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Sermon - September 1, 2024


Malachi

Rev. David Ryan

We come at last to the last book of the Old Testament!

Thank you for sticking with me in this really long series

Of preaching from a text from each book of the Bible!

 

There are 66 books in the Bible.

39 in the Old Testament, 27 in the New.

Next week we will get to the last book of the New Testament – Revelation

 

Malachi is one of the minor prophets –

And within the minor prophets, he is one of the three post-exile prophets.

What we might not realize, and I was reminded in my study

Of this book in preparing this message

Is that Malachi ministered about 100 years

After the people had returned from exile –

100 years! That’s a long time!

 

The time of exile was history by this point.

No one was alive who had experienced it.

It was a story of the grandfathers and grandmothers.

What do we know of what happened in 1924?

·       Calvin Coolidge was elected President of the United States on November 4, 1924.

·      Immigration:  The United States introduced immigration laws, including the Johnson–Reed Act, which restricted the entry of non-white foreigners into the country.

·      Other events:  The first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was held. The Statue of Liberty was designated as a National Monument.

·      Inventions:  Spiral-bound notebooks were  invented.

·      Pop culture:  Wheaties cereal was introduced.

 

We are still dealing with immigration issues.

We still watch the Macy’s day thanksgiving parade.

We have long regarded the Statue of Liberty as a significant symbol for our nation –Although I have seen it from a distance, I’ve never been to see it up close.

Now instead of spiral bound notebooks , we are using digital tablets or our phones to keep our notes on

And does anyone eat Wheaties anymore?

A lot changes in 100 years.

The return to the land of Isreal was nothing new.

And yet some things do not change.

 

I’d like to focus on a call given by Malachi

That has not changed – even for us – a couple of thousands of years later.

I love the way Malachi begins his message.

It's something that I have staked my life on.

It's something that I hope will be a hallmark of my ministry.

It’s something that I hope you will remember from my preaching

Long after I have gone –

If you hear nothing else

If you remember nothing else

If you believe nothing else –

It’s these words –

Words that Malachi also shares.

I have loved you , says the Lord.

Oh friend – I want you so much

To know that you are loved.

That you are loved to the depths of your being

That you are loved by the God who created you

You are loved by the God who redeemed you

You are loved by the God who waits

To welcome you into eternal life.

There is nothing you can do to earn the love of God.

It is simply Yours.

God is love.

Love is what God does!

You are loved just because you are.

And you are loved as you are.

God does not wait till you are perfect

Before He loves you!

God loves you as you are!

With all your flaws

With all your failures

God loves you in the times you obeyed his will –

And God loves you when you have messed up.

There is nothing you do to earn God’s love

And there is nothing you can do to lose God’s love.

You are loved.

 

As we read in Zephaniah a few weeks ago –

God takes delight in us.

He rejoices over us with singing.

Malachi  - in what became the last book of our Old Testament

Reminds us of what God sings through eternity.

“I have loved you”

Remember that friend.

Believe it

Live in it.

Rest in it.

Be empowered by it.

That will not change.

Not today

Not tomorrow

Not 10 years from now

Not 100 years from now.

 

 

God Loves you.

And we are invited to respond to that love.

And the way that we are invited to respond to that love

Is to give of our Best to the Lord.

The problem is…

Sometimes we don’t do that.

Sometimes we do not give our best –

Or even try to.

 

That was a problem that Malachi

Was called to address.

Remember –

The people had returned to the promise land

The temple had been rebuilt.

The priests were installed

The sacrificial system was in place.

 

God, through Malachi , says this.

Fathers are to be honored by their sons.

Masters are to be honored by their servants.

God says – IF I am your father – where is the honor due me?

If I am the master – where is the respect due me –

And the priests have no idea what God is talking about.

They ask – “How have we despised your name”?

You see, that’s how bad things can get.

It’s not even that they were deliberately dishonoring God.

They didn’t even know!

 

How could that happen?

Let me tell you –

It happens gradually.

It happens over time

It happens almost in a way that no one notices at first.

But in time – they end up being a long way from where they started.

God says – you place defiled food on my altar.

You bring blind animals

You bring crippled or diseased animals.

You bring to me what the governor himself would not accept

You are not offering me the best

You are offering the leftovers

And that is no way to honor me.

How does it happen in our lives?

It often happens in away that is gradual.

 

We used to be so faithful

In our Bible reading.

But then we miss a day.

Then we miss two days

Then a week

Then we don’t even know where our Bibles are.

We used to spend time in prayer

Dedicated time

Set apart time.

But life crowded in.

The time got reduced.

Then we miss a day or two…a week

Two weeks –

Until it’s a long time that we have been in

Sweet communion with the Lord.

There was a time when we were excited about serving the Lord

We served on ministry teams

We dreamed dreams about

What we could do for God

But we got tired.

We got discouraged

Something we tried didn’t really work

And so we gave up

 

And again,

Life happens

Many demands on our time

We say no to serving on ministry teams

Or we say yes

But only serve halfheartedly.

 

It’s not good.

And we know it

We are giving God the left overs of our time

Of our energy

Of our hearts.

We forget his love.

And we no longer respond to it as we once did.

My My My.

Malachi said to the people of Israel,

To the people retuned, now 100 years, to the promised land –

When we do that.

‘When we do not give our best to God –

We are robbing God!

Malachi even says…when you hold back on your giving…

When you cease to tithe –

You are robbing me!

Ouch.

 

What’s a tithe?

A tithe is what we offer back to God.

We believe that everything that we have belongs to God

Everything is God’s gift –

But so that we might acknowledge that all belongs to him

We are called to give back a portion of that

To God.

The starting place is one tenth.

If you have 10 rows of corn,

1 row of the harvested corn goes to God.

If we have 10 dollars

1 dollar goes to God

If we have 100 dollars,

10 dollars goes to God.

If we have 1000 dollars

100 is offered to God.

I am not good at math

But I can do my 10s pretty good!

And when we start out tithing when we have little

It’s easier to continue to tithe when we have more.

But just like the other things I was talking about –

It’s easy to start holding back.

Life happens

Bills happen

The luxuries we want we acquire.

And soon there is not as much money in our bank accounts.

And it’s harder to give our tithe.

And so we don’t.

We cut back.

And Malachi is here to say –

You are robbing God.

We might not have meant to …but we did.

But it’s never to late to make things right.

God through the prophet said to the people of Isreal

Return to me!

Return to me, and I will return to you

(although in reality, God, I don’t think ever leaves us )

Return to me.

Keep my ways.

Honor me

Renew your commitment to faithful giving.

If you are not giving the tithe, begin working

Towards it – or better yet, just act on faith

And move to it – God will help you prioritize

The rest. It might mean a change –

But it’s a change worth making.

 

Renew your commitment to being people of the word.

Spend time reading your Bible folks

Read it every day.

Study it. Meditate upon it. Memorize it.

Be saturated with you – so that when life squeezes you –

That’s what comes out of you.

It’s one of the keys to being more and more like Jesus.

Renew your commitment to prayer.

All kinds of prayer.

Silent prayer

Spoken prayer

Prayers of adoration

Prayers of confession

Prayers of thanksgiving

Prayers of intercession

 

Renew your commitment to service.

What is it that the Lord would have you do?

Discern it – and Do it!

Not because you have to

But because you know and are experiencing God’s love for you –

 

Friends, let us give our best to God.

Not the leftovers –

But the best

Of our time

Of our thoughts

Of our energy

Of our wealth

Our worship.

Let us honor God.

Let us never be guilty of robbing God.

Let us give our best – because he has given us His best.

Amen.

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