Malachi 1:2-5 (Love Better): 2021-01-24

Today we are going to start into the meat of our study on Malachi – so I hope you brought your thinking caps and your thick skin with you today – there will be some things you will need to ponder and chew on awhile and there will be some things that will be distasteful in your mouth, but I promise you, they are all things God sent His Burdened Prophet Malachi to tell the world.

Before we dig in, I want to set the stage for where our minds set might be in all of this:

Play Video Clip: Love Better – by Skit Guys

Okay – that makes sense to us – We know how they feel - we have felt that way too – we get the whole idea – we all need to do a Better Job of Loving Better – of being a Better Christ to a Lost and Hurting World – I would say we could all agree with that and I do as well – but and here is the BIG Butt – is that how God Loves us? – they way we picture after seeing that clip – or – is that something a bit deeper and more to it – that we as His hands and feet need to come to terms with and understand and accept before we can truly LOVE BETTER!

Okay – Now - let’s dig in.

Open your Bibles if you would please and follow along as I read aloud our study verses for today. We will be looking at the Book of Malachi Chapter 1 verses 2 – 5:

Malachi 1:2-5 (NIV) "I have loved you," says the LORD. "But you ask, 'How have you loved us?' "Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" the LORD says. "Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals." Edom may say, "Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins." But this is what the LORD Almighty says: "They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the LORD. You will see it with your own eyes and say, 'Great is the LORD -even beyond the borders of Israel!'

Say what? - what kind of answer is that? The Israelites just asked God, "How have you loved us?" - and that’s His answer? – kind of cryptic.

He doesn’t answer with a list of what He has done for them – reminding them of all the times He showed them grace and mercy or provided for them – no He says, "Jacob I loved, Esau I hated"?

What is He trying to say to them – to us? "I have loved you, says the Lord"? – Because I Loved Jacob and Hated Easu? – I need a little help here God – okay here’s your help --- "Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" - "Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated?" What does that mean? Why did God ask that, say that? Because He knew that the answer to that question, the understanding of that statement contained the key to the Essence of His Love – the secret to Loving Better!!

What is the answer? - Was not Esau Jacob's brother? The answer is yes. In fact, as every Israelite knew, Esau was not only Jacob's brother, he was his twin brother, conceived in the womb of Rebecca by their father Isaac. Jacob and Esau were not like the sons of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael. They had different mothers and one of them wasn't even an Israelite. But Jacob and Esau were twins. And not only were they twins, Esau was the elder, which means that by all customary rights and privileges he would be the main heir of the father's blessings. But Jacob tricked Isaac and Esau into giving him the blessing that was rightfully Esau’s.

So, what is the God’s point of saying, "Is not Esau Jacob's brother?" The point is this: Based on what you and Esau were in yourselves I could just as easily have chosen Esau as you. Isn't he your brother? Weren't you twins? Isn't he in fact your elder? But I loved you and hated him.

Let’s take a moment here, because this is so very key and so very tricky – it is a major point of confusion and difference in the Christian Faith.

Let’s take a look at a parallel verse in Romans – Romans Chapter 9 verses 11-13

Romans 9:11-13 (NIV) Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls—she was told, "The older will serve the younger." Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."

Is God saying here that He hated a baby even before the baby was born – even before the baby grew up to do anything – God hated him – just because He wanted to – is that what God is saying here? No not at all – first, the word hate here is not used in the context we use the word hate. In Scripture the word hate is used to denote a preference:

Luke 14:26 (NASB) "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.

Is Luke saying you need to hate your own family, hate your own wife and kids – no, of course not – he is simply saying you must place God first – that is made clear in Matthew’s writing of the same scripture:

Matthew 10:37 (NASB) "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. Secondly going back to the question of Jacob and Esau - God isn’t talking about individuals here - He isn’t talking about the persons of Jacob and Esau - He is talking corporately; He is using them as a metaphor for the two nations that would be raised up amongst mankind – Those who accept Christ as Lord and Savior and those who do not!

Genesis 25:23-27 (NASB) The LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger." When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. Now the first came forth red, all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau. Afterward his brother came forth with his hand holding on to Esau's heel, so his name was called Jacob;

What then is God's answer to the question, "How hast thou loved us?" His answer is: I have loved you with free, sovereign, unconditional, “Agape” love; that is how I have loved you.

My love for you is unconditional love because I chose you before you had done anything good or bad - while you were still in your mother's womb (Genesis 25:24). My love for you is sovereign love because I was under no constraint to love you; I was not forced or coerced; I was totally in charge when I set my love upon you. And my love for you is free because it's the overflow of my infinite grace that can never be bought. And it is open to all who accept it - yes even Esau if he would do so – yes even all those who reject my Son in this community, in this town, in this world – God’s Love, His Grace, His Mercy is enough to cover all.

Matthew 5:45 (NIV) ---- He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Now back to the study - It is remarkable, in view of Israel's sin, that God's first message to them in this book is that He loves them. They may have felt unloved because of the suffering of the captivity, the shape of Jerusalem when they returned, the drought and economic instability, but God reminds them that they will recover. If He was against them, they wouldn't be able to bounce back. Edom may rebuild, God said, but He will destroy what they rebuild. His activity will cause all who see to say, "Great is the Lord!"

Israel's situation is far different from Edom's (in other words, the situation of all who call Christ Lord and Savior - is far different then the situation of those who have rejected His gift of eternal life given so freely upon a cross on a hill so long ago.

God didn’t stop bad things from happening to Israel and He doesn’t stop bad things from happening to us either, but He walked with them and He walks with us in and through it all.

We may not see it now – we may not understand it now – it may not make any sense to us now – but twenty, thirty years later – or maybe not until we are in Heaven with Him – will the light finally go on and will it all make sense to us – will we see it all clearly! How would you answer that question in your own life? How would you describe God's love to you? Is your life and family in such a shambles that you feel as skeptical about it as the Israelites did? Do you want to say, "How hast thou loved me?"

I don't doubt that there is a little of that in all of us. - Let read to you a true story from a great read if you are looking for an inspiring book to read: Thriving Beyond Surviving: Stories of Resilience From a Hospital Chaplain

“Hospital Chaplain Norris Burkes went on full alert when he heard that a family of stab victims would arrive at the emergency room in a few minutes. The family was entertaining a friend in their home who had a dark secret-he was a crack addict. The tranquil visit turned into a nightmare when he ran out of crack and lost his sanity. He demanded money from his hosts, and when they wouldn't comply with his request, he began stabbing them.

It was horrible. Blood was everywhere. The father died. The baby was critical. Mom was stable.

Big sister was in the best shape physically, but emotionally she'd entered the twilight zone. As the doctors worked with those needing medical attention, Chaplain Burkes took the ten year old girl into the chapel to pray.

Her prayers began very innocent, like you'd expect to hear from a little girl. She asked God to help her family recover and that everything would be OK. Then her prayers lost their innocence, as she had that night, and became brutally honest. "She demanded to know why God let her father die," Chaplain Burkes said, and "she had a few choice words for her houseguest as well."

Rage got the best of her; she swept the candles off of the altar and began overturning chairs in the chapel. The Chaplain called for Jeannie, the nurse supervisor, who held the child in her arms and took her back into the ER to give her a sedative.

Where was God's love for this little girl?

Shouldn't His love have stopped this man from ravaging her family? Shouldn't his love have stopped this man from becoming addicted to crack? Shouldn't His love have stopped the drug pushers from selling drugs to this man?

And that's the rub. When we analyze what we expect of God's love, have you noticed that it always goes back to limiting man's choice or to negating the consequences for choices? Because of man's free will, the man had a choice to kill or not to kill, to buy drugs or not buy drugs, to use drugs or not use drugs. Can a just God negate the consequences for man's choices? Do you think God is obligated by love to give you the answers at a test that you didn't study for? Is God constrained by His love to keep a person healthy and strong that never exercises?

To describe God as a loving God and stop at that description is a great injustice to who He is. Not only is He loving, He is righteous and holy and just. Would God be a loving God if He didn't allow us to exercise free will? Wouldn't that make him a tyrant-controlling, overbearing God, instead of a loving God? Have you noticed how quick we are to blame God, blame society, blame our circumstance, blame the knife maker, blame anyone and anything so we don’t have to face the consequences of our own free will.

What about the crack addict himself? Some will be quick to say that he isn't to blame for his actions-he has a disease. His addiction is a medical problem, not one of choice. But wasn't the first time he took crack a choice, not the a result of an addiction?

What about Satan? Shouldn't he deserve some of the blame?

Satan is active, working in the hearts of those who are disobedient to God. His intent is evil and destructive - God has chosen to allow evil and good to grow next to one another - People choose which path they take.

So where was God's love that night?

God's love was in the prayers and the presence of the Chaplain. His love was in the arms of the nurse. This wasn't the first wounded child she had taken in her arms. A year before it was her own son. Chaplain Burkes said, "She placed her arms around that child in much the same way I'd seen her place her arms around her own son who was paralyzed in an auto accident the year before."

Where is God's love? – Where is God’s Love in your life – I can tell you where He is in mine. He is in each and every one of your faces as I look out each Sunday and see your eyes trained on mine as His word is shared – He is in my kids and my job and the fact that I am blessed to serve Him and you as your Pastor and not need to take an income so we can afford to stay open and roll the funds donated so graciously and lovingly by you back into serving this community. He is in every hurt and every sorrow I have ever gone through – because it has brought me to this point here today and there is no place else, I would rather be – need to be, called to be. And He is in every Joy and every smile and every laugh I have ever experienced – because that too has brought me to this very point today.

And it is in the fact – the reality – that He gives each of us that call His Son Lord and Savior – the gift, the opportunity, the blessing to be used by Him – for His glory and purpose – it is our physical Hands and Feet, Arms and Eyes and Ears and Spoken Word and Hug Given – that Loves Better – but to get to that point – to get past ourselves – get off our ME MOUNTAIN to be able to do that – we need to open ourself up enough to see what God is trying to do

Show Video Clip – Remember the Titans – Strong Side

Just like in the clip – it starts with One – Just one who gets it – and then that domino will start to fall, and the rest will follow, and the world will be Loved Better and forever Changed!

Let Us Pray!

End with Song: Hills and Valleys by Tauren Wells