December 5

 Malachi 3:1-4

See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?

For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

Just the other day, I heard one of our choir members rehearsing a solo for the Advent season. A featured piece from early in Handel’s “Messiah,” the song takes its text from this passage in the third chapter of Malachi’s prophecy:

Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears?
For he is like a refiner’s fire… (listen here: https://youtu.be/exAxdWs-hKk

Ever hear that one? I have. And every time, that solo curls my hair.

Malachi reminds us that the coming of God will be a great and terrible Day. Great because of the glory of a Holy God. Terrible because of - well - the glory of a Holy God. Even if we are treasured by or Creator, like a collector who owns precious metals, we will be refined, purified, smelted by fire. It’s going to hurt.

What makes this particularly painful is that the prophet Malachi was addressing the clergy in his day. The priests around Malachi had one hand in the offering plate and another hand clenching their wallets. They were greedy and cheap, in short, cheating God out of a full offering, prancing around in their clerical finery with uncommitted hearts, exerting whatever authority they could - while offering a terribly flawed example for others to follow. Or ridicule.

So the refiner’s fire is a gift from God. It expresses a loving God’s desire for a holy and committed community of faith, led by those who lived a committed and generous life – and called others to live likewise.

In those moments when we have been “salted with fire” (Mark 9:49), there is the opportunity to correct abuses and repent of our own constricted hearts. Again we hear the invitation to change our ways, to turn again toward the Holy One, and to correct our steps. Hard work? You bet. But necessary.

Purify us, Holy God, until we are as generous as you are. Amen. 

Rev. Bill Carter