Advent 2 09

December 6, 2009

Malachi 3:1-4; Philippians 1:3-11; Luke 3:1-6

Luke 1:68-79

The Messenger and the Message

 Last night, I realized I needed some more inspiration – a little Diana Ross

 Ain’t no mountain high enough.... Ain’t no river wide enough... Ain’t no valley low enough, to keep me from you....

The perfect Advent message....

 God loves us so much that nothing would keep him from searching for and finding us.  No mountain,  no river, no valley – the mountains would be made level, the rough ways smooth, the river a  plain....  so that we  could encounter the living Word, and be brought from the separation of our sin to new life in God’s presence.  Immanuel, and all that.

 Almost the perfect Advent message.

 But there is a nuance we risk overlooking.

 We can’t just imagine God’s yearning for us to be reconciled with him.

We have to remember what gets in the way of that reconciliation – what, in us or our actions, get between us and God.

We have to recognize that sin part.

 So let’s look again at the gospel:

Luke starts with establishing that these events happened in a very specific time.

There had not been a word from the Lord in ages.

 But, at that particular time, in a particular place, that would change.

 God sent a messenger.  John.  The word of God came to John in the wilderness.

We don’t hear any of that ‘word’ this week.

 For a clue – we can look at that first lesson.

 There we hear the promise:  “I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me...”   But it’s not all sunshine and Diana Ross.  “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.

 Fullers soap was the stuff used by those preparing wool.  It was really, really strong (think about all the stuff that gets caught into wool while it’s still being worn by the original owner (the sheep), and you can imagine how nasty it would be).  So, strong soap.

 And a refiner’s fire.

 These are strong things.  Painful things. 

This is a whole different kind of preparation than we usually think of.  This is no putting together of the Christmas tree, no hanging of pretty decorations.  This is the real deal.

 But that is exactly what is required.  And that is what John will be preaching next week.

 He will use words like, “You brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  And, “Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

 It does not sound like Christmas cheer.

But while the world might be preparing to share Christmas cheer, John announces preparation for a whole new way.

They are not holiday greetings:   They are words calling for  Repentance.

 Calling people to recognize sin.  Turn around.  Grab the Fullers soap.  And then, that refining fire.  That is the message.

A group of women in a bible study were looking at this verse from Malachi, “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver” (Malachi 3:3), and they wondered what on earth it could mean. One of them decided to find out about the process of refining and purifying silver, and promised to report back to the women in the Bible Study at their next meeting. 

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. 

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities…

She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, “How do you know when the silver is fully refined?” He smiled at her and answered, “Oh, that’s easy—when I see my image in it.”

When he sees his image in the silver, he knows the time in the fire has ended.

It reminds me of that time when people asked if it was right to pay taxes – Jesus asked whose image was on the coin (Caesar’s).  “Give  to Caeser what belongs to Caeser -- give to God what is God’s.”  Made in God’s image, we are.  A lot keeps us from being able to see it – in others, or ourselves.

Who knew that those times we fear most, the things we dread and seek to avoid – those times in the fire – refine us to reflect God’s image?

amen

Story about the refiner’s fire comes from “Magdalene6127”,  shared on REVGALBLOGPALS web site, December 5, 2009.