refining fire

Messengers

Posted on by Betsy

If you have ever been the one to deliver bad news to someone, you know what a terrible responsibility that can be. I have had to communicate the death of a loved one to family and nothing can prepare you for how to handle the shock and overwhelming emotion that follows. On the other hand, delivering good news is such a joyful blessing. To be able to say, “He made it out of surgery,” “The cancer is gone,” or “They just got engaged!” is a delightful task.

Malachi stands in the precipice between good news and bad news in our passage this morning. He is tasked with announcing that God is sending two messengers; one to prepare the way (John the Baptizer), and the other to fulfill the covenant (Jesus), who will delight the people as the fulfillment of their messianic hopes:

Malachi 3 (Common English Bible)
Look, I am sending my messenger who will clear the path before me;
        suddenly the Lord whom you are seeking will come to his temple.
        The messenger of the covenant in whom you take delight is coming,
says the Lord of heavenly forces.

But quickly the good news turns dark, as a warning bell is rung and the reality of the true nature of this messenger is revealed:
2 Who can endure the day of his coming?
        Who can withstand his appearance?
He is like the refiner’s fire or the cleaner’s soap.
3 He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver.
        He will purify the Levites
            and refine them like gold and silver.

Yes, the Messiah is coming, but no, it won’t be pleasant. There will be a refining and purifying that must take place, and that will not be easy or pleasant. But after the cleansing has occurred, the nation will become a righteous offering to the Lord.
            They will belong to the Lord,
                presenting a righteous offering.
4 The offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord
        as in ancient days and in former years.

It is good to remember that refining brings forth the deepest shine and the cleanser’s soap cleans, not destroys. Malachi frames his announcement in hopeful images and alludes to our ability to withstand this cleansing. And we know cleansing is necessary if we want to present ourselves to the world as forgiven and redeemed people.

What does this mean to you today? Can you submit to the refiner’s fire and walk away from your sin?

Let us strive to become a pleasing and righteous offering to the Lord.

A Pleasing Offering by Michelle Robertson

Handling Truth

Posted on by Betsy

Sometimes in life, you just have to speak the truth. Nobody does this better than children. They will tell you point-blank to your face things you don’t want to hear, like your elbow wrinkles look funny, or that you are old. Case in point: we were asking the four-year-old twins what they want to be when they grow up. Ryan immediately said he wants to be a paleontologist…which he slowly and carefully pronounced PAY-LEEE-ON-TOL-OH-GIST. He will make an excellent one….he teaches me something new every day. Nora at first said she wanted to be a princess, then changed her mind for something ”more real.” She chose to be a unicorn.

I’m with her. I want to be a unicorn, too. So I said, ”Oh, that sounds great! Do you think Nana could be a unicorn when she grows up, too?” She instantly replied, ”Noooooo, Nana! You’re too old! You’re already growed up.”

Rats.

Well, maybe it’s a good thing that Ryan wants to be a paleontologist, since apparently his Nana is a dinosaur.

Our passage from Mark today is in two parts. In the first, Jesus explains to his disciples that anyone who is for them cannot be against them, so a man who was exorcising demons in Jesus’ name was an ally:

Mark 9 (The Message)

38 John spoke up, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to expel demons and we stopped him because he wasn’t in our group.”

39-41 Jesus wasn’t pleased. “Don’t stop him. No one can use my name to do something good and powerful, and in the next breath slam me. If he’s not an enemy, he’s an ally. Why, anyone by just giving you a cup of water in my name is on our side. Count on it that God will notice.

Then he goes on to deliver hard truths and harsh words against anyone who would be a stumbling block for any of God’s children to come to know Jesus. In essence, he says that if you mess with them you mess with me…and there will be consequences that you won’t survive:

42 “On the other hand, if you give one of these simple, childlike believers a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you’ll soon wish you hadn’t. You’d be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck.

43-48 “If your hand or your foot gets in God’s way, chop it off and throw it away. You’re better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owner of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You’re better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.

Yikes! Jesus is not playing. This invites us to stop and take an internal inventory. Is there anything in our attitude or behavior that might be a negative witness to the power of Jesus in our lives? People are watching. People are reading our posts. People are observing our actions. This passage is a call to wake up and be aware.

49-50 “Everyone’s going through a refining fire sooner or later, but you’ll be well-preserved, protected from the eternal flames. Be preservatives yourselves. Preserve the peace.”

Jesus’ call is clear: preserve the peace. Only by following him closely will we survive the refining fire. Remember that with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can be Christ’s ally in this world and not a stumbling block to his kingdom.

Do you need to clean up your act?

Refiner’s Fire Sky by Michelle Robertson