ADVENT
A Season of Promise

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Second Week of Advent

Read 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. 2 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 fullers’ soap; 3 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. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.

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What promise is there in this passage of scripture? It speaks of the “Day of the Lord,” pictured by the prophets as a day of awful judgment. This is not a promise we look forward to! Who can endure such a day and stand his or her ground when God appears? Another place in scripture reminds us, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23 The promise of this reading from Malachi is that the God of covenant, the God we know in Jesus Christ, does not leave us to our sin, but comes directly to us. The refining is in order to improve. The purifying has to do with purging that which contaminates.

One cannot read about the refiner’s fire without hearing Handel’s Messiah:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVneIjkZRig

This is the text Handel used. We hear of a bush that was on fire, but was not consumed. Exodus 3:2 Likewise, the refiner’s fire does not consume, it purifies.

The story is told of a woman who sought out a silversmith. She wanted to learn the process of refining silver so she could better understand this scripture reading from Malachi. She made an appointment to watch the silversmith at work. She
didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were the hottest to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot: He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver. Mal. 3:3. She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit here in front of the flame the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, “How do you know when the silver is fully refined?” He smiled at her and answered, “Oh, that’s easy – when I see my image in it.”

This Advent, the promise is that God comes to us, to save us, to refine us, to purify us – so that all the world might see God’s image in us. This week, think about how others might see the image of God in you.

Light the first and second candles of the Advent Wreath.

Prayer:

God of our salvation,
you straighten the winding ways of our hearts
and smooth the paths made rough by sin.
Purify our lives,
and bring to perfection the good you have begun in us.
May others see your goodness in us.
We ask this through him whose coming is certain,
whose day draws near;
your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
Amen.

NEXT: Advent Devotional - Week THREE >>>

Updated December 2, 2009