Quiet Quitting on God - Malachi 1:6-14

of 2022, there was a cultural phenomenon happening that year. A new phrase went viral on the interwebs on all of social media. It was called Quiet Quitting. Does everyone remember that? That phrase, quiet, quitting. Yeah. So it wasn't really about quitting your job per se. It was about staying in the job, but then doing the absolute bare minimum. That you would just show up, clock in, do just enough to not get fired, and then clock back out. That fall, Gallop, did a poll, and they released a study that said that at least half of the American workforce had engaged in quiet quitting. Half. Half of the American workforce was just like, I'm just showing up. I'm doing the bare minimum here. I'm taking my paycheck, and I don't really care about this job. I'm not really gonna give my best. I'm not passionate about this at all. I'm just going through the motions. They hadn't turned in a resignation letter. They just stopped trying. Now here's what makes quiet quitting so tricky, is because from the outside, so much of it looks the same. You get a guy who's in there next to someone who's quiet, quitted already. And for the most part, it's like same hours worked, maybe a similar title, the same desk, the same office space. We'd never know unless we looked a little bit deeper at the effort that they were giving, or the passion that they were showing, about their work. Now, I tell you all this? Because this morning, God confronts a people who never technically like walked out on him, they technically haven't closed the door on God. They still believe in him. They still showed up at the temple. They still kept the fires on the altar lit. But they had quiet quit on God himself. And here's the question I think Malachi puts in front of us this morning. Let's put this big question on the screen for all of us. Could we be faithful Sunday morning churchgoers? That's you guys. And still live lives that quiet quit on God. That's the question that God is putting in front of us this morning through the book of Malachi, through this prophecy from over 2000 years ago, about 2500 years ago. So I want us to pray once more, and we'll jump into this section of Malachi chapter one together. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that you've gathered us here on a Sunday morning. For many of us, we may have had difficulty getting out of bed, getting kids dressed and fed, maybe getting here felt tense and stressful and difficult. Lord, but here we are to sing praises to you. to open up your word, your eternal word and to hear from you. And Lord, we trust you that you can do that, that you can speak not to just a general crowd, but to each and every individual heart that's sitting here this morning. And so, Lord, I pray that you would speak to us. We desperately need to hear from you. Not just on Sunday mornings, but every moment of our lives. We need you, God. We are not meant to live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. So the Lord humble us this morning under the book of Malachi. Teach us. Encourage us. and challenge us. Help us through this time to be conformed to the image of Christ, that we would look more like him at the end of this time together than we did walking in. And I pray all these things in his name. Amen. Well, last week we started a brand new book. The book of Malachi. And many of us are probably totally unfamiliar with this book. It's the last book in the Old Testament, and Dalton showed us that the eternally loving God calls an unloving people to turn from sin and to love God with their all. to make him their purpose in life. And Dalton took us back to Deuteronomy 65. This is what is called the Shema, Shema, Israel, Adonai, Elohinu, Adarai, Echad. It saying, hero, Israel. This is the Lord your God. Love him with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might, with all your strength. That's due to yourronomy 65. And that's the call, that we are to love him with our whole heart, with our whole being. And this morning, Malachi shows us what it looks like when God's people give him less than what he calls for. When we just show up and quiet quit on God, that we don't love him or worship him with all that we have. And so here's where we're heading this morning. We've got 4 points on the screen for us that we're going to show a breakdown of how we're moving through this passage. But here's the thesis. Here's the big idea. The great king who loves us, deserves our best. Not our leftovers. And then here's how God is weaving Malachi together in chapter one. We're picking up in verse six. Dalton covered the 1st 5 verses last week. We're going through a dishonored father. discounted gifts versus 7 through 10. Disinterested hearts versus 12 through 14. We skipped over verse 11. We're going to come back to it here, a distinguished king versus 11 through 14. So 4 points this morning, 4 points that walk us through verses 6 through 14. And like I said, the big idea is the great king who loves us deserves our best, not our leftovers. So let's take these one point at a time. The 1st one is a dishonored father. Verse six. Let's look at that together. God says, 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? That's the word for reverence or respect. Says the Lord of host to you. O priests, who despise my name. But you say, how have we despised your name? Now nobody in Israel would have argued with the beginning of verse 6. Uh, the 1st half of that verse. Sons, honor their fathers. Servants respect their masters. That's just how the world works. That's the hierarchy of things. That's how the culture functions. So God says, hey, if y'all agree with that, then where's my honor? Where's my respect? And that word honor at the beginning of 1st 6 is a, it's a fascinating word. In Hebrew at its root. It means to be for something to be heavy or weighty, right? When you show someone honor, you treat them with weight. Like they matter. There's like a gravitational pull around that person. So when you when you treat a world leader with honor, you respect them. They have gravity, they have gravitas, they have weight to their position. To honor someone means we give them weight in our lives. But then there's another word that Malachi uses the word despise at the end of verse six. It's the opposite of honor. It means to treat someone as light, as worthless. It doesn't really matter that much. And so we might say things like I despise my homework, or I despise yard work, or I despise doing the laundry. Because we don't treat those things as weighty things. They're light things. And so we're saying, I don't make much of that. I don't respect that. I don't honor it, and I don't enjoy it. So I think God's not accusing them of hating God. That's not what's going on here. He's accusing them of treating him without any honor or respect. He's they're treating them as he is something light instead of heavy and weighty. And then look at their response. How have we despised your name? That's the pattern, like all throughout Malachi. God says something, and they push back. They go, hey, win? How? Hold on, time out. When did you do that? Show me when you loved us. And that's the pattern of their response. And I don't think they're being defiant. I think they're just ignorant. Like they honestly, they don't see it. They don't see how they've gone off trail. They don't see where they have been disrespectful and dishonoring to God. And that's what makes quiet quitting on God so dangerous. It never feels like fully quitting, right? Like they haven't abandoned God. They still have a temple. It looks like not having enough time for them to focus on him, to focus on the most important things. Like reading the scriptures, like praying and having a conversation with him, like going to church, like being in community, like serving in the church, like confessing sin. They're quiet quitting on the Lord. They're still showing up where it matters, but their hearts aren't engaged. Their hearts aren't in the right place. Now notice who God is talking to. He says, oh priests. These are the ministers. The priests are the leaders of the church. They're the ones who are responsible to shepherd to know God's word. The men who handled holy things every single day. So as a pastor, I'm reading through this, and I can't read this passage and point to anyone else first. I have to allow the Lord to say, you're talking to me. I have to hear this. I have to receive it, and I have to say, yes, Lord. I've abandoned these things. There have been times that I haven't treated you as someone who has weight and authority. And I haven't treated you with honor. I've got to hear it and receive it first. You know, when I started out in ministry about 17 years ago, Um, I felt like looking back now, I could say that I wasn't relying on my on the Lord's strength. I was working out of my own strength, not the Lord's. And I knew what needed to get done, so I just did it. I was just going through the motions and I can look back and go, that wasn't delight. That was just duty. I knew what needed to get done. And so I'm just proactive. I'm a go-getter, I'm a type A. I'm responsible. I'm the leader, and so I'm just gonna get it done. And if you'd watched me from the outside, you'd probably think, oh, he's doing fine. He's got it all together. He's responsible. He's getting it done. I showed up. I prepared. I checked the boxes, but my love for God was so small. And then when I went about the ministry and treated people, I didn't have compassion on them because of God's love, I just kind of put up with them. And I wasn't using God's love to work through me and living in light of his love to then love others. I was just like, you know what? God just, he calls me to be patient with you, so I guess I just have to do it. And from the outside, you'd say, oh yeah, that guy cares for people. He loves people. But mostly it's self-confidence and self-competence that got me through the end of the day. It was self. And it wasn't that I abandoned the Lord, it was that I made so little of him. I didn't rely on him. I was handling holy things, but I wasn't treating the Lord or his people with the honor and respect when I ministered out of my own strength. And honestly, I didn't even see it. I was totally ignorant to it. It was a heart issue. It's interesting, lifeway research recently studied pastors who left the ministry before retirement, and one of the things that they found was just so staggering. About 2 out of 3 pastors, 67% said that they believe that their last church wouldn't have made progress without them. that they were so ingrained and so in control and a hand on every lever and every wheel in the church that they said, if I leave this thing, it's plummeting, it's failing, the church is so reliant on me that if two-thirds of pastors said, if I disengage, if I leave, this thing is falling apart. Self-competence can only take a leader or a pastor for a little while. But self-confidence and self-competence cannot sustain you for a lifetime in ministry. But this isn't just a word for pastors. In uh, 1st Peter, Peter writes, uh, he tells us that we are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession. So that means in Christ, we are all priests of the new covenant, that Christ ushered in, that if you're a believer in Jesus, if you've put your faith in the gospel and said, I've made my life about him, then in that moment, Christ, the Spirit brings you into the church and makes you a priest. So even though he's discussing priests in the Old Testament as leaders, in one way, we're all priests, every one of us has access to God's presence and something to offer him to bring to him. That's what priests did. So the question God asks those priests, I think he asks us as well. And that question is, Where's my honor? Where's my respect? Where's my reverence? Which brings us to our 2nd point, discounted gifts. Look at verses 7 and 8. He says, by offering polluted food upon the altar, let's go to, there we go. upon the altar, but you say, how have we polluted you? Like, how God? Wait, wait, wait, wait, pause. Tell me, tell me how we did that. Totally ignorant. By saying that the Lord's table may be despised. When you offer blind animals and sacrifice, is that not evil? When you offer those that are lame or sick, that's the sacrifices. Is that not evil? Present that to your governor. Will he accept you or show you favor, says the lord of hosts? Now, some of us were newer to the Bible, or maybe you're new to the Old Testament. So let me just take a 2nd to talk about what's happening here, about what a sacrifice is, because we don't have a sacrificial system today. Well, in the Old Testament, God's people brought animals to the temple. Okay? It could be a lamb or a goat or a bull, and some sacrifices dealt with sin, and the animal would die in the place of the sinner, but other sacrifices were just gifts of thanks or offerings of worship. And the priest offered them on the altar, you would give your sacrifice to the priest, which is why Malachi calls the altar God's table. Or the sacrifice is his food. And God made it crystal clear in the Old Testament, in the law about what kind of animal to bring. Leviticus 22 says, you shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you. So God is saying, it cannot be a blind sacrifice. Can't be a goat, a goat, or a sheep, or a bull that is blind. It cannot be a lame sacrifice. It can't be something that's been injured or paralyzed, it can't walk. It can't be a sick sacrifice. It has to be a pure without blemish sacrifice. God wanted the best from the shepherds. He wanted the best sacrifice from the flock. But think about the math from a shepherd's point of view, right? Like a blind animal, this is a burden. This is like the worst sheep that I have, and then I've got a lame one over here. He can't walk. And so this is the, these are the most difficult sheep or goats or bulls in my herd. They're a burden to me. So I kind of want to get rid of them so I can have the best flock. A lame one can't keep up with the herd. A sick one might not make it through winter. And I'm going to have to care for them and tend them. It would be just so much easier if I had great sheep. So what do we do with the animal that we're gonna maybe lose anyway? They're not gonna be able to feed themselves, make it through winter. Well, the shepherds would say, well, give it to God. Right? Like, God needs a sacrifice. God needs thanks and our worship. So let's just give like the worst ones in our flock to God. We'll get rid of it that'll make our lives better, and God is kind of happy because he still gets a sacrifice. It looks like a sacrifice and it costs the shepherd nothing. It actually blesses the shepherd. It makes his life easier. And then God says in verse 8, hey, present it, present that to your governor. Like try that with the governor. See how that works. Will he accept you or show you favor? Now, at this time, Israel is under Persian rule. And the governor was one of the most important men around. They're one of the leaders over the Israelites. In other words, try that. Try that with the mayor. Try that with the state senator. Try that with the governor. See if they're impressed. Try showing up to a job interview in your pajamas. See how that goes for you? Try bringing gas station snacks to your boss's dinner party. It's like a black tie affair, and you're like, oh, I just picked this up on the way here, see how that goes for you. We'd never do that with someone we respect. Now, uh, I just want to confess something this morning, and maybe you guys can relate to this. How many of you guys love white elephant gift exchanges? A few of us. Okay, my confession. I do not enjoy them, okay? I've never been a fan. I know a lot of y'all love them. That's okay. We can still be friends, but I've never enjoyed being stuck with something that somebody grabbed out of their trunk of their car right before the elephant gift exchange, which is probably like half of those, right? We're just like throwing it in a grocery bag or something, putting it together at the last minute, or something that got like regifted because you got it at a birthday or Christmas and you're like, I don't really want this thing. My kid doesn't really want it. So like, let's just throw it in a box and bring it to the white elephant gift exchange and make my problem someone else's problem, right? And I don't love the rule that's like spin $5 or $10 or less. It's kind of like saying, go buy a gift that no one's going to enjoy, all right? Like, that's how I feel about it. You guys can love it. But it's basically saying, uh, let's make a gift party, not that great, okay? But that's exactly what Israel was doing. They were treating the altar of God like a white elephant gift exchange. Whatever's lying around, whatever I don't want, whatever was given to me, and I kind of want to get rid of it, like bring that to God. Bring him the $5 gift. Whatever costs me the least amount, that's what I'm bringing to the altar. So what does that look like for us, because we don't bring lambs, or goats, or bulls, the church. Hopefully, none of you guys are doing that. But we still bring gifts to God every week. We bring him our lives. We bring him our offering, our time, our talent, our treasure. Let's put those up. What do we offer to God in the new covenant? We bring our lives? That involves our time. It involves our talent, the gifts that God has given us, our abilities, and we bring our treasure, the things the monetary or material things that God has given us, however small or however big. So let's start with our time. Let's take these one at a time. For a lot of us, God gets, I think, whatever time is left over. After work, after practice, after the big game, after the TV series, we just binged. After the home improvement project is done. And by the time we get to him, there's not much left in our tank. We're just bringing in the leftover time we have at the end of the week. We might give him the last 5 minutes before we fall asleep and wonder why life feels so pointless or why we feel so dry. And then there's our talent. God has gifted every single one of you with a spiritual gift if you've put your faith in Christ. If you're his, you have gifts of the spirit. Everyone has at least one gift. No one has all the gifts. We rely on the body of Christ. We need each other. And most of us, I think we may give our best energy to our jobs, our hobbies, our favorite teams. And those aren't all bad or wicked or sinful things, but the church gets whatever, like, energy is left over. Like, he's not gonna get my best. He's gonna get the last. And then there's our treasure. Proverbs 39 says, honor the Lord with your wealth, and with the 1st fruits of your produce. It's the same word, honor. It's the same root word from verse six. First fruits means that God gets the first, not the last. Not what's left over after the bills, after eating out, after all those subscriptions have pulled from our account. But let's be really clear about something. This isn't about the size of the gift. Jesus once watched a poor widow drop 2 coins into the offering and said that woman has given more than any rich person has given. He said she gave more than all the rich people put together, because they all contributed out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, has put in everything she had. So God's never impressed by the size of our gift. He's moved by the heart behind it. Second Corinthians, Paul tells us that God loves a cheerful giver. Not an extravagant giver. God loves a cheerful giver. It's the heart that he says, I want. So let's go back to Malachi and look at verses 9 and 10. Malachi one, 9 and 10. He says, 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. Oh, that there were one among you who would shut the doors. That you may not, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain. And here's the bombshell. I have no pleasure in you. Says the Lord of hosts. And I will not accept an offering from your hand. Man, that is a difficult passage. That would be one of the worst things for a soul to ever hear, for the Lord to say, I have no pleasure in you. God says he'd rather somebody lock up the temple and keep then keep going through the motions. He says, I'd rather you have an empty church than empty worship. I'd rather you just stop meeting and shut the doors than to come in here and have a heart that's empty for me with no love. That's what he's saying. He'd rather no one show up this morning than for all of us to be in here and not give our hearts, not give our honor, not give our reverence and our respect to him. Our worship. But that's not God being petty, it's God letting loving them so much to tell them the truth. It's like you lost me, and you're my kids, and I love you, and I have to tell you that you lost me in the process. Going, they're going through the motions. And they had convinced themselves that everything was fine. And God refuses to let his kids believe that lie. And notice that phrase, he says, I have no pleasure in you because God wants to take pleasure in what we bring him. Just this past week. A longtime member of our church asked if she could come over and finish painting our home. The inside of our home, our entryway, and our kitchen. Now, I bought paint for the inside of our home over 2 years ago. After saving up and talking about it for months. And then that paint sat in our basement for a year, not because I forgot about it, but because there's no time to get to it. And then after sitting in our basement for a year, I found I could actually get about 2 or 3 hours each month to start painting the inside of our home. So you can do the math and find out how long that's gonna take, how many months, it's gonna take a long time. But that's just the time that I have. I only had 2 or 3 hours a month to give to it. But this good friend of ours said, hey, if you're okay with it. I'll paint it for you. She wasn't giving me what was left over. She wasn't giving us what was left over. She was giving us her time and her talent. She was giving it gladly. And when I walked home late one night after a very busy work day, like 9 o'clock, Our entryway in our kitchen had been painted. And it was beautiful. And it brought me so much joy. Now, if one friend's gift can bring that much joy to my heart, Imagine the joy that our offerings, our lives can bring to his heart. Imagine the joy of our father when his children bring him their best. Not their last, not out of guilt, not out of shame, out of love. Now our 3rd point. Let's go to disinterested hearts. Look at verses 13 or 12 through 14. Disinterested hearts, he says, but you profane it when you say that the Lord's table is polluted and its food may be despised. But you say, what a weariness is this? 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? Cursed be the cheat, who has a male in his flock and vows it and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. Look at that phrase at the beginning. What weariness is this? It's like they're saying after God has said this, oh, really, God? It's like the teenager that you just asked to take out the trash. They're like, oh, again. God really? Like, this is their attitude. It's like eye rolling at God. And see, the problem underneath the leftovers isn't the sacrifice or a livestock problem. That's not what God's getting at. It's a heart problem. Nobody gives leftovers to honored guests. If you knew that the president or the queen of England or your state senator was coming over. You're like, we gotta clean. We got a remodel as quickly as we can, get out, whatever dishes are nice. If we have fine silver, get it out, make sure it's scrubbed, double check everything, clean out the glasses. This is an honored guest. We're not bringing last night's leftovers. We're not bringing a microwave dinner. It's an honored guest. And then look at who God calls the cheat. in verse 14. He says this cheat has got a healthy male goat in his flock. And he makes a vow to give it to God. Which is great. Everybody hears the vow. I'm gonna give this healthy goat, this one without blemish to God. And then when nobody's looking, he swaps it for the one that's sick. He swaps it out for the one that's blemished. That guy's managing his image. He's managing the perception of the community. Hey, guys, I'm going to give, like, my very best, you know, because I'm so devoted, right? But then later on, when no one's looking, I'm swapping it out with something that's not as precious to me. It looks like devotion, it's really disguise. So how does a heart get to that place? How do we get to that place? Like most of us didn't wake up one morning and decide, I'm just gonna be disinterested in God today. We drifted there. And nobody ever drifts towards God. We only drift away from him. Let me tell you how this drift often happens. Let's put it on the screen. This is how it often, not always happens. Disinterest starts with isolation. We start on the edge. It grows in isolation. And isolation leads to a lack of growth, a lack of growth leads to a lack of joy. And the problem with this progression is that it all centers around us. It all usually starts with us. First, we isolate ourselves from the community, from the church, from brothers and sisters in Christ that love us. We skip a few weeks. It's not that big a deal. We stop showing up to life group. We stay on the edges on the fringe, because it's hard to talk to people. It's hard to engage. Then because we are isolated, we stop growing. We need other believers to encourage us to help us. So we stop growing. Nobody's asking how we're doing. nobody's sharpening us. Proverbs 27 says, iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another, and it's really hard to sharpen each other from across town. We have to be involved in each other's lives. We have to be there. And then because we're not growing, we stop experiencing joy. It's like, I'm going nowhere. I don't see any growth in my life, so why would I be joyful? And then because we're not growing, we stop experiencing that joy and then we grumble, we complain, that God isn't exciting or church isn't exciting. And it's not because God changed. It's because somewhere along the way, we lost him. It's not that we totally abandon God. It's that we just kind of stop caring. We got apathetic. We got disinterested, and so we just stopped attending. We started taking a step back one at a time and justifying it with busyness, with projects, with things that keep our attention. When I was in college, I had a mentor who never seemed bored with God. He didn't just like, know God, know Jesus and love Jesus and obey him. He walked with Jesus. And it was incredible to be mentored by this guy for years. No matter what life threw at him. He knew Jesus had him. And he walked through some terrible things, but he didn't have any fear. He never got anxious about those things. And he didn't just love Jesus. He loved the church. He knew Jesus comes with a bride. And so if I love him, I'm going to love them. Jesus comes with a body. And so I'm gonna give my life to them. He served, he cared for people. He was part of small groups. He knew that following Jesus also meant loving the church. And that's what a heart looks like when it hasn't lost God. He hasn't become disinterested. He hasn't moved to isolation. So what's the way back for a disinterested heart? Maybe you're looking at that and you're like, yeah, that's me. Maybe you're at the beginning of this and you feel isolated. Maybe you're at the end of this and you're like, I haven't experienced joy in the Lord in months or years. Wherever you're at in your life in this season, what's the way back for a disinterested heart? Well, it's not more effort. It's not just getting your life in order, having the right task list. What's Pastor Tyler doing with his schedule? I just need to have the same schedule as him. It's more of God and more of his people. We can't love the head of the church and ignore the body. That's why I'm so grateful that we added another life group last week. We have 4 life groups now. That is enough for everyone to be known and loved to belong to feel like that's my life group. Those are my people. So if you're not in one, let's make this week the one that you, the week that you visit, the week that you feel like you belong, that you join one. Which brings us to our last point. Here's our 4th point, a distinguished king. Let's look at verse 11 and then the end of verse 14, a distinguished king. 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. Not a blemished offering, not a lame or sick offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. For I am a great king, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared, will be respected, will be honored, will be treated with reverence among the nations. And right in the middle of this rebuke, God lists their eyes to him. He doesn't busy their schedule. He lifts their gaze. And when the Bible talks about the nations, it means the Gentiles, he says, my name will be great among the nations. He says it twice in verse 11 and again in verse 14. Which means God is not dependent on their leftovers. He's not waiting for like, well, I can't be great. I can't be a big God unless you bring me the right stuff. Like, in some way his power would be dependent on us. God is not dependent on us. If Israel won't honor him, he says the nations will. The rocks will cry out if the people won't. Of my glory. And when the Bible talks about the nations, it means the Gentiles. That's everyone who isn't Jewish. And here's the beautiful part. That's us. Remember back to Ephesians chapter 3, verse six. The Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. That means most, if not all of us in this room are Gentiles. So every time that this church gathers to worship Jesus, Malachi 111 is being fulfilled. Malachi 111 is being lived out through our offering, through our worship, through our service. And then God says it plainly, for I am a great king. That's the cure for a disinterested heart. It's not a bigger program, it's a bigger view of the king. About 7 years ago. Right after we moved to Kansas City, I hit a lifetime low. And I don't have time to go into all of it. That's another story for another time, but we lived, we live currently on almost an acre, and at the time, all I had was like this small push lawnmower, you know, like the standard size, like 21, 21 inch lawnmower. And so every weekend I'd spend about 3 hours walking that little mower back and forth across our one acre lawn. And my wife knew that every time I headed out to Mo on a Saturday or on a Friday, she knew Tyler's going out to wrestle with God. He's going to do business with the Lord. Week after week, row after row, just me and the Lord. And I look back and even though the sun was shining, it felt like a dark time in my life. Like there were just clouds over my life. The grass got cut every weekend, but it took my heart much longer. That's a long story for another time, but when it was all said and done, months and months in, I felt a sense of satisfaction. A sense of peace and joy and renewal with God. Man, that I had never experienced before, 20 years of knowing him. It came from Time with the King. The renewal didn't come from a new strategy. It didn't come from a new devotional. It didn't come from getting my schedule in order. It came from time with him. Every week. Wrestling with him. See, when we understand how great the king is, our leftovers just feel ridiculous. When we have a right view of who God is and how small and insignificant and weak we are, man, we bring him our best. Nobody brings a lame, a lame gift to a king that they're in awe of. So the answer is not a new strategy or a bigger program, it's a bigger view of him, and a right view of us. So let me give you 3 questions to ponder this week, to think through this week, as we close out this passage. Is God getting the 1st of my time and my treasure or just the leftovers? What talent am I giving my best to everywhere except the church? Where am I giving it? Have I grown disinterested in God? Have I isolated myself from his people? Think about those questions this week. Every one of us can probably think of a time that we're guilty of every single one of those. Maybe this day, maybe this week. Now let's go back. We'll keep those, guys, let's keep those questions up on the screen for everyone to write down, but I'm going to read back to verse 14 one more time. He said, cursed be the cheat, who has a male in his flock and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. That word cheat. I circled it and I wrote in Tyler. Cursed be Tyler, who has a male in his flock and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what's blemished. Because if we're honest, that's all of us. Every one of us has made promises to God, and then handed him something blemished. Everyone of us has quiet quit on God at some point. But the book of Malachi doesn't end with a curse in chapter 3, God makes a promise. He says, behold, I send my messenger who will prepare the way before me. Because when that messenger finally sees Jesus, what does he say? Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Behold, look at him. Not a lamb, not a blind lamb, not a lame lamb, not a sick and disfigured lamb. Peter says we are ransomed with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb, without blemish or spot. That's the gospel. We brought God, our leftovers, said, here God, this is like the worst of me. The whatever I have left over. God brought his best. He sent his only son. He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all sent Christ into this world, and Jesus didn't just become the spotless lamb. He became our curse for us in our stead. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. We deserve the curse, but the lamb without blemish took the curse upon him. He went to a cross. He took the wrath of his father, and he said, it is finished. It's complete. No more work. Only rest in my son. And on the 3rd day, he walked out of that grave alive by the power of the spirit, and by the power of the Father, and for those of us that don't know him, he says, we turn from our sin, we trust in Jesus, and if we've never done that today, today is the day, that we come to Christ with the empty hands of faith, and say, Lord, I've got nothing to offer you. I bring my life. My brokenness, my best to you. And for those of us who already belong to him, we don't give God our best to earn his love, we give him our best because we've already received his love. So love received, from God becomes love extended, to him and to others. Love received, becomes love extended, because he 1st loved us. We love him. So church. Let's not quite quit on a king who gives us his best. Let's not quite quit on a king who never quiet quits on us. He gives us his love. So we give him ours in return. Let's pray together. Lord, we thank you. That you are so gracious, so merciful, so patient with us. You could have abandoned us at the 1st sign of our sin in the garden. And yet 1000s of years, you have been merciful, steadfast, forgiving, patient, loving with your people. And you've even broadened the circle to bring us in, not just the Jews, but the Gentiles, the nations, because your name will be great among us. And Lord, thank you that you have forgiven us, when we quiet quit on you, when we bring our least the last portion of our day, the last portion of, our talent, our energy, the last portion of what you've given us. And sometimes we can make excuses, like 10% is a lot. But God remind us that you say 90% you get to keep. It all belongs to you. So, Lord, we thank you for your love and your mercy extended to us through Christ, that we have life and life abundant in Christ. Help us, Lord, to walk with you this week in love. that we would experience your love, and we would turn it around and give it back. We'd extend our love to you and to those around us. Help us to live the life that you called us to live in grace and in peace. We pray these things in Christ name. Amen.

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention