I voted to close the church; not intentionally, not maliciously perhaps, but carelessly, thoughtlessly, lazily, indifferently, I voted. I voted to close its doors that its witness and its testimony might be stopped. I voted to close the open Bible on its pulpit . . . The Bible that had been given us by years of struggle and by the blood of martyrs who died that we might have it to read. For, you see, I could have gone and I should have gone, but I didn’t. I could have prayed and I should have prayed, but I didn’t. I could have tithed and I should have tithed, but I didn’t. I could have served and I should have served, but I didn’t. And, as a result, I voted to close the church.
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Malachi speaks to the people of God in his day about the importance of authenticity. I believe it is a message God’s people today need to hear, as well. For if we were to sum up in one phrase our responsibility as Christians, it would be nothing more, nothing less, and nothing other than to honor God through a commitment that is authentic.
1. God’s expectation is that we honor Him - v. 6a
Just as an earthly father or master has the right to expect honor, our heavenly Father and Master has the right to expect to be honored in the lives of those who belong to Him. God’s expectation that His children honor Him with authentic commitment is echoed through-out Scripture.
“Let all that I am praise the LORD; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.” - Psalm 103:1 (NLT)
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” - Mark 12:30 (NIV)
“I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.” - Romans 12:1 (Amplified)
The problem with too many of us is that we like to think of the privilege of having God as our Father and Master, but not of the responsibility that goes along with that special relationship.
“One of the biggest problems in the church today is that we emphasize God’s promises more than His demands.” - Chuck Colson
God not only makes promises to us; He makes demands of us. As our heavenly Father and Master, He demands that we honor all that He is with all that we are. But too many of us find it easier to “go through the motions” than to authentically, whole-heartedly, honor God with the devotion of our lives. We find it is easier to sing than to be sincere.
“A charge to keep I have, a God to glorify.” But, Lord, expect no cash from me, Your glory comes too high. “Am I a soldier of the cross, I follower of the Lamb?” Yes, though I seldom ever pray, I still insist I am. “Must Jesus bear the cross alone, and all the world go free?” No, others, Lord, should do their part, but please don’t count on me.” “Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise Him all creatures, here below.” Loud songs of praise I like to bring, because it doesn’t cost to sing.
God expects His people to honor Him with authentic devotion.
2. God’s definition of what it means to honor Him - vs. 6b-9; 11-14
What does it mean to honor God with authentic devotion? It means to give God our best. These priests dishonored God by not offering their best. Their questions and statements reveal two things:
A. This problem hadn’t developed overnight - vs. 6-7
No doubt, you’re heard the illustration of the frog in the kettle. The idea is that if a frog is placed in a pot of boiling water, the frog will immediately jump out. But if the frog was placed in the water while it is yet cool, and then heated gradually, the frog will adapt to the gradual changes in temperature until it boils to death!
They had been “frogs in a kettle” - an environment had gradually developed, through one compromise after another, where honoring God by offering their best was no longer the accepted standard; but offering God what should be rejected had become commonplace. Notice verse 8. Malachi basically says, “Try paying your taxes to the government by giving it worthless things. No, the government gets its hand into the paycheck first and takes its share right off the top. Always. But God is more important than the government; so why do people think they can get away with giving him inferior gifts?”
Things they would never consider doing in other settings (like paying their taxes to their governor) they had no problem doing when it came to what they offered to God. They had developed a “double-standard.”
When I was growing up people used to collect things for missionaries or disaster relief, and they often found that people had given junk, things that they could not use any more. What happened to sacrificial giving? This was cleaning out the attic. And, when people give to the Lord in worship, it is often what is left over after they plan everything else that they want to do with their money. The standard in worship from the beginning is that God gets the first and the best. The first-born animal, the first fruit from the trees and the field, go to God; and whatever is given to God has to be perfect, it has to be the best. This is true of physical gifts as well as spiritual service. Our money, our time, our service - God’s people must give the best they have to him; and in all things he must have the pre-eminence. - Alan Ross
B. Their problem was a lack of sight - v. 12-13a
These statements reveal that the priests had been blinded to the glory of the God they were called to serve. The activities designed to reveal God’s glory had come to be seen by them as boring and burdensome. How had this happened? They had allowed their daily activities to distract them from the divine awesomeness of God. Even ministry and service will become burdensome, and boring when our focus is on it rather than on God. Only God can fill us with a sense of awe that can then make every activity of our life become exciting and fulfilling.
A traveler in the Middle Ages visited a city where many stonecutters were working. Approaching them, he asked the same question: “What are you doing?” The first replied, “I’m cutting stone. I have to do it, my master told me so.” A second responded, “I’m the best stone cutter in the land. Look at the smoothness of this stone, the exactness of the measurements, how perfect the edges are.”A third, with excitement and passion, proclaimed, “I’m helping to build a cathedral for the glory of God!”
Seminary professor, Paul Trip, speaks to this in a series of article on living in awe of God: “You and I were created to live our lives in the shadow of awe. Every word we speak, every action we take, every decision we make, and every desire we entertain was meant to be
colored by awe. We were meant to live and minister with eyes gazing upward and (then) outward.”
He concludes with these words: “I counsel you to run now, run quickly, to your Father of awesome glory. Confess the offense of your boredom. Plead for eyes opened to the 360-degree, 24/7 display of glory to which you have been blind.”
God called them to return to a focus upon His wonder and glory as the solution to their lack of authenticity (vs. 11; 14). He calls us to refocus our lives upon His majesty as well.
3. God’s opinion of those who do not honor Him - v. 10
God says that if they refuse to honor Him by presenting their best to Him as an expression of authentic, whole-hearted devotion, then He would just as soon have then close the doors of His house. In view of the lack of authenticity that plagues the lives of too many of God’s
people today, one wonders if God might not say the same thing to us.
Some churches have had their doors closed and some might as well have them closed; for when God’s people are unwilling to give their best to God out of an authentic devotion that desires to honor all that He is with all that we are, then a church no longer has a reason to exist!
A school system consolidated with a larger school nearby. This did away with the football team of the smaller school, but the cheerleaders still had their uniforms, megaphones, and pom-poms. So, they asked the principal of their new school if they could have their own pep rallies on Thursday afternoons, since the regular pep rallies were on Friday. The principal approved. So, on Thursday afternoons the students of the consolidated school gathered in the gym and their cheerleaders led them in the cheers and fight songs of their old school. But they never played a game. They didn’t even have a football team. Their pep rallies no longer had any purpose.
Likewise, the activities of too many churches no longer serve any real purpose, because God’s people have lost sight of our ultimate purpose, which is to give our best to God in authentic devotion that desires to honor all that He is with all that we are.
Conclusion: How about you? Are you seeking to present all that you are in the effort to honor all that God is? Are you seeking to honor God by giving Him your very best? Do you need to return to a realization of the awesomeness of God? God says that if if we are only going to “play church” He would just as soon that we close our doors. If everyone in this church had a commitment as authentic as yours, would the doors of our church remain open?
I voted to close the church; not intentionally, not maliciously perhaps, but carelessly, thoughtlessly, lazily, indifferently, I voted. I voted to close its doors that its witness and its testimony might be stopped. I voted to close the open Bible on its pulpit . . . The Bible that had been given us by years of struggle and by the blood of martyrs who died that we might have it to read. For, you see, I could have gone and I should have gone, but I didn’t. I could have prayed and I should have prayed, but I didn’t. I could have tithed and I should have tithed, but I didn’t. I could have served and I should have served, but I didn’t. And, as a result, I voted to close the church.
