John Piper discusses the book of Malachi, and the effect that careless worship can have.
from blog.worship.com
1. The origin of careless worship.
Malachi leaves us in no doubt about the origin of careless worship. It is the failure to see and feel the greatness of God. He makes this clear in at least two ways.
2. Now we turn to the question: what is the essence of careless worship?
The essence of careless worship is worthless religious activity. Or to be more precise: it’s religious activity that illustrates how little a person values God. That is the sense of verse 10: “Oh, that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire upon my altar in vain!”
3. Finally, we ask, what is the opposite of careless worship?
And this raises the whole question of excellence in worship. For surely one good answer to the question is that excellence is the opposite of carelessness in worship. But what is excellence? I don’t think it’s helpful to talk about excellence in the abstract. First you have to define what the nature of true worship is, and then define excellence in worship as those thoughts and attitudes and words and feelings and forms which most successfully let the true worship happen.
In our first two messages on the book of Malachi we focused on the greatness of God’s electing love (1:1-5) and on the honor of God’s majestic fatherhood (1:6-14). This morning we focus again on 1:6-14, and particularly on the curse of careless worship.
You recall that the priests were despising the name of God by the way they handled the sacrifices in the temple. Notice a few examples.Verse 8: “When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that no evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that no evil?”
Verses 13-14: “What a weariness this is, you say, and you sniff at me, 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 sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished.”
The priests are offering stolen animals and animals that are lame and sick; and the Lord says this is unacceptable (v. 13). It is in fact a curse according to verse 14. “Cursed be the cheat who . . . sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished!” So you can see clearly why it is that this morning we must deal with the curse of careless worship.
In the time we have let’s ponder the
What then is excellence in worship? What is excellence in the music of worship and the architecture of worship? What is excellent dress for worship and art and posture and prayer and preaching? We could talk for hours.
Read the rest of John Piper’s post on “The Curse of Careless Worship” »
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