HUM-DRUM HOLINESS
"Ye said also, Behold, WHAT A WEARINESS IS IT! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the Lord" (Malachi 1:13).
Commenting on my text, we read the following in the 1599 Geneva Bible Notes: -- "The priests and people were both WEARY WITH SERVING GOD, and did not regard what manner of sacrifice and service they gave to God: for that which was least profitable, was thought GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE LORD."
Those last five words reminded me of a message by pastor W. L. Boone, titled "GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE PREACHER:
"A knock at the parsonage door can lead to experiences of innumerable variations. Some are sad, some are funny. Some are desperate, some are ridiculous. Some are enriching and some are frustrating, but all are immensely interesting.
"This knock introduced one of the characters of the church family. She was a quaint, sometimes a bit more than quaint, maiden-lady school teacher. Characteristically, her hair was a mess and vintage eyeglasses perched precariously near the end of her oft-wrinkled nose. Her wizened, pinched face supported a scrutiny that tolerated little mirth. She wore an ill-fitting dress rescued from rejects that couldn't be sent to the mission field and "sturdy, serviceable" work shoes. Anklets worn over the top of brown, cotton hose correctly identified her rejection of most social conformities.
"In her outstretched hand was a wrinkled, well-used brown paper sack instantly supporting her frugal life style. With a powerful grimace that exposed her few remaining teeth and caused both eyes to close, she tried unsuccessfully to push the old eyeglasses back into place. In genuine sincerity she benevolently decreed, 'These aren't very good, but they're GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE PREACHER.' The invitation extended to her to come in was politely declined with the comment that 'There was much work to be done. The goats had to be milked and the garden hoed.'
"An inspection of the bag's contents revealed two recently deceased Bantam chickens obviously having lived long, full lives. Viewing them was more pitiful than humorous, suggesting a funeral rather than a feast.
"Dutifully, the pastor's wife plucked pinfeathers in excess of an hour, finally skinning them both. Even the pressure cooker failed to tenderize that stringy meat so that it could be eaten, but at least we tried.
"Though that experience has provided laughter at that time and many times since, overtones of serious proportions are to be observed by the thoughtful Christian.
"Without any irreverence intended, it is here suggested that most churches have an unlisted, unseen, unannounced society within their organizational structures. The name it rightly should have is 'Cast Offs For Christ.' Those who belong to it are the people who give to the church such items as have no more use in their lives or homes. WHAT WE THINK IS GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE LORD IS A CORRECT MEASURE OF OUR LOVE FOR THE LORD." -- W. L. Boone
Members of the "Cast Offs For Christ" Society could be said to belong to the "HUM-DRUM HOLINESS CHURCH" -- a professed Holiness group of people who are wearied with the routines of worshipping God. Long ago, the romance of serving Him with their best has "died the death" and all that remains are the routines of worship, coupled with an attitude that "preachers SHOULD BE CONTENT with less than the best, for they are called to a life of sacrifice!"
What the "wizened, pinch-faced, maiden-lady" who knocked on her pastor's door apparently failed to realize was: -- When she said that the two little, old hardened carcases of Bantam chickens were "GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE PREACHER," she was also saying that such an offering as also "GOOD ENOUGH FOR GOD"!
How she came by such an attitude, I don't know, but anyone who has read and seriously considered what God commanded the Jews to bring as offerings under the Old Covenant should easily see that GOD DEMANDED THE HEALTHIEST, MOST PERFECT, AND BEST ANIMALS they had to be brought in sacrifice.
Read my text again, with the verse that follows it, Malachi 1:13-14:
"13 -- Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts; and YE BROUGHT THAT WHICH WAS TORN, AND THE LAME, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the Lord.
"14 -- BUT CURSED BE THE DECEIVER, WHICH HATH IN HIS FLOCK A MALE, AND VOWETH, AND SACRIFICETH UNTO THE LORD A CORRUPT THING: for I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen."
Reader, "HUM-DRUM HOLINESS" is "Professed Holiness" but not TRUE HOLINESS! When folks have fallen into the hum-drum routines of worship and become "wearied with it all," it is easy for them to take on the notion that "these old birds" are "Good Enough For The Preacher" and therefore also "GOOD ENOUGH FOR GOD"!
However, Malachi said that those who offered God "LESS THAN THEIR BEST" were "CURSED DECEIVERS"! God never has been, and never will be, satisfied with "LESS THAN OUR BEST" in our LOVE and SERVICE of HIM WHO GAVE US HIS ALL AT CALVARY!
This fact ought to ALARM US! -- AWAKEN US! -- and cause us to ask God to EVER KEEP ALIVE our ROMANCE AND FIRST LOVE FOR HIM! Selah.
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