We Have Opportunity

"You also say, 'Oh, what a weariness!' and you sneer at it," says the LORD of hosts. "And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick; thus you bring an offering! Should I accept this from your hand?" says the LORD."

Malachi 1:13

Through the prophet Malachi, God confronted His people with their approach to keeping His law and statues.  They viewed the keeping of feasts and offerings a boring chore, and their slack effort evident before God should have been obvious to them as well.  Instead of selecting the first and best of their flock, they brought Him stolen and sickly animals their king would have refused with offence.  Their sneers of disdain were seen by God, and their offerings were sin.

We are richly blessed to live in this day of grace, having had the Gospel revealed to us with the love of Jesus Christ.  Over the years I have heard many exclaim when reading the Law, "I'm so glad not to live under the Law and have to keep all those commands.  What a pain!"  This attitude of gratitude may mask disdain and not be far from those in the day of Malachi.  Instead of viewing the Law as a weary task man was obliged to follow, better to see it as the gracious provision of God to allow Him to dwell in their midst and for them to have fellowship with Him.  The Law was not given for man to earn favour or an audience with God but provided a means for God to bless His people because they found favour in His sight.

How things would have been different if the Jews in the day of Malachi loved and served God only and valued His presence, guidance and wisdom more than gold!  They were afforded a privilege others could only long for, for God committed His precepts to His chosen people.  It was not a chore meant to weary them but and opportunity to commune with Him:  to praise, glorify and honour Him, to avoid sin and do what pleased Him.  David sung in Psalm 5:3-4, "My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up. ⁴ For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You."  Sacrifices and offerings provided a covering from sin that allowed those corrupted by sin to find atonement and acceptance by the God who dwelt among them.  Their wickedness was revealed in their weariness in offering their best to the LORD.

God is worthy of all our sacrifices and that we freely offer ourselves, having been purchased by the blood of Jesus as it is written in Romans 12:1:  "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."  It is only by God's grace and mercy we have been saved and can offer ourselves acceptably before Him.  We are called to sow to the Spirit rather than the flesh, and Paul exhorted believers in Galatians 6:9-10, "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. ¹⁰ Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith."  Let us be those who wholeheartedly offer ourselves to the LORD because He is worthy, doing good to all.  This is an offering in which He is well pleased.

Jesus Dropped the Eggs?

It is easy to be intimidated by those who impress us.  We imagine they do not struggle like we do and are impervious to trials and difficulties.  My parents worked to raise their children to love God, go to church, be polite, have good manners and show respect.  Though us kids were by no means perfect, it seems at least one person assumed our house was without struggles and problems they faced.  When my mum told another mum on the phone eggs had fallen to the floor and needed cleaning up, the other shocked woman exclaimed, "Wow!  That happens at your house too?"  Being an amazing mum who worked to raise children and manage the home does not prevent mishaps that are common to all people.

Think about this for a moment:  do you believe Jesus was involved in any accidents?  Do you think he ever dropped eggs because his fingers were wet, knocked over a drink with his elbow when speaking or struck his thumb with a glancing blow from a hammer?  I believe it is very likely Jesus experienced all these things and more because He was a man as well as divine.  Just because Jesus is part of the Godhead does not mean His body was spared fatigue or had perfect coordination without fail.  If Jesus was insulated from what we call "accidents" due to His divinity, humanity would be denied at least two things:  a Saviour who refused to stoop to our level of human weakness, and people the opportunity to see a godly response when accidents happened.

Hebrews 4:15 says of our Saviour Jesus, "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathise with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin."  Accidentally dropping an egg because it is slippery is not a sin, but cursing and outbursts of wrath are.  Jesus was not impervious for painful things happen to Him, like being the victim of vicious pranks, mockery and ridicule.  He might have come to work and his tools were stolen or his hard work sabotaged overnight, and though it is not detailed we know by His divine character He always responded in a godly manner.  Jesus was in all points tempted:  tempted to lust, hate, curse, steal, lash out, gossip and fornicate.  He did not live in a perfect world with perfect parents, family or perfect government.  This world and all its inhabitants are deeply flawed and heading to destruction, and that is why He put on weak, imperfect flesh to become the perfect sacrifice for sin as the Lamb of God without blemish.

It could be more edifying for others to accidentally drop the eggs and respond in a God-honouring and gracious manner than to never have dropped an egg in your life.  Many carpenters have smashed their fingers, blackened nails and sliced their skin in the course of their occupation:  it follows that if Jesus built calluses He also had cuts.  For Jesus to continually draw upon His divine foreknowledge to avoid physical pain or embarrassment runs completely contrary to the cross.  Jesus would be one to step in the way of a falling board to protect others and not flee to preserve His own skin.  During His entire life on earth Jesus experienced the full gamut of human experience, for He cried, rejoiced, feasted, grieved, laboured with his hands, hungered and thirsted, became hot and sweaty from walking, and sat down because He was weary.  This is all to point out that we can assume due to Christ's divinity He cannot relate to our frailty, but the message of the cross says otherwise.

Jesus going to the cross was no accident but was determined from before the foundation of the world (Rev. 3:8).  This is way more meaningful and practical than hearing about a time when Jesus dropped the eggs or overcooked them because He was in a conversation and the fire was running hot.  We are not told of all Jesus suffered, and this shows God's plans and purposes Jesus accomplished and are recorded for us in Scripture are infinitely more significant than accidents and injuries we pick up during this life.  We enjoy heartwarming vignettes about athletes and celebrities that make them a bit more relatable to us, though they don't know us and we really don't know them.  The personal connection we have with Jesus by faith is far more profound, for it is personal, spiritual and eternal.  Better than Him being just like us is by God's grace we shall be like Him, having been born again and accepted in the beloved through the Gospel.  The cuts on His fingers in the workshop and the pierced hands on Calvary are for our benefit and blessing.

The Relevance of God's Word

Since God is the unchanging Creator of all people created in His own image, His eternal word is always relevant.  It is a silly exercise to "try" to be relevant when God alone has the words of life.  We do not need to spruik the relevance of water, food and oxygen because our bodies demand them.  The Bible isn't worth listening to because it is "cool" or "sick" or the popular choice:  it alone provides the spiritual and practical guidance for living now and for eternity, reveals God and His perfect will, instructs us with parables, sustains us with promises, amazes us with prophecy and guides our every step with God's wisdom.

There is nothing wrong with a polished presentation, examples that engage hearers or the use of technology to better connect with seekers.  We go through the effort of preaching, teaching and studying God's word because we know it is relevant to our lives without needing to dress it up in fashionable phrases or with a sales pitch to appeal to unbelieving ears.  This has no credibility, like an older person who tries to fit in with a younger crowd by using current or hip slang in all the wrong ways.  An older person has much to offer a younger person by simply being themselves and sharing wisdom and knowledge they have received by God's grace through their experiences.  I did not love my parents because they were fashionable, artistic or "rad:"  I loved them because they were my parents who loved me first.

I understand the draw to shake up our thoughts about Jesus cobbled together from messages we have heard, pictures we have seen, mistaken assumptions or ignorance.  There is great value in prompting a careful examination to discover what is actually true about God and go beyond traditional caricatures.  Yet this is only valuable as long as we are grounded in the truth of the Bible, an ancient book inspired by the living God who has put it above His own name (Psalm 138:2).  Left to himself man's ideas about God are all wrong, and we also have a tendency towards idolatry--making gods to suit ourselves.  God has given humans the capacity to appreciate and describe a range of flavours in foods, and it will not do to make sweet what God has made bitter.

Following God is a walk of faith.  It is of no value to attempt to smuggle a little Gospel truth masked in morality into a discourse because God's word must be willingly received by a reader or listener to benefit.  It is a common practice to mask a tablet or medicine for a pet by smothering it in a treat they enjoy to trick them into eating it.  Not so with the word of God!  There are difficult sayings in the Bible because it is a revelation of God beyond our full comprehension; there are hard doctrines because our flesh balks and resists submission to the LORD.  As a patient must fill out forms, have a consultation, pay a fee, show up on the day and yield to the scalpel of the surgeon to remove the cancer or repair a torn ligament, so we must step by step yield before God and His word to receive it as timeless truth relevant to our lives today.

To an unbeliever the Bible may seem foolishness, but to those who are born again and filled with the Holy Spirit they are truly the words of life.  God uniquely gives spiritual insight to believers which is most practical, for our hearts and eyes are opened to the relevance and refreshment of God's word for us today and always.  It does more than merely entertain us but enlightens us to our needs we never knew we had and the glorious God who meets them all by His grace.

The Delight of Hunger

One great challenge that faces preachers is to feed those with the word of God who are already full.  We have all had the experience of finishing a satisfying, filling meal at a restaurant to have the waiter offer the dessert menu.  The pictures might be appealing to one who is hungry, but the sweet offerings are not remotely tempting when there is no room inside!  Restaurants are filled with patrons who came with the express purpose of eating, and once their hunger is satisfied they head off to other activities.

The same can be true when it comes to feeding on God's word.  Unlike our stomachs which are filled with food and drink, our minds and hearts can be filled with a vast array of ideas, doctrines, agendas, affections, questions and doubts.  Sometimes a doubt can be so great nothing can displace it from a mind even after all questions have been accurately answered because they will not receive the truth by faith.  I have found social media and online interactions provide a mirage of genuine engagement and discourse, for most comments are either a provocative shot across the bow, carefully crafted to draw into a quarrel, or an opinion posed as fact without desire to actually consider a different perspective.  Ever so often, however, there are people hungry for more than information--but for God and His word.

As a hungry person must ingest food and drink in person, so the best interactions I have had with others is in person.  When a person is really hungry, they are not interested to look at menus, consider ingredients and pricing or see pictures with their eyes:  they want to receive the real thing.  This was true in a spiritual sense concerning the Gentles in Antioch mentioned in Acts 13:42-44:  "So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. ⁴³ Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. ⁴⁴ On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God."  Paul and Barnabas had preached in the Synagogue to people largely hardened to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, yet there were others who were hungry to hear the word of God.  After the gathering Paul and Barnabas met with those who followed them in response to the message, they "persuaded them to continue in the grace of God."

Here we see most fruitful combinations:  hungry people receiving the word of God and God's people persuading others to continue in the grace of God.  Our physical hunger comes and goes as we snack or eat a meal, but spiritual hunger to receive God's truth and fellowship with the brethren is truly insatiable.  Even after we have eaten spiritually we are enabled and equipped to share what we have received, for observe how almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God:  not to be fed, not to be physically healed, not to be baptised or have demons cast out.  When the congregation broke they looked forward to gathering together again to hear the word of God as they continued in the grace of God.  Such hunger for God's word is a delight, for God has the words of life that satisfy our souls.

When a person is hungry, they will be the instigator.  They do not need to be cajoled, bribed, convinced or pressured into eating because they actually want to eat!  The same is true concerning the word of God:  people hungry for the truth of God's word will open the Bible themselves and desire to hear the Bible taught so they might walk in faith according to it.  Save the presence of the God Himself, there is nothing more enjoyable for a preacher or teacher than to personally engage with seekers or believers who are hungry for the word of God.  In that moment there is a sense of doing what you were created to do, having fellowship with God and one another by faith in His grace.