Advent 2 (C), 2003

Scripture: Malachi 3:1-4, Philippians 1:3-11 & Luke 3:1-6

Being an Acceptable Offering to the Lord (Malachi 3:4)

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God, our heavenly Father.

In the first verses of our Old Testament reading, the prophet Malachi expresses the desires of the people of Israel who were expecting their Messiah, their Saviour to come: “Then Suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to His temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come.” This “seeking” and “desire” is also such an important part of our preparations for Christmas and this season of Advent.

At some point all of us have had the desire that God would show Himself to us. At some point we have all wished that God would come down to help us against those who do us harm and to make all things right. But are we really prepared for God to grant us our wish?

John Lawrence in his book “Down to Earth” tells of a devastating earthquake that totally destroyed the flourishing and extraordinarily beautiful city of Messina on the Island of Sicily on December 28, 1908. It was the worst earthquake ever to hit Europe, measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale. Over half of Messina’s 150,000 inhabitants died. Though once one of the most beautiful in all of Italy, the city’s outward appearance was not reflective of the inward condition of its people. Apparently, the night before the earthquake, a series of pagan resolutions were passed into law by the town’s governing authorities, allowing for public conduct and behavior, which was explicitly violent and wicked against the principles of God.

 The prevailing attitude of the people had become so irreverent that three days before, on Christmas day, the city’s newspaper had published a front-page article condemning belief in God and publicly challenging the Almighty One to make Himself known by sending an earthquake. Three days later God granted their request and showed them the power of His glory, and Messina and its surrounding districts, were shaken and laid to ruins.

When we ask God to show us His glory, are we prepared for what our request might entail? The prophet Micah asks: “Who can endure the day of His coming? Who can stand when He appears?” It would be presumptuous to think that we are better than the people of Messina, or for that matter, anyone else and that we would escape the wrath of God. God’s anger burns against all wickedness including our own. Often we pursue our own dreams and the desires of our hearts without first asking about God’s will in these matters.

In the time of the prophet Malachi God was angry with the people of Israel, because they were coming into His Presence, to His temple with offerings that were not whole nor given with a pure heart. Instead of bringing the first fruits, they offered animals that were stolen or that were lame or sick. They did not offer God the best they had to give, but instead they offered Him the leftovers. Furthermore, they were cheating God in their tithes, not giving the full 10%.

Perhaps we are not much different today. God in His kindness gives us everything we need for this life and even promises more, but often all we manage to return to Him are our leftovers. And it is not just about money. In giving us His Son, Jesus, God gave Himself to us, making us His beloved children. Therefore, does God not deserve the very best we have to offer, not to mention our very own lives?

That is why I think that we are really quite ill-prepared to welcome the Christ-child as He comes to us this Christmas. Not only are we unprepared to meet Him, but we are also unable to do anything about it. Our sinful nature always manages to spoil our good intentions so that we fail to reflect God’s love in our hearts as we ought to. For this we need God’s help.

In this regard I am reminded of a scene in C.S. Lewis’s “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.” Eustace, the rather un-agreeable cousin of Lucy and Edmund, finds himself on an island, and because of his greed, he is transformed into a dragon with a painful gold band around his arm. He is looking into a cool pool of water when Aslan, the lion and king of Narnia, finds him. Aslan tells him that he must first “undress” before he can get into the water. Eustace tries unsuccessfully to scratch off his scales, and it is not until Aslan digs deep into his dragon hide that he is able to strip the dragoness off.

If we think that we can prepare ourselves to rightly welcome Christ, we will find ourselves failing. Only as we submit ourselves to God and allow His Word to judge us and lead us to repentance is our sinful nature stripped off, and we are prepared to come before His presence.

The prophet Malachi also gives us two vivid images of how God prepares us for that day. The first is that of a fuller’s or a launderer’s soap. I am told that the launderer’s soap referred to is a soap made of lye. Lye is such a powerful cleanser that it not only removes every kind of tough grease and grime, but usually takes with it the first layer of skin. If you ever use that soap, you will always remember the “sting” of that soap and the blushing hands. But that is what it takes for a real cleansing to take place. However, the discomfort soon turns to the peaceful thought that one can perform surgery with those hands without fear of one contaminating germ.

When God prepares us for His coming, His Law will accuse us; it will deflate our pride; it will claw into our thick hide and strip away whatever is impure. We must allow God’s cleansing Word of Law and judgment to touch every part of our lives. Only then can we experience the sweet comfort of the Gospel and the everlasting joy of God’s Presence. I sometimes tell people that the church is God’s Laundromat. Every week we come to church with our dirty laundry, confessing our sins, and we return to our homes fresh and forgiven.

The second image Malachi gives us is that of a refiner, a purifier of precious metals: “And He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” (Malachi 3:3) For you to experience the full impact of this image I would like to tell you this story: Some time ago, a few people met to study the Scriptures. When they came to this verse of Malachi, one lady proposed to visit a silversmith and report to them on what she could learn about the subject. She went and asked a silversmith to tell her about the process of refining silver. After he had fully described it to her, she asked, "But sir, do you sit while the work of refining is going on?" "Oh, yes, madam," replied the silversmith. "I must sit with my eyes steadily fixed on the furnace, for if the time necessary for refining be exceeded in the slightest degree, the silver will be destroyed."

The lady at once saw the beauty and comfort of the expression, "And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." God permits us to experience hardships, difficulties, obstacles, and other furnace like tests. We are purified by these if we continue to pursue and endure in faith and in God’s Word of truth despite these tests. For His eye is steadily intent on the work of purifying, and His wisdom and love are both engaged in the best manner for us. He will not let us be tested beyond what we can endure.

Before she left, the lady asked one final question, "When do you know the process is complete?" "Why, that is quite simple," replied the silversmith. "When I can see my own image in the silver, the refining process is finished." Isn’t this amazing? Although in our most difficult trials we may think that God has deserted us, here we are assured that He not only keeps His loving and watchful eye on us; God ensures that the refining we go through will also turn out so we can reflect His image. In the end, through the process of refining by the Word, we will reflect the glory of our heavenly Father.

For all the comfort this thought brings, it is still hard for me to believe that my life with all its shortcomings can ever result in an adequate reflection of God’s glory. And it is true: As far as my efforts are concerned, I know that they will not amount to much good. But we need to remember that it is God who is the One doing this loving work in our lives.

Let me share something else I learned from a jeweler: Did you know that some jewelry shops never throw their dirt away? Whenever they clean the shop, they save the dust in bags. They never steam clean or shampoo their carpets. After a while, when the carpet is dirty enough, they pull up the whole thing and send it, along with all those collected bags of dirt to a refinery.

At the refinery, they burn up all the dirt, the carpet, and everything else and somehow “distill” all the gold dust. Little by little, miniscule, microscopic gold dust has collected in the dirt and carpet. The shop has the option of taking back the gold or getting a check for its value. Can you imagine that the check is often in excess of $2,000 every 3 years or so! That is why we should not despair if our lives may look like a mess. Actually we should think of them as giant collection plates! From everything that goes on in our lives, through the process of refining, God is able to draw out what is valuable. And as we allow God’s Word to become a part of our lives, that refining process will take place and separate what is enduring from what is not. In the end God will prepare us to be an offering which no longer inflames His righteous anger, but which is pure and acceptable to Him. The Apostle Paul in our Epistle lesson echoes this thought: “[I am] confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)

Allow me to conclude in the words of the Apostle Paul: “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes though Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” (1:9-11) Amen.