“It is you priests who show contempt for my name. But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’ “By offering defiled food on my altar. “But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’ “By saying that the Lord’s table is contemptible. When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty. “Now plead with God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?”—says the Lord Almighty. “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands. My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty. “But you profane it by saying, ‘The Lord’s table is defiled,’ and, ‘Its food is contemptible.’ And you say, ‘What a burden!’ and you sniff at it contemptuously,” says the Lord Almighty. “When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?” says the Lord. “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.
Malachi 1:7-14
Background
The last book of the old testament. A final view of the Israelite people before Jesus’ ministry was ushered into the biblical narrative. Malachi’s Hebrew name comes from a word meaning “messenger”. He was a prophet. And like other prophets before him, he wasn’t called by God to communicate with nuance. Or diplomacy.
This was a heart examination. By a prophet. And the prognosis wasn’t good.
The people had become sloppy in the selection of their offerings. They were taking short cuts. Holding back their best. They were sacrificing their lame and even diseased animals. Selfishness had entered in. Their priorities had shifted. It was more important to keep the best. God would get the second best. Not good. Simply, their actions reflected a heart that had shifted. Another affection received the priority.
God’s response: “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”.
Why? “For I am a great king and my name is to be feared among the nations”.
Put another way, his kingship and glory simply demands our best.
Reflections
There is very little ambiguity here. The Lord doesn’t like left-over sacrifices. At all. Offerings provided in this context were described many times as “contemptible”. Webster defines contemptible as “mean, vile and worthless; disdain; hatred of what is mean or deemed vile”. Not adjectives you want attached to God’s view of your offering.
The context of how we give our offerings isn’t negligible. It is critical. And this wasn’t the first time that God had provided an offering critique. Four chapters into Genesis, Cain’s offering (Adam and Eve’s first son) was also not viewed favorably.
Being reflective about the status of our offerings is prudent. It is very important to God.
How do we provide offerings in today’s kingdom context?
- Our time
- Our worship
- Our right living
- Yes, our financial resources
There is so much competition for our time. Our resources. And even our heart and mind. We have professional and college sports. Social media. Kid’s activities. Facebook. Politics. Instagram. Vehicles. Youtube. Vacations. Netflix. Diets. Pets. Exercise.
Over the last few years I’ve had the privilege of observing the non-western church in action. Many of these groups have been fearless in their pursuit of “sacrificing their best”. They are simply stop gaps in their community. They give their time and resources extravagantly. And this pursuit is impacting their world. Love is being modeled. And I believe the Father is proud and smiling…
Question: When you do the math in your life do you start with adding up all the life requirements and “nice to haves” and then calculate what is left over to give to God? Or do you start by allocating priority to God and let the other requirements and “nice to haves” as the left over?
Lord, help me to lavishly sacrifice with my resources and my time. My worship. Help me to simply be more present. To see what you see and feel what you feel. My mind is so busy. It is constantly processing. Thinking. Planning. But I need your help to ensure that I give my best in all parts of my life. Not just a few compartments. Help the western church to not compromise. Or to be distracted. Help us to make you proud. And to smile. Amen.
What if we took this scripture seriously and became more deliberate and generous in providing offerings? Would our hearts begin to shift?
What if the western church began to fall in love with extravagantly extending offerings of all types? What would happen to our communities? And our families?
What if... 