Malachi 3:1-4

In the book of Malachi, and specifically in Malachi 3:1-4, it reveals a pretty intense view of the Advent season. It says that God will come and make his people clean. This makes me think of a fire that a metalworker uses. Why a fire? Well, a fire symbolizes lots of different things, and one of those is change, maybe even big change.

It's important to know who Malachi was talking to and when he was saying it. But also, who was Malachi? W know he was a prophet of the Lord who wrote this book of the Old Testament called "Malachi." We learn that "Malachi" means "my messenger" in Hebrew. We really don't know much about him. The book of Malachi doesn't say much about him, and there really aren't any other stories about him anywhere else in the Bible. Also, most think that Malachi lived around 450 BC, which is not long after some Jews came back from exile in Babylon and rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem.

The Lord says, "Look, I will send my messenger to prepare the way before me." In the New Testament, this messenger is understood to be John the Baptist. It's good to notice that the messenger is calling for big changes in people's hearts and lives. The message he brings is the Startling Word. And even though most of us aren't too excited about starting any big projects, it's good to keep in mind that there are first steps in any important task.

When the Lord arrives at His temple, He never gets there quietly or slowly. It's as if He can't stand the wait and has to burst in suddenly. So, when He's compared in the passage to "a refiner's fire and a launderer's (fullers’) soap" (Malachi 3:2), it's pretty clear that things are about to get intense. And when it talks about "the day of His coming," we're peeking into a typical scene of transformation in the Old Testament. In both these likely warm-ups to a big story moment, two important ways of changing things are described: fire and soap.

Apparently, it's very important to get the Levites pure again. They have to lead everyone by example, and their lives need to show the holiness that should be in the lives of everyone who worships God. Getting the priests pure again is just as important to the people. The renewal of both the leaders and the worship will restore a kind of worship that pleases God.

I think we can agree that this message from Malachi reaches across centuries to address us today, inviting us to think about our own spiritual state as we prepare to celebrate Christ's first coming and also to anticipate His promised return.

There's an idea we can't escape: Malachi is demanding that we examine where our worship needs to change. As he prepares God's people to meet Him in a way that will change them forever, we should examine our own hearts and our worship.

Advent, for us today, is both and. Meaning, we know and celebrate the birth of Christ and we too are waiting and getting ready. Because "getting ready" is the main idea of this season, it has a special promise. The promise that taking part in this time, in a sense, makes us like the faithful who waited for Christ's first coming. And who lived during the 400 years without revelation.

This season, we're reminded of the tough but hopeful message from Malachi. It tells us to be ready for Advent. It's time to get ready to not only mark the birth of Jesus but really get ready to join in the kind of world-changing work He does here on Earth. When we look at Malachi's basic message, the main lesson seems really simple: you should see the world like God sees it.

Continuing the same idea, Malachi's vision pushes us to look at the practices that define our communities, not just our personal lives. In the fire described in Malachi 3:2-3, I see a metaphor for God's relentless work on both an individual and communal level to get rid of sin. Because our worship and way of life influence how others see us, the church needs to be at their best, both character-wise and in their devotion, to lift up the whole community's worship.

When we accept this message, waiting for Advent becomes something special. Waiting for Advent provides for us an opportunity to experience and extend the love of God. This is a love that changes us, refines us, brings change and hope to the world as it is being made new by Christ as His kingdom is being revealed here on earth.