Good morning. I hope you eat meals together as a family because you can learn so much about God, especially if you have children. Meal times in the Green household can be interesting. They range from the benign of mixing our food in weird combinations to the gross, renaming our food after the innards of various animals. My wife is fond of saying “You never know what to expect when you eat with three male children… ages 5, 10 and 41.”
During one of our more civilized meals my oldest son informed us that he had decided what he wanted to do when he grows up. With all the innocence and enthusiasm that only children can offer, he joyfully informed us that when he grows up he is going to work in a chocolate factory. “That’s my boy!”
Not wanting to be out done by his brother our younger son announces that he is going to work in an ice cream factory. “That’s my boy!”
What followed was a fun dream session where we imagined ourselves consuming inordinate amounts of chocolate and ice cream.
Do you remember when you were a child and the dreams you had of your future. Maybe you dreamed of being a fireman or an astronaut or commanding a battleship. I don’t know what your dreams were but I do know this. They were great dreams that inspired grand hopes of the future.
Now in my 41 years of life I have heard numerous children share their dreams and in all those days I have never once heard a child say, “When I grow up…”
• I want to get married so I can be unfaithful to my spouse.
• I want to become CEO of a fortune 500 company so I can embezzle money.
• I want to lead a battalion of troops so I can desert them when the first bullet flies.
Children don’t dream of being unfaithful. And I don’t believe that adults set out to be unfaithful. And I don’t believe that Christ-followers intend to be unfaithful either. Yet at times, perhaps in a moment of quietness or during a time of struggle or even through the violence of crisis, we discover there are gaps in our faithfulness to God.
As we have been studying the book of Malachi the past couple weeks we have discovered that Israel had significant gaps in her faithfulness to God. Gaps so pronounced, in fact, that authentic worship in the temple and authentic worship as a lifestyle was not happening. So God is going to take Israel out to the proverbial woodshed to deal with their rebellion.
While God is going to get in Israel’s face, and ours, about unfaithfulness, let’s keep something important in mind. The fact that God responds makes this a story of love and hope. You see, God wants His people to be in an obedient relationship with Him and when they are not He takes action. God addresses unfaithfulness because He loves us too much to allow gaps to remain in our relationship with Him.
This morning let’s continue the story by taking a look at Malachi chapter 3. In this chapter God unmasks 3 gaps of unfaithfulness in the lives of Israelites and proposes His means for closing those gaps. Before we leave today it is my hope that we allow God to examine our lives for gaps in our faithfulness to Him and that we will be open to His solutions for closing those gaps.
Before we look at the scripture, let’s pray.
1. Israel had a gap in their theology. They denied that God was pure and just: Read 2:17 – 3:5
Theology, folks, refers to what is true regarding God. In verse 17 we see the accusation of the people and in verses 1-5 of chapter three God’s response. The nation’s accusations against God cause God to say that their words weary Him or wear Him out. So what are these accusations that so weary the Lord?
* God cannot discern between good and evil.
He calls evil good and is pleased with those who do evil. The author Josh McDowell has written a children’s book entitled A Topsy-Turvy Kingdom. The king leaves and chaos ensues. Things that had been determined to be wrong are said to be right and things that had been right are now wrong. Israel had wondered so far from God that they could no longer see clearly the character of God. Their theology of God was so clouded that they accused God of favoring those who do evil. This led naturally to their second accusation.
* The God of justice is nowhere to be found.
The fact that people who cared nothing for the things of God prospered could only mean that the God of justice had abandoned them. Israel mistook God’s silence as abandonment. In reality the people had lured themselves into a place of self-deceit regarding their own personal sin. They considered themselves righteous. These are the same people who accused God of not loving them, dishonored God by offering 2nd hand sacrifices, followed deceitful religious leaders and divorced their spouse at the drop of a hat. One can only imagine the lifestyle of the people whom Israel considered evil. Since they were being “obedient” and evil was not being confronted by God they could only conclude that God was no longer a just God.
God’s solution for closing the gap: God is personally coming to purify & judge: 3:1-5
God’s solution to Israel’s theology problem was simple: He is going to show up in person and when He does, all theological problems are going to be cleared up.
The messenger in this passage has a dual reference to Malachi and to the future coming of John the Baptist who would prepare the way for Christ and a future day of judgment. God is coming to purify His people and judge evil. Israel accused God of calling evil good and of not being a just God. So God tells them that He is coming in person!
And what is it going to be like when God shows up in person? It is going to be day that no one can endure standing up. It is going to be “knee day”; a day spent on our knees before God in submission and repentance. It is going to be a day of refining. When God shows up He is coming like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. Malachi uses these two images to represent purification: fire for silver and soap for clothing.
The process of refining silver is a delicate process. One writer described the process this way. “When the silver becomes molten it gives off some twenty times its own volume of oxygen with a noticeable hissing and bubbling. This phenomenon is known as ‘spitting’. But the task is not yet finished. Unless the molten silver is treated with carbon (charcoal was used by the ancients), the silver re-absorbs oxygen from the air and loses its sheen and purity.” The refiner knows that his metal is pure when he can see his own reflection in the mirror-like surface of the metal. In the same way, God will know that His work in us has been effective when He sees reflected in the Christ-follower HIS own image.
God is not after making us stand out more or making us into better people. The heart desire of God is to work in us in such a way that His image shines more clearly through us. It’s not about us. It’s about Him.
This morning, pause with me for a moment and consider if the reflection of God in your life is being dimmed by an inaccurate theology? Has a lack of study left you with a God too small to follow? Is your knowledge of God so shallow that your thoughts of God do not take your breath away? A pastor friend of mine used to say, “The best thought you will have today is a thought of God.”
If you could use a little help in expanding your knowledge of God, allow me to suggest a couple books for you to read.
Knowing God – J I Packer
Knowledge of the Holy – A. W. Tozer
The Pleasures of God – John Piper
Meditations on God’s Delight in Being God
2. Israel had a gap in their tithing - 3:6-12
The second area where God addressed the people was in their financial support of the temple. Now to truly appreciate the significance of this charge we need to understand a little about the temple and the purpose of the tithe.
First, the temple was the hub of Jewish society and served at least three primary functions.
• It was the central place of worship of the living God. It’s where Israel met to acknowledge and honor God.
• It was the place where the world could come to know the living God as Savior. God wanted the nations of the world to see Him glorified so that they would be attracted to Him. By watching Israel worship other people would be challenged to consider a relationship with God.
• It was the primary place for dispensing care to those in need. By supporting the temple resources were made available to provide for the physical needs of the poor and widows and hurting.
The tithe was literally a 10th of all produce and livestock which the people possessed. A tithe was to be given to the Levites who in turn were to give a tithe to the priests. According to Deuteronomy 14, every third year a tithe was to be stored up in the towns for Levites, strangers, widows and orphans (Deut. 14:27-29). Offerings were voluntary gifts given to support the priests.
Now here is the crux of Israel’s unfaithfulness. If the Levites and priests did not receive the tithes and offerings of the people they would have to turn to other means of supporting themselves. Perhaps farming or being a shepherd. The result being the temple ministry would cease or at least be greatly hindered. If there were no tithes then there would be no priests. If there were no priests then the functions of the temple did not happen. And if there is not active temple then there was no worship; no evangelism; no care for people in need.
I want you to do something with me lest we think we do not struggle with this same challenge. Take the coin that was handed to you on the way in this morning and hold it tightly in your hand.
Now let’s take a quick journey through life. When you were just an infant, you came out with your hands closed. And every time somebody put their little finger by yours, you would wrap your hand around it, hold on tight, and not let go. As a toddler, you started grabbing rattles and little toys. When another kid came in your direction and wanted to take them away from you, you said, “Mine,” and held on tight.
When you were in junior high school, you hung on tightly to bicycle handlebars and batons and other things. In high school you hung on to the hand of your boyfriend or girlfriend. In college you hung on to a lot of different stuff – maybe some stuff you would not like any of us to know about – but when you left, you were clutching a diploma with two hands.
When you started a career, you grabbed the lowest rung on the ladder and hung on. Then you reached for the second one and hung on and then the next one. Since then, you have been climbing ladders, clutching rungs. Someday retirement will come and you’ll hang onto golf clubs or gardening tools. And as you get near the end of your life, you’ll start hanging on to canes and walkers.
By nature, you and I are clutchers. We have a reflexive response when it comes to giving up something that’s dear to us. And money is one of those things that is most dear to us. We clutch it with too much passion and when someone, including God, asks for it we say, “No, its mine!” So what is God’s solution to close this gap? Taken from Giving by John Ortberg, page 31
Slowly open your hand now. Men and women, clutching is an overtly human condition. But an open hand is a God-thing.
God’s Solution to close the gap: Open your hands and Trust Me because I Do Not Change: 3:6-7a; 10-12
God’s solution is to pry open our hands with His own faithfulness. God does not change in His faithfulness. He has always been faithful to bless those who obey Him. He has always been faithful to discipline those who do not obey and He has always been faithful to draw close to anyone who would ask. Essential to God’s nature is that He is faithful! His character remains steady even as our faithfulness comes and goes.
Embedded in this passage is a truth that transcends time: We Reap What We Sow.
All the way back in Deuteronomy God told Israel that obedience will bring blessing and disobedience curses. Why then are they so surprised? The lack of blessing was not because God did not care but because they were not honoring God and His commands.
What God says in verse 10 is astounding. God challenges the people to test His faithfulness. He tells Israel to financially support the temple and see if He will not shower blessings on them. Start obeying God’s commands and see if He doesn’t come through for you and meet your needs.
Men and women, God’s faithfulness is essential to His character and it does not change but His instruments do. The church has replaced the temple as God’s instrument for accomplishing His mission and God remains in the habit of blessing those who financially support His church.
Just like in Malachi’s day, God is saying to us, tithe your money and see if I do not prove faithful in providing for your every need. When we tithe several things happen. Every time we tithe we
• Remind ourselves that God is on the throne. Not me. Not money.
• Reinforce the fact that God is the owner and I am the steward.
• Openly declare, “I will trust God” even when trusting does not feel easy.
• Remember how much we have been given and consider ourselves blessed.
• Put to death, or at least injure, the “It’s Mine” monster in us.
Giving, John Ortberg, page 47
Malachi brings this chapter to a close by pointing out one more area where Israel had been unfaithful to God.
3. Israel had a gap in their followership and service to God. Read 3:13-15
This conversation between Israel and God is similar to the one at the beginning of the chapter. But this time instead of denying God’s character they say that it is futile or vain to serve God and follow His law.
Their verbal claim against God was that they had faithfully obeyed God and gained nothing. On a more subtle level, they were suggesting that God was not keeping His promises to them. “We did what You wanted God and what was our reward? Absolutely nothing. And oh by the way,” they said, “not only did we gain nothing but we had to sit and watch evildoers prosper.”
God’s Solution for closing the gap: Obey Me because I Will Remember the Faithful: 3:16-18
Up to this point the responses of the people have been disbelief and an unrepentant heart. But finally a ray of hope breaks through. A few who truly feared God got together, accepted God’s rebuke and repented of their sin.
And what did God do? What He always does. He listened and responded with compassion. In fact, the response of these few so thrilled God that He took out His paper and pen and wrote their names down in His notebook.
And why did God write their names down? It wasn’t to prevent a future memory lapse. He recorded their names so that on the Day of Judgment He could show them compassion as His treasured possession. On that day, when all wrongs are rectified and all wickedness punished, it will the clear that God does indeed judge justly & He does distinguish between those who serve Him & those who do not.
Response
This morning when you came into this service you were given a coin and underneath your chair is a small card. Please pick up one card and put the coin in your hand. There are three statements on the white card (read them).
WHITE CARD: Lord, I confess to You that I am not…
• Putting effort into knowing You.
• Faithfully tithing to Your church.
• Passionate about following and serving You.
We want to give you an opportunity to respond to God this morning. At the front of the platform and in the back are tables with a cross, a basket and a container. I would like for you to consider the statements on the card and circle the one/s that you need to confess to God and then fold that card in half.
Then when you are ready, go to one of the tables and place the card in the basket as a confession to God. Then put your coin in the container as a pledge of your commitment to Christ. It’s okay if the coin makes noise because confession should be quiet and personal but commitment can be bold and public. Take a moment to pray if you wish.
So respond as you will over the next 5 minutes or so then we will close with a time of prayer.
