The Messenger Comes

Introduction

This morning on this second Sunday of Advent we are looking at prophecy on many levels.

First, we’re going to look at John the Baptist, the one who prepared the way for Jesus.

Then we’re going to look at Jesus, the Lord who was promised.

And then we’re going to look at the church, God’s people who have been refined and purified, who are being refined and purified, and who are called to prepare the way for the Lord.

John the Baptist

John the Baptist was the last prophet before Jesus.

Luke is really exact when he writes, he is making it really clear that the things that happened in Judea at that time were world-shaping, and so he wants to be so specific about when these things took place that no one could question them.

It’s also remarkable evidence of how John and Jesus were both very real people, they were literally born in the period above …

Luke 3:1–2 “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene—during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.”

And we see how Luke writes about what was happening on the national political scene, and that into that situation, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

In the midst of all of this political instability - there’s a Roman emperor on the throne, who acts like he is a God; there is a Roman governor in control of the land of Judea, because their own political leaders were not trusted; and then there was this family, the Herodians, in places of authority under the Roman governor, who could be both terribly cruel and also very kind, all to keep the peace and themselves in control.

The leadership of the nation, those in places of authority, were far away from obeying God’s commands. And into this situation, God speaks.

And John responds, he goes about all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins - calling people back to God, challenging and encouraging them to turn away from a way of living that is selfish and hostile to God, and instead choosing to put him first above everything - to make him Lord, because the Lord is coming …

Jesus the Messiah

And this Lord is of course Jesus. Malachi uses the same word, ‘Lord’, it has a sense of master - a sense of respect and reverence.

For Malachi, this is not just simply one of many ‘lords’ but it is the Lord. The one the people are seeking and have been seeking for years - the promised saviour - the Messiah - the one they have been waiting and yearning for.

The other week I re-watched the film Exodus: Gods and Kings - it’s a very dramatic version of the story of the Exodus told from the perspective of Moses and Pharaoh - it’s not the most biblically accurate - but one thing I like in it is that it captures the sense of longing that people of Israel have for God to come and save them.

They are facing terrible conditions as slaves of the Egyptians, and they question whether God will actually rescue them, but they trust, and God does not forget them.

It’s the same here, the people of Israel are longing for God to come and save them, some have possibly given up hope, and some are clinging on by their fingernails, but they trust … and God answers.

The Lord that they are seeking comes - Jesus comes.

And Malachi explains that it will not be a walk in the park, rather he says

Malachi 3:2–3 “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.”

It doesn’t sound like a party …

This Lord is going to sift people - he’s going to be like the refiner’s fire - when the metal is put into the fire, it is heate to such a high temperature that it melts, and only the pure stuff is kept, the rest with its impurities is taken away.

Or he’s going to be like the launderer’s soap … this made me chuckle a bit because I don’t think I’ve ever met a launderer with their soap! But the image is one where the dirty stains don’t stay, they are removed, and the clothes are purified.

I was once at a restaurant with Corrine’s family, and I was wearing a white shirt, and my nephew, who was quite young at the time, was sat next to me and I recall I was being very kind to him and putting more ketchup on his plate because he was enjoying it with his food. And I can’t remember now exactly how it happened, but my nice white shirt didn’t stay white for very long … and it ended up covered in ketchup thanks to my nephew.

And I decided to go straight to the bathroom to get cleaned up … and I found that if you go at ketchup with hand soap and water, quickly after the spillage, you can get the stain out completely!

So I came out of the toilets quite pleased with myself, and more wary of my nephew!

The Lord will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap, and Malachi says that he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.

In the OT, it was the Levites who brought offerings to the Tabernacle or the Temple for worship on behalf of the people. The people could not offer them to God by themselves, they needed intermediaries.

The offerings made by the priests were never made holy by the priests themselves, only by God. And so what God is going to do suggests making the priests so holy that they can bring offerings ‘in righteousness’.

And this all points towards what Jesus is going to do in his death and resurrection. Through taking the sin of the world on himself and putting it to death on the cross, Jesus destroys its power. And then the Father raises him to new life because he was a sinless sacrifice.

The Church

For those who believe in Jesus, God applies the benefits to each of us. We receive forgiveness from our sins - we are refined - and we receive the righteousness of Jesus, simply by putting our trust in him.

And that means too that our worship, our offerings, are made acceptable to God because God has made us right with him.

And Jesus has gone one step further - before we needed priests to offer worship to God on our behalf, but now we can come to God for ourselves - without fear and with confidence and boldness.

But there is definitely more for us in this than simply being able to offer pleasing worship to God.

Preparing the Way

There is a sense in the passage we heard in Luke that the work of preparing the way of the Lord continues. Jesus has ascended to be at the right had of the Father, but he is going to come back again - his second Advent.

And so, like John, as his church we have a role to play in preparing the way for the Lord.

John quotes Isaiah who says ...

Luke 3:5–6 “Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all people will see God’s salvation.’ ””

I don’t think this is a literal leveling of the earth, because it would mean a disappointing end to all things for those hill walkers and mountain climbers amongst us.

Instead, I think its a picture of how God is going to make all things right.

This has already started, as Jesus brought in the start of the reign of the Kingdom of God on earth. He is already reigning but we are waiting and praying for everything to come to completion, to come to the right conclusion in the end.

In the same way that when royal people visit you take any obstacles out of the way to roll out the red carpet, God is calling you and me to prepare the way for the Lord.

So how do we do this? How do we prepare the way for the Lord’s second coming, whenever that will be?

I think it comes down to us allowing God to refine us.

God gave the people of Israel so many opportunities but they often turned away from him.

We don’t want to turn away from God, we want to move towards God and say ‘yes’ to what he wants to do amongst us.

But that will mean allowing him to work on our holiness

When I first looked at these passages, I straight away started thinking about individual holiness

Individual holiness is very important, but so often these messages were written to a people group rather than an individual

It’s the people of God being a holy priesthood for the whole of creation - the people of God are called to prepare the way for the Lord … so that all people will see God’s salvation

So I think it’s about how we are as a church. It’s about how we speak and act.

Do we represent Jesus to people?

Do people come to us to find out what God is like?

Being a holy people is about praying and longing that God will shape us as a church to reflect the character of Jesus more and more. So that when people look at us they see Jesus. When they speak to us they hear Jesus. When they come into our presence they come into the presence of the living God.

Let’s pray ...