Chasing the Wind

Our next minor prophet is Malachi. In Hebrew, Malachi means “messenger of Yahweh” or “my messenger.” Was Malachi the name of the man who wrote this book? Some scholars believe “Malachi” was simply the title of the book, as in “my message” to the people. We don’t know anything about the man himself, but it’s helpful to think of Malachi as the name of the prophet who wrote it. Verse 1 tells us that the book of Malachi is “An oracle: The word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi.” The word “oracle” implies a burden, a heavy message from the Lord.

Malachi came after Haggai and Zechariah and probably wrote this about the same time as Ezra and Nehemiah. Here’s a probable time line —

538 BC — Zerubbabel leads the first return of Jews from Babylon (prophets Haggai and Zechariah)
521–486 BC — Rebuilding the temple
458 BC — Ezra leads the second return of Jews from Babylon
445 BC — Nehemiah leads the third return of Jews from Babylon
433 BC — Malachi rebukes Israel

After admonitions from the earlier prophets, the temple in Jerusalem had been rebuilt, but over time the people became lazy, earlier spiritual reforms were abandoned, and conditions declined. Jerusalem fell into poor shape, both economically and spiritually. Nehemiah mentions in Nehemiah 5:5 that conditions were so poor, some parents sold their children into slavery to pay debts. That’s not legal today, though goodness knows I once tried. (No, no, no, I’m just kidding.)

The people had turned away from their faith, marrying non-Hebrews and practicing in the occult, and blaming their own poor conditions on God. Malachi challenges this mindset — the people can’t neglect their faith and then blame the resulting poor conditions on God. God’s love is unchanging, forever faithful. It’s the people; it’s us, that are not consistently loving.

Do You Trust God’s Love?

Let’s start with Malachi 1:2-3 —

“I have loved you,” says the LORD.

“But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’

“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” the LORD says. “Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”

God says He loves us, and the people respond “How? How do you love us? We have no prosperity, we’re selling our children into slavery, and times are tough. What do you mean you love us?” They people of Jerusalem had a lot to complain about. They had been in captivity by the Babylonians for over 80 years, then 70 years since they had returned to Jerusalem, but they were still not independent. For 150 years their destiny was manipulated by the Babylonians and Chaldeans, and now, even though they had rebuilt the temple and rebuilt the walls under Nehemiah, they didn’t have the manpower to defend against their enemies. From their point of view, God had allowed them to be dragged off into exile, and only through their own hard work did they return, rebuild the temple, rebuild the wall, and rebuild whatever prosperity they could muster. Where was God? How could God possibly say He loved them when so many bad things had happened?

Bad things happen to us today. We complain about them. In Afghanistan, there were 23 South Korean Christians captured by the Taliban; two of them, including the pastor, have already been killed. Where is God? I once lost my job and was unemployed for 2 months. Does anybody here have some health issue that doesn’t seem to have any Godly purpose? What sort of bad things are happening to us or in our society right now?

Do these bad things mean God doesn’t love us? Do they mean that God isn’t paying attention to us?

The people of Jerusalem must have a lot of nerve to say that God doesn’t love them. When he says, “Yet I have loved Jacob,” God is reminding them that God chose His people and has given them preferential treatment. If you remember the book of Obadiah a few weeks back, the people of Esau, the Edomites, share the same father as Jacob. Esau’s people, though, were not chosen by God, and the people of Edom openly rebelled against God. When Moses led the Israelis to the Promised Land, the people of Edom would not allow them to pass. When Nebuchadnezzar attacks, the Edomites tell the Babylonians where the Israelites are hiding, then join in the sacking and plunder. The Lord reminds the people of Jerusalem of His preferential treatment of Israel. The Lord God parted the Red Sea, had an angel of fire to protect them, provided manna in the dessert, but to the Edomites, God promises destruction. God reminds the people of Jerusalem that He loves them, but it appears the people do not remember or do not appreciate what God has done for them. It is true that God allowed their captivity, but only to cure them of their persistent idolatry. God had preserved them, though, and kept them from being destroyed. The people of Jacob only have to look to the people of Esau to see how much God loves them. Without God’s protection, they would have been destroyed.

What has God done for us? It can be difficult to see what God is doing in our lives with our narrow view of “me, me, me.” We’re too limited in our vision, only looking at the moment. God’s love works over a long period of time, and only over time do we get a perspective of how much God loves us. We get mad at God for something that just happened just now and forget about all His other mercies in the past. Perhaps when I lost my job, God saw that I was dependent on something other than Him, and I needed a reminder that if I was faithful, He would provide all my needs. Perhaps health issues give us empathy for others that have similar health issues; nobody can speak God’s love to a cancer patient like a Christian cancer survivor. Perhaps he uses health issues to remind us that our lives are temporal, short, and that we should devote whatever time we have left to loving our Lord and loving others.

But God does care for us, even in the middle of trials. Jesus tells us (Matthew 10:30) that our Father has numbered the very hairs on our head. One… two… there are a lot of hairs, some of us more than others.

It is God’s discipline in our lives that we have so much trouble understanding. The Babylonian captivity was discipline imposed by God to cure them of idolatry. A parent will punish their child for playing in the street, not because the parent hates the child, but because the parent loves the child. The parent could stand in the street also to direct traffic and protect the child, or the parent can teach the child the dangers of traffic. God often chooses to teach us, not just protect us.

There’s a story about a summer Christian camp for kids, and one of the counselors was teaching that God had a purpose for everything He created. The kids came up with good reasons for clouds, trees, animals, rocks, dirt, rivers, and so forth, when one of the children asked, “Why did God create poison ivy?” There was an uncomfortable pause while the counselor thought, but then one of the other children said, “God made poison ivy to teach us there are some things we should just keep our cotton-pickin’ hands off of.”

The people of Jerusalem clearly misunderstood about God’s love. When we trust in God’s love, it does not mean we no longer have responsibilities. The people of Jerusalem though they were exempt from responsibility and effort. They believed they can slack off, be part-time lackadaisical believers, and God will take care of them. We too, pray for God to just fix things. While God sometimes just “fixes” things for us, most of the time God teaches us not to play in traffic. There was a prayer I heard long ago about how God works, it goes like this —

I asked God to take away my pride. And God said “No”.
He said it was not for Him to take away, but for me to give up.

I asked God to make my handicapped child whole. And God said “No”.
He said her spirit was whole, her body was only temporary.

I asked God to grant me patience. And God said “No”.
He said patience is a by-product of tribulations. It isn’t granted, it is earned.

I asked God to give me happiness. And God said “No”.
He said He gives me blessings, happiness is up to me.

I asked God to spare me pain. And God said “No”.
He said suffering draws me apart from worldly cares and brings me closer to Him.

I asked God to make my spirit grow. And God said “No”.
He said I must grow on my own. But He will prune me to make me fruitful.

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life. And God said “No”.
He said He will give me life, that I may enjoy all things.

I ask God to help me love others, as much as he loves me.
And God said “Ah, finally you have the idea!”

How does God love us? Like the people of Jerusalem, in the midst of our lives, we focus too much on the here and now. If we would ask God if He loved us, God would say “Yes.” He gave me his only Son who died for us, and we will be in heaven someday because we believe. That’s how much God loves us.

Question for the class — What helps you trust that God loves you when it seems to you God’s doesn’t hear your prayers?

Consider –
1. I can trust God’s love because…

Do You Honor God’s Greatness?

The real question isn’t whether God loves us. The real question is: do we love God? Malachi 1:6-9 —

A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the LORD Almighty. “It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name.

“But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’

“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.

God asks a good question — with their mouths, the people say they honor God. But God shows them their hypocrisy — they say one thing, but their actions show their lack of respect for God. Starting with the priests; the Lord says the priests are showing God contempt, not honor. The priests are offering blind animals for sacrifice. The animals are crippled and diseased. Where did the priests get the blind and crippled animals? The people offered them. The Lord asks them to try offering them to the governor. Would the governor be pleased? If you were going to a friend’s house for a potluck supper, what would your friend think if you brought an expired can of sauerkraut and a half-open carton of milk?

If we truly believe God is our almighty God, we should honor him with our best. How do we do that? For instance, at work, how should we honor God? With our best service, the best job we can do. As a neighbor, how should we honor God? By loving our neighbor as ourselves. At home as a spouse or a parent, how should we honor God? By loving our spouse, at a minimum, like we love our neighbor. At worship, how should we honor God? With all our hearts; with repentance, reflection, forgiveness. Matthew 5:23-24 tells us, “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”

Let me ask you something — who here thinks they are truly loveable? I mean if we could see everything in your life, what you do, what you say, even what you think, who here believes they are truly warm and fuzzy and loveable all of the time? And yet, God loves us anyway. What do we do to earn this love? Nothing. God loves us even when we’re unlovable. That is a truly extraordinary demonstration of what love is. It’s not a feeling, it’s an action. We love our neighbor, not because he’s necessarily loveable, but because we are called to love him. And it’s a great example of how we are to love our spouses — our spouses may indeed be truly loveable, but that’s not why we love them. When our spouses are loveable, that just makes it easier to like them. We love our spouses because by loving our spouses, we are honoring God.

As Christians, we worship God through our service to Him and through our obedience. Not just on Sunday mornings, but Monday mornings and Tuesday mornings, too. Notice that God doesn’t want our gift if we are at odds with our Christian brother or sister. We’re a married class; who is our closest brother or sister? What God says here is that if we’re at odds with our spouse, our gift is meaningless. Our worship to Him is expressed through love to one another. Before we worship on Sunday morning, it should be our reminder to forgive one another, to love one another, to be reconciled to one another.

How strongly does God feel about this? Malachi 1:10 has very strong words about this.

“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.”

Any outward ritual is worthless. God doesn’t care about outward rituals. God cares about the heart and mind and spirit. If your heart is not right, if your heart is not repentant, forgiving, and full of love, God says He’d rather we nail the church doors shut and go home. He doesn’t want half-hearted worship. He doesn’t want worship from us if we’re angry or gossipy or unforgiving. In Mark 12:28-34, one of the teachers of the law asked Jesus which was the most important commandment. What was Jesus’ response?

The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

The verse after that isn’t quite so well known; the teacher of the law agreed with Jesus —

“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

This verse doesn’t say that the burnt offerings and sacrifices were unimportant; it says that the offerings and sacrifices are worth less than the love of God and the love of each other. Whatever effort we go through to love God and each other, our offerings are worth less. If you love God half-heartedly, the offering is almost worthless.

I believe the Lord would almost rather we be like Esau, who He hated. I think He would have us hate God and turn our face away from Him. If we’re in church going through the motions of worship, but being a poor example of a Christian to our neighbor, our co-worker, our bible class friends, or heaven forbid our spouses, we are harming God’s church. When we are a poor example of Christ’s love, we hinder the witness of those fully devoted followers of Christ.

Let me give you an example of how being a poor example of an obedient Christian can harm the church and turn away potential believers. There was an article last week from Rome; an Italian politician whose party represents Christian values was caught in a hotel room with two prostitutes and a large amount of cocaine. When he was caught, this was his response:

“So politicians in the UDC [Christian Party] do not make love? Of course, I recognize Christian values. But what has that got to do with going with a prostitute? It is a personal matter. This affair has nothing to do with family values. I cannot be branded a bad father and a bad husband simply because after five or six days away from home, an occasion presented itself.”

In Revelation 3:15-16, Jesus says this about being a half-hearted Christian —

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

I’m not sure what the theological implications of Jesus spitting us out of His mouth are, but it doesn’t sound like a good thing. Non-committed Christians can be more harmful than non-Christians. Part-time Christians can be distasteful to God. It is not our actions that please God; it’s our heart. If our tongue both praises God and curses men, we are lukewarm, we are dishonoring God. God would have us nail the church doors shut.

Consider –
2. I will honor the Lord’s greatness by offering Him the best of my…
3. I will repent of my unacceptable attitudes and actions that include…

Do You Love God Wholeheartedly?

God wants the best from us. Malachi 1:11-14 —

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.

“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,” says the LORD Almighty.

“When you bring injured, crippled or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?” says the LORD. “Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the LORD Almighty, “and my name is to be feared among the nations.

God wants our best; God wants us to lean on Him, not on ourselves. When we hold back from God, like the man who keep the best for himself and offers the blemished leftovers to God, God doesn’t bless that. God says instead of blessings, such a person is cursed instead.

The purpose of our lives is to show God’s glory, God’s excellence, God’s love, in everything we do. Colossians 3:17, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12, “With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Another question for the class; I assume nobody brought an unblemished goat to sacrifice this morning. What are examples of an unacceptable offering today?

What is the best way to show that we love the Lord with all of our heart?

Consider –
4. I will express wholehearted devotion to God by…

Conclusion

If I truly trust in the Lord and believe He is greatest among all names, if I truly believe Jesus is my Lord and savior and not just a religious figure, then I want to offer my Lord my best. I can trust in the Lord; he has provided great things to me; my wife, my life, my health, my hair number 2,063,425. Most of all, He provided His son to me to that I shall not perish but have eternal life. If we trust that the Lord loves us, even when we’re suffering or when we don’t feel as though God hears our prayers, we still give the Lord our best. A half-hearted effort of going through the motions means nothing to the Lord, He would rather nail the church doors shut than to listen to us mouth off about each other or to give lip-service to His will. Even when we don’t feel loved, we should give our best to the Lord, just like when we don’t feel loved, we should still give our best to each other. For great is His name above all other names, and our actions and worship should recognize that He is Lord.