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Karen Hollis | December 8, 2024 Advent 2
Malachi 3:1-4 See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight--indeed, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. But 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 washers' soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the LORD in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD, as in the days of old and as in former years.
Luke 1:68-79 "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his child David, as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors and has remembered his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham, to grant us that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness in his presence all our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins. Because of the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be reflections of your word to us today, in Christ’s name we pray. Amen
Last week we explored hope, particularly the tension of hope in the Jewish understanding. Hope is the tension of expectation, not based on current circumstances, thank goodness, but on God’s faithfulness to show up. Hope has already invited us into an active posture in this season of waiting when we arrive on this Sunday of Peace.
Dictionary definitions of peace include freedom from disturbance, tranquillity, mental or emotional calm, and a state or period in which there is no war or a war has ended. These understandings of peace are so ingrained in us that I intentionally take a moment most Sundays and remind us that biblical peace is different. I tend to repeat myself – I hope not so much that you’ve tuned me out, rather that repetition helps make room for another understanding of peace.
In the Hebrew Bible, the word for peace is “shalom,” which refers to something complex with lots of pieces that is in a state of completeness, wholeness. It can refer to a stone that has no cracks, or a stone wall that doesn’t have any gaps or missing bricks.1 Shalom can also refer to a person’s well-being. Like when King David visited his brothers on the battlefield, he asked about their shalom. “The core idea is that life is complex, full of moving parts and relationships and situations, and when any of these is out of alignment or missing, [our] shalom breaks down. Life is no longer whole; it needs to be restored.”2
Restoration doesn’t always go as planned. Malachi takes us back to the time when the Israelites had been restored to their homeland after the Babylonian exile. They had restored the Temple and worshipped there once again, but after all that they were still being oppressed, women were suffering from the poverty of divorce, workers were being exploited, immigrants were being cast out, and corruption was rampant among the religious leaders.3 The prophet Malachi speaks to them of teasing apart that which in them is of God and that which is instilled in them by the empire in power – the Persian empire in this case. They are trying to restore life that is centered on God’s love and worship, but they are still bound by things like belief systems and cultural norms of the empire.
Malachi proclaims to the people: “The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight--indeed, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. But 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 washers' soap.” In our 21st Century context, it’s easy to mistake the voice of God for the voice of punishment in this text, to interpret something like judgement day or fire reigning down on the people. This proclamation is more about freeing us from the things that don’t serve us. Refiner’s fire is a process of taking metal and burning off the impurities, which makes the metal stronger. Fuller’s soap was used to wash the freshly sheared wool. They would take the wool in buckets far away from the village, because it was so smelly. They washed out all of the dirt and grass and any other foreign objects that could break down the wool over time, so that it could be spun and woven or stitched together. So, we can see that we’re really talking about a process of clearing out so that a material is stronger and more durable, and can be in good service of the whole. In the case of humans, it’s a process of removing the influence of empire, leaving behind people free to live a life of worship. Still, Malachi wonders, who can endure this process.
In our 21st Century Christian context, reading this text during the season of Advent, we might read into it John the Baptist or Jesus. While this text has its own context and meaning within it, part of the process of theological reflection with the text is to connect it to other aspects of our tradition, culture, lives, etc. So, there’s no harm in reading in Jesus, as long as we name what we’re doing. Jesus is a helpful connection here between the refiner’s fire and this biblical concept of Peace, because he embodies both.
The refiner’s fire invites people to see their whole selves – the stuff that comes from God and the stuff that comes from empire, the stuff that moves people to behave in ways that do harm or support harmful systems. Jesus’ very presence activates this noticing in people.
Can you imagine actually meeting Jesus? The Jesus of my imagination has energy is so potent and so centered and clear that simply being in his presence changes people. I’ve mentioned before the Jesuit priest I met during seminary. I walked into our meeting with a halo of confusion over me Between the time I shook his hand and sat down in my chair, I knew every answer to every question I brought with me. My halo of confusion ordered itself partly into intuitive knowing, calm assurance, and it was as if a wind had blown through to clear out the rest. And Father Pat is not Jesus . . . I can only imagine what meeting him was like.
Standing amongst people with his big presence, Jesus also embodies the Christian understanding of Peace, which in Greek is Eirene, meaning healing and reconciliation between people. In his state of healing and wholeness, in his integrated self, in his vulnerability, and invites those gathered into relationship. With increased clarity about what in them is of God, what is a barrier, and perhaps even awareness of specific situations that need healing, people respond to him in astounding ways. They change their whole lives.
In the words of theologian Nichola Torbett, instead, “Jesus speaks the truth in such a way that hearers are convicted within themselves and shown a way to make repair for whatever harm they have been a part of. The tax collector Zachaeus spontaneously decides to give half of his wealth to the poor and repay four times any amount he has received unfairly, and all this happens, seemingly, just from catching sight of Jesus.”4
Have you ever been in a group where people are sharing and then suddenly someone takes the conversation deeper? They lean on the trust the group has built and reveal something that’s a bit raw. How does the rest of the group respond? They perhaps thank the person, affirm their vulnerability, and perhaps others meet that vulnerability with their own. Vulnerability invites further opening – this is one of its gifts. Perhaps, then, the key question, is not about enduring the day of the messenger’s coming, rather responding to vulnerability when it appears.
What happens when we are able to tell the truth to ourselves, to each other? What impact does that have on our living, on our relationships?
The season of Advent seems to be greeting us with a big invitation this year comes with a big invitation this year . . . to meet the urge to distract ourselves from what is happening in the world with the tension of hope, the expectation that God will show up here in the world . . . to invite Christ’s peace to work in us, and to tell the truth to ourselves, to a friend . . . so that together we may be more able to endure, more able to show up for one another.
I’m a knitter, so I like the image of the wool and the yarn. This is the season of being washed and combed, in preparation for being spun and knitted together to serve the common good. Thanks be to God.
1 the Bible project: Peace
2 the Bible project: Peace
3 enfleshed, Nichola Torbett, Dec 5, 2021
4 enfleshed Dec 5, 2021