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It’s always a surprise to people. This Pastor or this Priest or this Bishop has done something really bad in the name of religion. They used their position to abuse or bully or steal. It’s heartbreaking, and it’s the sort of thing that makes people question their faith. It’s the sort of thing that makes Christians ashamed before the world.
However, if we had understood better the biblical message, then we would not have been so surprised. Jesus was put to death by the religious leaders of his day! Now, the Pharisees and Saducees who put Jesus to death get a bad rap. However, we should see that even the faithful committed terrible sins. Moses hit the rock. Mark abandoned Paul. David murdered Uriah. Peter denied Jesus. The corruption that remains within believers can manifest itself in the worst sorts of sins.
Religion is something that can help us. It humbles us before the transcendent God. It helps us to see the common origin of human beings. Christianity teaches us that we are sinners in need of grace and that all that we have is a gift of grace.
However, no tool used against pride is immune from becoming a tool of our pride. Religion is no different. It can become a tool of our pride. We can use it to exalt ourselves. We can use it to justify our own injustices. We often are not fully aware that we are doing this. There is an element of self-deception involved.
That’s what Malachi’s audience experienced. They did wrong, but they didn’t see it. Malachi came sometime after Zachariah and Haggai. He spoke to a people who were religious and, in many ways, thought that they were doing alright. When Malachi confronted them with their sins, they said, “We are doing OK. How have we sinned?”
You can see that this leads right up to the time of Jesus. Malachi and Jesus are very similar in how they confronted the religious community. The religious community thought highly of the Bible. They followed it in many ways. However, they were guilty of adapting it to their own way of life. They tamed the Bible to fit what they were doing. They hadn’t committed adultery outwardly, for example, but they had done so in their hearts. They followed the command of the of the law and gave a certificate of divorce when they wanted to divorce their wives. However, they forgot that God’s intention was that the two would become one flesh and be united together for one lifetime!
This is the sort of thing that Malachi was confronting. In our own day, it’s just as easy for the religious person to adapt the Bible to their own lives. When there are clear opponents of God’s clear commands, it’s easy for us to justify ourselves because we are not like them. This is a dangerous illusion. So, how do we avoid falling into this trap? How do we avoid letting religion be a tool of our pride rather than a help to serving God and other people? That’s the question Malachi helps us with.
Around the south, you will hear something that recognizes this truth. They will say, Christianity is a relationship not a religion. There is truth in this. God wants to connect with us in an intimate relationship that is rather astonishing. However, it misses the fact that religion is not in itself bad. It is good. It is an organized way of connecting with the transcendent God. It also misses the fact that simply saying that religion is a relationship does not subdue our sinful corruption. In fact, this idea of relationship over religion could be just as easily be abused and has been as much as any other “religious” idea. A person could easily see themselves as exempt from rules and regulations because “it’s a relationship and not a religion.” No. No slogan will help us. We’ve got to get to the root. So, how do we do it? Let me suggest that Malachi teaches us that we should welcome testing, consider God’s transcendence, and wait on God’s timing.
Welcome Testing
The first three chapters of the book of Malachi follow a clear literary pattern. Malachi begins with a charge against the people like what we have in v. 17: “You have wearied the Lord with your words” (2:17). Then, he expresses how the people take it. “’How have we wearied him?’” you ask” (2:17). Then, he provides further explanation. When you say, “’All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them’ or ‘Where is the God of justice?’” (Mal. 2:17). Now, this may seem like something that we might never say. However, when we think about it, it is much more common. In 3:14, Malachi provides further explanation. They say, “It is futile to serve God” (3:14). In other words, does it really pay off? Now, that’s a question we often ask. We may not do so explicitly, but we can say, what does it really matter to read the Bible or to gather with His people or to serve others or to love my neighbor? What really matters, we might really think, is building my own kingdom and doing those things most enjoyable in the moment.
Here is what the people would do. They would give to God, to be sure, but they would give the leftovers. They would not give their first and their best. For example, they would offer their diseased animals that they didn’t want anyway. God had said to bring the tithes, a tenth, into the storehouse. They cut corners. So, God said, return to me.
They answered, “How do we return?”
God said, “‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it'” (Mal. 3:10). In other words, give to God first. Then, see what happens. Give first of your time, your talents, your resources. Don’t cut corners. This is the same message Haggai gave the people.
Now, here’s the point I want you to take from this. How do we avoid letting religion be a cloak for our own pride or for injustice? Welcome testing. Welcome challenge. This is hard to do. It’s easy as leaders or people in general to surround ourselves with “yes men.” We need to welcome challenge. As Christians, we need friends who will challenge us and who will ask the hard questions.
We should also watch out for those who only challenge us. Some people can become obsessed with the wrongs that you or another person is doing. Generally, they do not give an accurate picture of reality either. We need both encouragement and challenge.
How do we learn to keep challenging ourselves? First, pray about it. Listen to the words of the Psalmist: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23–24). Ask God to help you.
Second, try to get clear on the standards. What are you really supposed to be doing? That keeps us from just justifying ourselves or unnecessarily criticizing ourselves. In the case of God’s law, we should meditate carefully on what it is saying and go carefully through God’s commandments to ask how we are doing. How am I doing at love, joy, peace, patience, etc.?
Third, find friends who will ask you good questions. When you bring a problem to them, what do they do? Do they simply affirm your point of view, or do they challenge you with different ideas?
Fourth, listen sympathetically to ideas different than your own. It’s easy for us to simply construct our own mental world that is out of accord with reality. It’s crucial that we read different perspectives because of the danger of self-deception and the tendency we all have to simply see that which fits with our own preconceptions. When you encounter something different, try to make your first reaction listening rather than refuting.
The book of Malachi is a testament to our need to welcome testing.
Consider God’s transcendence
One reason why it was so crucial for Israel to repent was that the Lord was coming. That’s still a reason now. The Lord is going to appear, and all our excuses will fall to the ground. That’s why the theologian Francis Turretin said that when we are thinking about our standing before God we need to not think of it as an abstract argument. We need to carry it on as if in the throne room of God, seeing the angels who praise God’s transcendent holiness.
Malachi, like all of the prophets spoke about the coming day of the Lord. They lived in terms of this terrible reality, a day of salvation and a day of judgment. Malachi provided some details of what would happen. Malachi is the last word of God before the New Testament. Malachi, however, made clear that this was not going to be the last word forever. Two more messengers would come.
The first messenger was going to “prepare the way before” the LORD. He is called Elijah in Malachi 4:5. Jesus told us who this messenger was. It was John the Baptist. Here’s what Jesus said in Matthew 17 when the disciples asked him if Elijah would come first.
Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.
John the Baptist was the Messenger who was to come. But when God’s messenger appears, what is his message? Repent. This means that when God shows up, it will challenge all of us, the “righteous” as well as the wicked. In fact, the “righteous” did not receive John’s message because they thought they didn’t need it.
The second messenger is the Lord Himself. Listen to what Malachi says. “‘Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,’” says the Lord Almighty” (Mal. 3:1). Who did Elijah prepare the way for? The Lord. This is not the proper name for God, Jehovah, but it is the Lord, the one who is God. John the Baptist was the Elijah to come, and for whom did he prepare the way? Jesus. Therefore, Jesus is the one true God. He is the Lord come to His people. People ask, why do we believe Jesus is God? It’s not just one verse or two. It’s the whole Bible that bears witness to the divinity of Christ.
But here’s the point I want to make about this. What does it mean when the LORD Himself shows up? We are all challenged. “But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver” (Mal. 3:2–3). When God shows up, it is a comfort, but it is also a challenge because even the best of us fall short.
A lot of times we talk about wanting God to show up. What this means is that we want God to do something to intervene in a situation we are concerned about. However, when God really shows up, it challenges everybody. How can we bring this more into our lives? We meditate on God and His glory. We see His transcendence, how far above us He is. We see the God before whom the angels hide their face and cry, “Holy! Holy! Holy!” Keeping in our hearts and minds the transcendence of God will help keep us from turning religion into a tool of our pride.
Wait on God’s timing
The third way that we can avoid turning religion into a tool of pride and injustice is to learn to wait on God. God will bless us, but He sometimes makes us go through challenges and difficulties and trials. He tests us first and then blesses us in His own time.
Our pride is generally rooted in our anxiety. We are concerned about this or that, and we want to make sure that we are taken care of right now. We don’t trust God with our future. I say our because I mean “me” too. It is hard when we can’t see God’s provision. What happened when Abraham and Sarah didn’t see the child God promised? They tried to solve it on their own and brought in Hagar. It turned out to be a disaster for the family. No. They and we need to wait on God.
God said to them, bring the whole tithe into the storehouse? Give me the firstfruits of what you make, God says. But why would they not? Because they were worried that they would not have enough to take care of their families. But here is what God says: “‘Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it'” (Mal. 3:10). Give, and see if the Lord will provide in His own timing. Trust the Lord and His timeline, don’t try and manufacture your own.
Second, they were saying that there was no difference between the righteous and the wicked. God said, wait! You will see. “‘But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,’ says the Lord Almighty” (Mal. 4:2–3). God says, you don’t need to become bitter or resentful. You don’t need to try and take up things that don’t belong to you. Trust me, and you will see! I will take care of it.
Conclusion
Religion is a good thing, but we need to be cautious. It’s easy to make it a tool of our pride and to use it as a pretext to exalt ourselves and do injustice to others. We all need to prepare for the Lord’s coming. This means that we test ourselves, see the transcendent God, and learn to wait on God’s timing.
We can help each other with this. That’s why we are here. “Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name” (Mal. 3:16). We need to challenge and encourage each other and seek the Lord together.
And this is the hopeful note. The Lord will take care of us. As we look to the future, we see the great God who will take care of His people. Our efforts will not be in vain. Seeking the Lord will not be in vain. “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. . . . the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves” (Mal. 3:17, 4:2). The people of God were going to wait 400 years before the LORD came. But He came! He will come again, so let’s wait and be assured that the LORD who came so long ago will come again with healing in His wings. And . . . let’s prepare accordingly. Amen.
Benediction: I don’t know where you are today or what trouble or disappointment you are experiencing. You may not have the things you want. You may be mourning. You may be depressed. You may be struggling with sin or temptation.
Remember! This is not God’s last word. The struggle won’t go on forever. God will come and bring us relief and encouragement and strengthening. As surely as Jesus came the first time, He will come again. As surely as God fulfilled His promises long ago, the faithful God will fulfill them today. Wait on the Lord, and you will renew your strength!
Wait! “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. . . . the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves” (Mal. 3:17, 4:2).
Let this encourage and calm your hearts so that you have strength in the present to go out and serve the Lord Christ in your homes, your neighborhoods, your schools, and your workplace, in the name of and with the blessing of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
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Photo by Robby McCullough on Unsplash