Links for today’s readings:
Jun 2 Read: Malachi 1 Listen: (2:47) Read: Luke 24 Listen: (6:16)
Scripture Focus: Malachi 1.10-11
10 “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands. 11 My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty.
Reflection: When God Wants to Quit Church
By John Tillman
Imagine facing dangerous obstacles and making huge sacrifices to build a church where none exists. Then, when it is up and running, God says, “Lock the doors. Stop coming.”
That’s the opening chapter of Malachi.
It was a moving and inspiring moment when the rebuilt and rededicated temple was functioning again. (Ezra 6.15-18) But soon after temple worship resumed, God wanted to close the temple doors.
What happens when even God doesn’t want to attend worship? What makes God quit church?
Despite all they did to build the building, the people became indifferent and apathetic and treated the temple, and by extension God, with contempt.
One example of contempt, which Malachi highlighted, was sacrificing unacceptable and valueless animals. A main element of temple worship was eating sacrifices in the Lord’s presence, which also provided food for the priests. Israel brought animals so flawed and sickly, no one could, or wanted to, eat them!
That wasn’t all. Malachi went on to condemn witchcraft, adultery, lies, defrauding workers, oppressing the vulnerable, and depriving immigrants and foreigners of justice (Mal 3.5).
The people’s sacrifices broke faith with God and the temple and their actions in the community broke faith with those God loves and protects. They selfishly kept the best of everything for themselves, leaving the vulnerable desperate and the temple defiled. God will quit or close churches with contempt for the vulnerable.
Often (especially when promoting church attendance and involvement), leaders say something similar to, “Just like you can’t love me and hate my wife, you can’t love Jesus and hate his bride, the church.” This well-intentioned, but flawed analogy fails to account for our responsibility to tell the truth about the conduct of a friend’s wife and the conduct of particular churches. If a friend or family member’s spouse is abusive, an addict, cruel, corrupt, or manipulative, love obligates you to address those problems, not pretend they don’t exist.
If you love Jesus, you should love the church as Jesus does, sacrificing and serving her. This part of the analogy is accurate. But when churches operate in wicked or abusive ways, they don’t get a pass. God tells the truth about his temple and Jesus tells the truth about his churches. Love compels us to tell the truth, not ignore it.
Build churches God wants to keep open, remembering that honest critique is not betrayal but love and love rejoices at repentance.
Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
Out of Zion, perfect in its beauty, God reveals himself in glory.
Let the heavens declare the rightness of his cause; for God himself is judge. — Psalm 50.2,6
– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.
Read more: All Roads Lead to Jerusalem
We must face our Jerusalem…What shall we say, “Deliver us from this hour?” No. We must say, as Jesus did, “Father, glorify your name!”
Read more: Examine Your Sacrifices
We are still called to works of sacrifice…feed the hungry…welcome the stranger…visit the sick and the prisoner.
