Today's scripture reading is found in Malachi, chapter 1, verses 6 to 14.
Please follow along as I read.
A son honours his father, and a servant his master.
If then I am a father, where is my honour?
If I am a master, where is my fear, says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests who despise my name.
But you say, how have we despised your name?
By offering polluted food upon my altar.
But you say, how have we polluted you?
By saying that the Lord's table may be despised.
When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil?
And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil?
Present that to your governor.
Will he accept you or show you favour, says the Lord of hosts?
And now entreat the favour of God.
That he may be gracious to us.
With such a gift from your hand, will he show favour to any of you, says the Lord of hosts?
O that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire upon my altar in vain.
I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts.
And I will not accept an offering from your hand.
For from the rising of the sun to its setting, my name will be great among the nations.
In every place, incense will be offered to my name and a pure offering.
For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.
But you profane it when you say that the Lord's table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food, may be despised.
But you say, what a weariness this is.
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.
For I am a great king, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.
This is the reading of God's word.
Please be seated.
Good morning, everyone.
If you haven't met me before, my name is Alistair, and I'm one of the pastors here at Watermark Church.
But I've only been here for a short time, maybe three months now.
So if you haven't met me, then please come and say hello.
I'd love to come and meet you.
One of my cousin's kids, I asked her once, she went to school, and it was kind of before, it was like a preschool.
She was only four years old.
And I said, so, are there many friends at your preschool?
And she said, there are so many friends that I haven't even met them all yet.
And so that's kind of what it's like with you guys.
You're all friends, but I haven't met some of you yet.
So I hope that I will meet all of you as time goes on.
And we have a bunch of people here also that are from overseas and have come and joined us in the elite crowd.
So it's great to see you guys here.
When I visited Watermark last year, actually, you guys were here too.
So if you were here last year, I remember you from then.
24 hours ago, I was in Singapore, trying to get ready to pack and leave to come back to Hong Kong.
And I've been on it two weeks away in Taipei and Singapore with Aldrin and also with Eric.
And we were on the City to City Redeemer Church Planning Training and Assessment Program.
It was a four-week program, two weeks in Hong Kong, a bit in Taipei, a bit in Singapore.
And it was a fantastic time to get to know different church planners from all around the Asia-Pacific area,
to see different church plants, including Watermark, in action, in Taipei as well and in Singapore,
and to meet some trainers and people who had been church planners,
who had done it for maybe two years, five years, ten years, twenty years,
and to learn from these people.
It was a great opportunity.
And because I knew that I was preaching back here on Sunday,
I was preparing kind of during the week as I was away as well,
and I thought, oh, that's all right, I've got Saturday to prepare.
And, you know, I'd always wished when I was working in previous jobs
that I'd had one of those jobs which would send you flying all over the world, you know,
and you'd be able to, like, work from your laptop, and you'd go wherever you like,
and you'd see all these different places.
And so I was kind of experiencing this, and it was really great to be overseas
and to be learning from these guys.
But I've realized it's actually really hard work to try and work while you're on the go.
So, you know, it takes me about probably 15 minutes to really kind of get settled
and to think and to pray and to get ready to start the creative process
that's required to begin working on a sermon.
But when you're going from airport lounge to airport lounge to plane to off the plane,
you only really get about 20 minutes at a sitting.
So you just kind of just barely get started, and they're like,
okay, final call, Mr. Alistair Chu, kind of thing.
And then when you get on the plane, you finally have some uninterrupted time.
But if you happen to be sitting next to a 6'8 giant like Eric happens to be,
there isn't a lot of room to move and to put the laptop up and so on.
And it's just, yeah, it's just tricky.
So I really thank you for those who've been praying for today.
I really need it.
We all have things that kind of we wished for maybe when we were younger,
but that maybe didn't turn out quite the way that we expected them to.
You know, some kind of disappointment, like with me and the flying thing.
But what if we're disappointed in God?
What would that look like?
Suppose we doubted what God had to say and mistrusted him.
Or suppose that we had grown weary in serving God, or perhaps lazy,
and had a lack of devotion in our hearts.
Suppose that we thought that it was futile to serve God,
that there was this futility that we were questioning.
You know, is this worth it?
Like, what is the purpose of us doing this?
And so we end up dishonoring or disrespecting the name of God.
Well, that's the situation which we find ourselves here in Malachi,
the first few chapters,
where the Israelites have reached a stage
where they have grown weary of serving God.
And as a result,
they bring dishonor and disrespect to,
as it says,
the table of the Lord.
And as Alfie said before,
you can understand it.
Because it had been some time
since they had seen
kind of the great and marvelous works of God.
And when they came back,
so these Israelites have been away from the land in exile,
punished by God for their disobedience,
and they have come back
expecting to rebuild their land.
But somehow,
what they saw in front of them
didn't match up to the expectations which they had.
And so they were disappointed.
They were weary.
They scoffed at God,
and they wondered whether it was worth it at all to serve Him.
And this is shown in their sacrifices,
when they were bringing unworthy sacrifices to God.
As it says,
they were bringing blind, lame, or diseased animals to God.
You can just imagine,
you know,
you've got a dinner party, right?
And someone's,
you know,
a friend is coming over.
And let's say you owned a farm,
and you had a bunch of sheep out there,
and you're going to sacrifice or slaughter one of them for the meal.
And, you know,
one of them got run over by truck.
And you're like,
oh, that one,
that'll do.
Let's grab that one,
and we'll take that.
I mean, he's dead anyway,
so, you know,
we can just clean it off a bit,
get the tire marks off it,
and then we'll be good to go.
We'll serve it for dinner.
What if,
instead of a friend,
it was, say,
the town mayor?
Or a sporting hero of yours?
Or perhaps the Queen of England,
for those of you who are from Commonwealth countries?
You show disrespect to your honored guest
by what you present on the table.
And in this case,
it's not just an honored guest,
but the God of the universe
that the Israelites are serving,
who saved them again and again,
who they are showing disrespect.
And they grumble and complain about it as well.
You know,
they say,
this is a weariness.
And is it worth it to serve God?
You see in chapter 3.
They question God's love for them
back in verse 2 of chapter 1.
And they felt like it's a burden,
a great burden to serve the Lord
down there in verse 13.
Why did they keep doing it then?
Why were they bringing these sacrifices,
which clearly their heart was not in,
out of a sense of obligation, perhaps?
A sense of duty.
You see,
verse 9 tells us that
they actually wanted acceptance from God.
They wanted to gain His favor.
And so they keep doing it
in such a way as to,
perhaps,
that God might show favor to them.
Warning something from His hand.
Or,
it could be that they do it
to gain approval from others.
To be seen to be doing the right thing.
Jesus talks about that
when He's talking with the Pharisees.
And He says,
He talks about them
loving to do their deeds before others.
To be seen by others.
You see,
their practices
revealed what is inside their hearts.
Their unworthy hearts.
Because ultimately,
there's a lack of love for God
in their hearts.
Sometimes my dad
would often clean up the table.
And when I say clean up,
I don't mean like into the bin.
I would mean clean up the food
left over by his kids, us,
and it would go into his mouth.
And often he would say,
you know,
I'm the laptop tongue,
the rubbish bin, right?
And that's what he'd call himself.
And, you know,
it was a joke and so on.
But what if,
you know,
say it's Father's Day
or it's birthday, right?
And we kids are like,
you know,
creating a card
and we pull out,
you know,
a bit of cardboard
from the rubbish bin.
It's got a bit of food
all over it
and kind of scrape it off
and we write on that
and present that
as a gift to him.
What kind of,
how would he take that?
What kind of dishonor
and disrespect
would that be to him?
What it would show
is that
we didn't really care
about God.
Sorry,
about,
we kids wouldn't have cared
about our dad.
We were just going
through the motions.
It was just an obligation.
And how do you think
God feels
about the way
that the Israelites
are going about
their sacrifices,
going through the motions
full of weariness
and laziness,
full of doubt
and mistrust
and a lack of devotion?
I'll tell you
how he feels.
In verse 10,
he wishes that
they would shut
the doors of the temple.
They would just
shut the doors
and close it all up,
put out the fires,
forget it,
go home.
Don't even bother coming,
he says,
because your hearts
are not there.
You haven't come
at all, really.
You've been,
you've left
your hearts at home
or wherever
they're desiring
and you're just
going through the motions.
A lack of love
for God
in their hearts
means that they're
disobeying
the greatest commandment,
that is to love
the Lord your God
with all your heart
and soul
and mind
and strength.
Well,
have you ever
felt like this?
Who are we serving?
If we're not serving God,
then we end up
serving ourselves.
There are many things
that we chase after
in the city
and in the city
where I'm from,
in Sydney,
people chase after
security
in the form of property
and they chase after
status and power
and position
as defined by wealth.
So the thing
that Sydney people,
Sydney scientists
talk about most,
more than anything else,
is property,
property values
and where's the best place
to buy
and all that kind of thing.
And I think
it's not that different
here in Hong Kong.
People chase after
these things
and they get enslaved
to them,
sacrificing their family
and friends
and relationships
and other things
on the altar
of success,
of wealth,
of status,
of power.
Who are we serving?
Because what we serve
is what captures
our hearts.
You might have a job
and you say,
I'm serving my boss.
But what holds you there,
binds you
to that position
with chains
that are stronger
than steel,
often it's the status
and the lifestyle
that come with that job.
Or perhaps
it's the dream
of a better life
that might come
in the future
from this job.
And underneath
all of that,
it's the approval
of man
that is driving us.
You see,
if these are the things
that have captured
our hearts,
the reason why
we get up in the morning,
then these have
effectively displaced God
as the number one desire
in our hearts.
Because if we're not
serving God,
we're serving our idols.
But you might say,
some of us are serving God
in our lives.
We're heavily involved
in church.
We've been following God
all our lives.
Well, I say,
like the Israelites,
we too may be
serving God
to gain approval
or acceptance
or out of a sense
of obligation
or duty.
Obligation means
that we're doing it
out of fear.
We feel a deep need
for acceptance,
which is why we continue
to go through the motions.
Or perhaps
our identity
is so wrapped up
in what we do
that we keep on doing
the Christian thing
even though
we might have lost
the heart for it
a long time ago.
This is my story,
actually.
I've been serving
as a minister
for five years
before I came here
to Hong Kong.
And before that,
of course,
I've been involved
in university ministry
and through Bible
College and so on.
And I think
over that time,
I just felt
my heart slipping
further and further
away from
where it should be.
But I was still
serving God.
I was still
going through
the motions.
I was still
continuing to do
all the things
which were
expected of me.
But it was
out of obligation.
Perhaps out of a sense
of identity
that this is who I am
as someone
who serves God.
But by then,
my heart was
no longer in it.
And approval,
I found as well,
that we might
try and serve God
to impress others
or perhaps even
to impress ourselves
to fulfill our own
need for self-fulfillment
in this world.
We serve God,
if we serve God
out of approval,
out of a motivation
to look good
in front of other people,
and we base
our self-concept
and our self-worth
on being the kind
of person
who is a good person,
a moral person,
a person who serves God,
then that can lead
to a couple of things.
First of all,
we can look down
upon those
who don't serve God
in as good a way
as we do,
who don't have
the compassion,
who don't meet
our standards of service.
We'll begin to feel
like we deserve
acceptance
and a better life
from God
because of what we do
and who we are.
You see,
we're actually doing it
to get favor
from God,
much like the Israelites
were.
Oh, and if,
somehow,
God doesn't favor us
as we think we deserve,
what happens then?
Well,
we get angry at Him,
deeply angry.
When trials
and hardships come
as God has said
that they will come,
we might say,
God,
it wasn't supposed
to be this way.
Didn't I do everything?
Didn't I give up
everything to serve you?
Why aren't you
blessing my ministry,
my life?
Our unworthy sacrifices
also reveal
something deeper
that is going on.
It is our hearts
which are unworthy.
So what do we do about it?
Or what do we try
and do about it?
There's two things we try.
First of all,
is we try harder
and then secondly,
we give up.
We try harder
and that's the path
of moralism.
We strap on our boots
and get out there
and think that we can
strive ourselves
back into service.
And that might work
for a while.
But what that leads to
is a joyless Christianity.
One where we've lost
the heart of it
and we're simply doing it.
We're simply forcing
ourselves to do that.
And it's a Christianity
that condemns others
as well because we look
down our noses
at those who can't meet
those standards
that we do.
But it's tiring
living that way.
And eventually,
we get tired
and we give up.
God hasn't given us
what we wanted
and so we walk away.
And what we're really
saying in our hearts
is,
God,
this thing that I wanted
from you,
this thing that I wanted
is greater than my love
for you
and if I don't get it,
then I will abandon you
and walk away.
because something else
has displaced God
in our hearts.
Whether it's the approval
of humans,
whether it's a certain status
that we wanted,
a certain lifestyle,
a certain friendship.
And we forget
that even though God
has given us everything
in our lives
and He's been generous
upon generous to us,
we feel that He's distant
and we feel that He's
withholding from us
and we feel that He's
not generous at all.
And like the Israelites,
we lose our sense of love
and thankfulness
and we think of God
as a miser
withholding from us.
And when we think that,
then we turn into misers too.
We keep things for ourselves.
I'm willing to share ourselves
with God and with others.
Well, I've gone down
both of these paths.
Trying harder
and then giving up.
And I started to think of God
as one who blessed other people,
but not me.
And so I turned away
from the God
who gave me life
and breath
and everything.
My unworthy heart
was shown
in my actions.
What will God do
about our unworthy hearts?
He will send one
who is worthy
to be the sacrifice
that we couldn't make.
He sent His Son
to redeem us
from our unworthiness.
You see,
Christ came to do
what we could not.
When He came,
He served God
fully
and wholeheartedly
without turning away,
without giving up,
all the way
to the end,
without self-seeking.
And He became
the truly worthy sacrifice
that covered all
of the unworthy sacrifices
that the Israelites made
and all of the unworthy sacrifices
that we make.
We're told
to look to Christ
as our sacrifice.
We're told
to look to Christ
where we have
full acceptance
from God.
We're told
to look to Christ
where we have,
where we see
divine approval
from God.
As Christ
is the one
who sacrificed Himself
on the cross,
so we see
that we can
come to Him
and be accepted
by God.
No longer
do we have to fear
God's anger,
God's punishment.
No longer
do we have to fear
the approval,
gaining or not gaining
the approval
of our fellow human beings.
Because in the cross,
God declares that,
God declares His love
for a people
that have walked away
from Him.
For a humanity
that has turned
their back on Him,
God reaches down
and rescues us.
It's not enough
that God has created us,
created the world
that we live in,
created the stars
and the heavens
and the trees
that we see,
the air that we breathe.
It's not enough for us.
We're still turned away.
And so God came
into the world,
became one of us,
died for us
to win us back.
That's the kind of God
that we serve.
The kind of God
who wins us,
whose acceptance
we don't need to
try and achieve.
What that means
is that we can now
be free.
Freed from that sense
of obligation,
of duty.
Freed from that sense
that I had before
of feeling like
I had to go
through the motions
to just continue
doing this thing
because this was
my identity.
My identity
is now in Christ.
And what that means
for me
is that
I'm free
to worship Him
regardless of
whether
I'm a pastor,
regardless of
whether I'm teaching
or not,
regardless of
of what I'm doing.
I'm a child of God
first and foremost.
We can now be free
to offer our sacrifices
whether it's time,
money,
gifts,
labor,
even our families.
We can offer it
to Him
without fear.
We can offer it
to Him
without fear
of missing out
because in Christ
we see that
God is
generous.
we don't need
to worry
or fear
about missing out
of what God
gives to us.
As Jesus said,
those who follow me,
those who have given up
much for me
will receive many times
in this world
and then eternal life
in the world to come.
And we don't need
to fear punishment
because in Christ
we see that God
is forgiving.
And these were the things
that the Israelites
were worried about.
They were worried
that they would miss out
if they gave
more of what they had
to God
because they saw God
as somebody
who was holding
stuff tight
and they were afraid
of punishment.
You see,
it's a totally different
way of relating to God.
I call it thankfulness
and it's kind of
like a jealousy.
A jealousy,
a kind of a,
what kids do,
you know,
when they snatch things
away from one another.
They say,
this is mine,
this is mine.
We do that to God
because we feel like
He hasn't provided for us.
If He hasn't given us enough,
then we have to,
with our own two hands,
take what is ours.
Instead of being
like the Israelites
who grumbled
and complained about God,
bringing their diseased
and crippled sacrifices
to God,
having hardened hearts
that lost their love
for God long ago,
we can see afresh
the love of God
for us.
We can realize
that He has given us
everything
and withheld
not even His own Son.
And what happens is
that as our vision
of God changes,
as we see God
who He truly is,
as we turn away
from seeing God
as some kind of miser
who holds on to things
and refuses to give them
to us,
to being one who
abundantly and generously
and overflowingly
gives us of His love
and His acceptance
and His favor,
then we too
can change
from being miserly
to overflowing
with thankfulness,
to being generous
of spirit.
And we won't hold on tight
with clenched fists
the things that we have
to protect ourselves,
but instead we'll be open,
open-hearted
with our friendship,
with our relationships,
with our service,
with our wealth,
regardless of whether
we have much
or little.
Will we open
with our very hearts
because our very hearts
will have been captured
by the wonder
of the heart of God
who came,
who sent His Son
to come and die for us.
And I need to hear this
as much,
if not more,
than any of you.
And it's a journey
that we're all on together.
And one of the great things
that I love about
our church here at Watermark
is that we are on
this journey together.
You see,
we learn the gospel
in community
and we help each other on
knowing that
none of us have yet made it,
but that we're all heading
towards the same goal
and that is Christ.
And so,
won't you join me
in heading towards Christ,
in giving up
the loves
that take us away
from God
and in following
after the things
of our own hearts
instead of having
our hearts captured
by the wonder of God.
Let's pray.
Father God,
we thank you so much
that even though
we come to you
with unworthy hearts,
you are one
who is worthy.
And we pray
that you would help us
to be captured
by your love,
your worthiness,
and your son.
We thank you
that Jesus came
to sacrifice himself
for us.
We thank you
that we
are people
that even though
we bring nothing
to you,
you've done everything
for us.
Father,
we know that even
the sacrifices
that we make
are not worthy
of you
and our hearts
are often mixed
in their motivations.
But Father,
we ask that you
would purify us,
that you give us
such a vision
of who you are
that would never
leave us,
that would encourage
us when we're feeling
the things
of this world.
Father,
help us instead
to overflow
with thankfulness
as a response
to who you are
and what you've
done for us.
we pray that we
would also reflect
that love
towards one another
and to this world.
Amen.