MAJORING
IN THE MINORS: MALACHI
September
5-7, 2015
Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude
Text:
Malachi 3:6-18
“MALACHI: GOD’S CLEANUP MAN!
In view of
Christ’s coming…
1.
Clean
up your giving.
2.
Clean
up your living.
Malachi 3:6-18 (NIV1984)
"I the LORD do not change. So you,
O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7Ever since the
time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept
them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty.
"But you ask, 'How are we to return?' 8"Will a man
rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In
tithes and offerings. 9You are under a curse--the whole
nation of you--because you are robbing me. 10Bring 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. 11I will prevent pests from devouring your
crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the
LORD Almighty. 12"Then all the nations will call you
blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty. 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? 15But now
we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those
who challenge God escape.' " 16Then those who feared the
LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of
remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD
and honored his name. 17"They will be mine," says
the LORD Almighty, "in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I
will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. 18And
you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked,
between those who serve God and those who do not.”
SILENCE! That’s what was coming. God
was going to go silent. Up to this point God had talked in special ways to Adam
and Eve, Noah, Enoch, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and all the prophets. Always
pointing people to the coming Savior. Exposing sin. Declaring forgiveness.
Pointing to Jesus. From our earlier minor prophets you know the history. God’s
people had been in exile. They were brought back to Jerusalem. The Temple had
finally been rebuilt. God’s people now know that the table is set. All is ready
for Messiah to come. But in God’s plan
the time will not fully come for the Savior to be born for another 400 years.
Now what do you think is going to happen to God’s people who are anxiously waiting
for Jesus to come? They’re going to get tired of course, tired of waiting. And
you know what happens when people get tired? They got sloppy. Up to the
prophetic plate steps Malachi. He’s batting clean up, the last prophet of the
Old Testament. He helps God’s people stay ready. He teaches them to live in
view of Christ’s coming.
In view of Christ’s coming clean up
your giving he said. At the time of Malachi God’s people had gotten sloppy in their
giving. As part of Old Testament law all people, young and old, rich and poor,
gave a tithe or 10% of their income to God. They also brought various different
offerings of animals or crops to say “Thank you” to God or “I’m sorry” to Him.
This was important for them as a way to show love for God because giving and
loving are actually synonyms! God so loved that He gave. He showed love by
giving. We show love by giving. Malachi’s people weren’t showing love. Earlier
in his book you find that the people were bringing God the crippled sheep, the
ones who were diseased or dying. Their leftovers. Now they were lying about the
tithe, bringing let’s say 5% of their income but pretending it was 10%. They
were robbing God. But it really wasn’t about the money. It was the lack of
honor, lack of love. Like a father who tells his sick daughter, “I love you. I
will do anything for you.” But then takes the money needed for her medicine and
drinks it up at the bar. That’s not love.
Malachi called on the people to repent
and clean up their giving. He showed them how God would make it easy for them. "I the LORD do not change. So you, O
descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7Ever since the time
of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept
them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty.
"But you ask, 'How are we to return?' 8"Will a man
rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In
tithes and offerings. 9You are under a curse--the whole
nation of you--because you are robbing me. 10Bring 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. 11I will prevent pests from devouring your
crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the
LORD Almighty. 12"Then all the nations will call you
blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.”
God doesn’t change. In view of Christ’s coming He would forgive the people, not
destroy them. They didn’t have to be afraid of not having enough for God would
bless them with more. Just clean up the giving. Let it be a way of showing
love.
Brothers and sisters, we find
ourselves in a similar situation to the people at the time of Malachi. We are
waiting for Christ to come. God is silent in that there are no more prophets or
Apostles. We can get tired of waiting too. It might show in sloppy giving.
Giving is loving. Love gives. First test yourself. Does your giving show love
to God? Is it a portion that is served to God first or whatever is left over
after other bills are paid? Is it given cheerfully or grudgingly? Does talking
about money for God make you feel good or guilty? Test yourself. Then test God.
See if He doesn’t keep his word. In view of Christ’s coming we clean up our
giving.
In view of Christ’s coming clean up
your living. Remember at Malachi’s time the people were getting tired. When
will Messiah come? You can hear it in their voices. "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? 15But
now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even
those who challenge God escape.' " God’s people were getting tired. It
didn’t seem to do any good to follow God. Those who didn’t seemed like they
were better off. Sometimes it looks and feels that way to us. What good does it
do to carefully follow God’s commands? Cheaters do prosper. The immoral in our
country challenge God and escape. When is Jesus coming?
God had an answer. “Then those who feared
the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of
remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD
and honored his name. 17"They will be mine," says
the LORD Almighty, "in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I
will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. 18And
you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked,
between those who serve God and those who do not.” The Lord listened. A
scroll of remembrance about those who feared the Lord and honored His name. “Mine,”
said the Lord. A treasured possession. It’s all going to be clear on Judgment
Day. You will see the distinction between the righteous in Christ and the
wicked. Don’t give up. Don’t give in. Do you really think an eternity of glory
in heaven is not worth it? In view of Christ’s coming clean up your living.
In view of Christ’s coming. That was the
key. It’s all about Jesus. Malachi’s job was to help God’s people stay ready.
400 years later Jesus came the first time. As promised John the Baptist
prepared the way for Him. Some were not ready. They had grown sloppy in their
use of God’s Word and didn’t want a Savior from sin. But some were. They
treasured God’s word. Pondered it in their hearts. They felt awful about their
sin and were happy to have a Savior. God’s clean up man had helped them. Christ
is coming again. How long will we have to wait? God doesn’t say. Will we be
ready? Yes. Malachi helps us. Give as a way to show love to him. Live as His
prized possession. Always in view of Christ’s coming. Amen.
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