Word of Salvation – Vol. 18 No.32 – August 1972
The Precious Community
Sermon by Rev. N. Hart, Th.Grad. on Mal.3:17
SCRIPTURE READINGS: Mal.3:13 – 4:3; 1Peter 1:13-25
PSALTER HYMNAL: 112; 235: 1,3,9 (after grace); 92:1,3,6; 111; 491
“And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when make up my jewels. And I will spare them as a man spareth his one son who serveth him”.
Recently, I was studying some books about the VALUES of distinctive ORGANIZATIONS within a culture. You know the sort of thing I am talking about? Maori (or Aboriginal) cultural groups, sporting organizations, debating clubs, choral societies, etc., etc. The question was: WHAT VALUE are they to the community as a whole?
What, for instance, is the RESPONSIBILITY of the whole of SOCIETY TO SUPPORT any one of the host of organizations which find support among some part of our community if it should come into FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES, or if it should lack proper ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONEL? Is it the duty of the community as a whole to support these small groups? Or, should we let them sink if they are unable to keep their head above water?
The author claimed that ONE SHOULD NOT LOOK upon the ECONOMIC VALUE of these organizations, but more upon their SOCIAL VALUE. IF our culture should LOSE THE DIVERSE RANGE of clubs and organizations, how colourless community life would be!
The author did not speak about SPECIFIC ORGANIZATIONS, since his was a theoretical work, but it is interesting to reflect WHAT THE CHURCH IS WORTH to our culture. How much of the public funds or community subscriptions do you think the Church would warrant if it could not keep its head above water? What is THE CHURCH WORTH? What is the VALUE of the Church?
This morning, I am going to suggest that the Church is a precious organization. A PRECIOUS COMMUNITY.
1. IN THE EYES OF GOD.
I am convinced that many people would quarrel with me about this suggestion. And it would be hard to debate with them.
WHAT MAKES A THING VALUABLE?
Value is a rather subjective standard, isn’t it? What is a toy motorcar worth? It depends, doesn’t it? It depends on who wants it and how bad he wants it. (I hope none of the ladies is wearing a new hat), but what is a hat worth? Rather SUBJECTIVE, isn’t it? What is the CHURCH WORTH?
Most of the arguments in the world are about VALUES. Nobody argues about the speed of sound – but there seems to be no end of argument about what recording of the latest Hits sounds best. Value is something personal. When 70% of the population claims that one soft-drink is better than another, it does not mean that that drink is better. It only means that more people like it. Not that it is better.
But there is one way in which we can work out final values. That is, when we appeal to a final referee on the matter. What is the VALUE OF THE CHURCH? No, NOT to its MEMBERS, NOT to the COMMUNITY, who use its services for ‘births, deaths and marriages’ or for some social prestige or moral consciousness, but TO GOD. And God said:
“They shall be mine in the day when I make up my Jewels.”
In the GREAT DAY OF FINAL ADJUSTMENTS – on stock taking day – when God shall make up His own people from the assembled millions of the world. He will gather His Church and will call her precious. The Church is so precious to God that He regards her as HIS OWN possession, to be SHARED BY NO ONE.
This is no new message in the Scriptures, one which is restricted to this place. As Exodus 19 tells us, it was the message Moses had to bring to Israel, three months after they were rescued from Egypt, without a land for themselves, wandering in the wilderness:
“You shall be a peculiar treasure to me
a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.”
This gave them courage to travel into that wilderness. In Deuteronomy 7:6 we read that Moses declared to them:
“…the Lord your God has chosen you
to be a special people unto himself,
above all people that are upon the face of the earth.”
That was quite something to hear by a people who stood there in the burning sand of the Sinai desert.
This statement of divine appreciation served as the theme for Psalm 135:
“Praise the Lord sing praises unto his name;
For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself,
and Israel for a peculiar treasure.”
It is something to sing and praise about, when we are precious in the eyes of our God. It matters little what others may think.
“If God is for us, who shall be against us?”
2. THE PEOPLE TO WHOM IT REFERS
I said just then, “If God is for US. . . !” To whom does this US refer? When a mother comes home and sees her children and shouts, “Hallo children, am I glad to see you!” does this also refer to the children’s friends who might be in the room or the garden? No, not just everybody is precious in the sight of God. Only those about whom God says, “They shall be mine”.
WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? Were they the WHOLE GROUP OF RESIDENT JEWS who lived at the time of Malachi? No, they were not. It referred to a small group among them.
“Those who feared the Lord, and that thought upon his Name”
They were only a small group among all those who lived in Judah at the time. They were an exception. Listen to 1:6,7….
“A son honours his father, and a servant his master.
If I am a Father, where is my honour?
If I am a Master, where is my reverence?
says the Lord of host unto you, O priests who despise my name.
And you say, In what things have we despised your Name…?”
And then the passage goes on as to how they have ‘short-changed God’. They offered to God, the things they would not even dare to bring to the Persian governor. The GOVERNMENT was getting a better deal than God was.
To them God said: 1:10…. “I have no pleasure in you,
neither will I accept an offering from your hand.”
God could not care what they were doing with their second- rate offerings. He didn’t want them anyway.
Reverence for God? No this was not the characteristic of the majority. Look at chapter 3:14…
“You have said, it is vain, it is useless to serve God:
What benefit is it to us if we keep God’s commandments?
What profit is it to us if we repent in the presence of God?
The person who is arrogant towards God is better off.
The person who puts God to the test gets by.”
That was the general idea. That was the general practice. The general practice of the community which looked upon itself as the Church but whom God did not recognize as such.
God recognized only those “who worshipped the Lord and meditated on His Name.”
What does this mean?
The words “the fear of the Lord” is the O.T. definition of the ‘true religion’. It occurs in such places as Ps.111:10:-
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
A good understanding have all those who keep His commandments.”
In this sense it stands for the keeping of God’s commandments, a respect for His law. In Proverbs 8:13 we read:-
“The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride, and arrogance,
the evil way, and a mouth full of lies do I hate.”
In our language today, it would mean Christian discipleship; to keep the commandments of Jesus. It means to live a life of clean thoughts and noble deeds. It is the avoidance of every appearance of evil.
But HOW is this possible? We are so easily distracted. Sin is lurking at the very door of our hearts. How can we avoid the sin of pride and arrogance? How can we steer clear of the crooked paths of life? How can we keep our tongue from speaking lies?
I believe that our text for today has the answer. Who were those who were precious in the sight of God? Those who feared the Lord and thought upon His name. Who can keep His life clean? The person who meditates on the Name of God.
I suppose there is no better way to put it than to put it in the words of George Stebbins reflection on Psalm 63:6….
“The loving kindness of my God is more than life to me;
So I will bless thee while I live and lift my prayer to thee.
In Thee my soul is satisfied, my darkness turns to light,
and joyful meditations fill the watches of the night.”
“The Name of the Lord”; this is self-revelation. His self- revelation is His ‘loving kindness”. And what is the loving kindness of God? Eternal life. Anyone who reflects throughout the day on the great love of God, will not be haughty, will not be arrogant, will keep away from sinful deeds.
It is sometimes said that a day-dreamer is a person who is in love. And so it is with the Christian. Those who love the Lord will think upon His love for us.
“How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds, in a believer’s ear,
it soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and drives away his fear.”
I believe the older members of the congregation are really handicapped in their spiritual life. No doubt they learned their Christian songs and psalms during childhood days. But for many of us these are in a language which we do not use daily. The hymns and Psalms are not sung anymore to remind us of their content. And so except for the members of the choir and the Sunday School teachers, we do not have the ready vehicle of thought – the Christian hymn and psalm to give expression to our meditation on the Name of the Lord.
Moreover, meditation as an art of mind has been lost in the extremely busy world of Western Culture. Although wrong forms of it are creeping back through the Maharishi and the Hare Krishna movement.
In Mark 1:35 we read:-
“And in the morning, rising up a great while before day,
he went out, and departed into a quiet place by himself,
and there he prayed.”
Who was that? Jesus! The secret of His life, was His fellowship with His Father.
Now, it is not my intention to prescribe when you should conduct your private meditations. The suggestion of the text is throughout the day and the Psalmist seems to favour the night as well. But I just put it to you. HOW MUCH DO YOU MEDITATE ON THE NAME OF GOD ON HIS SELF-REVELATION?
By that you will know if you are precious to the Lord.
And there is one more thing said about these people who are precious in the eyes of God. Verse 16….
“They that feared the Lord spoke often one to another.”
In the midst of ungodliness and spiritual indifference, we find a small group of people, who spend time together talking about the mercy of the Lord, encouraging one another in godliness and singing and praising God for His goodness.
Consider yourself, DO YOU BELONG TO THOSE WHO ARE PRECIOUS IN THE EYES OF GOD?
Amen.