Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Malachi 3:1-4
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date: December 9, 2018

It was the best of times it was the worst of times…not a tale of two cities, but a tale of two students. One was confident, the other uncertain. One was composed, the other was a basket-case. One was perfectly at peace, the other was full of worry. One walked away with high marks, the other…you can guess can’t you? So what was the difference? I can tell you it wasn’t ability. It wasn’t the difficulty of the material. It all came down to one thing: preparation. One student put in the time and the effort to prepare. The other did not.

I think we all understand that lack of preparation for a test in school is not a life or death matter. It’s not the end of the world, you might say. But it is that end of the world that Malachi touches on this morning. Much like we will confess in the Creed this morning, Christ is coming “to judge the living and the dead.” Malachi asks us that chilling question: “who can endure the day when he comes?”  One will endure and one will not. One will be filled with worry and the other with peace. What will be the difference? Preparation. Peace Requires Preparation. Let’s talk today about how we are prepared.

Malachi writes: “Look! I am sending my messenger! He will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord, whom you are seeking, will come to his temple! The Messenger of the Covenant, in whom you delight, will surely come, says the Lord of Armies.” How are we prepared? Well, God promised two messengers. Interestingly, the name Malachi means “my messenger.” God says he is going to send his messenger who will prepare the way before him. Who could that be? Our gospel today gives us the answer. Luke writes: “The word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. A voice of one calling in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord!” John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way for the second messenger, the “Messenger of the Covenant.” And we notice that Malachi calls him the Lord. God himself will come! This is the promise of the coming Messiah, of Jesus. And notice how this Messenger of the Covenant is described: “In whom you delight.” That would have been a curious phrase on the ears of Malachi’s original audience. You see the book of Malachi begins with the people questioning if God really loved them. The fact that God had chosen them to be his special people wasn’t proof enough. It wasn’t enough that God had promised a Savior and a place in heaven. No, they wanted God to come and give them earth as well. All the comforts and ease of life: health, wealth, and prosperity…that’s what they believed they deserved.

The question is, do we delight in the Messenger of the Covenant? Do we delight in Jesus as a Savior from sin or do we desire a Savior who’s a sugar-daddy, someone to come and make life easy and prosperous like we deserve? Do we yearn to believe, like some popular preachers tell us today, that it is God’s will that we prosper financially, that we have plenty of money, that God has a destiny of success in this life all planned out for us, just waiting to be fulfilled? Is that our desire? Is that where we will find delight?

One might rightfully expect the Messenger of the Covenant to come in anger and wrath. Coming from the Lord of Armies, one might expect destruction. Indeed, Malachi asks those haunting questions, “who can endure…who will remain standing?” But, we can’t ignore the name of the Messenger; he is the Messenger of the Covenant. And not the Messenger of the Old covenant, which Israel had broken again and again, but the Messenger of the New Covenant, the Covenant promised through Jeremiah: “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

But the question still remains, how are we prepared? Listen as the Messenger’s work is described. “For he will be like a refiner’s fire, like launderers bleach! He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and like silver.” Jesus, by his life and death has purified us. He has burned off every impurity from our record. He has scrubbed us clean of every stain. However, removing our sin was a painless process for us. It hurt Jesus plenty: the scourge on his back, the nails in his hands, the abandonment of God on his soul. The pain of taking away sins was 100% on Christ. And for that we are eternally grateful. But that’s not the only picture here. If we look very closely we notice that Jesus is the refiner. We are the silver, the ones “taking the heat.” Jesus is the launderer. We are the dirty laundry, the ones who need to have powerful soap applied to our lives. This is not just a picture of removal of sin. No, this is also talking about how Jesus removes the impurities in our lives which threaten our faith.

Purifying is a painful process. Just think about the sting you feel when you clean a cut or a scrape. No matter which picture Malachi uses speaks to you, the point is clear. There’s going to be pain and discomfort involved. The fire and soap that Malachi describes could very well be God’s Law. When applied to our hearts God’s Law causes a healthy pain because of our sins and our inability to cleanse ourselves. Our self-righteousness is burned up by the laws perfect standards. Sinful pride is washed away by the laws demands. Purification can also be the removal of things that we love, maybe even things that can be good and blessings, but in our case are hindering our relationship with Christ. The fire and soap can simply be hardships in general. The troubles that come into our lives may seem pointless. But those troubles in the hands of our Savior are working for our good. Maybe it’s a physical weakness that reminds us that we are mortal, and it drives us to rely on God’s strength. Maybe it’s sorrow which drives us to the consolation only God can provide.

This is the type of God we have! A God who not only forgives sin, but a God who allows, even brings the painful fires and harsh soaps needed to cleanse our faith so that we can avoid a greater fire, the eternal fires of hell. Our God loves us enough to prepare us so that we can stand on the Last Day, so that we can face that day with peace, not terror. This is no different than the discipline we use with our children. God himself says, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” God loves us too much to leave us unprepared.

And there’s still more. God does not save us from destruction just to keep us from destruction. Listen again: “He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and like silver. They will belong to the Lord and bring him an offering in righteousness. Judah and Jerusalem’s offerings will be pleasing to the Lord as they were in the days of old, in years long ago.” Our loving God cleanses and purifies us so that we can once again fulfill the purpose for which we were created: to love and glorify God by being a blessing to our neighbor. Belonging to the Lord, we will bring him offerings in righteousness.

That word “offering,” is an interesting one. It’s called the Minkah. It was a bloodless offering. It wasn’t meant to take the place of the one bringing the offering, but rather simply an offering of thanksgiving. Think of what our Savior is telling us. He’s already presented the offering necessary to take our place. He offered up himself. Our offerings, therefore, are offerings of thanksgiving. Thanking God for his new covenant. Thanking God for leading us through this painful purging process, for preparing us for his return. Thanking God for messengers who continue to help us prepare today.

“Adequate preparation is not always fun and many of us do not look forward to doing it.” You could apply that statement to many different things in life. It comes from someone talking about the business world. Yet, it applies beautifully to the Christian life. We live in a sinful world that is full of trouble and pain and sorrow. And yet, God uses those things to remind us that this is not the main event. This life is not our goal. The party comes later. Now is time to prepare. “Preparation is a seed that should be sown on a daily basis.” Through God’s Word and sacraments, we prepare every day to meet our Savior. And through God’s grace, when he returns, fully prepared, it will be the best of times for us! Amen.