Preparing the Way
Scripture
“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years (Malachi 3:1–4).
Reflection
“Be careful what you wish for.” Sage advice! When we wish for success in our chosen career, we might achieve it at an unforeseen cost. It may come with greater responsibilities that take away time from our family. The result is less happy than we might have expected. My stepson Patrick was wise at a young age. As a teenager, he wished for a comfortable life, but he didn’t want great wealth. “Wealthy people have more problems,” he observed, “I want normal problems.” Now in his forties, Patrick is living a comfortable life with normal problems, and he is as happy as one can be on this side of eternity.
In the passage above, Malachi wrote to the Jews who came back from exile in Babylon. It had now been several decades since their return, and they were not happy about the conditions in their homeland. They rebuilt the Lord’s temple with tremendous effort, expecting their God to return and make his home among men there again, but they saw no evidence of his doing so. They had other complaints: the good suffered, the wicked prospered. What was that all about? Where, they asked, is the God of Justice? They wished that God would return and bring justice to the land.
And so the Lord spoke: he was coming, and he would send his messenger ahead to prepare the way. The preparation for his arrival would require fixing the road on which he would travel, but the prophet suggested a different kind of repair—the repair of the soul! Repentance would be required, even for those sins considered minor; every sin was an abomination to him.
Our own preparation will require a fierce and honest, personal and communal “examination of conscience.” As individuals and as a nation, how have we measured our thoughts, actions, and decisions against the righteousness of God? Have we put God’s ways ahead of our own? Have we chosen our plan for life considering God’s plan, or have we selfishly wished for the achievement of our own selfish desires?
YHWH, God himself, whose coming his people wished for, would come suddenly, unexpectedly. But who would endure it? The Lord would come to refine and purify his people. The refining process for metal is hot and dangerous. Metal is heated in the refiner’s fire and the pure alloy sinks to the bottom of the cauldron while impurities surface to the top to be removed and thrown away.
So the Lord, when he comes, will separate the pure from the impure. The purified ones will again live in the light of the Lord, but the impure will face God’s justice and judgment. The purpose of the Lord’s return is to purify and restore. The time of his coming will be terrible, but for those who seek refuge in him, it will be a great day of restoration and return.
Maranatha, come Lord Jesus!
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you came to us as Mary’s child in Bethlehem; we now await your return in power to again dwell among us. We know that your day of return will be a time of justice and reckoning, but we also know that you love us, and you will come, as you once came, with love and salvation for your people. Keep us faithful as we wait, and when you come may you find us ready to welcome you.
Activity
With pen in hand, conduct a fierce and honest personal and communal “examination of conscience.” As individuals and as a nation, how have we aligned our thoughts, actions, and decisions with the righteousness of God? How might we do better, and of what must we repent? Write all this down as a reminder and periodically return to it to assess your spiritual progress.
Watching and Waiting For the Lion of Judah: Advent Day by Day
Rev. Richard Hasselbach