What’s the most boring thing you can think of?
10 mins
Have a competition to see who can come up with the most boring thing? Let things get creative and silly. (Church might just come up!) Ask prompting questions such as: what makes something boring? What happens when something becomes boring? Can you get bored with something you like? (Also known as: is there such a thing as too much chocolate?) How does boredom make you feel?
Words
10 mins
Read Malachi 3:13-15 together. Say: put your hands up if you have thought this at some point during a particularly dull sermon! How many of us have said, ‘I didn’t get much out of that service?’ Ask: what are we doing wrong?
Say: Malachi was writing at a time when the Jewish people were pretty comfortable. The temple had been rebuilt so they were able to worship God in comfort and safety, and according to the laws of Moses. This was quite a change from previously where they had to hide away and pray in secret (see Daniel 6:10).
The laws about worship in the temple said that a person should bring the best that they had to the temple and give it to God. They should bring only perfect, uninjured animals to the temple and the first tenth of all of their crops – this was called the tithe. They were not supposed to bring any injured or deformed animals that would be killed anyway or the last bits of rubbish at the end of the harvest. Once they had been brought to the temple, the animals would be killed and, along with the crops, would be burnt as an offering to God. It was important for the people of God to bring their best offerings. Firstly, to acknowledge that God is lord over everything and that everything comes from him and therefore belongs to him in the first place. It also demonstrated their trust that God would always provide for them.
The law of Moses also said that the Jewish people shouldn’t marry non-Jewish people. This was because marrying someone who worships a different god might be a temptation to draw people away from worshipping God to start worshipping different gods instead. This is why Malachi talks about marriage; not only is he criticising the people for letting down their spouses, it is also a picture of the people of God being unfaithful to him.
In the time that Malachi was writing, the land was at peace (although notionally under foreign rule) so there were no enemies and no wars to fight. People were able to become prosperous, even wealthy. Because of this, they began to marry non-Jewish people, despite the laws against it. The result of this was that worship felt routine and pointless and it began to seem as if it didn’t matter whether they did it properly or not. If you followed the law, you did well. If you were an evildoer and put God to the test, you also did well. You might as well bring a sick lamb and the last sweepings from the corn bin!
Key Point 1
We worship God for who he is, not because of what we get out of it, and so we should give all we have and not keep the best bits for ourselves.
Thoughts
20 mins
Split into three groups and give each group one of the following passages, with the questions to discuss:
Malachi 1:6-13
• What do we bring to worship that is the equivalent of animals and crops?
• How might what we bring be injured or blemished or less than our best?
Malachi 2:10-16
• How might we be unfaithful in our friendships with one another?
• How can we make our friendships loyal and faithful?
Malachi 3:2-5
• How does God react to those who don’t act justly?
• What present day examples of the things listed in verse five can you think of? Ask each group to share their answers with the whole group.
Key Point 2
How we live every day of the week is as important as worship on a Sunday. Our relationships with each other are a reflection of our relationship with God. They should be loyal, committed and honest.
Actions
20 mins
Choose one of the below or ask different groups to focus on different activities:
• Challenge the young people to plan a short act of worship that never refers to what we get from God, or how we feel about him, but only talks about him and his character. (This might be harder than it first appears.) Suggest they choose Bible verses, songs, images etc.
• Ask the young people to draw up a friendship covenant. Explain what a covenant is. What can they promise that will make them better friends to each other?
• Brainstorm some practical things to do that will address the injustices listed in Malachi 3:5. Examples might include writing to an MP, signing a petition on a website, finding out more information about work among refugees or the homeless in your area. Encourage each person to agree to do one thing in the next week.
Key Point 3
God’s judgement will be not just on ‘sinners’ but on those who don’t act justly towards their neighbours.
Sarah Fegredo is youth and children’s pastor at West BridgfordBaptist Church in Nottingham.
