We are majoring in the minor Prophets this summer. Summer means baseball and the major leagues as well!
Most of you know the name Jackie Robinson. Robinson was the first African American to break into Major League Baseball. Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier on April 15, 1947, when he donned a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform. He put on that now-iconic No. 42 across his back at the old Ebbets Field. Jackie went on to be a Hall of Famer player, and his No. 42 was retired by all major league teams. Jack Roosevelt Robinson was, by any measure, an extraordinary human being. In becoming the first black man to play in the major leagues, Robinson encountered racism in its vilest manifestations – racial taunts and slurs, insults on the playing field and off, character assassination, and death threats. But did you know that Christianity played a significant role in the man who masterminded integration, the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers? The man who chose Robinson for his role was Dodgers GM Branch Rickey. Robinson and the Dodger’s general manager, Branch Rickey, forever changed race relations in the United States. The General Manager was a “Bible-thumping Methodist” who refused to attend Sunday games. He believed it was God’s will that he integrate baseball, viewing it as an opportunity to intervene morally for the sake of the nation. Rickey specifically chose Robinson because of his faith and moral character. The general manager considered other players, but he knew integrating professional sports would take more than raw athletic ability. He knew the attacks would be ferocious, and the media would fuel the fire. And if the selected player sought retaliation or lashed out, the effort would be set back a decade. So in their first meeting together, Rickey read aloud from a book entitled, The Life of Christ, and he chose to discuss a section of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Inside the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ teaching to His followers: “But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5:39b). During his first two years as a player, Jackie often prayed, asking God for the strength to continue resisting the temptation to fight back or to say something he would regret.
At the center of one of America's most important civil rights stories [lies] two men of passionate Christian faith. A Methodist pastor led Jackie to faith in Christ. Jackie went on to even teach Sunday school. Jackie’s Christian faith gave him an emotional and spiritual poise that he had never known.
Now, baseball has nothing to do with the sermon, but it’s just a fun way to introduce the series!
Your Bible has major prophets and minor prophets. The minor prophets are tiny books compared to the others, and they are often neglected by Christians today. Please turn with me to the book of Malachi (page 953 in your pew, Bibles in front of you). Malachi is the very last book in your Old Testament. Find the New Testament book of Matthew and turn left ?.
Malachi means “my messenger.” Certainly, this is God’s message, as Malachi quotes God’s very voice in 47 of 57. Again, 47 of 57 verses are direct quotes from God Himself. We know nothing else about this man other than he spoke God’s message to his generation, and then he died. Could that be said of you? Are you someone who speaks God’s message for your generation?
Today’s Scripture
“The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.
2 ‘I have loved you,’ says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?’ ‘Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?’ declares the Lord. ‘Yet I have loved Jacob 3 but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.’ 4 If Edom says, ‘We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,’ the Lord of hosts says, ‘They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’ and ‘the people with whom the Lord is angry forever.’ 5 Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, ‘Great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel’” (Malachi 1:1-5)!
Again, Malachi’s name means “my messenger.” Malachi lived around 450-500 years before the time of Jesus Christ.
1. Tell Me Again You Love Me
“‘I have loved you,’ says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us’” (Malachi 1:2b)? God says to His chosen people, “I have loved you.” God says, “I have loved you,” and the people say, “In what way have you loved us?”
So many people take God’s love for granted. Others say, “I know God loves me, but I can’t ‘feel’ it.” Or, “I know God loves me, but that’s just a theory. I don’t see any real evidence that God loves.” To you, God says, “I have loved you in the past and I love you right now.” The verb tense in verse 2 (Hebrew, perfect tense) makes it clear that God’s love has not only operated in the past but also in the present. God says, “I have loved you then and I love you now.”
1.1 The Mess We’re In
Now it’s right here that you can hear the people respond with biting sarcasm, “If God loves us, why doesn’t He show it more? If He is so good and righteous, why aren’t we seeing more evidence of His goodness.” Because Jerusalem and the Temple were just tattered threads of their former glory, the people of God felt God had abandoned His promises. Now, sometimes the mess we find ourselves in is our creation. Sometimes the mess is the mess we’ve made. This was precisely the situation God’s people found themselves in during Malachi’s day. Years before, Moses had told Israel, “If you live with my rules, I will bless you, protect you, and proposer you. But if you live against my rules, I will be a force of reckoning against you, Israel” (Leviticus 26:18). All these years later, the people of God are in a mess! When Malachi spoke, the city of Jerusalem was pummeled to the ground a little more than a century before. The town had been looted, burned, and was without defense, just as God predicted centuries back. They lived against God’s rules, and God withdrew His hand of blessing and protection. Now they were disheartened by their efforts of rebuilding. Sometimes the mess is the mess we’ve made. Some of you may find yourself in a mess this morning. A marriage that has failed, a child that will not answer when you call, or maybe even you have a willingness to work, but no place will employ you. While it isn’t ALWAYS true, it is SOMETIMES true: Sometimes, the mess is the mess we’ve made.
1.2 Indifference
Today, significant numbers of people live as if God is dead. If every newsfeed and every social media platform sent out the message that God is no longer alive, hordes of people would not be bothered in the least. They’d sleep just fine, but God doesn’t make the slightest difference to so many, many people. God has held out His hands to so many to say, “I have loved you, yet you will not remember me.” “I have loved you but you have not thanked me.” “I have loved you but you live without prayer.” “I have loved you but you have never accepted me as your Father and your greatest friend.”
1.3 Christians Today
You know, American Christians know nearly nothing of being persecuted for our faith. We’ve been cursed with too many blessings in this nation. Could it be before long that we’ll be blessed with cursings? Do you understand what I am saying? The blessing of too much prosperity can curse you. Maybe there’s a day when believers in this nation will know deep trouble. Many of us don’t know how to handle blessings. Every time God blesses us economically, you turn from God. Now America has been, as it were, cursed with so many blessings, and because of this, we have turned away from Almighty God. And so now, will God bless us with His cursings to shake us from our indifference?
1.4 Backslidden
All over America, there are scores of believers who are backslidden. “What is a backslider,” you ask. Someone who knows something of the goodness of God but turns their back as if the God of Heaven doesn’t matter. You have turned your back against God and lived like the rest of the world. God says, “I have loved you,” and the people say, “In what way have you loved us?” The Bible says, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5b).
I know it is so hot outside right now but think back to the snow when it lays on the ground for a couple of days. The snow is black and dirty in just a few days. You can see in your mind how it has lost all of the bright whiteness from when it fell from the skies above. Now, if this is true of the snow, how much more so is your soul when you leave the love of your Father and return to live a worldly life? So many in our day have grown spiritually cold and this ugly world blackens our hearts. So many of you have had beautiful experiences with the Lord, but you are right back doing what you know is wrong.
Marvel with me at our indifference for our heavenly Father. Marvel with me at our indifference to God’s rich love for us.
1.5 Jesus
Jesus, on one occasion, was facing a crowd who had stones ready to throw at Him. Some are indifferent, but there were others who adamantly opposed Him and downright hated Him. “The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me” (John 10:31-32)? The people had hearts as hard as an anvil in Jesus’ day. Jesus said in effect, “For which of my miracles are you going to stone me?”
On another occasion, Jesus wept over the hard-hearted city of Jerusalem, saying, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing” (Luke 13:34)!
God’s love goes beyond all attempts to explain its cause. God’s love goes beyond any test because God’s love is durable and reliable. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). When times are hard, it is difficult for some to really believe God loves us.
Would that your lips never question God’s love for you! Would that your mind never doubt God’s love for you! Would that your heart never cease to wonder at God’s love for you!
Now, grieve with me at our indifference for our heavenly Father. Grieve with me at our indifference to God’s rich love for us.
1.6 Love Like a Marriage
Just like they threatened to stone Jesus in His day, we have hard hearts that question the love of God. God offers you a love like a marriage, a good marriage. God is offering a love that is willing to forgive even the worst things about you. God is offering a love that offers to pay the price of your worst faults. God offers you a love that hopes for the best in you and your future. God offers you a love that forgives you of the worst but encourages you to do your best. Our Father offers you a love that will not make excuses for your failures, and He will not lower the standards. He will pardon you, but He will not condone you. Our Righteous Father will pardon you, but He will not excuse you. Our Holy Father will exonerate you, but He will never stop coaxing you to live by His holy standards. God’s love is like the love of the best of marriage.
There are a number of you who will die with no faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. To each of you, the Lord will look you over from your first day to your last, and He will truly be able to say, “I have loved you.” I was reminded as I drove by a business just this week that had this on their sign out front: “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). God is holding out His hands to tell you He loves you now and He has loved you then.
1. Tell Me Again You Love Me
2. A Thin Line Between Love and Hate
“‘I have loved you,’ says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?’ ‘Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?’ declares the Lord. ‘Yet I have loved Jacob 3 but Esau I have hated” (Malachi 1:2-3a). Again, the people ask questions nearly every time God speaks.
2.1 A Silly Question
Have you ever asked a silly question? Some years ago, a lady was on a train that stopped suddenly and unexpectantly, so the lady said to the conductor, “Why is the train stopped?” The conductor replied, “We’ve hit a cow, and they’re cleaning the cow out of the cowcatcher on the train.” She said, “Oh, was the cow on the track?” He said, “No, ma’am, we had to chase him all over a field in order to hit him. Now, you would think that for a silly question, God would give a silly answer, even a sarcastic answer; but God doesn’t do that. Instead of offering a sarcastic or silly answer, God says, “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” at the end of verse 2. Many people will be taken aback by the idea that God hates anyone. Let’s explore Esau for a moment.
2.2 Esau
Again, God says, “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” at the end of verse 2. Esau was not only Jacob’s brother, but he was also Jacob’s twin. Esau is a real person, and his story is told in Genesis 25. Jacob and Esau were twin brothers, and their story is told in the book of Genesis. Because this is so long ago, these two brothers were the fathers of nations. Jacob’s name was eventually changed to Israel, and he fathered the Hebrew people. Esau was the father of the people called Edom. As the two nations prospered years later, the two nations were enemies. Again, even though the brothers were twins, the nation of Esau grew to hate God’s people. When the Babylonians invaded Jerusalem, the Edomites acted as informants. The descendants of Esau looted the city of Jerusalem (Obadiah 10-13). They even cut off escape routes for the Hebrew people (Obadiah 14). Esau’s family legacy was really wicked.
Remember, God is speaking to the people of God, the descendants of Jacob. Remember their city was torn down, but I will not allow them to rebuild: “If Edom says, ‘We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,’ the Lord of hosts says, ‘They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’ and ‘the people with whom the Lord is angry forever’” (Malachi 1:4). God says in effect, “I oppose them, I will continue to oppose them, I will give them up to their wicked way, and I will be angry with them forever and ever.” A chill runs up and down my spine as those are strong words.
2.3 God’s Question
Look again at God’s question: “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” in verse 3. Why did God bring up Jacob’s twin brother? Esau was the elder, which means that by all customary rights and privileges, he would be the principal heir of the father’s blessings. The Bible is clear that Jacob’s family is the people of God, the chosen people. God chose Jacob for one reason and one reason only: God was delighted to love Jacob. God didn’t love Jacob’s family because Jacob was good, more wealthy, or more significant. God loved Jacob’s family because God was delighted to do so. When God compares the twin brothers, He reminds God’s people that you could have been Esau. God says, in effect, “I could have treated you like I treated the nation that was/is your twin brother. But I have not done. I will not leave you to yourself. I will rescue you from yourself. I have loved you then and I love you now.”
Petra
Before Covid, my daughter and I visited a famous place called Petra in modern-day Jordan. Many of you know from the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The Nabateans built Petra, and the Nabateans invaded and conquered the people called Edom. History verifies that the people of Edom are no more. I was there personally, and you can take it from me: If God says you are not going to build again, you will not build again. God is saying to His people, “I love you. I know you are not proud of your city, my Temple, or your country right now. It is desolated and defenseless. Even though you created this mess, I love you. You will rebuild because I am for you and not against you.”
You want to run from God’s hatred and run to God’s love, my friend.
2.4 A Privileged Place
Some of you have come from homes where an abusive father drank himself to sleep, and the name of Jesus was never spoken. But here you are right here and right now. No matter where you’ve come from, you are now in a highly privileged place, my friend. This very room is a privileged place because this is where so many have turned from their sinful ways to be awakened by the love of our Father. Light has a habit of beating darkness in this very room. Some of you are students who have spent years here, and volunteers and youth pastors have repeatedly shared the love of God with you. You are in a highly privileged place. You have been given opportunities that have been denied to many other people. God has proven His love to you over and over again. God says to many of you, “You were born to a mother who feared me and loved you. I placed you in a wonderful spiritually-minded family who took you to church, prayed with you, and read the Bible to you. I have made the heavens and the earth. I have given you the ability to work, make money, and provide for your family. I have loved you from before the foundation of the world. I have loved you as if there were no one else in all the world to love.” Friend, you are in a privileged place today.
God has brought you here to hear about the love of God. He is putting smelling salts under your very nose to wake you up! Rid yourself of any indifference for our heavenly Father. Rid yourself of any indifference for God’s rich love. God’s rich love can turn your life around. The worse thing God can do to you is to leave you to yourself. God holds out His hands to you and says, “I love you now and I have you loved then.” I openly wonder now, “How many of you will I see on the other side? How many will walk streets of gold and pass through gates of pearl? How many of you will have bowed the knee to Jesus Christ and said to Him, ‘You are my Lord and Savior’? Will you be in Heaven with me?”
