November 2, 2008

 MESSENGER OF THE LORD ALMIGHTY

Malachi 2: 1- 9; Malachi 3: 1- 5

In 1992, a 23-year old young woman, named Karen Norman accidentally backed her car into Galveston Bay after a night of drinking. Norman couldn't operate her seat belt and drowned.  That was indeed a terrible tragedy.  But the young woman's parents saw it as more than a tragedy.  They believed that their daughter was a victim of corporate negligence.  They sued Honda Corporation, blaming the seat belt design for their daughter's death.  Court testimony revealed that Karen's passenger who was not drunk was easily able to release her seatbelt.  Furthermore it was proven that Karen's blood alcohol level was .17, twice the legal limit. Nonetheless, a jury awarded Norman's parents 65 million dollars.  Later, an appeals court reversed the verdict and threw out the case.  Sometimes in our pain and grief we strike out.  And that's understandable.  But, what about personal responsibility?

As I think about personal responsibility I am reminded of an experience that a deacon in my former church told me about.  His friend, an Iowa Sate Trooper, invited him to ride in his squad car to see what he did every day and he took him up on his offer.  Together they sat in the car with the radar gun on a state highway with a clearly marked speed limit of 55 miles per hour.  A car flew past at over 75 miles an hour, so his friend pulled him over.  The deacon could hear the driver swearing at the officer from inside the squad car.  And he wasn't the only one.  In fact, another time they stopped someone he knew.  Normally, the man was a nice guy, but not that time.  He was shocked at what his friend had to put up with from people who were clearly in the wrong.  Very few accepted responsibility for the speed they were going.

On a lighter note I think of those times when I'm assembling something and I just can't get it.  Do you ever have that happen?  And I start grumbling about how cheap the product is, the quality of their engineers.  Finally, I decide to take out the printed instructions.  Yeah, I have to admit I do it too.  Maybe all of us from time to time blame others and fail to take responsibility for things that are clearly our own fault.

That was the problem with the people of Judah.  They were suffering from poverty and a terrible famine.   They lived in cities that were still half built.  They had problems with neighboring countries.  Yes, they were still part of the Persian Empire.  So, they cried out, "Where is the God of justice?"  Some were angry with God.  Some were losing their faith, believing that God if he were there didn't care.  But the one thing most did not do was look at their own lives.  The truth was that they were to blame for their problems.

It is true that there are times in scripture when individuals who have done nothing wrong have suffered greatly.  In fact, some have suffered for doing right.  Job is an example.  Certainly, David as he was forced to hide for his life from King Saul.  The prophets and later the apostles were persecuted for proclaiming God's message to the people.  Certainly our Lord Jesus himself suffered for doing right.  

There are definitely times when the people who are suffering did nothing in particular to deserve it.  And in many sermons I have preached about that.  But it is also true that people suffer for their own misdeeds.  And that is what is going on in our scripture for today.  The people were to blame, because they were not living, because were not upholding their side of the covenant. 

The covenant was the agreement upon which their relationship with God was based.  God led them out of Egypt and gave them the land of Canaan and he promised to prosper them there.  They promised in return to obey his laws.  The people had not done that. 

One way they had not done so was something we saw a couple weeks ago.  God's law commanded them that they must sacrifice only unblemished animals, but they brought lame and sick animals for sacrifice.  And there were other ways in which they disobeyed God commands and broke their covenant with him.  Next week, we are going to examine a major sin they were committing.  But know for now that the people were not obeying God's law.  And that was the reason that God had allowed calamity to come upon them.

But there is something else going on that we should note.  And it helps to explain why the people were not living up to their end of the covenant.  In chapter two God expresses his extreme anger against the priests.  In fact he puts them under a curse.  He mentions Levi, because the priests came from the tribe of Levi.  If you have your Bibles open look at chapter 2: 8, 

Malachi 2:8 (NIV) But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi," says the LORD Almighty. 

Now the priests were the religious leaders.  One reason the people were violating God's covenant was because the religious leaders were violating the covenant.  People of God, leadership is so important.  That point was certainly evident in the high school where I used to teach.  We had one teacher who fell asleep in his classes.  We had another whose classroom door was a revolving door-kids coming in and out at will, while she oblivious to it was writing on the blackboard.  Very little learning took place in those classes.  But, we had other teachers, who put their heart and soul into what they taught.  They were great teachers who had high expectations for their students and even higher for themselves.  And the kids learned in their classes. Good leaders are so important-in schools, in our businesses, in our churches, and certainly in our homes.

As we think about leadership in our homes, we as parents should remember the promises we made when our children were baptized.  Baptism is based on covenant promise.  God promises us that our children belong to him.  But we also make promises to God.  One of those promises is (and I'm quoting right from our baptismal form)

Do you promise in reliance on the Holy Spirit and with the help of the Christian community to do all in your power to instruct these children in the Christian faith and lead them by your example to be Christ's disciples?

God does not take our promises lightly.  He will hold us responsible.

How were the priests showing poor leadership?  Or, in the words of our scripture, how had they violated their covenant with the Lord?  First of all, what was this covenant with Levi?

In general terms the covenant with Levi was their God-appointed role to lead Israel in worship.  And they were to use their leadership to make certain that God's laws regarding worship were obeyed and that God was honored in worship.  We can read about that in Numbers 3.  But, in giving that role God gave them a special blessing, found in Deuteronomy 33: 8- 11.

Deuteronomy 33:8 - 11 (NIV) About Levi he said:  "Your Thummim and Urim belong to the man you favored. You tested him at Massah; you contended with him at the waters of Meribah.  He said of his father and mother, ‘I have no regard for them.'  He did not recognize his brothers or acknowledge his own children, but he watched over your word and guarded your covenant.  He teaches your precepts to Jacob and your law to Israel.  He offers incense before you and whole burnt offerings on your altar.  Bless all his skills, O LORD, and be pleased with the work of his hands. Smite the loins of those who rise up against him; strike his foes till they rise no more."

Did you notice that in that blessing God also gave them the duty to teach his precepts to his people?  That too was part of their covenant with God.  They were to teach his commands to the people.  Listen again to the words of Malachi 2: 7,

For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, and from his mouth men should seek instruction-because he is the messenger of the LORD Almighty.

The priests were supposed to be God's messengers to his people, his spokespersons.  They were supposed to be teaching the people to honor the covenant and calling them to repent when they didn't.  But they were ignoring their sacred calling.  Allowing the people to offer blemished animals was teaching them to do what God's law forbade them to do.  But, that was just the tip of iceberg.  They also allowed a lot of other violations of God's laws to go on, saying nothing about them.  

Now this might sound like God wanted the priests to put the people on a guilt trip.  But that was not the case.  Look at verses 5-6.  In these verses God speaks about the ideal priest and the purpose of his work. 

Malachi 2:5 - 6 (NIV) ⁵"My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name.  ⁶True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.

Remember that I mentioned two weeks ago that the sacrifices were a way by which the people could come to God in spite of the fact that they sinned and broke their covenant with him.  It was through these sacrifices that they would know his forgiveness.  

As the Psalmist points out in Psalm 32, in order for God's people to know his love and forgiveness it was necessary that they know about and confess their sins before him. Listen

Blessed is he

   whose transgressions are forgiven,

    whose sins are covered.

Blessed is the man

    whose sin the LORD does not count against him

    and in whose spirit is no deceit.

When I kept silent,

    my bones wasted away

    through my groaning all day long.

For day and night

    your hand was heavy upon me;

    my strength was sapped

    as in the heat of summer.

Then I acknowledged my sin to you

    and did not cover up my iniquity.

    I said, "I will confess

    my transgressions to the LORD"-

    and you forgave

    the guilt of my sin.

Because the priests were not doing their job, the people were continuing in sin and not repenting and not receiving the forgiveness they needed.  Some of you might have noted that I have recently added a time of confession and renewal in our service.  That's the reason.  As God's people who come before him we must repent of our sins and know his forgiveness.  This time is also a reminder of what we should be doing at least every day of the week.

The priests were not doing their job.  But God would not leave his people in their sin forever.  That is the beauty of the scripture we read from chapter 3.

Notice in that chapter there are two messengers.  Both of these messengers are called to do what the priests of Malachi's day were not doing:  that is to call the people to repentance, so they might receive God's forgiveness and be prepared to meet him.

The first messenger is found in verse 1.  That messenger would be John the Baptist.  Remember how John identified himself?  "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, "Prepare the way of Lord."  He boldly proclaimed to God's people their sins and called on them to repent and be baptized.  He did what the priests did not do.

But then there is another messenger from the Lord, who Hebrew 4: 15 calls our great high priest.  Malachi proclaims this messenger, this priest is the Lord himself. 

If you can understand this, then you can understand why John in John 1 calls Jesus the Word.  Jesus is the way God expressed himself to us.  He is God's messenger, who is God himself.  John 1: 18 puts it this way

"No one has ever seen God. But the one and only Son is himself God and is near to the Father's heart. He has revealed God to us. (John 1: 18 NLT)

The Lord came to call his people to repentance and to give them the one sacrifice of which all the other sacrifices were only pictures.  He came to sacrifice himself to pay the price for God's people breaking his covenant.

But, says Malachi, But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. ³He will sit as  refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.

Jesus came to clean house.  Those who rejected his message were rejected by him.  As he was going to the cross Jesus gave them one final warning,

As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it ⁴²and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace-but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. ⁴⁴They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you."

His words came true.  Jerusalem was destroyed and many of its people were killed.  Among them were Pharisees, Sadducees, priests, religious leaders, and Zealots who thought that God's promises came with battle cry and not with prayers of repentance.  None of them could offer their polluted sacrifices on his altar anymore.

Many, however, did heed Jesus' call to repentance-- fisherman, shepherds, women, children, tax collectors, and even prostitutes and came to him confessing their sins and believing. 

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. (John 1: 12)

We know that our Lord who came back then ascended into heaven and is coming back again.  Some today are crying the same cry that the people of Malachi's day cried, "Where is the God of Justice?  How can a good God allow such terrible things to happen?"  Peter gives the answer in 2 Peter 3: 9 and following 

The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.

But the same Peter who was inspired by God's Spirit to write those words also wrote these in 1 Peter 2: 8 "You are royal priests"

This week I am sure that all of us have a lot on our plates.  Work pressures, family pressures, community involvement, and, oh, there's also the election.  (And I want to encourage all of you to vote.)  But, in our hustle and bustle, let's not forget that we are also God's priests, his messengers to a world that does not take responsibility and is headed for purification.  The priests of Malachi's day were not faithful.  What about you and me?  AMEN!