God Is Worthy

Last Sunday’s sermon was preached by Pastor Harry on “God Is Worthy” (Malachi 1:6-12). The sermon and the whole service can be watched on our WIC YouTube Channel:

 

For those of you who were with us this time last year, you might remember that, in our church, we look at the subject of stewardship in November. We’ve put good stewardship into practice in recent years, by collecting money for flood victims, for example. This year we’ll be making two church collections available for Christmas parcels for teenagers living in deprived conditions. You might think: what is stewardship? Well, think of a stewardess – she’s there to serve you on a plane. She might be a good or bad stewardess, but she’s supposed to serve you, on behalf of an airline. So if you think she’s bad, you might think the airline is bad too, and never travel with it again. In the same way, if you come across what you think are bad stewards in church (maybe the pastor, priest or elders), you might not only leave the church but also turn away from God, like many people do.

 

God has put us on earth to serve others, and to serve Him, by looking after what He’s given us to look after. He’s entrusted a lot to everybody – so everyone is a steward! Christians and non-Christians. You’re a steward of your money; your family; your work; your skills; your time; and also your church. Everyone is either a good or bad steward of what God gives them. And that’s connected with another issue – the theme of our message: Do people regard God as worthy of their attention and service? Or do they only regard themselves as worthy of consideration and respect? Think about it:  you can’t be a good steward if you have no respect for the One who entrusted you with everything you have, in the first place!

 

The book of Malachi is a treatise on stewardship. Each chapter follows the same pattern: the Lord confronts the people of Israel and challenges the quality of their stewardship. In the early part of the first chapter, He says He has always loved His people. And then He says: “But you say….”  What do they say? They say: “Oh really, Lord? You’ve always loved us? How have You loved us?” They’re being sarcastic, because they’ve already turned away from God. Maybe because of idolatry. Or maybe because people are suffering – just like they do today – and God appears to do nothing about it. They seem to have lost faith in God.

 

This basic loss of faith is the cause of what follows later on. We’re in today’s reading now, where God accuses the powerful spiritual leaders and says to them: “Where are the honour and respect I deserve? You’ve shown contempt for My name!” Do you see what’s happened? The leaders themselves no longer respect God – and this filters down to the rest of the people after a while. It starts with a gradual loss of faith in God. People have forgotten what God has done for them in the past. In the history of the Israelites, they’ve forgotten how He led them out of Egypt into the Promised Land; how He fed them in the desert; how He overcame their enemies. At the first sign of hardship, they turn away from Him. They lose faith; they lose their respect. They just go through the motions of the religious ceremonies. But there’s no spiritual fire there, because their faith has died. So they think: “Does it matter if I sacrifice a blind, diseased or crippled animal? It’s just a ceremony, isn’t it? We’re not going to give away our best animals, are we?” So you see, God is no longer worthy of their attention. Instead, they are full of their own self-worth. They have become bad stewards of what God has entrusted to them. What did He entrust to the priests? – the spiritual care of the people.

 

500 years ago, a similar situation occurred in Europe. The church was corrupt. The pope was a wealthy monarch, greedy for even more. Hardly anyone could read the Bible – it was in Latin in those days, and only the priests could understand that. But even the priests were more interested in serving themselves rather than teaching and caring for the poor people. And the church’s teachings had moved further and further away from those of the New Testament. Medieval Christianity was like a separate religion. Martin Luther, a young monk and scholar, saw through it all, and was very angry. So on October 31^st 1517 – yes, halloween! – he made public 95 points for discussion, challenging the practices and teachings of the church. Today we regard this date as the symbolic beginning of the Reformation: that great revival that brought millions of people back to biblical Christianity, and to a personal faith in Jesus. Luther taught that we’re made right with God through faith in Christ alone. Amen! “In Christ alone, my hope is found”. You know, people think of October 31^st as halloween. Forget that rubbish. October 31^st is always Reformation Day. Jesus Day!

 

My point is that today’s reading isn’t just a message for popes, priests and pastors. It’s a message for all of us, because we are all stewards of what God has given us. We all have responsibilities. The real question is: how much faith in our Master do we have? We say people are “good”. But God doesn’t want our so-called “goodness”. He doesn’t want our sacrifices – defiled by sin. He wants our faith. What kind of a steward are we if we just bring up a child to be “good”? What about the One who entrusted us with everything in the first place? Where is He? Are we telling our friends and children not to bother about Him, and just be “good”? Such people become stewards who know nothing about the Master whose stewards they are!

 

We’ll be talking about other aspects of stewardship in the weeks to come. Today I just wanted to show you that good stewardship isn’t possible without having a worthy conception of God; and knowing what His worthiness consists in. God’s worthiness lies in what He’s done for us through Jesus Christ. And what has He done? Let me close by quoting Colossians 1:13-14: “He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of His dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins”. If you don’t understand and accept what Jesus Christ has done for you, you can’t possibly be a good steward and serve Jesus in this life; because you won’t even know what He expects of you – never your “goodness”, but always your faith. A well-known English Christmas carol has this last verse: “What can I give Him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would give a lamb. If I were a wise man, I would play my part. But what I can, I’ll give Him – give my heart”. Amen.