Malachi 1

The Right Kind Of Nose

Ye have snuffed at it. Malachi 1:13.

Some people think it is very important to have a nice nose. Those of you who have read Little Women will remember that Amy was greatly distressed about her nose because it turned up, and that she wore a clothes-pin every night when she went to bed to try to improve the shape of it.

Now I expect the nose you have is the one that suits your face best, and nobody else's nose would suit you half so well. If your nose turns up of itself I'm afraid you will just have to keep it that way. But there is one kind of nose we should all avoid and can all avoid. It is the nose that we turn up of our own accord the contemptuous, scornful nose.

That is the kind of nose that is referred to in the text. To “snuff” is just an old word that means to turn up your nose. The Israelites of Malachi's day were despising and slighting the worship of God. They were turning up their nose at it and the prophet condemns them for it.

Now there are two ways of “snuffing,” and both are bad and foolish. Some boys and girls turn up their nose at things. That is the first way. Some boys and girls turn up their nose at people. That is the second way.

Some boys and girls turn up their nose at things.

Here is a sad, true story which comes from Glasgow. A girl of twelve and a boy of fourteen were having supper together at a children's party. Said the young girl to the youth, “I wonder where these ices came from. They're not Hubbard's” (mentioning one of the best confectioners in Glasgow). Said the youth to the girl, “No, and they're not Skinner's, for I'd know the flavor of Skinner's ices anywhere.” “Ah!” said the girl, “second-rate, I expect!”

That boy and girl fancied they were showing how superior they were, but they only succeeded in proving that they were ill-bred, and mean, and ungrateful.

Lockhart, who wrote the life of Sir Walter Scott, tells the story of how one day Scott rebuked his daughter Anne for turning up her nose at something. She had said she could not abide this thing it was “vulgar.” And her father asked her if she knew the meaning of the word “vulgar.” He explained that it just meant “common,” and then he went on to say that nothing that is common, except wickedness, can deserve to be spoken of in a tone of contempt.

Will you try to remember that? Nothing that is common, except wickedness, can deserve to be spoken of in a tone of contempt. Scorn the things that are mean and base and unkind, but remember that it is God who sends us all our good gifts, and when we despise them we are really despising His goodness.

Some boys and girls turn up their nose at people. Well, I suppose you know what the boys and girls who do that are called. It is not a pretty name, but you may as well know it. They are called “snobs.” It is worse to despise people than to despise things, because people have feelings and things have not.

I read a story the other day about a small girl who was travelling in a subway with her aunt. It was a busy time of day, and all the seats were occupied when into the car came a washerwoman carrying a bundle of clothes. The aunt whispered to the little girl, “You had better get up, Annette, and let that woman have your seat; you can stand, and she has a heavy bundle.” “'Deed an' I won't!” said Annette, and up went her nose in the air. “She's nothing but an old washerwoman!”

Now I fancy that little girl spoke as she did because she didn't take time to think. I don't believe she was a nastier little girl than most. She just hadn't used her imagination. If there were nobody to do our washing, then we could never have clean garments, or nice clean tablecloths, or sheets, or pillow-cases, or towels. And if there were nobody to do hard, rough work for us, we should be very badly off. There are a great many people who have to get up very early, and work very hard, and wear plain, rough clothes in order that we may have comfort and ease, and the least we can do is to be kind and polite to them and help them all we can.

Never look down on anyone for wearing shabby clothes, or living in a small house, or speaking ungrammatically. Remember it is God who has put you where you are, and because you chance to have been born in a villa while some other children have been born in a slum, that is no reason why you should despise them. Rather you should be all the kinder to them and try to make up to them for the things they have missed. Remember, too, that some of God's saints, some of the bravest and best men and women who have ever lived, have worn plain garments and lived in humble circumstances. Clothes and houses are just outer husks; the real man or woman lives inside.

Now I want to give you two reasons why you should not snuff at things or people.

And the first is because it shows that you have a little mean mind and a poor shriveled heart. When people snuff at things it is generally because they think themselves superior and great, and they want everybody else to see it. If they only knew it, they are just showing how inferior and small they are.

But the second reason is the biggest, and it is the one I want you to remember. It is because Jesus never did it He never despised anything or anybody and the only thing He ever spoke of in words of righteous scorn was this very sin of despising. “Take heed,” He said, “that ye despise not one of these little ones,” and Jesus' “little ones” were not only the children, but any who were weak, or poor, or sinful. And He spoke a parable specially to “certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others.”

Nothing was ever too small for Jesus to notice the sparrow that was sold for the fifth part of a farthing, the lilies of the field, the grain of mustard- seed. And nobody was ever too bad or too poor to be received by Him. Do you know why? Do you know Jesus' secret? It was because He loved so much. He loved all God's beautiful world, and so He reverenced it. He loved all God's poor, weary, sin- stained children with a tenderness that sought to heal their hurts, and lift their burdens, and comfort their distresses. Boys and girls, if your hearts are full of love you will have no room for contempt. (The texts of the other sermons in this series are Exodus 23:9; 1 Samuel 3:10; Psalms 24:4 (2), Psalms 34:13; Proverbs 6:13; Luke 6:41; 1Pe 3:4; 1 Peter 5:5.)