God in the center of your choices.
I think that all of us have a problem being 100 % committed to God. I doubt that any of us would be honest to our level of commitment. We might think, 75% that sounds really good. But if pressed in public few of us could keep a straight face saying that here in church….
Anyone want to throw out an HONEST percentage of your personal commitment to God?
-- Will anyone admit that the number is perhaps embarrassingly low?
The basic idea that I hope you will accept today is that even a 95% commitment to Christ/God is 5% short of what God wants and expects!!!
Why does that happen? How is it that we end up 100% committed to what we want and not so committed to what God expects?
I think it comes down to forgetting something very important. We forget or maybe never really know who God is!
Until we know we will never fully surrender everything to God.
I decided not to use the New Testament this morning because we all know who Jesus sez he is. I decided to use Malachi from the Old Testament because it reminds me that God never changes…4000 years ago, 2000 years ago and today God holds the same titles. The same place in and out of creation.
It seems that the people in Malachi’s day may have held similar views about their relationship with God. It seems that there was a wide range beginning with son and extending to master. Each relationship, automatically holds God in the most important position. The prophet, speaking for God asks, “If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?"
Malachi is serving as the cop on Israel’s journey. He is the symbol and voice of God and he is there speaking with authority. His points are specific to the people to evaluate their view of God and their relationship with God. Am I going the wrong way on a 1 way street?? And I going too fast or guilty of breaking some other rule?
It seems that Israel is not giving God the honor and respect that he is entitled to. He is calling them on this failing.
Then God gets more specific…."It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name. "But you ask, 'How have we shown contempt for your name?'
In this day there was a formal priest organization. They were trained and prepared. They were professional intercessors and they were instruments of atonement that gave the people a pathway to forgiveness and blessing.
I think that this scripture is important to us because Jesus life, death and resurrection took out the middle men and in 1 Peter 2 we are told that we, Christians, believers, sinners all have a direct path. We in essence are priest of God. When Malachi speaks to the priest he is speaking to us. As priest, we represent ourselves and sometimes others to God.
Here is the important detail about the priestly role, They were the ones that inspected the Gifts and assured adherence to the LAW. First fruit, best Lamb was the standard. The offering God requires is due him because of his position and the priest accepted the sickly animals and damaged fruit and grain and did not see a problem.
Oh come on, God does not really eat it or need it. Why should the farmer or herder really bring first quality? It is smart business to take the best to the market and to bring God What is left. What has less value.
Malachi, tells them that God knows what they are doing,
"You place defiled food on my altar.
"But you ask, 'How have we defiled you?'
"By saying that the LORD's table is contemptible.
When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty.
"Now implore God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?"-says the LORD Almighty.
(You better watch out, You better not cry, Better not pout , I'm telling you why
Malachi is coming to town)
God knows when people offer inferior gifts, he knows that the priest don’t reject these gifts and that they are placed on the altar with the expectation of being received at best quality value….Because of GRACE??? No because What would God know about it. It is just religion. IT is just a cultural thing to go to the temple and to make offerings.
God already knows that the people don’t see anything wrong with what they are doing. After all God never complained before.
The prophet challenges them to evaluate their actions to look at the speedometer and decide would you serve leftover hamburger helper your boss for dinner? Would you write a bad check to the tax office for your car tags?
Would they be pleased with you?
Then why would you expect God to be happy with your gifts….?
Wow, this is pretty heavy stuff. This Malachi guy was probably not very popular but that was not his Job. His job was to speak for God. His Job was to cause the people to evaluate how they viewed god and to offer him what was right based on who God is.
God is pretty upset with the people and suggest,
"Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you," says the LORD Almighty, "and I will accept no offering from your hands.
God is NOT pleased and has figuratively left the building. Just because worship services were being held did not mean that any worship was taking place. They were there charring out religion. There were there because Momma and daddy found some value in it but they were not ready to invest in it. Things were going fine, the crops can in every year and the herds were not shrinking.
What was God doing fore them on a daily basis anyway? Come on, this whole temple gig was just insurance to make sure things keep on keeping on. They were the ones tending the fields and following the flocks around.
Their sweat earned their living.
God, shared his displeasure with Israel and the message informs them about His greatness.
“My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations," says the LORD Almighty.”
God is not worried about his name. It acknowledged as being great and just by people all round the world because the are exposed to the goodness of God and offer worship and praise. But not the chosen people, not Isreal.
He continues, "But you profane it by saying of the Lord's table, 'It is defiled,' and of its food, 'It is contemptible.' And you say, 'What a burden!' and you sniff at it contemptuously,"
The Israelites are abusing/profaning his name by saying the Lord ’s Table. They don’t find value in worship and are bored. They don’t’ feel like they are getting anything out of it. They act superior to God and show it by what they offer to God and expect Him to receive it.
In the temple sacrificial system there were three categories/uses of the physical offerings. All were offered as a substation or as a tribute as the giver. The sin offering was to be totally consumed by fire as if being consumed by God. Another category the tithe was one of them was to support the temple and the priest. It was an operational gift. The third offering were offered during feast times and the majority of the meat was returned for a family/community meal/
If the sickly animal was burned up to given to the temple what problem was that to the giver? They did what was required…sort of.
That statement, “you sniff at it contemptuously” catches my attention. The idea is that the people are saying that the table of the lord is defiled.
The question is who made the offerings that they sniff at and don’t want to eat themselves? THEY DID!! They gave the bad meat!!!
Why would God accept what they themselves would not eat.
The point this morning is that Malachi is telling them to look at who is breaking the rules. Think of who is using God as a servant instead of honoring Him like a loving father or a mighty king.
How does he prove his point…..look at what you offer to God!
That is the question you need to evaluate today. How do you View God? How do you show your honor and respect?
To move Malachi’s message into today’s settings…When the offering place comes around each Sunday do you offer God your first fruits of your leftovers.
If you are offering a token, if you are offering leftovers to God the God would just assume that you keep them in your pocket. They have no meaning to him and it is simply a burden and an irritation to you.
Today people that their view of what should be offered to God is influenced the same as then. We think of ourselves…not the needs but the wants, the preferences.
We save for the wants before we even consider giving to God or more specifically to God’s work.
All of us are guilty of going through the motions in our church work and in worship. Often we give some time to the church. We offer some prayers, we offer some money to the church and to special offerings.
But I wonder if we really offer God our first fruits….
Last year when we had a tithing message and we asked you to make a commitment intentionally give a set amount each month. We also asked you to look at your current giving and to step up just one level. If you give $50 dollars a month that you move up to $60 per month. The response was sort of strange. Last year we received one carwash token and one commitment to step up to a full tithe and a few step up gifts.
The covenant was between you and God and to let the church know so we could make our budget. We did not ask for a name. At that time 6 families paid over 80% of our income/budget to the church.
Generally the same 6 families are still carrying the same load and almost no one else stepped up in their offering to God.
IT may be that someone out there is thinking, well I guess all this church wants is my money. I will tell you flatly no. That is not true. The Lord almighty has an expectation that you will make an offering to him and the church is empowered to reach other people by your gifts of prayers, gifts, presence, service and testimony.
- The lord is displeased when we sniff our noses at the softness of the pews, the temperature of the air, the condition of the carpets and make judgment of the programs that others are doing and paying for..
- He is displeased when we wonder why we are not being blessed like we think we should.
- He is displeased when we think we are independent and don’t valued his hand on our lives.
- He is displeased when when a person gives leftovers of time and talents and resources.
This is not a message on tithing, it is not a declaration that God NEEDS you or your Resources. It is a reminder that God loves you enough to have expectations of you.
Wal-Mart and the grocery store have expectations from you.
Your doctor has expectations of you and your behavior.
God ask for your best. Everything you have belongs to God, you can’t take a single penny, or a big screen TV or a single piece of jewelry with you when you die. But by God’s grace you can fail in your expectations and still be invited into the eternal.
In the last year I have only given one message on tithing and giving…..One reminder about the financial needs of the church and No one in this church is required by this church to give a penny.
Fellowship is offered and love is given without cost.
Church is about grace and your generosity is not a requirement to be here to participate in Wednesday dinner or VBS or Bible study.
If I have pounded you with anything, it has been that this church needs you to demonstrate faith in simple Christ like acts. A kind word to a waitress, a loving prayer for family and friends. To volunteer to be a helper at VBS.
We have been even more specific that we need to contact our home bound people, a call a card…something!
Here is the question you need to ponder….has your response to God come close to being pleasing….has it been an effort on your part that might be made to your heavenly father or to our saving master.
Satan is not the biggest hindrance in the movement of God in this world. It is the selfish spoiled children of God that hold back the power of God. It is the view that the solar system revolves around us and everything is for our needs, wants and pleasures that stop the church form being the loving body of Christ in this world.
For the kingdom of God to advance we each need to evaluate who god is and how we respond to his love and Grace.
God is a king and we don’t have time or the luxury to play games about who is in control. We don’t have the wealth to decide what percentage to give of what we have been given.
We are sitting here in the shadow of the cross where God gave 100% to give man forgiveness of Sin and eternal life with him and complain about what is expected of us.
How much of you belongs to God? That is measured in what you are willing to give back to God. If you make $30K and only give $5 a week to God or only 1 hour a week in worship and ministry or only an occasional prayer for the lost and needs or others ….. If it is less that 100% of yourself then you are falling short.
All glory, honor and power are God’s!
