I Will Send My Messenger

I Will Send My Messenger

Becky Proctor

Malachi 3:1-4

 

I have a recurring dream that causes me to wake in a panic whenever it visits me. It comes in two forms. In one I am sitting in an unfamiliar classroom where I am about to take a final exam. However, it seems that I have forgotten or somehow neglected to have attended any of the classes throughout the year, so I have no idea what I am expected to have learned. In the other form I am sitting on an organ bench about to play for a worship service. I have just arrived, and the service has already begun. I am furiously looking around me, trying to find the music I am supposed to play. I finally find a hymnal and search for the next hymn. I look and look, furiously flipping through the pages, only to find out that my hymnal doesn’t have that page. I gesture to the choir director and the choir members that “I don’t have that page!” but no one seems to want to help. Again I am totally unprepared. I realize that these dreams come when I am unprepared for something in my life; some event or responsibility that I haven’t given enough attention to, and am thus unready for. In our Scripture today Malachi has heard God’s voice urging him to bring a message to the people around him that they are not prepared for God’s coming presence.

The name, or the word “Malachi” means “messenger,”and it may or may not have been the actual name of the writer of this, the last book in the canon of the Old Testament, but nearly all scholars agree that Malachi prophesied during the Persian period, and after the reconstruction and dedication of the second temple in 516 BCE . The Hebrew people had returned from exile and had rebuilt the Temple. They celebrated with great joy, and they had pledged to faithfully keep their covenant with God. But years had passed, and the priesthood became forgetful of its duties, the Temple was underfunded because the people had lost interest in it, and the society was one in which Jewish men divorced their Jewish wives to marry out of the faith. It was a time of religious cynicism, and Malachi was sent to expose and counter the scepticism and disobedience to be found in Jerusalem. Most scholars agree that the messenger Malachi speaks of is John the Baptist, who provided the basis for Jesus’ ministry. The fact that a forerunner is needed was a warning to the people of Malachi’s day that they were not ready for the arrival of their king.
Malachi’s words here are jarring, to say the least. Our preparations at this time of year usually involve sweet images of baby Jesus surrounded by choirs of angels, quiet sheep, stars and soft music. While Jesus indeed came to bring peace and justice to all, this isn’t all He brought about. Like a refiner’s fire and a cleansing soap, the presence of Christ in our midst demands a response from us of obedience and faithful behaviour.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in a sermon he preached in Advent of 1928, said, “It is very remarkable that we face the thought that God is coming so calmly… We have become so accustomed to the idea of divine love and of God’s coming at Christmas that we no longer feel the shiver of fear that God’s coming should arouse in us. We are indifferent to the message, taking only the pleasant and agreeable out of it and forgetting the serious aspect of it, that the God of the world draws near to the people of our little earth and lays claim to us. The coming of God is truly not only glad tidings, but frightening news for everyone who has a conscience. Only when we realize this can we recognize God’s incomparable kindness. God comes into the very midst of evil and of death and judges the evil in us and in the world. And by judging us, God cleanses and sanctifies us, comes to us with grace and love.”

We may want to say, “ But I’m not a sorcerer or a witch! I don’t cheat my employees or oppress widows and orphans, and I haven’t deprived anyone in the ‘caravan’ of justice!” So let’s think. What is it within us that needs to be changed in order to prepare for the coming of Christ? How about gossip? A few “harmless” words to a friend about someone else can ruin a life. How about the way we treat the Haitian teenager down the street who’s being bullied right in front of us, and we do nothing to help? Would it surprise us when that child hangs himself the next week? How about the Salvation Army Kettle we turn our noses up at, or the missions projects at church that we never take the time to participate in? Hmmm….

I will admit that studying this passage has been difficult for me. This is not what I want to hear! The best way for me to understand and share this message is to look at it through the eyes of a parent. In the beginning of the prophecy of Malachi, the Lord says, “I have loved you deeply,” just as I remember saying to my son and grandsons. Yet from time to time it was said with a tear in my voice, because one or another of them had hurt me deeply by acting in a way that was mean or rude or had developed a habit that was going to damage his life if he continued. So, with no refiner’s fire at hand, I had to try to discipline the offender in a way that would cause him to understand the significance of his bad behavior. It was not because I wanted him to be afraid of me. It was not because I wanted him to feel like a bad person, or someone unworthy of love. It was because I loved him more than life. Yet even more than a mother’s love is the love of God for us. God does not seek to destroy us with God’s judgment; it is purification that needs to happen, the purging of impurities as a silversmith purges impurities from the silver ore., until the silver becomes a liquid mirror in which the refiner can see his own reflection.

Will someone see God’s reflection in us during this Advent time? When we ask someone over the next few weeks, or someone asks us, “Are you ready for Christmas?” perhaps it will mean more than, “Is your home decorated, have you bought gifts for everyone on your list, or, are you sending cards this year?” Perhaps we will consider making some changes in our own lives, so that we will indeed become more ready for God’s presence in our midst.