Honoring Father (Malachi 1:6-14)
Where: College Baptist Church
When: June 17, 2001
Why: To promote differential respect, honor, for our heavenly Father; to show that honor for the Father and fear of God are not incompatible with tenderness, love and intimacy with the Father; to encourage honor toward earthly fathers and worthiness, on the part of fathers, of honor.
Text: Malachi 1:6-14
Introduction
The responsibility of being a parent is at once thrilling and precious, and frightening and difficult. We know that good parenting takes hard work and a lot of love- and the fruit of the effort is a blessing to the following generations.
Honoring father. We read, this morning, the Ten Commandments. They remind us God is a moral God. The moral law that He establishes is the bedrock for happy and free society. One of the ten suggestions...I mean, commands...is "honor your father and mother."
I have been struck with the weighty blessing of fatherhood recently. We are accustomed to thinking that the blessing of parenthood is in the tenderness and the hugs. And those indeed are a blessing. But there is something special that also happens in those weighty times. You know. Those times of discipline, of value passing, of character formation. It's hard to describe, but something happens in that time of discipline, and role-modeling, and exampling in which honor develops. And with it comes the hugs, smiles, and security of love. The time of firm correction leads to grief and repentance which leads to forgiveness which flows into tenderness and trust.
Honor your father and mother. It's one of the most important laws God has given to His creation. By inference, we honor our father and mother because we honor God. Our honor for our parents reflects the reality of our honor for God. And vice versa. Our honor for God is going to be demonstrated through our honor for our parents.
Honor your father. It's a disappearing characteristic in our post Christian world, isn't it? And we probably would agree that honor for both our heavenly Father and earthly fathers is valuable- something for which we should strive and even recapture.
Historical background
Malachi was written at a time when we would think there would be a tremendous reverence and awe in obeying and honoring God. The unfortunate history of Israel was one of fluctuation between obedience and rebellion. The Mosaic Law gave God's plan for moral purity and separation from the evil influence of surrounding nations. It also provided a ritual sacrificial system that looked forward to the ultimate sacrifice of the Lamb of God which would provide a way for all to come to God in faith.
But the nation was often tempted. They never entirely drove out the inhabitants from the Promised Land. Consequently, the sin and idol worship of their neighbors repeatedly tempted them into rebellion against God. Finally, God allowed His people to be taken away into captivity by foreign pagan nation, first Israel, then Judah as a discipline and punishment so that their hearts would again be turned back to Him.
After many years of captivity, the children of Israel had returned from captivity in three waves: under Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. The Babylonians had been conquered by the Persians, and God put it into heart of kings of Persia to allow the people to return to their homeland, first to rebuild the temple, then to rebuild the broken walls of Jerusalem.
The book of Malachi was written around 425 BC. It is one of the Minor Prophets, the last book in our Old Testament. It is called minor not because of it's lack of importance but because it is short in length.
The book is written in six "oracles," or "burdens," which offer stern prophetic dialogues between God and Israel regarding His love, their faithlessness, their charge that God was unjust, their disobedience, and blasphemy. Through it all is a foundational message of love, hope, and the promise of God's coming Kingdom.
You would think that after being restored to the land after a long period of God's discipline, the people would have been thankful, even joyful. But that had passed when they realized that the glorious Kingdom promised by Haggai and Zechariah was not to be soon fulfilled.
Consequently, they had lost their vision. They went through the routine of religion but with doubt and grumbling and complaining. And they dishonored God the Father by mangy, crippled sacrifices on the alter, sacrifices which were intended in their purity looked forward to the precious sacrifice of His unblemished, sinless Son.
Scripture reading
Malachi 1:6-14. 6 "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. "It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name. "But you ask, 'How have we shown contempt for your name?' 7 "You place defiled food on my altar. "But you ask, 'How have we defiled you?' "By saying that the LORD's table is contemptible. 8 When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled 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. 9 "Now implore God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?"- says the LORD Almighty. 10 "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. 11 My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations," says the LORD Almighty. 12 "But you profane it by saying of the Lord's table, 'It is defiled,' and of its food, 'It is contemptible.' 13 And you say, 'What a burden!' and you sniff at it contemptuously," says the LORD Almighty.
Transition
God asks, "If I am a father, where is the honor due me?"
Big idea: "Those who know God as father should honor their majestic father." [John Piper, "Honor Thy Majestic Father." Sermon preached at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, MN on October 25, 1987. © 1987, 1996. I have gained quite a bit of inspiration from Piper's sermon. I appreciate the focus that Piper always seems to put on God's centrality, glory, and majesty.]
From the text in Malachi, let's note three ways that the prophet helps us to feel the majesty of our heavenly Father. And to honor Him.
Malachi starts in 1:6 with showing us that God is our Father, then in the following verses points out how utterly inconsistent with this truth was the way the priests were treating Him. He is not trying to evoke gratitude from the people, though they should be thankful for the Father relationship they had with God. He was evoking honor.
We feel the majesty of our Father through His name
In 1:6, God says that the people and priests have not honored Him. He emphasizes, "It is you, O priests, who despise my name."
To despise God's name is to despise God. The words "My name" stand for God Himself. "In Mal., reference to God's "name" occurs 10 times: 1:6 [twice], 11 [thrice], 14; 2:2, 5; 3:16; 4:2.) They despised Him, the One who is the Lord Almighty." [Walvoord, John F., and Zuck, Roy B., The Bible Knowledge Commentary, (Wheaton, Illinois: Scripture Press Publications, Inc.) 1983, 1985.]
In our NIV Bibles we see "the Lord Almighty" used over and over. In the KJV it is translated "Lord of hosts." In the verses we read this morning this name occurs eight times in nine verses. It occurs twenty-four times in the whole book.
What is significant about the name "Lord of hosts," the name that represents to us who God is?
"Host" means a huge number of armies or angels or stars. [Enhanced Strong's Lexicon, (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.) 1995.] When the prophet uses the name "Lord of hosts" or "Lord Almighty" we should sense the infinite authority that the Father has in the universe. He commands the armies of the earth to accomplish His purposes, whether or not they are aware of it. He has innumerable powerful, unstoppable angels who do His bidding without hesitation or deviation. He has placed the all the stars of the universe in their place and on their course- trillions upon trillions- all of whom He knows by name.
And on the altar of sacrifice- the altar which foresees the sacrifice of the perfect Lamb of God, the Son of the Lord of hosts, who is one with the Father yet distinctly the third person of the Godhead- on this altar they sacrifice animals which are blind, crippled, and diseased- the dregs and castoffs of the flock!
"If I am a father, where is the honor due me?"
We feel the majesty of our Father through His universal ownership of all things
We sense the majesty of our Father and the honor due Him when we realize that He doesn't need this stuff! He is the Creator. He has universal creator-rights over all things.
Listen to what He says through the prophet in 1:10. 10 "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." In other words, "I don't need this stinky stuff. Shut the temple doors. Enough of this insulting charade!"
God is majestic and worthy of differential honor because of His universal ownership of all things and in his freedom and independence from all creation.
Listen to how this is portrayed in Psalm 50:9-12. 9 I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, 10 for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. 11 I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. 12 If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
Paul proclaims in Acts 17:25, 25 He is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.
Our great and high God, the Lord of hosts, the Creator of the universe owns every inch of Hillsdale County. He is the owner of every lake and stream in our county and has creator-rights to every piece of lake-front property. He knows every hill and dale. He nurtures every sparrow and He knows every blade of grass.
Playing on the theme of the old patriotic folk song, "This land is his land. From California to the New York Island. From the Red Wood forests to the Gulf Stream waters, this land was made for God and his name." [John Piper]
Incredible. Upon His alter is being sacrificed animals with mangy diseases. "If I am a father, where is the honor due me?"
We feel the majesty of our Father through the promise of His coming honor by all people
1:11. 11 My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations," says the LORD Almighty.
Through Malachi, God reminds the Israelites that the day will arrive when His name would be honored in all the earth. This is one of the reasons they were discouraged, disappointed, and dishonoring. They thought it should have already come true. They had lost heart.
He reminds them that one day differential reverence would be given to His name by all people in all the corners of the earth. Should they not, then, honor the Father in heaven today?
"If I am a father, where is the honor due me?"
Bringing it home
How can we bring this home? How does it apply to us?
(1) First, as human fathers, along side our wives, we should establish "a standard of truth and righteousness and authority and trustworthiness and tenderness and condescension that will demand and win from our children both reverential esteem and tender affection." [John Piper]
When I am with my children there are two things that I long to have happen. There should be a tenderness and trust that draws them into my embrace. They should feel secure climbing up into my lap and putting their head on my chest. They should feel safe and find rest there. Without that tender affection and security, I would not be a biblical father.
But an honoring also needs to occur. Differential respect needs to develop in our relationship. When they are misbehaving (and I wish it didn't happen, but we know it does) a firm glance from their father should strike their hearts with the fear of respect and bring them under control.
John Piper puts it this way: "The happiest and holiest children in the world are the children whose Fathers [sic] succeed in winning both their tender affection and reverential and loving fear. And they are children who will come to understand most easily the mystery of the fatherhood of God." [John Piper]
(2) Second, in our relationship with God, we should mingle our feelings of reverence and awe and fear with those of safety and love and tenderness and friendship.
These two ways of relating to God are revealed in Scripture together. They go hand-in-hand.
Psalm 25:14. 14 The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. This confiding is the sharing of secrets between close friends. It is mingled with fear of awe.
Isaiah 66:2. This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word. Do we want God to smile on us, to esteem us? This is for those who tremble at His word.
Psalm 103:13. 13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
There is no contradiction here, unless it is the contradiction in our own hearts. Love and respect go hand in hand.
(3) Third, as parents we must remember that honor is not something that is demanded. It is something that is earned. It flows out of who we are. It is because of God's name, because of who He is, that we honor Him.
The greatest goal we can have for our lives is to become more godly, more Christ-like. In relation to our families, our highest calling is to be so saturated with God. The non-god-like characteristics of our character must rooted out and replaced with His character by His transforming power. Our character needs to become character that is worthy of honor.
Wrapping it up
Our Father, we honor you this morning. We worship you as the One who is the Lord of hosts. You command armies. The angels of heaven do not hesitate to fulfill your bidding. You know all the stars by name and have set them on their course. Father, you have universal creator-rights to all things, including our hearts and affection.
We ask you, Father, that we be fathers who can be honored. As we at one and the same time fear you yet are safe, secure, and tenderly loved by you, we long to offer our families the security of biblical boundaries and the tenderness of intimate, trusting love.
May we offer pure sacrifices to you on the altar of our lives. Sacrifices of obedience. Of love. Of praise. Of worship. Of godly leadership.
We pray these things with deep reverence and in your name. Amen.
