Worship Worthy, Malachi 1:1-5
Worship Worthy • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 4 viewsIn the book of Esther, each woman went through a series of baths to cleanse them, and to make them fragrant and beautiful when they arrived before the king. Advent is a time to prepare ourselves as well. In the waiting, we need to check ourselves and make any changes so when we come before the presence of our King, we are ready. To do this, we need to understand what pleases God. The book of Malachi gives us a look at what pleases God and brings Him the most honor. In this series, we look at where Israel failed and evaluate our own worship practices to make sure we are not doing the same things they were and that our offerings and practices are worthy of our King.
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Transcript
Welcome and Announcements:
If you are joining us for the first time today, we would like to thank you for joining us. We know you have options, and we are honored that you would choose to be with us today. Today is a special day as we have our annual Hanging of the Greens celebration, so you are in for a treat! As part of this celebration, hopefully you recieved a Christmas gift bag as you arrived. That is a special Christmas present from me to you. I am providing the first gift of the season, but God gave the best gift of all and that gift keeps on giving.
Before we jump into today’s worship, allow me to share some quick announcements.
• Food Bank representative requested
Tonight, at 4 p.m. Sounds & Tastes of Christmas (bring your favorite Christmas goodies)
Christmas Foodbox donations received now through December 15
Christmas Foodbox distribution @ St. Mary’s on December 15
Psalm 25 ESV
Read responsively, with congregation reading the even number verses.
Of David.
1 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me.
3 Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
4 Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
6 Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!
8 Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
11 For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great.
12 Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.
13 His soul shall abide in well-being, and his offspring shall inherit the land.
14 The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.
15 My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses.
18 Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins.
19 Consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me.
20 Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me! Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
21 May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.
22 Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.
Prayer
Worship Set
Prayer
Worship Through the Word:
Worship Worthy
Worship Worthy
I am convinced that I grew up with a baseball mitt in my hand. When I think of grade school, the picture that comes to mind is me out with the boys playing baseball. Most girls were off combing each other’s hair, but me and my friend Leticia, always had our dad’s baseball gloves on and stood in the field with the boys.
Baseball is not always the most exciting sport. There is lots of waiting in baseball. You wait for the game by warming up your arm. At the beginning of the game, you wait for every player to take his/her place on the field or in the dugout. Then, you wait for the batter to choose his/her bat and step up to the plate. Then you must wait for whoever to hit the ball. Things get exciting for a moment when he or she succeeds, but then you are waiting for the next batter and after three players are struck out, you wait for the teams to trade places between field and dugout again.
The problem with waiting is that it is easy to lose your focus. While you wait, you begin to look around at other things and if you aren’t careful, you hear a smack and realize that a ball has just been hit and you have no clue where that ball is headed or who is on what base!
It used to frustrate me when someone wasn’t paying attention. During those quiet moments, I always quickly surveyed the scene so I knew just what I would do if the ball came to me. I knew what bases had players. I noticed holes in the team positions where a ball could pass. I took note if the batter was a soft hitter or a hard hitter and positioned myself appropriately. However, as I did so, sometimes I would notice someone in the field sitting and plucking dandelions or waving at someone in the stands, and then suddenly, the ball was struck in their direction. They then had to jump up and run after the ball, which had landed by this time instead of being caught. Then when they got it, they lost time trying to decide who to throw the ball too. This just irritated me to no end. I admit it! I am very competitive!
This is not just a problem in baseball however, but it is a problem in life. You see, our focus is to be on God but too often we are waiting for something, like the “mean times” I talked about last week, and while we wait, we lose interest and begin focusing on other things.
Before you know it, worship is not something we are excited about, but it is just some motion we go through every Sunday. Our passion and focus just are not there.
That is where we find Israel in the book of Malachi. When we left off last week, Israel was just about to enter the Promised Land. However, by the time we get to Malachi, Israel had lived in the Promised Land approximate 820 years, then been marched off into exile in Babylon for an undisclosed period. They then eagerly returned home and worshipped God, thanking Him for restoring them. However, once again their passion for God has waned. Their worship was no more than a ritual as we will see over the next few weeks. Into this apathetic environment comes one who calls himself “Messenger” or more accurately, “My messenger.” That is what Malachi means. It is unclear whether this was his true name, or just his way of identifying himself. Beyond this name, this prophet never identifies himself. He only becomes God’s mouthpiece before the people, and he begins his address with the subject of “Love.”
This is a short passage so I will not ask you to stand today.
Malachi 1:1–5NIV
1 A prophecy: The word of the Lordto Israel through Malachi. 2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. “But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’ “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob, 3 but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.” 4 Edom may say, “Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.” But this is what the Lord Almighty says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the Lord. 5You will see it with your own eyes and say, ‘Great is the Lord—even beyond the borders of Israel!’
The Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God!
Father, please bless this Word which you have provided and which we now receive. Amen!
I. Learn to Love Malachi 1:1-5
I. Learn to Love Malachi 1:1-5
The Jews had returned to their homeland, but times were tough. The beautiful land they had inherited had suffered due to their disobedience to God. They were no longer as prosperous as they had been. The land had been abandoned for a long time during their exile and it had gone to weed. Things were a mess, and the structures were in shambles. As they struggled to put things back into order, their hearts doubted God’s love for them. What did they expect after all those years of exile? Did they think they would enter Canaan to find it flourishing and they would just take up their life where they left off? It is the same with us. If we sin and separate ourselves from God, when we return, God doesn’t just fix everything. There are always consequences to our unrighteous actions. Instead of recognizing this truth, they were like petulant children pouting because Father God did not magically clean their mess. They became apathetic and their worship turned from passionate praise, to just a routine to be completed. It was just another job to tick off their daily task list.
So, God sends a messenger to remind them that they are loved. God declares, “He loved Jacob but he hated Esau.” Now, this seems harsh, but it is not the kind of hate that you and I think of. We think of hate as a strong dislike or hostility toward someone. However, that is not what God means by this. He is describing a choice that was made. He selected one and rejected the other for a purpose He had in mind. To understand this, we would have to look back at the book of Genesis. Isaac’s wife Rebekah was pregnant with twins. Before they were even born, God selected Jacob even though Esau would be the firstborn (Firstborns usually got the choice selections). God made His selection before they were born for a reason. It was to demonstrate that His selection was not based on anything these boys did or didn’t do. Nor was it made due to cultural convention (Firstborn privilege). It was just a choice God made. He had promised Abraham he would become a great nation. It will be through Jacob that God accomplishes this. God chose Jacob over Esau not because of anything that had to do with these two boys. God was making a clear statement that what He was about to do was based solely upon Himself, not the people he chose to do it with. However, He is doing it because He loves everyone and wants a means to demonstrate this truth!
God then blessed Jacob’s children (Israel/Jews) with the promised land while Esau’s kin lived in the desert. As we read the accounts of both men, we find neither deserve it. Jacob was ambitious and a schemer. Esau was a man that lived on the tastes of this world. Esau was just focused on bringing himself pleasure. In time, he and his people prove themselves wicked. Jacob had his faults as well, but in time with God’s encouragement, Jacob does seek to follow God. Remember, God chose Abraham and his family to demonstrate through them His desire to bless all humankind. He wanted them to be an object lesson for everyone on earth. And they are even today!
But you cannot bless a disobedient child. If you do, they just keep up the same offensive behavior. Like any good parent, God needed to bring discipline into play at times and that is why Israel was struggling in this account. The difficulties they were going through were not because God didn’t love them, but because He did love them and like any parent, He would not reward disobedience.
In the book of Malachi, God’s messenger points out behaviors and attitudes that need to change for God to bless them.
Now Malachi is not usually a book selected for Advent, so you may wonder why I selected it. Well, for one thing, it was the last message to Israel before the first coming of Christ. I felt it was pertinent to hear what God had to say to them then. But I also selected it because we often fall into the same trap. Malachi is every bit as relevant to us today as it was to them then. If Christ is coming soon, we need to pay attention to God’s Words recorded in the book of Malachi.
In our day, people follow a calendar that runs from January 1 to December 31. However, Christians follow another calendar. It begins with Advent (4 Sundays before Christmas). Advent is then followed by the seasons/cycles of the Christian faith; Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and the days following Pentecost (ordinary days). Two of these seasons are unique in that we take time to re-tune or re-orient ourselves to God. We do this because it is so easy to “fall out of focus” as we wait for Christ’s return. We get distracted by activities, desires, and people and before we know it, our worship suffers. We have moved our eyes off the ball in the pitcher’s hand, to the crowd and activities in the ball stands if you will. Without fully realizing it, we have moved worship from passion to an apathetic routine.
During Advent, we are looking back to the birth of Christ, and as we do so, we remember that He is coming again. We look in the rear-view mirror at his first coming but at the same time, we look forward to His second appearance yet to come.
When Lent comes, next March, we will take time to examine our lives again. In that case, we look back at Christ’s death and resurrection with the understanding that what He did then has prepared us so we can join Him when He comes again.
When Christ returns, He will come as our brother but also as our King. How do you prepare to be received by a King? You get rid of the dirty clothes, and you put on your very best. When Esther was selected to go before Artaxerxes, she was cleansed and then soaked in perfumed oils. She was clothed in the finest silks. Figuratively speaking, this is what we want to do. However, it is not our outward appearance that is of concern (especially since we have no idea what time or day He will arrive) but it is our inward self that is needed bathed, perfumed, and dressed well, for He is a holy God, and we need to be clothed in holiness.
In the book of Malachi, we will quickly find what pleases God and what does not please God. We take to heart the discipline of Israel, so we do not have to undergo the same discipline.
Conclusion
Our Advent devotional is called, “Changed in the waiting” and that is exactly what we want to happen over these next 4-5 weeks. We want to be changed in the waiting so that we are ready to receive our King. I really liked what the author of this devotional said. She said, “We take on the characteristics of what we love, and the things we love are those for which we are willing to wait.”
Hopefully, you have this kind of love for Christ, because Malachi shows us that He has that kind of love for us! Everything God has done; He has done that we may be saved. That we may be His children eternally. Another thing we will see in Malachi is that our love for others falters when our love for God falters. Love begins and ends with God!
The waiting is not always easy. As our opening Psalm demonstrated, there is expectation and hope in the waiting, but there is also longing and sadness. We live in a world full of sin. We struggle under the weight of relationship problems, disease, death, and any number of sinful things taking place around us. However, this longing and sadness is also pregnant with expectation and hope. Not the kind of hope that you are hopeful that something may happen, but the kind of hope that is the light at the end of a dark tunnel. You can see it flicker so you know it is real, and you have full confidence that you will reach it because some days it glows a bit brighter demonstrating that you are getting closer. That is the hope of first Advent. It is being fully confident that just as He finally arrived the first time, He will finally arrive once again!
I pray you can join us on this Advent journey in these next few weeks. I want us to take this journey together, encouraging each other. Some will enter it with excitement. Others will be entering it with reticence due to losses they have experienced this year. Whichever is the case, start by remembering, God loves you! God chose you or you wouldn’t be in attendance here today. It is never by accident that we feel a tug to be in church. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. God is calling you saying, “Draw close to me so I can draw close to you!” (James 4:8)
8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
My prayer is that when we reach the end of this journey, we will find we have each been “changed in the waiting” and we notice that glimmer becoming brighter revealing that we have drawn closer, perhaps we are even within reach of it.
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Worship Set
Benediction
