Sermon for 9/26/2022 on Malachi 2:1-3:5

2020-9-26    Malachi 2:1-3:5     Matthew 4:1-11

In the name of the Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. 

When Malachi was written around 430BC, 15 years had passed since the walls of Jerusalem were restored.  The second Temple, the one Ezra helped to build was completed in 516BC. 86 years had passed since the Temple became a place of worship again. 

The initial excitement of rebuilding and returning to a regular cycle of worship has faded.  The intensity of the gratitude for a life and identity restore to Judah is passing.  As is the firm conviction that the people of God must walk in strict adherence to God’s precepts. And, the priests of the Temple, of the tribe of Levi, are also losing their focus.  

Malachi has a warning to those with ears to hear, then and now, that we must live intentionally as the Lord’s.  If we do not, we begin to drift spiritually, which affects all aspects of our lives. As Malachi makes clear, God does not want the occasional thought or prayer or act of devotion thrown his way.  He does not want lip service. Nor is the Lord our God amused by half – hearted acknowledgements of tradition.  God wants the covenant that he established with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, to be honored.  The Lord wants the covenant and the 613 ordinances and commands that he gave to Moses and the people to be honored and followed.  The covenant is a promise of God to the people. The people are expected to honor that covenant through their obedience. The covenant is a marriage, and fidelity in mind, body, and heart is required. Right now, both priests and people are treating their marriage with God as if it is an open marriage where they get to make up new terms of agreement as they feel like it. 

The Lord’s love for His people is profound. Otherwise, he would not send the likes of Malachi, Amos, Hosea, Jeremiah, and Isaiah, to be the voice of God to a people that have lost their way. The Lord’s love is such that he will discipline individuals and Judah as a whole to bring them back to the faith.  The Lord is always pleased to receive the repentant back into his covenant. 

Judah is losing its faith in the God who brought them out of slavery and out of exile.  Men are choosing to divorce their Hebrew wives to marry the local women.  Men are trying to get ahead economically and socially.  During their striving for the “good life”, they abandon the women and children the promised to cherish and protect their entire life, for another future and life altogether. And, with that decision to enter fully into the business and social world of the other citizens of the Judah, they forget God.  Their new wives and friends introduce them to gods that are stone cold but only require the meagerest of devotion.

The Priests are failing to instruct the people on how to live as a people that belongs to God.  And, when men want to divorce their wives, they bless that divorce. And, when they bring the new women around, there is affirmation instead of judgment. The priests are failing to pass on the faith to the children. They are accepting any old offering for a sacrifice. The blind, the old, the damaged animal that is given, is received with thanks.  They fail to say, “This is unacceptable to the Lord God.  The Lord demands the best of your flock. The Lord demands the first fruits of your fields and orchards, not your last fruits and your leftovers. 

Malachi is sent to speak to a people who have grown complacent. Already, they are unwilling to shape their lives according to God’s will.  They are unwilling to live in trust of the Lord for their daily food and for their future. They are unwilling to live within the discipline of a marriage relationship between God and them. 

Amid all the failure that Malachi records, the announcement that the messenger and the Lord are coming is welcome news.  This is astonishingly great news in the midst of such disappointing life choices. Despite Judah’s failings, God remains faithful.  Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, Malachi presents the future. The messenger, whom we know as John the Baptist, is coming to prepare the way of the Lord.  The Lord himself appearing in the temple is Jesus.  Born in Bethlehem but soon after brought to the Temple for his dedication. Jesus is received by Anna and sung about by Simeon. Jesus returns when he is twelve to learn and to teach. Then he returns as an adult to die as the last sacrifice for God.  Jesus is the Lamb of God, the God-Man, who dies on the cross for the sake of the world.  The covenantal promise is no longer just for the Jew, but it is also for the Gentiles too. Jesus, crucified and risen, is the way, the truth, the life, received by faith.  

The temptations that Israel and Judah and their priests faced are not so different for us.  Jesus has given his life for us.  He extends a resurrection promise to us.  Through the cross of Christ, our heavenly Father gladly extends his forgiveness to us.  Yet, we are tempted to turn away, to trust ourselves more than God, to marry outside the faith, to grow lax in receiving and living out God’s catechesis for us. As long as we walk this earth, we will be tempted.  Yet, we throw ourselves upon the cross so that we may walk with faith and in obedience to the Lord God who gives us true life.

In the name of the Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.