Wednesday June 24, 2015

MEDITATION ON MALACHI 3: 1-5

Malachi means “my messenger”. From the outset, this powerful passage from the last prophet in the Old Testament is controversial. Clearly, the Christian Church has co-opted the book, and tied the prophesy of a messenger of the coming of the Lord to the appearance of John the Baptist and the coming of the baby Jesus. So, this book is placed at the end of the Old Testament and it conveniently foreshadows the appearance of John and Jesus in Matthew, 400 or so years later. And we see this passage tucked nicely into Advent readings and sung to us as part of Handel’s “Messiah”. But was that it’s original intent? Probably not!

Most prophets spoke to the people of their own time, calling down the sins of the present and pointing to the consequences of those sins. I’m assuming that this was true for the book of Malachi. In that case, the messenger would likely not be John or Jesus, but Elijah, who never tasted death. Malachi refers to Elijah in later chapters. Here, he speaks of the Day of the Lord.

“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me.
Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple;
the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,”

I think it’s ironic that we’re looking at this passage late in June, when most people have their minds set on their summer vacations, good barbecue weather and the prospect of good times. Ironic, because that is exactly the comfortable ‘off duty’ attitude Malachi cries out against in his prophesy. The temple was restored in 515 BCE and by 450 BCE the Lord did not visit his people. They grew impatient waiting and returned to their self-absorbed, sinful ways. Against this backsliding, the prophet rose up.

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.”

The Lord who is coming is not a cute baby in a manger but a God in whose presence no one can stand. The Advent message should strike a chord of fear. The Day of the Lord is a day of Judgement for us all. When this God arrives he will purify his people, as a refiner melts down gold and silver, melting down each and every person until the dross falls away and all that is left is pure metal. He will scrub the people as a fuller scrubs raw wool with lye soap, until it is fit for spinning and weaving. I don’t know about you, but the prospect of that purging gives me pause, if not outright fear. These images do not fit with the cheery messages of Christian Advent or the ramp up to Christmas. So they are not heard in the tinkle of silver bells. But in Malachi’s time, his voice might have stirred some of his people.

The message however, has a built in hope. After purification, righteous people can bring offerings once again to the Lord and they will be welcome. The Levites will be cleansed. The offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be accepted, as in the past. To a people facing destruction at the hands of their God, this is indeed a hopeful message. He loves us: he will purge us clean.

In verse 5, Malachi identifies the corruption in the temple. The people will be put on trial. Sorcerers, Adulterers, Perjurers are condemned. People who defraud laborers of their wages, those who oppress widows and the fatherless will be exposed. And those who deprive foreigners of justice will be judged. But “Do not fear me” the Lord Almighty says to his people. Those who avoid such behaviour are not to fear judgement because they are considered righteous.

If we want to apply Malachi’s prophesy to our own time, we too have the same kinds of sinners who regularly attend our churches, temples and mosques – and sit in seats of government. The lady in the headscarf who was denied a closed can of soda on a plane was a Canadian citizen, yet treated like a ‘foreigner’ because she wore a Muslim religious item. A passenger nearby upbraided her without the flight attendant supporting her. The papers are full of adultery, perjury, and the cheating of workers by employers. We have not come far from the spiritual laziness against which Malachi cried out.

The Day of the Lord is coming. We do not know when, but our task is to be ready. Therefore Advent and Lent should be in our minds and hearts constantly, not out of fear in the sense of being terrified of the Lord, but out of spiritual daily habit. The Book of Malachi begins with God’s message “I have loved you.”  In that one statement, I believe God says why he is doing all this – to make us whole.

Peter Mansell