I. Consider the ground on which Israel is reproached. Sweet cane, or calamus, is an aromatic reed which was an exotic in in Palestine, and is chiefly to be found in India. The demand for sweet cane was great, because it formed an ingredient of the incense in most countries where incense was used. It was one of the things which could not be obtained by barter. The charge is, "You do not neglect the offices of religion, but you perform them carelessly; you do not withhold your offerings, but you do not offer of your best." Bad is the best that man has to offer to God; but less than our best God will not accept.
II. When did the King eternal, immortal, invisible, serve? When was God, the Omnipotent, wearied with our iniquities? When did the Judge of the earth blot out our sins? We, enlightened by the gospel, can give an answer which Israel of old could not. We answer, "Then, when the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us," when God in the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity became incarnate. He came to serve, and when we think of Him, the God-Man, serving under the law, is it possible for us to ask, in the spirit of a slave, How littlecan I render unto the Lord for all His benefits? what is the leastthat He demands, the minimum of duty? The great principle is this, that we never offer unto the Lord what costs us nothing, or what involves no thought or trouble. He will not accept the refuse at our hands. And this principle we are to carry out in all that relates to our moral conduct and religious life. It is applicable to our private devotions as well as to our public services. It is implied in our Lord's injunction, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness."
W. F. Hook, Parish Sermons,p. 186.