Scripture: Malachi 3:6-18
Series Theme Scripture: Ephesians 4:12-13
12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Aligning our “heart” with our Creator
How do we align our hearts - when trouble surrounds – when difficulties pile up – and there seems no possible way of escape?
Illus. - Bubba and the potato field
An old man lived alone in Idaho. He wanted to spade his potato garden, but it was backbreaking work, and his son, Bubba, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man mentioned it in a letter he sent to his son by saying, “I’m not sure exactly what to do. I’m just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. It looks like I won’t be able to plant that garden this year after all.” A few days later, he received a short letter from his son, “Dad, For heaven’s sake, don’t dig up that garden that’s where I buried the bodies!” At 4 a.m. the next morning, a crew of police officers, and the FBI arrived to find the bodies. After digging for hours, they gave up and apologized to the old man and left. That same day the old man received another letter from his son. “Dear Dad, under these circumstances, that’s the best I can do, go ahead and plant your potatoes now.”
Sometimes we are like the stubborn earth that stands in the way of experiencing a completely transformed life in Jesus Christ. Instead of being willing to trust, to take direction, and to accept the rewards Christ offers. We remain a potential garden…a potential garden in need of resurrection…a potential garden that needs to find the way, the truth, and the life…a potential garden just waiting to accept the victory that’s found in Jesus Christ. (borrowed from Sermon Central – Illustrations/Stories)
Henry Ward Beecher once said, "The strength and the happiness of a man consists in finding out the way in which God is going, and going in that way too."...
Discuss Malachi 3:6-18
The ways we deal with personal and spiritual hurt
We start by WITHHOLDING: the ways this is expressed in our lives:
When a person withholds an honest response in any situation – it can breed RESENTMENT. Resentment is when I re-feel the hurt over and over again. Obviously my FEELINGS ARE HURT, and as the “reaction” forms, it often presents itself through PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR. In this “mode” I will likely act as if nothing is wrong – and will either secretly or openly plan for your demise! Passive-aggressive behavior is mentioned in the Diagnostics and Statistics Manual of the American Psychiatric Association as, “prevalent in the church.” Another way this manifests is through OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE behaviors. These usually occur within our minds and sound something like this, “ God I HATE them or I would like you to come against them – Oh God, I forgot I’m a Christian God. I can’t be having these thoughts! Help me to move past this Lord – but make sure you do what I ask first!”
We obsess over the situation and FEEL GUILTYfor having a bad thought cross our mind. We feel helpless in the situation – often, we feel that God checks out because of our behaviors and thoughts. As a result we become depressed, we isolate ourselves for many reasons including the aforementioned “guilt trip”.
Sometimes the pain might even move us to extremes like what I call a GEOGRAPHIC. A geographic is when I literally move away form the situation: out of the neighborhood; to another town, state, or country. (JONAH; Jeremiah 30:12) Most often what happens regarding a “geographic” among Christians is that I move to another church. Because I’ve not dealt with my issues, I take all of my personal problems with me to that new place.
As a pastor I often hear this when a new person arrives expressed in the words, “they were not feeding me at my last church.” When I press the person as to how they were neglected the answer sounds something like this, “ Oh, the pastor ( deacon, leader, etc) wouldn’t help me to resolve my issue with ___________, and therefore they did not equip me to handle bigger spiritual issues.” It is not that I don’t believe them – I’ve learned that often what is happening is an expression of “passive-aggressive behavior”. Left unchecked it is only a matter of time until that person finds something wrong with their “new” church and either goes back to their old church or moves on to yet another church! Geographic’s “propel” the cycle of WITHHOLDING because the “hurt” person refuses to accept God’s direction.
In this case they are not only withholding their tithe – they are withholding their INVESTMENT in themselves and God’s people. They are choosing to remain a “fruitless, wild vine” or a “lone-wolf Christian”. Undisciplined and re-writing the Bible to fit their situation – they go from place to place spreading the disease of WITHHOLDING from God and His people through a viable, personal, and REAL relationship with either one! They have learned to “shy away” from intimacy with God and others.
I often think to myself when I meet this person, “I wonder what their family life is like?” This attitude has to be permeating their family as well! Maybe this is how their family operates – everyone lives in a sort of dysfunction moving through the cycle of resentment, hurt feelings, passive behavior or aggressive behavior – obsessive thoughts and compulsive reactions such as anger or the withholding of love and attention.
Yes folks our patterns for dealing with hurts has it’s beginnings in our earliest memories whether conscious or subconscious. We have some patterns for dealing with our situations already in place. Mental health professionals are toying with the theory that mental illness could be from the onset of belief systems contradiction. If a person goes against what they believe for long enough – mental illness develops. We’ve all met someone who deals with depression or bi-polar disorder; but what about the person dealing with schizophrenia? Could it be that this person developed a new reality through constantly going against their own beliefs system in unhealthy ways?
(Prayer) How God do we deal with such “HURT” people – and How God do we deal with our “HURTS” before it gets to such an extreme state?
God’s Word directs us in Malachi that in order to “stop” the cycle of withholding we must “release” those things we hold of value. To borrow a phrase form a 1980’s fire awareness TV commercial I say we must STOP, DROP, and ROLL! If we can liken our “hurts” to a fire: It consumes absolutely – sometimes robs us of the ability to breathe – causes serious scarring – there will have to be some remodeling and rebuilding. In my research, I found in every instance that fire professionals state that the most important thing “NOT” to do - is to run… rather to face the reality of the situation. Realize before God that there is a problem: Stop, Drop, and Roll!
STOP!!! And “Count your Blessings!” Take a look at whatever the situation is. This morning I am mostly talking about situations within the church and in dealings with other Christians. However, situations such as illness, cancer, death, family problems, financial problems, homelessness, unemployment, etc. (the list goes on and on), all of these can have us questioning at the deepest levels, “ why is this happening?” We become hurt and wonder where God is in our situation. We need to STOP and be quiet if only for a minute – to reflect on God’s promises and His personal care toward us. Count your Blessings:
Isaiah 58:6-10
6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter--
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
(from New International Version)
Cling to the truths set forth to the people of Israel, and still true for us today - that when we “RELEASE” our yoke, or burden to God - Jesus promises to give us His yoke, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light…” Matthew 11:30. This might take some exercise to build spiritual muscles in order to overcome the effects of our mental conditioning we’ve relied upon since birth. The situation might not change – we might even find ourselves still “hurt”, but our reaction to the situation will change in that we access the Power of Christ in our lives to see real truth, find real hope in Christ, and gain ability and strength to continue on!
Mal 3:10-11
10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
(from New International Version)
DROP!!!! “Would you be free from your burden…!”
Mal 3:13-15
13 "You have said harsh things against me," says the LORD. "Yet you ask, ’What have we said against you?’ 14 "You have said, ’It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the LORD Almighty? 15 But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape.’" (from New International Version)
This too is an action that we will have to exercise in order to overcome! In 12-step recovery literature there is a saying that is something to the effect of, “One day at a time.” This is in reference to staying free form chemicals and substances – that anyone can stay “sober” for one day! However, there is an unwritten addendum to this expression that continues, “… one hour at a time, one minute at a time, one second at a time…” This was added after they found people who couldn’t remain sober for “One Day at a Time.” In other words we need to be reminded and practice new things regularly! One of the best ways to be reminded that we need to DROP our “valuable item/issue” is through accountability to God and our church! When we choose a dishonest approach to handling whatever issue comes into our lives – we are choosing to WITHHOLD again. We are choosing to go it alone once again. We are choosing to HOLD rather than RELEASE – We are stuck in the process because we will not DROP our burden on JESUS! This is actually a “trust” issue – Do you believe and trust that God is big enough for your problem? Can He be trusted with your issue? Do you know Him in this way? As your Savior in EVERY WAY!! Then drop what your holding on to – Drop to your knees!
By choosing an inappropriate response we are saying to God as in Malachi 3:14, “It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the LORD Almighty?” What did we gain by the Biblical principle of “One Day at a Time?”
This is an attitude – we need to DROP – it presents itself as disobedience, defiance, and bitterness as the author of Hebrews suggests:
Heb 12:15
5 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
(from New International Version)
Sometimes we just need to DROP IT!
ROLL!!!! “Tell me the old, old story of Jesus and His love!”
In the case of “fire” the phrase Stop, Drop, and Roll refers to training people – in particular children – of the best way in order to survive if one finds themselves covered in flames. The final act of rolling is the actual step that “puts out the fire”. Fire needs oxygen and fuel in order to burn. When we roll we smother the flames by taking away the fuel source and the oxygen.
In the case of our “hurts” we need to extinguish the source that’s “fueling” our pain and take away the source that supplies the seemingly overwhelming circumstances.
In Matthew 23, Jesus “rolls” up on Jerusalem – He starts to mourn over the plight of the people. In Adam Clarks Commentary, it states that, Jesus is talking about His desire to, “smother Jerusalem like a mother hen because the big Roman eagle hovering above ready to scavenge anything living!” In this sense Jesus was in His “prophetic” role ready to “teach and protect” the people – if they wanted! We all know that they didn’t want Him to fulfill this role for them as the “protector” unto death. However, as we ask Jesus to be Savior and King over our lives – we are asking Him to take on this role for our lives. Are you ready to “roll” up under the wing of the “Protector” Lord of your life? King Jesus who promises to be with you every step of the journey no matter where it leads – finances, health, marriage, romance, self-esteem, behavior, home, work, ministry, etc. To walk you through the circumstances – not around, or over, or under – but through! Listen to these words form our Lord as recorded by Matthew:
Matt 23:37-38
37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.
(from New International Version)
Another “Commenter” puts it like this:
Matt 23:37
And yet how exquisite the figure itself-of protection, rest, warmth, and all manner of conscious well-being in those poor, defenseless, dependent little creatures, as they creep under and feel themselves overshadowed by the capacious and kindly wing of the mother-bird! If, wandering beyond hearing of her special call, they are overtaken by a storm or attacked by an enemy, what can they do but in the one case droop and die, and in the other submit to be torn in pieces! But if they can reach in time their place of safety, under the mother’s wing, in vain will any enemy try to drag them thence. For rising into strength, kindling into fury, and forgetting herself entirely in her young, she will let the last drop of her blood be shed out and perish in defense of her precious charge, rather than yield them to an enemy’s talons. How significant all this of what Jesus is and does for men!
(from Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft)
What is “overwhelming” you today? What is threatening to devour or tear at you?
Is there anything “bigger” than our Lord?
Is there something I am “withholding” from Jesus? (Before you answer – ask someone that you trust, and who will answer honestly, what they see!)
Time of Decision
