December 9th:
To Refine December 9, 2012 (2nd Sunday in Advent) Potsdam Text: Malachi 3: 1-4 (5) Read: W&S # 4 To Refine I have examined; I have reexamined; I have cross examined This morning's scripture from Malachi. I have applied the Wesley Quadrilateral to it Seeing it through the lenses of Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. And I have come to the belief that these few words from The last of the books of the Hebrew scriptures (or Old Testament) Have a great deal more to offer to us than they at first seem. For these words, spoken about 200 years after what we heard last week from Jeremiah spoken, in fact, after the exile when the people had been allowed to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city and the temple provide a powerfully clear understanding of Christ's task on earth what he was to do and why he was sent. Now, I have to tell you that scholars have taken varying views as to who was the "messenger" referred to in the scripture Some suggest that it was Elijah And reach that conclusion from the words of 4:5, the last words in Malachi's book where there is reference to sending Elijah. Some suggest it was Malachi himself For the word "Malachi" means messenger Some suggest that it was Jesus But most have concluded that it was John The Baptist Who identifies himself as the messenger in the gospels Albeit with words from Isaiah rather than from Malachi. However, through my examination, prayers, and reading, I have come to believe that there are two separate messengers referred to in the text the one in the first sentence simply referred to as "my messenger" and the one in the second sentence who is referred to as "the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight" To my mind, the scripture comes alive and makes considerably more sense - if we see that God, through Malachi, spoke of two messengers rather than only of one. The first messenger's job is to prepare the way of the Lord And announce that the Lord - whom they are seeking - Will suddenly and without warning come Very much like Jeremiah's "The days are surely coming." To my mind that first messenger has to be John the Baptist For JTB indeed came to prepare the way And the gospels make that clear Then - and only after making reference to the Lord's coming - Malachi uses the second term No longer referring to "my" messenger But instead referring to: "the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight" Whereas the possessive pronoun "my" makes the first messenger Sound like a subordinate A representative, agent, or employee The term "the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight" Conveys the idea of an honored and important title What the people delighted in looking forward to was the coming of the messiah Therefore this second messenger has to be Jesus Christ He was the long expected messiah, king, or savior He was more than a subordinate He was, therefore, entitled to an honored title He is both "The Lord" and the "messenger of the covenant." To my mind, this is confirmed by noting what else the prophet observed about the "messenger of the covenant" Not only did he say that the messenger of the covenant was indeed coming He also gave a warning about that coming, asking, "Who can endure the day of his coming?" "Who can stand when he appears?" These questions can only be asked in connection with the one with the power and authority to judge And that, of course, means the one we call Lord: Jesus Christ Further, the title "messenger of the covenant" fits Jesus as well For as we know, Jesus came as the new covenant A covenant already announced by Jeremiah, And announced long before Malachi A covenant which Jeremiah said would be etched in our hearts A covenant which we know was sealed by his blood. With those thoughts and understandings in mind, let us re-listen to the beginning of the scripture [3: 1-2a] Now, we can move to the meat of what is being said about him and why he came: [3: 2b-5a] By seeing Christ as the "messenger of the covenant" the references to the refiner's fire and the fullers' soap make complete sense. The task of the "messenger of the covenant" Is to be our refiner and our fuller. In short the "messenger of the covenant" is to make us stronger in terms of our relationship to God Better servants, better disciples, better followers, better stewards better brothers and sisters That's what refiners and fullers do to the substances on which they work They make them stronger and better We all know about refiners. The one who refines or purifies silver or gold Uses fire to remove the impurities And to make what remains purer and more valuable Fullers, however, are another matter If it wasn't for this passage, I would have thought that "fuller" was simply a last name. Or a condition after a Thanksgiving dinner Fulling, though, is one step in the process of woolen cloth making. The fullers do three things: They clean the cloth to eliminate oils and other impurities They thicken the cloth to give it strength and increase waterproofing. Finally, after these are done, the fullers stretch the cloth onto large frames. In Malachi's day they used soap for the cleaning portion of their work. [We can be grateful that Malachi predated the Roman Empire For the Romans removed the oils from the cloth by using human urine Particularly stale human urine In fact the Romans actually taxed the urine. I suspect I would be uncomfortable If I was standing here today comparing what Christ does to us "to the refiner's fire and the fullers' urine."] But the task of both the refiner and the fuller Is to make what they work on better. Using processes that substantially change the metal or the cloth Christ's task, as the messenger of the covenant, Was to make our relationship with God better, stronger, & purer So that when He comes to judge He will find us acceptable. Too often, we summarize what Christ did between his birth and the cross As "teaching." Certainly "teaching" is an appropriate word And certainly many called him "teacher." But you and I are so used to being taught That the word does not have much of an impact on us Many of us have been good students and so the idea of being taught Presents a relatively small challenge to us. But the idea of our relationship with God being improved By subjecting us to fire Or By scrubbing us with soap and then stretching us on racks That doesn't sound comfortable. But we are not supposed to be comfortable We are supposed to be getting better, stronger, and purer Look at Christ's parables and how they jar us Look at Christ spending time with outcasts Look at Christ chasing the money changers out of the temple And not giving Pilate a straight answer Is our reaction one of comfort? NO! Christ was sent to significantly change us - not to make us feel good Christ has to be a challenge A challenge conveyed much better when we see what he did As refining and fulling rather than just teaching Today, and throughout the Advent season, We delight in preparing for our celebration of the coming Of the Lord and messenger of the covenant Whom we have been seeking And Whom we have been expecting. But if our delight is real and informed Then we should embrace the refining or fulling that he comes to do Despite any discomfort or fear that we feel Knowing that if we can withstand and endure that process We have nothing to fear from the event which closed our text "Then I will draw near to you for judgment;"