“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” (Mal. 6:1-10).
Our selection today is similar to yesterday’s “God’s Mercy or God’s Wrath” in that both speak of profaning the Lord by offering Him less than acceptable sacrifices. Since it is such an important message, I thought it would be worth revisiting. Through the prophet Malachi, God confronts the priests of the day who were offering blemished animals instead of what He commanded them to. Deut. 15:21 is crystal clear about the quality of the animal to be offered, “But if it has any blemish, if it is lame or blind or has any serious blemish whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God.” Only the very best of the flock could serve to please God, to temporarily recompense for the sins the people had committed.
The importance of serving an unblemished lamb is also seen in the sacrifice of Jesus, 1 Pet. 1:18-19, “knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” But, offering the perfect was not what was happening in the time of Malachi. Then, when confronted with their inadequate sacrifice, they did what man so commonly does – look completely surprised, even dumbfounded, and ask a silly question like, “How have we despised Your name?” Let me bring this closer to home for you with this question, “Will that be said of you on the Day of Judgment?” In fact, were you to reflect on your present spiritual state, could it be said of you now?
Our duty is to offer our best to God always, not only when it pleases us or when we are asking for something, and not only when we are sitting in church preparing to take communion. We are always to offer our absolute best to Him who created us from dust, 1 Cor. 10:31, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” There is never a time when your sacrifice to God can play second fiddle to your earthly desires. How do we glorify our Creator if we do not offer Him the very best, we have? And no, we do not have to run into the field or go to our local farmers market and procure an unblemished lamb to sacrifice for our sins – that has been accomplished once-for-all by Jesus. But that does also not mean that our sacrifice to God is done away with.
Rom. 12:1, “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.” You are the living sacrifice. Everything you do should be to the glory of God and all of it should be as unblemished as you can possibly make it. The only way to do that is to rid your body of the old desires, put on a new self, and be “transformed by the renewal of your mind…” God did not accept second best in the time of Malachi, and He will not accept it now either. Grace may cover a multitude of sins, but it does not mean that you can purposely offer damaged goods to the God who provided your life and offered you salvation through His perfect Son.
Think about that next time you give less than you are able to when you sing those psalms half-heartedly, text on your phone while taking communion, ignore the needs of those you are able to help, when sleeping or a football game is more important than Sunday worship, when you blaspheme His Holy name by saying “om.” as a descriptor to everything, and when you act in all kinds of manner that brings shame to His name. Think instead of being the person God says would, “shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on <His> altar in vain!” In other words, offer Him the very best you have so that you can be assured of His promise of eternal life in heaven one day.
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