October 26, 2008

 “Taking God Seriously”

Malachi 1: 6- 14

My father used to tell of a story he heard about the 1930's Chicago gangster Al Capone.  This man's reputation for violence and crime is legendary.  My father heard or read a story about a time when the Catholic diocese in Chicago desperately needed money.  Capone went to his local priest and tried to make a substantial donation.  And he was very hurt when the priest turned him down.  Granted what Capone tried to do was foolish.  If he really wanted to honor God, he would have changed his ways.  But, what he did, does demonstrate that he had a certain amount of respect, maybe even, combined with a little fear, for God and his church.

Things have been quite different in recent history, haven't they?  In fact, churches are often the victims of crime.  One of the teachers that I had when I studied in Chicago was pastor of a well-known church near the downtown area.  One evening while he was alone studying in the church he was beaten and robbed.  But this isn't only a problem in larger cities.  Recently here in Beaver Dam there has been a rash of church burglaries.  People seem to feel that churches are easy targets.

Now there may be many reasons for incidents like these.  But, I wonder if one of them might be that people today don't take God as seriously as they used to.  Oh, polls still tell us that over 93% of people still believe that there is a God.  But, certainly people don't seem to fear him like they once did, do they?

And maybe some of that stems from the fact that most people don't think about him all that much.  If his name comes up at all in many people's conversation, it's merely being used as an expletive, a swear word, to get their point across.  Except during those times when they face death or some terrible crisis in their life, many people are content to try to make their own way in the world and forget about God. 

In verse six the Lord says,

"A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says the LORD Almighty.

The Hebrew word that is translated honor is the word kabod, which literally means "heaviness or weightiness."   We still use that metaphor in a similar sense today.  We sometimes say about someone who is important, "He certainly can push his weight around."  So, here in this verse God is saying, "Why don't I have any weight with you?"

The second question repeats the idea of the first.  God says, "Where is the respect due me?"   Some English versions translate this verse "where is your fear of me?"  The Hebrew word is the word morah, which can also mean "a great fear" or "a great terror."  Certainly as it's used in our text, the word fear means worship or honor.  But once again, by using this word the Lord through his prophet stresses the fact that he is not someone to be marginalized or ignored. 

How had the people not given God his weight?  How had they not given him the fear that was due him?  Look at verse 7,

You place defiled food on my altar.

In those days meat was a rare luxury for all but the very rich.  We're used to meat at least once, if not 2 or 3 times a day.  But, back in Bible times someone who had only a dozen sheep and a cow was very reluctant to kill any of their animals.  One of few times that many of the people did so, was when they used them as burnt offerings. We must also remember how poor the people were at this time.

Imagine this situation:  A poor person went to a livestock sale and found a pretty good sheep. There was only one problem: It was lame.  Since it would be hard to lead a lame sheep to pasture, the price was bargain basement low.  And so the person reasoned, "What difference does it make whether we burn up a lame sheep or one that can walk.  There's nothing else wrong.  I can't afford a flawless animal."  And that's what some did.

Why did God find that so detestable?  One important reason was that it went against what he commanded in the Law of Moses.  In Leviticus 1: 10 the Lord commanded his people,

If the offering is a burnt offering from the flock, from either the sheep or the goats, he is to offer a male without defect.

But why did God demand so much?  Certainly part of the answer is that how we spend our money says a lot about our priorities, about what we value, about what is important in our lives.  To give the best of one's livestock is to value God, to show that he means something.  And in the face of poverty and difficult times, when giving can really put us and our loved ones at risk, it also says something about where we place our trust.

An African convert who loved the Lord earned money by making and selling a special kind of bean cake.  She had always been conscientious in her giving, but after suffering a severe foot injury in an accident she was not able to go market and sell her cakes.  It was many long months before she could resume her work and make money.  Anticipating the day she could sell her tasty cakes again, she promised the missionary that she would give one-third of her earnings to the Lord instead of just 10 percent.  She said her goal for the first week of business was to make a profit of 3 shillings and that she would give the Lord 1/3 of that, or one shilling.  The day finally came when she could return to market.  The missionary was surprised, therefore, when the woman returned after only 2 days with one shilling as an offering for the Lord. 

"You surely haven't earned 3 shillings already!" he exclaimed.  The woman was perplexed by his response. 

"Do you think I would give my Lord the last of the three?" she asked.  "This is the first one and it belongs to Him -- the other two I make, will be for me."

Proverbs 3: 9 says "Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops."

Certainly this woman's story gives us a little different perspective on what first fruits are all about doesn't it?  Giving the Lord our first fruits and giving him our best is all about faith.

The perfect animal symbolized something else.  It was a lesson that taught the people that only perfection was acceptable to God. 

Psalm 24: 3- 4 says, 

"Who may ascend the hill of the LORD?  Who may stand in his holy place?  He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false."

People then, just like people now, were not perfect.  They did not have clean hands and a pure heart.  So, how could God accept them?

Numbers 15: 22 and following explains the way that God provided.

Numbers 15:22 - 26 "‘Now if you unintentionally fail to keep any of these commands the LORD gave Moses-any of the LORD'S commands to you through him, from the day the LORD gave them and continuing through the generations to come- and if this is done unintentionally without the community being aware of it, then the whole community is to offer a young bull for a burnt offering as an aroma pleasing to the LORD, along with its prescribed grain offering and drink offering, and a male goat for a sin offering.  The priest is to make atonement for the whole Israelite community, and they will be forgiven, for it was not intentional and they have brought to the LORD for their wrong an offering made by fire and a sin offering.  The whole Israelite community and the aliens living among them will be forgiven, because all the people were involved in the unintentional wrong."

God would only accept a perfect animal, because only a perfect animal could die for the imperfect people.  The people's willingness to sacrifice an imperfect animal was also a sign that they did not take their sins very seriously.  People who don't take God seriously often do not take sin very seriously either. 

Webster's define sin as "an offence against religious or moral law or as transgression against God's law."  But in a world that doesn't take God all that seriously we don't talk about sin anymore do we?  Instead we say we make mistakes or errors in judgment.  In his book Not the Way It's Supposed to Be: a Breviary of Sin Cornelius Plantinga tells the story of a United States Senator who had been charged with sexual harassment by no less than 16 women.  At first he denied it.  Then he attacked the credibility of his accusers.  Then he gave a really strange apology.  These women were accusing him of some very egregious behavior, including his attempting to remove their clothing while standing on their feet and threatening them with firing if they told anybody about it.  His apology:  "I never intended to make anyone feel uncomfortable."  Finally, caught in a web of lies and evasions, he said that he would "seek professional help to see if his alleged behavior was related to his use of alcohol."

It's important to note whom the Lord through his prophet addresses in this scripture.  He first addresses the priests, because when people came for temple worship, they were responsible to see to it that he was honored by what took place.  And they weren't doing their job. 

But the people were also not doing theirs.  Listen to these words from Exodus 19: 6,

Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me. And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.

Israel was meant to be a kingdom of priests.  By their actions they were supposed to be leading the rest of the nations to honor and fear the Lord.

That is directly the point of our scripture for this morning.  Look at verse 14

Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king," says the LORD Almighty, "and my name is to be feared among the nations.

Israel failed in their task.  Instead of leading the nations to honor God, they followed them by not honoring him.  But God did not give up.  He made a new Israel.  Turn with me to the book of Revelation 1: 4- 6

This letter is from John to the seven churches in the province of Asia.

Grace and peace to you from the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come; from the sevenfold Spirit before his throne; and from Jesus Christ. He is the faithful witness to these things, the first to rise from the dead, and the ruler of all the kings of the world. All glory to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us. He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen. 

He made us to be a kingdom of priests.  That "us" refers to you and me and all Christians today.  God sent his Son Jesus Christ to redeem us from our sins, so as Jew and Gentile alike we could give him the honor he deserves.

How have we done in our task?  That particular senator I mentioned a few moments ago certainly makes us all disgusted.  He was supposed to be a leader in our country and he did what he did.  No wonder our country is in the moral mess it's in.  Yet, we should know that this man was a member of a very liberal church that does not confess the Bible to be the very Word of God or Jesus to be God's one and only Son and this world's only Savior.

Certainly as a leader this man should have known better.  But, as one who did not believe in Jesus he was not or at least was not yet saved to be one of God's priests. He did not have the light of Christ shining in him.  If the world has become a dark place, let's not blame the darkness.  There is a more pertinent question we must face: Where is the light?  Where is the holy kingdom of priests whom Jesus saved and placed in his world?

In Philippians 2: 15, we are commanded,

Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. (Philippians 2: 15 NLT)

A little girl arrived home from Sunday School, where she had memorized that very scripture.  She asked her mother what it meant. Her mom said, "Well, it means that when you are good and kind and thoughtful and obedient, you are letting Christ's light shine in your life before all who know you. And in that way you are lighting up a dark sinful world."

The very next Sunday, the little girl got into a fight with another student in class and created such a problem for the Sunday School teacher that she felt it was necessary to report what had happened to little girl's mother.   

Her mother confronted her saying, "Sarah, don't you remember about letting your light shine for the Lord before men?"

The girl blurted out, "Mommy, I have blowed myself out." 

I wonder whether something similar could be said of many of us in the church.  We "blowed" ourselves out.  And I am not just talking about televangelists or pastors or priests who commit sexual sins.  If we are honest, we all must admit that this is true for us too.

All of us must confess with the Apostle Paul in Romans 7: 19,

For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing

And with prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 64: 6,

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;

 But God gave the perfect sacrifice to make us acceptable to him.  That was the sacrifice of his own Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  All those perfect animals that God demanded as sacrifice in the Old Testament were really symbols that pointed to Jesus.

In 1 Peter 1: 18- 19, the Apostle Peter writes,

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

And in chapter 2, Peter goes on to say,

You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

We are supposed to be "offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through our Lord Jesus Christ."  Those sacrifices are our works that we do in that world out there.  They are the example we set for others.  They are the prayers that we pray and the proclamations of good news we give.  We know we do what we must do imperfectly. Let us take God seriously and our sins seriously and let us pray for forgiveness in the blood of the perfect lamb.  Let us pray that we might more and more be the priests he saved us to be, that his fire might ignite our lives, and that our sacrifices might be acceptable in him.  AMEN!