Restoring Reverence: Confronting God's Dishonor - Malachi 1:6-14 (Sermon)

WELCOME

Thank you, Worship Team. It is good to be with you. Didn’t Pastor Mike do a fabulous job last week? He knocked it out of the park.  

TEXT

We are continuing our series on the prophets in the Old Testament. This is our second sermon on the book of Malachi. Let’s look at today’s passage: Malachi Chapter 1, verses 6 through 14. I am going to have Y.B. read for us. Would you please stand with me in honor of God’s Word? 

A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, “How have we despised your name?” By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, “How have we polluted you?” By saying that the LORD’s table may be despised. When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts. And now entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you? says the LORD of hosts. Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts. But you profane it when you say that the Lord’s table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised. 13 But you say, “What a weariness this is,” and you snort at it, says the LORD of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the LORD. Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the LORD of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations. (Malachi 1:6–14, ESV) 

PRAYER

Thank you. Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, help us love you. We want to worship you with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Help us do that. And when we fall short, help us cling to the cross that paid the full price for our sins. You were the perfect sacrifice. Amen. You may be seated. 

CONTEXT

Let’s go over Malachi’s background. Malachi wrote this little book 2400 years ago in the land of Israel. God’s people spent at least seventy years in Exile under Babylonia’s rule. Invaders destroyed Israel’s capital, walls, and temple. Eventually, 150,000 of God’s people returned to the Promised Land to start over. They lived in an area the size of a postage stamp that once was enormous. Persia was in power, protecting their interests, not Israel’s. Israel had no king (1:8). God’s people had strayed from their moral foundation. Even the priests exchanged pure offerings for broken ones. In addition, men were divorcing their wives for sexier options. These people went so far as to worship other gods. God was not okay with adultery or idolatry. That was why God exiled them in the first place. When they returned, some still had not gotten the hint. They kept neglecting and forgetting God’s commands. Thus, he sent a messenger named Malachi to call his people to change before it was too late. God began with a word of love, and they balked. He followed up with a history lesson. He wanted them to remember that his love resulted from his mercy, not their merit. 

STRUCTURE

In our passage today, there are three sections. 

Section 1: VS 6 Despising God’s Title 

Section 2: VSS 7–11 Polluting God’s Table 

Section 3: VSS 12–14 Scoffing at the Moral

These verses are a sober reminder that how we worship matters. He wants people to love him with all their hearts, minds, souls, and strength. Often, people miss the mark. 

Section 1: VS 6 Despising God’s Title 

Go to Malachi, chapter 1, verse 6, to see what I am discussing. God said: 

“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name” (Malachi 1:6, ESV). 

The priests were like pastors and worship leaders. God gave his people the Law, histories, and books of wisdom. People were illiterate; they didn’t have YouTube, Google, or the Internet. The priests were their source of information. The Law began with the Ten Commandments through Moses. One rule relates to verse 6: Honor your father and mother. (That is my favorite, by the way). If people were supposed to honor their father and mother, how much more should they honor God, the heavenly Father? Verse 6 goes on to the servant and master relationship. This was like the employee-employer relationship. In that relationship, the worker should respect the manager. If they didn’t, they could get fired or suffer consequences. How much more does God deserve respect and fear? Yet, God’s priests were not honoring, respecting, or fearing him. They should have known better. They were breaking the third commandment, “Don’t take God’s name in vain.” But they didn’t. Instead, they despised his name.

DISPUTATION 

What did the priests say to that allegation? Look at verse 6. They said: 

“How have we despised your name?” (Malachi 1:6, ESV). 

They sounded like teenagers. God was trying to determine what was wrong and what needed to happen. But they were not listening. They didn’t think they were despising him. Who was right? God!  

Section 2: VSS 7–11 Polluting God’s Table

This brings us to the second section: Polluting God’s Table. The first verse discusses despising God’s title, and the second discusses polluting God’s table. 

Section 1: VS 6 Despising God’s Title 

Section 2: VSS 7–11 Polluting God’s Table 

The priests asked how they despised God’s table. God answered. 

“By offering polluted food upon my altar” (Malachi 1:7, ESV).  

What were they doing? They were offering things to God that were not good. What were they supposed to offer? God let them know hundreds of years before. We read one of many places like:

When any one of the house of Israel or of the sojourners in Israel presents a burnt offering as his offering, for any of their vows or freewill offerings that they offer to the LORD, if it is to be accepted for you it shall be a male without blemish, of the bulls or the sheep or the goats. You shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you. And when anyone offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, to be accepted it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it. Animals blind or disabled or mutilated or having a discharge or an itch or scabs you shall not offer to the LORD or give them to the LORD as a food offering on the altar. (Leviticus 22:18b–22, ESV) 

What do you think? Should we offer an animal with a blemish? No! God wanted his people to give him their best. Why? Why would God ask that? Not because he needed it. He wasn’t hungry. In giving, we express faith in the provider. We trust him to take care of us. We show gratitude, love, and joy. The other day, I was walking on the beach when I saw a substantial rotting salmon lying in the sand. What if I brought that to a fish boil or home for supper? It would be offensive. That is what God’s people were doing to God. But worse. Did they get it? What do you think? No! 

DISPUTATION

They wanted clarification. (It reminds me of people who want to keep fighting over words when the answer is right before their face.) They questioned: 

“How have we polluted you?” (Malach 1:7, ESV). 

My lovely children can pester me about food, treats, and video games. At the same time, I am not as good as God at debating. My brain works slowly. Katie, my wife, is our resident lawyer. I tell my kids, “Talk to your mom.” That seems to work most of the time until it doesn’t. God is better than any parent or lawyer. He is perfect! He answered them with even more evidence.  

ANSWER 

“By saying that the LORD’s table may be despised” (Malachi 1:7, ESV). 

They were teaching that giving God blemished, sick, blind, disabled animals was okay. They could keep the healthy ones for themselves. Now, what was the table? The table was the altar where the priests were sacrificing to God. 

VERSE 8

In verse 8, God explains what is going on. He saw it all and cared about the details. Jump there. 

“When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil?” (Malachi 1:8, ESV) 

Was that evil? “Yes, it was evil!” God’s people were offering their junk. It was like giving a puzzle to the Goodwill, missing a piece or a broken electronic gizmo. (I tend to think people might still want broken stuff.) You might disagree. You might say, “People expect the stuff to work when they buy it; you can’t do that.” Who is right? You may be. But if I brought that stuff to God, you are correct. Did God’s people get his point? NO! God was not finished speaking with them. Go back to verse 8. 

GOVERNOR

“Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts” (Malachi 1:8b, ESV).  

What is the obvious answer? NO! Why do they think they can offer God something their earthly rulers would not accept? This was ludicrous. Go to verse 9 and hear their presumption: 

Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts. And now entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you? says the LORD of hosts. (Malachi 1:9, ESV) 

In context, the answer to this hypothetical question in verse 9 again was NO! God won’t show favor. And he won’t be gracious. The people were the ones bringing their polluted offerings. It was not just the priests who were in the wrong. The people were as well. 

1 PETER 2:9

The Bible says we all are priests by faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior. In Exodus 19, there is a sense that God viewed all his people as priests. He makes men and women, seniors, youths, and children worshippers of God by trusting in Jesus. And he still wants pure worship. Yes, we no longer sacrifice for sin but can give God our time, talent, and treasure in worship. We can worship God in song, giving, serving, and spending time in prayer, not to earn God’s favor or forgive sin, but in gratitude. Romans 12, 1 states: 

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1–2, ESV).

So we bring ourselves and lay it on the altar to God each day. Don’t crawl off at the earliest convenience. Give yourself to God because he gave himself to you. Take up your cross and follow him. Friends: 

• How would you rate your worship? 

• Is it your best or not? 

• Is it pure or polluted? 

• Is it a show or a sham? 

• Is it heartfelt or healthy? 

• How might you improve your worship this week?  

• How can we avoid despising or polluting our worship of God? 

VERSE 10

Israel’s worship was so off that God wanted his spiritual leaders to stand up and shut down the service. It would be like us locking the doors, turning out the lights, and not accepting anyone inside. Jump to verse 10:

“Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain!” (Malachi 1:10, ESV).  

God would rather have nothing than them pretending to worship him. Note what God said next. 

NO PLEASURE  

“I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts” (Malachi 1:10b, ESV). 

God had no pleasure in them. He sounds frustrated. It would be hard to hear him say that. What if he said that to us? “I have no pleasure in Converge.” What! Let that sink in. 

WON’T TAKE IT 

God added: 

“And I will not accept an offering from your hand” (Malachi 1:10c, ESV).

Why? He demands our hearts to love him with everything in us. Their hearts were not in it. In verse 11, God told his people he would accept some worship from their enemies.

“For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts” (Malachi 1:11, ESV). 

God doesn’t need our recognition, but he will get it. He doesn’t need the world’s worship. But he will get it. In the end, he will be called great everywhere by everyone. Even non-Jewish people will worship him. The New Testament tells us that one day, every knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:11). God is a missionary God. His name will be known as extraordinary, whether from our lips in this life voluntarily or under compulsion in the next. He was, is, and always will be excellent and worthy of praise. 

Section 3: VSS 12–14 Scoffing at the Moral

God’s people didn’t get it. And this brings us to the third section. God said the priests were scoffing at the moral. 

Section 1: VS 6 Despising God’s Title 

Section 2: VSS 7–11 Polluting God’s Table 

Section 3: VSS 12–14 Scoffing at the Moral

God said: 

But you profane it when you say that the Lord’s table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised. But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the LORD of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the LORD. (Malach 1:12–13, ESV)

They were going through the motions and getting bored. They were ridiculing God’s call to worship. It was a chore, and the correction of it was a bother. Shall God accept their worship now? The answer again is… NO! Not only did they despise him, profane him, and pollute the offerings, but they didn’t refute or object to insufficient offerings. They taught the people that giving God their cruddy offerings was fine. On top of that, they snorted or made a non-verbal noise, scoffing at the idea of “right” worship. God asked the question: should he accept their offering? The answer again was an emphatic “No!” The consequences were dire. 

• Not only would God be displeased. 

• Not only would he not accept their offering. 

Go to verse 14. 

CURSE 

“Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the LORD of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations” (Malachi 1:14, ESV). 

God will curse the cheat. God cared about what people promised him. Our words matter. Don’t cheat, God. He knows us better than we know ourselves. Be honest with him. Giving a lousy offering to God is like stealing. What does that mean today? Giving God worship is different for different people. But ultimately, God wants a heart devoted to him. For some of us, this is a word of caution. For some of us, this is a reminder. For some of us, this is a call to change. What can you do to give God your best? What does it look like privately? Perhaps you go to a quiet place. You silence your phone. You make sure you have your coffee. What does that look like in public? 

• I have been careful about what I watch on Saturday night because it can affect how I worship on Sunday morning. 

• I go to bed at a reasonable hour so I can worship. 

• I am careful about my diet because it affects my worship. 

• Getting the kids ready can be difficult, so I have concluded that for me to open church and for my wife and kids to feel prepared, we need to be up by 6:45 AM. 

That sounds tortuous for those who work or traumatic for those who struggle today with Daylight Savings Time. My schedule is different; I am a morning person, and this is my vocation. But this was how I operated for nine years before becoming a full-time pastor. Find out what works for you. Running around frantically and yelling at each other to get ready meant work. If you didn’t prepare well this week, we are glad you are here, so try again. There is grace and mercy with God. Remember, he begins this reminder to people with love and offers an opportunity to make a course correction. 

GREAT KING 

Friends, God is the goat. Not goat as in animal but as in the acronym: 

GREATEST 

OF 

ALL 

TIME. 

He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is our Master and Father. We want to respect, honor, and fear him with our words, thoughts, and actions. He deserves our best.  

OFFERING 

We can worship by giving. Giving takes faith. I do it automatically at the beginning of the month. The danger is that it becomes mechanical. It becomes more like a fee or tax than an act of worship. I have to remember why and what I am doing when I budget. The Bible teaches that all we have is God’s. We and our possessions are on loan. We only have so long in this life. What we do with our resources of time, energy, and money shows our priorities. Thank you for your generosity. We can’t do ministry without your support. 

• Because of your giving, we pastors can spend hours studying God’s word and sharing it with you. We are also able to do counseling and planning. 

• Because of you, we support missions all around the world. Jeff Dryden is in Central Asia right now because of your giving. We even have beat our goal of $120,000 for missions because of you. 

• We have given our food cards to people who are struggling to make ends meet because of you. Last week, we took in $7k to help those in our community who are struggling because of you. 

• We had a rocking VBS last year and this year because of you. 

• We have an outstanding Youth Group for Junior Highers and Senior Highers because of you. 

• Because of you, we have a women’s Bible study on Thursday, Come and Play, and a men’s prayer group on Friday. 

• This building and those seats are here because of your generosity. We just finished a kitchen expansion because of you. (By the way, if you haven’t seen it, it is excellent.) 

What does worship through giving financially look like for you? How can you love God with how you spend the money he lends to you? 

SIN

What if we feel convicted that we have offered to God our junk, not our best? Well, it is an opportunity to look to Jesus. He is the one who came as our great high priest and offered himself as the perfect sacrifice for sins. Through his blood, we are forgiven. Listen up. Proverbs Chapter 3 states, 

            Honor the LORD with your wealth 

      and with the firstfruits of all your produce; 

            then your barns will be filled with plenty, 

      and your vats will be bursting with wine. (Proverbs 3:9–10a, ESV)

This is more of a principle of blessing, not a promise of health and wealth. The ROI (return on investment) is treasure in heaven, not a new car. The verse goes on. 

            My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline 

      or be weary of his reproof, 

            for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, 

      as a father the son in whom he delights. (Proverbs 3:10b–12, ESV)

Recall how Malachi began: God has loved you. He loves you church. The Holy Spirit convicts us in love. The Scriptures were written to transform us to become more like God’s Son. There still is time, friends, to adjust how you worship. God has not abandoned us. He is with us and speaks to us through his Word. Confess and turn to him. Ask him what it looks like to move forward in worship. Perhaps he wants you to sing with more vim and vigor, raise your hands, or get on your knees. Maybe it is time you start volunteering. Perhaps, God wants you to keep on and persevere. Or, maybe he wants you to take a moment and write a note of encouragement or pray. However you worship God, he is worthy. 

PRAY

Let’s pray. 

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