Malachi 1:6-14
Do you like leftovers? They can be perfectly delicious. Some even prefer leftovers like cold pizza the next morning. But how many of us would dare to serve our leftovers to an honored dinner guest? It might just be delicious, but we simply could not do it. Instead we give our very best. And so, we should also give our best to God.
Last week we looked at how we often compromise concerning the love of God. We rediscovered that his love is unconditional; that his love is proven by his actions toward us; that he does NOT love sin; and that his love for us demands a choice – receive it or reject it.
This morning we are returning to Malachi who continues to speak to a nation that has compromised many of the standards of God’s Word. They’ve gotten comfortable with life in the world and put God in the back seat. As we look further we see this even clearer – they are dishonoring God by not giving him their best.
Read with me Malachi 1:6-11...
To understand what Malachi is talking about here we need to return to the Old Testament worship system. Unlike worship today, before Christ came, every person was required to have a blood sacrifice offered up to be forgiven of sins against Him. That was called a guilt offering. They would offer up sacrifices also when they sinned against their neighbor – this was a trespass offering. And a third animal sacrifice was called a burnt offering which was a special sacrifice of worship and praise to God.
Depending on their wealth, people would bring either a bull, a sheep or goat, or a pigeon. God’s law was very specific about this and also about the quality of the animal. Deuteronomy 15:21 “But if it has any blemish, if it is lame or blind or has any serious blemish whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.” The animal had to be in normal condition without any impurities. And yet notice what sacrifices were being brought before the Lord during Malachi’s time: Blind, lame or sick animals (8)!
Now it’s bad enough that anyone would directly disobey the commandments of God in this way. But what is worse, is the motivation behind it. Why do you think a man would give a lame goat as a sacrifice to God? Why?
Well, if I was a farmer and was making a living off of sheep and goats, I would depend on those animals that are healthy to survive, to provide wool and milk and meat. But what do I do with a sick goat? I would have to kill it so that it doesn’t infect the rest of the animals. It’s not an asset but a liability. And so I would want to slaughter it for meat as soon as possible.
So what do I decide? Why waste a “healthy” goat for sacrifice when I need to slaughter this sick one anyways. I’ll give it to God as a sacrifice. He’s happy. I’m happy. And I get a blessing for bringing an offering!
And what is the Lord’s reaction when this is done? He says in 1:10 “I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand.”
This seems to be an extreme reaction. God is talking about shutting the gates to the temple! It shows how serious is the offense of bringing a sacrifice which is second best, or evil, or defected. It is better not to have any sacrifice at all than to bring something blind, sick, or lame! And in verse 9 he says: “With such an offering on your part, will He receive any of you kindly?” Israel was offering up sacrifices! They were coming to God out of worship. They believed in Him and worshipped him. And yet….they were rejected.
Now today we don’t offer up sacrifices for sins. The blood of Christ was the last sacrifice made that counted toward forgiveness. But we do make sacrifices of praise to God. We make sacrifices of service. We do this not for salvation, but because we love the Lord.
So what is the principle here? Don’t give God the “seconds”…the “left-overs” but give him the BEST.
’What COACH would be satisfied with a 2nd BEST effort? “Go out and give it your 2nd best!” NO! They always say: “Go out and give me 110%!” What HUSBAND would be satisfied with 2nd RATE cooking? (Peanut butter and jelly every day!) What WIFE would be satisfied being the second love of her husband YET … Why do we expect GOD to be satisfied with less than our very best?”
No we don’t have animal sacrifices today, instead we use our bodies and resources as an offering in order to glorify the Lord.
• This morning our worship team sang, leading us in worship. This was a sacrifice of praise to God.
• Some of you put money in the offering plate. This was a sacrifice of service and thankfulness to God for his provision.
• Many of you served over the last week in the church rummage sale. This was a sacrifice of your time and ability to help support the mission work of the Lord.
• A few of you sacrificed your time to study in cell groups, or served at Hillcrest, or simply called up your friend who needed help. All of these of forms of sacrifice that we make.
What are the Lord’s expectation concerning these serving Him?
The answer of that question is first of all what God DOES NOT expect from us: He doesn’t expect perfection.
Now as we read Malachi, it may appear that God expects a perfect sacrifice. One that is not lame, not blind, not sick – a perfect animal. Well, yes, God expects a perfectly healthy and normal animal. And every farmer has at least a few healthy, normal sheep. Only a couple are lame or sick. Every farmer can give a sacrifice of the best of his flock. God didn’t tell them that they must have the kind of sheep that would win the state fair blue ribbon. Most farmers wouldn’t have a chance. How could they ever offer a sacrifice?
And God doesn’t expect perfection from us either. When we sing, he doesn’t expect perfect intonation. (that’s a relief or many of us would never sing!) He doesn’t expect you to come up here and read the Scripture without a single mispronunciation. He doesn’t expect you to mow the church lawn and catch every dandelion on the property.
Some people think they can never serve God in certain ways simply because they’re not good enough to meet the standard. But perfection is NOT God’s standard.
So what does God expect?
The BEST sheep of YOUR flock. He doesn’t expect one sheep-herder to give as good a sheep as his neighbor. He is concerned that each one give the best of his OWN flock.
So when you serve the Lord and when you minister to others, what does God expect of you? He expects the BEST of YOUR flock. In other words, the best you can give.
When you love him, you give him your best TIME. Does God receive highest priority of your time? Or do you give him your time only when it’s convenient? Do you make time for him because he deserves it?
He deserves our best EFFORT. The worship team on Sunday morning doesn’t just show up and throw something together at the last minute. No! They get together earlier in the week to plan, to pray, to practice so that God can get their very best worship. He deserves our BEST effort – our best SHEEP.
One other thing that God expects: YOUR HEART! Proverbs 23:26 “My son, give me your heart and let your eyes keep to my ways.”
You see, when we don’t give the Lord our best, what does that reflect? It reveals our relationship to God is compromised. It reflects our view of God – when we feel we can “get away with” doing less than our best. Why do we do that?
• Often it means that we’re giving other things our best.
We’re saving that top sheep for ourselves. We’re spending our best on our own pleasures and wants. I’ll do my best if I get a big reward – paid, or complimented, or recognized. Let’s take the best sheep and feast on it with a big party.
• Often we’re simply too lazy to give God our best.
We’d rather simply take it easy and give the minimum required. Yes we must give a sheep but let’s just give one that will get us by.
• Often we’re too busy with other things to give God our best.
We just don’t have time to devote to giving God what he deserves. We’re so busy taking care of our sheep we don’t have time to devote to giving up our best or wasting our best in this way.
But when you don’t give him our best, it means simply that God doesn’t have your heart. It means your passion and love and interest are not really given towards God but towards something else. What do you spend your most valuable time on? What do you spend your talents on? What do you spend your money on? Jesus said, “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Mt. 6)
God grieves when he is not your treasure. Why? Because you are HIS treasure! His greatest joy! His most wonderful creation in the world! Oh, how he longs to hold you in his hand. We need to fall in love with the Lord again. Psalm 17:8 says that we are the apple of His eye. He longs to shelter us under his wings.
Our love for God needs to be restored! Do you see that? Do you see the need? You can’t give your best when your heart is not in it. You just can’t do it. We all need open heart surgery. And that leads to the final expectation of God.
God expects us to look at the sacrifice he himself made for us. God himself gave HIS very best for us: Jesus Christ. He paid the full price for our entry into his presence. He did so by giving the 1st giving the best giving his all.
When we receive the great gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, he changes our heart from a heart of stone to a heart of passion for Him. Only through the working of God’s Holy Spirit in our hearts can we every be motivated to give God our best. You only have so much talent, so much time, so much ability, so many resources – all God wants is YOUR BEST – that is your form of a sacrifice of praise to Him that brings him glory and praise.
