SCRIPTURE: Malachi 1:6-14 (ESV)
DATE: 10-4-26
As always, it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time or if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.
INTRODUCTION
Two weeks ago, we started a new preaching series in the book of Malachi. We’re returning to Malachi today, and we’re going to jump right back into it. We’ll be in Malachi chapter one — looking at verses six through fourteen. That’s Malachi chapter one — beginning in verse six. There we read…
Malachi 1:6–14 ESV
6 “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?’ 7 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. 8 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. 9 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. 10 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. 11 For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. 12 But you profane it when you say that the Lord’s table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food, may be despised. 13 But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the Lord of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the Lord. 14 Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.
If you weren’t with us two weeks ago, we all acknowledged that Malachi’s not one of the more familiar books in the Bible for most of us. So — if that’s what you were thinking when I read our verses for today — you’re in good company.
So, to quickly catch us all up, God called Malachi to be his prophet. And prophets were given the important job of speaking on God’s behalf to his people. And Malachi’s also one of the last Old Testament prophets; in fact, his book concludes our Old Testament. And after Malachi, roughly four centuries pass before John the Baptist appears in the Gospels.
At this time in history, the nations of Israel and Judah had both been conquered. About a century earlier, King Cyrus of Persia started allowing the Jewish people to return to their homeland. And, at first, the Jews were full of hope. Why? Because after seventy years of living in exile, they were finally returning home and the Temple was going to be rebuilt. And they all thought that the promises they’d been waiting for God to fulfill — promises like Jerusalem being the center of the Kingdom of God on earth — they all thought that these promises were on the cusp of being realized.
But their hope quickly faded. The Temple was rebuilt, but the glorious restoration they’d expected didn’t happen. And Jerusalem wasn’t the center of a restored kingdom — Judah remained under foreign rule. And as far as some of the other promises — like there being no more evil or sin or death as described by prophets like Isaiah — well, evil, sin, and death were still going strong. So what began as a rise in hope quickly tanked into despair when their expectations weren’t met.
Now, we shouldn’t pretend that their disappointment is hard to understand. God had promised restoration, and from where they stood, life didn’t look much like those promises. I’m sure you can relate. You’re certain God was going to do something — and life didn’t turn out that way. And, understandably so, you’re disappointed.
For the Jews in Malachi’s day, the problem wasn’t that they struggled with disappointment. The problem was what they concluded from it — which is an important lesson for us to learn. What did they conclude? They questioned God’s faithfulness to them.
That’s why, in our first week in Malachi, we saw that when God told the people he loved them, they responded with, “How have you loved us?” They questioned him. And this pattern, where God makes a statement and the people respond by questioning him, is found throughout the book. And every time they question God, he replies with evidence to support his statement. And this happens in our verses.
But before we get to God’s statement and their question, I want us to consider what our verses are all about. Obviously, the verses are about worship and sacrifices, but what exactly is the issue? Here’s how I’d summarize our verses:
Our worship reveals what we believe God is really worth. Our worship reveals what we believe that God is really worth.
Christian or not, whatever you believe God is worth — what his value is — that’s reflected in your worship. And I don’t just mean what happens here on Sunday, but in how you worship him with your life.
And the danger for all of us is that we all — and I’m including myself here, so you go ahead and include yourself too — we all minimize God’s worth. There’s a part in every one of us — again, Christian or not — that wants to give God less value than he deserves, because then we can get away with giving him worship that doesn’t cost us much. And this is dangerous because we then feel good about ourselves because we’re keeping up a religious appearance thinking God is pleased with us.
So that’s where we’re headed today. We’re going to see who God says he is and how our worship reveals what we think his worth really is. We’ll then be given a warning before we return once again to God and the worship he deserves.
GOD IS A GREAT KING
So let’s start by seeing how God describes himself in our verses. We’re in the last half of verse fourteen, where God says…
Malachi 1:14 ESV
14 For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.
Who does God say he is? He says, “I am a great King.” But that’s not all, for the verse also calls him the LORD of hosts — or the LORD of the angelic army. And that’s still not all that we learn about God. We also learn that his name will be feared among the nations.
He’s a great King. He’s the LORD of hosts. And his name will be feared among the nations. Let’s look at each of these briefly.
God’s a great King. This is an identity statement. And it helps us understand that everything that comes before this verse — all of that stuff about the sacrifices being offered — God being a great King tells us that our question shouldn’t be, “What’s wrong with the sacrifices?” — though we’ll look at what’s wrong with them — the bigger question is, “What does this great King deserve?” You see, the sacrifices matter because they reveal what the people think of the King they’re giving them to.
But here’s the thing about God. His greatness doesn’t depend on our opinion of him. Even though the priests treat God as though he isn’t great — by bringing to him poor excuses for a sacrifice — God hasn’t become any less great. The only place where God’s become less great is in their opinion of him. God’s still great, and their worship of him, which could be great, is anything but.
God is a great King — and he’s the LORD of hosts. In our verses, he’s called the LORD of hosts seven times. This title emphasizes God’s sovereign power. He’s not merely Israel’s God; he’s the King who commands the angels of heaven and rules over all creation.
Many of you know that I served in the Army. But you don’t have to serve in the Army to feel the weightiness when you’re around a general in uniform. You don’t have to know what all of the ribbons mean — you know what the stars on their uniform mean. This is someone in authority. This is someone who gives commands. This is someone who gives orders that are obeyed.
Yet even military generals are a poor shadow of the LORD of hosts. We’re talking about the One who created everyone and everything out of nothing, who’s always existed and always will, who knows everything, is everywhere, and whose power keeps everything — including all of us — in existence. This is who God is.
And this great King, who is the LORD of hosts, says that his name will be feared among the nations.
If you didn’t notice, God keeps returning to his name throughout our verses. And his name represents who he is — his name is his reputation. Thus the poor sacrifices that the priests are bringing — in essence — are them attempting to give God a false name. They’re saying, “Based on our opinion of your reputation, this is what we think of you — this is the name we’ve given you — this is what you’re worth to us.”
This is what’s going on in our verses, which tells us that worship begins with seeing God for who he is.
So, for the rest of this sermon, I don’t want you to hear “Try harder to do a better job at worshipping God.” Instead, I want you to see God more clearly and more truthfully — to see him as he is. For then your worship will align more closely with who God really is. Because I have no doubt that many of us can say all sorts of right things about who God is — your theology is sharp, your doctrine is straight, your biblical knowledge is top-shelf quality. But if someone could only see the way you worship God — if they never heard you say a word about what you believe about God — if all they could see is how you live — what would they conclude God is worth to you?
OUR WORSHIP REVEALS GOD’S WORTH TO US
Which leads to our second point: Our worship exposes what God is worth to us. Our worship — the way you and I worship — again, not just on Sunday mornings but throughout the week — is the truest indicator of what God is worth to us. We’re back to verse six.
Malachi 1:6–9 ESV
6 “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?’ 7 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. 8 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. 9 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.
Sons were to honor their fathers. Servants were to honor their masters. These were cultural norms then. And though we live two thousand years later, we understand honor.
- You go to the White House and, no matter who the president is, that building — and what it represents — deserves honor.
- A co-worker’s diagnosed with stage four cancer and, no matter what conflict you may have had with her, when she shares the news, you respond in a way that honors her.
- When a funeral procession nears, you pull over and let them pass as a show of honor.
We get honor — the Israelites understood it too. That’s why God says, “Try giving what you’re giving me to the governor.” For the priests knew there’d be severe consequences if they gave to the governor what they were giving to God.
It’s also why God says, “You know what it means to honor others, so why aren’t you honoring me?” And notice that it’s not, “You know how to obey your father or that servants know how to obey their master, so why aren’t you obeying me?” That’s not what God says. The issue goes deeper than simply obeying or breaking God’s rules. Their disobedience reveals what they really think of the God who gave the rules.
All of this leads to God saying they’ve despised his name — his reputation, his identity. To which the priests reply, “How have we despised your name?”
To despise means to treat with contempt — to treat disrespectfully. A modern-day version of their response would be, “God, what are you talking about? How can you say we’ve been disrespectful? We’ve never said a disrespectful word about you.” And that could very well have been true.
They may never have taken his name in vain — one of the Ten Commandments — they may never have said one bad word about God. But you don’t have to say anything disrespectful about God to live in a way that’s disrespectful towards him. You don’t have to say out loud, “God isn’t worth much to me” — you can show everyone how little he matters by how you live.
But here’s the crazy reality for these priests. God tells them exactly how they’ve disrespected him. “It’s those blind, lame, and sick animals that you’re offering to me.” Something we may not remember, but certainly these priests would’ve known, is that the Old Testament explicitly prohibited these kinds of sacrifices. Here’s just one example.
Deuteronomy 15:21 NLT
21 But if this firstborn animal has any defect, such as lameness or blindness, or if anything else is wrong with it, you must not sacrifice it to the Lord your God.
Centuries earlier, God had told Israel what was acceptable. So the priests weren’t ignorant. They knew the expectations. They knew what proper and improper worship was — what was respectful and disrespectful. The priests weren’t making a mistake — they knew better. And because they’re priests, the problem’s even more serious.
For priests…
- Were teachers of God’s law,
- And maintained the holiness of the sanctuary,
- And represented the people before God in worship.
Though the people of Israel aren’t innocent, the priests have an even greater responsibility because they were supposed to lead the people. And they were using their position to normalize devaluing God in worship. They’re not merely participating in Israel’s problem — they’ve exacerbated it by leading others to view God as worthless.
And I can’t preach this as though I’m standing outside the warning. Malachi aims first at spiritual leaders. Those of us entrusted with leading God’s people can normalize casualness toward God. We can prepare sermons, lead songs, administer sacraments, organize ministries — and become so familiar with holy things that we forget how holy the One we’re serving actually is — where we treat him as if he’s worthless. That’s the warning to church leaders like me.
GOD TREATS WORTHLESS WORSHIP AS WORTHLESS
And this will probably surprise no one, but God has an issue when he’s treated as worthless. We see this in verse ten.
Malachi 1:10–14 ESV
10 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. 11 For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. 12 But you profane it when you say that the Lord’s table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food, may be despised. 13 But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the Lord of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the Lord. 14 Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished.
When our worship treats God as if he’s worthless, he views our worship as worthless. He tells the people, “I’d rather the doors of the Temple be closed than for you to continue worshipping me in this way.”
“Wait a second, Josh. I thought any worship is better than no worship?” I think you may be thinking of “No news is good news” or some other saying, because God says, “I’d rather you close the doors to the sanctuary than continue worshiping me in this way.” And man, does that offend us.
To the priests God says, “I have no pleasure in you.” And there’s no spinning that headline. God says, “I will not accept an offering from your hand. You can keep doing what you’re doing, but I’m not accepting it.”
You see, God isn’t just interested in being worshiped. He’s not that interested in how many people show up to church on Sunday — that’s what we focus on. God’s more concerned about our worship aligning with the truth of who he is. That’s what matters to him.
And if you think back over the last few decades, when it comes to worship, there’s been way more written, and debated, and vlogged about instrumentation and lighting and haze and what your musical preferences are, and very little about what Malachi’s putting before us: That true worship is always God-centered, and anything that’s man-centered isn’t true worship.
This man-centered worship is exposed in verse thirteen. For man-centered worship results in comments like, “What a weariness this is.” Where worship becomes a burden. You want to know why worship becomes a burden for many people? Well, once God isn’t worth much to you, anything you give him feels expensive. Your time feels expensive. Your money feels expensive. Your obedience feels expensive. Even going to church feels expensive. This is when going to church feels like a dentist appointment instead of a time when you gather with others to worship the Great King and Lord of hosts. It’s when prayer becomes an obligation instead of a conversation with your Creator. It’s when reading Scripture feels like homework instead of hearing the voice of God. It’s when being generous with your finances feels like losing your money instead of investing your Master’s finances in the work he’s doing. It’s when obeying God feels like you’re missing out on living your best life now.
All of this comes from having a distorted view of who God is. But the good news is that we’ve been given the remedy. Correct your view of who God is — align your view of God with the reality of who he is as revealed in his Word.
Now, that may all be understandable and convicting if you’re a follower of Jesus, but maybe not very convincing if you’re not a Christian. I could imagine someone wondering why any of this matters to God. Aren’t people having a hard enough time as it is? Does God have some sort of ego problem — is that why he gets so worked up over how people worship him?
The first thing I’d say, if this is what you’re thinking, is that God isn’t needy. He doesn’t need any of us, and he doesn’t need our worship either. The sacrifices the priests made — whether they disobeyed the rules or obeyed them — don’t affect who God is. The issue, and I think you can understand this, is that God wants those who say they believe in him to worship him for who he really is and not who they think he is or want him to be.
Think of it this way: If I tell my wife I love her, but then treat her as if she doesn’t matter — if I didn’t provide for her, if I know she loves chocolates and puppies and hates flowers and cats — what would you rightfully conclude if, for every holiday, I gave her flowers and cats? You’d have to assume that — one — either I have no clue who my wife really is or — two — I do know who she is and I don’t care.
That’s what the priests were doing with God. And that’s what many of us need to consider as well: Do I know who God is, and am I responding appropriately to him in worship?
CONCLUSION: GOD WILL BE WORSHIPPED
But let’s end on some good news. And that news is this: God will be worshiped. For God has determined that people from all nations will give him the praise he deserves. We find this in two of our verses — both of which we’ve already read. In verse eleven we read…
Malachi 1:11 ESV
11 For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.
And in verse fourteen we read…
Malachi 1:14 ESV
14 For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.
Though the priests, and subsequently the nation of Israel, are dishonoring God and his name, they cannot diminish his glory or his purpose. And God has determined that people of all nations will worship him. And nothing will stop his purpose from being realized.
This is why I hope you haven’t been hearing, “You need to do a better job at worshiping God.” What I hope you’ve been hearing is this: “God is a great King, and the entire world will know it. For he will be worshiped by people of all nations. And he’s been revealing to you who he is today as he invites you to be part of his worshiping people.”
In fact, this is why Christ came — to save a people who would be true worshipers of God.
- Where Israel brought blemished sacrifices, Jesus offered himself to God without blemish.
- Where God’s people failed to honor their Father in Heaven, Jesus perfectly honored his Father in everything he said and did.
- And then, he took the judgment we deserved for dishonoring God with our worship.
Which means that our hope isn’t that we’ll figure out how to worship God well enough to make ourselves acceptable to him. Our hope is Christ. And that through faith in him, we’re united to him, clothed in his perfection, forgiven of our false worship, and are being transformed into people who worship God for who he truly is.
So please don’t leave here and just try to worship God better. Jesus didn’t bring the Father a blemished sacrifice. He gave himself — the spotless Lamb — in your place. And Jesus did so because he loves his Father and because he loves you. And, friends, when we believe this truth. When we realize that God’s not only a great King and LORD of hosts, whose name will be feared — but also that, in Christ, we see God’s love for us — then worshiping him will be a delight, and not a chore. It’ll be a joy and not a bore. It’ll be something we anticipate on Sunday because it’s been going on throughout the week, and we can’t wait to gather with others who’ve been worshiping our awesome and amazing God.
May you look to your King — may you look to Jesus — and see his greatness. See the grace he gives to people who’ve failed to honor him. See his determination in loving a people into being his true and faithful worshipers. And ask yourself, “If this is who God is, what is he worth to me?” Let’s pray.
PRAYER
Father in Heaven, we’ve learned at least two truths about you today. First, you take your reputation seriously. You want to be worshiped for who you really are, and not our mere opinions about you. And second, you are loving, gracious, kind, and merciful toward people who don’t deserve it. For your plan, which will come to be, is to have people of all nations worship you for who you really are. And, if left to ourselves, none of us would be a true worshiper. It’s only by your loving kindness that we’re being transformed into true worshipers.
Spirit of God, you’re the One who is doing this transforming work in us. Continue to mold us, and refine us, and shape us and our thoughts so that we worship more faithfully. We thank you in advance for giving us all that we need to become true worshipers.
And to you, Jesus, our great King. The Lord of lords. The unblemished Lamb of God. The One to whom every knee will bow and every tongue confess that you are God — to you we offer our grateful hearts. And our words of praise. For you are, and will always be, our only hope. For you are the only Savior — the One who’s saving a people who will worship you for all eternity.
Father, Son, and Spirit — may you bring more into your family today. More worshipers from all nations. More worshipers from those sitting among us. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
COMMUNION
As we turn to the Lord’s Table, a table of feasting, I want to remind you about our Day of Fasting and Prayer, taking place at our North Main Campus this Wednesday, October 7th. We worship God by singing songs, hearing his Word preached, and receiving the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper — and also through prayer and fasting. So join us on Wednesday, for however long you’re available, for a special day of worship at our North Main Campus.
In eternity, people will come from east and west, and from north and south — from all nations — to sit at the table in the kingdom of God. This is the Lord’s Table, and our Savior invites those who trust him to share the feast he’s prepared.
Hear the words of Paul: The Lord Jesus, on the night of his arrest, took bread, and after giving thanks to God, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take, eat. This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way he took the cup, saying: This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me. Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the saving death of the risen Lord, until he comes.
INSTRUCTIONS
Now, I’d like to invite those who will be serving us to come forward. And — while they make their way forward — know that as the bread and cup are passed down your rows, you’re to take the bread on your own — but save the cup — which we’ll drink together. Also — in the bread trays — there’s a gluten-free option in the center.
If you’re NOT TAKING communion today, know that no one’s judging you. We would appreciate it if you could help by passing the trays to the next person in your row. And if you have any questions about communion or what it means to follow Jesus, please stop by the resource center before you leave today.
Eat the bread on your own — but save the cup — which we’ll drink together.
COMMUNION PASSED OUT
The blood of Christ, shed for you.
PRAYER (TRANSITION FOR WORSHIP TEAM)
Let’s pray. Father, we acknowledge that you are holy and majestic. And blessed is Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. In Jesus, your Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and he was full of grace and truth. He lived as one of us, knowing joy and sorrow. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, opened blind eyes, and broke bread with outcasts and sinners. Dying on the cross, he gave himself for the life of the world. Raised from the grave, he won for us victory over death. We praise you that Christ now reigns with you and will come again to make all things new. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)
May you go knowing who God is, and respond accordingly as you worship him. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.