Refined and Prepared

         Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Beth and I took a quick trip to Virginia to visit with Beth’s side of the family. Beth’s sister-in-law, Ellen, works for the F.B.I. at their headquarters located on the Marine Corps Base at Quantico. So the day after Thanksgiving Ellen took us on a partial tour of the F.B.I. academy, including the gift shop where we loaded up on F.B.I. apparel and trinkets.

         Then we drove over to the U.S. Marine Corps Museum, a beautiful, soaring glass structure filled with all sorts of interactive exhibits. One exhibit at the museum caused flashbacks for me, an old U.S. Army veteran. Here’s how it worked. They had this replica of a bus carrying military recruits bound for basic training. We stood in military formation as the bus chugged along and we could hear the inner thoughts of these hapless souls bound for Parris Island hell. After a while, the brakes squeaked and the bus stopped. The recruits disembarked, with drill sergeants screaming. For added pleasure, we actually stepped into a booth, a "surround sound" exhibit, and experienced drill sergeants yelling at us from all directions at once. Hey, fun times! Sign me up!

         With their fierce, unbending demands, in some ways, the prophet Malachi, as well as John the Baptist, remind us of drill sergeants. They do not come to God’s people and ask, "Well, friends, would you like to do God’s will today, or are you in the mood for something else? Would you like to be challenged and shaped as a people of God, or would something else make you feel more comfortable, more self-actualized?" No. Wearing their wide-brimmed drill sergeant hats, these prophets glower, push forward, brims touching our foreheads, their faces just inches from our faces, and they blast away, spittle flying, "Advent time is God’s time! Get ready! Now! Move like you’ve got a purpose!" No finesse. No quiet diplomacy. Just orders and urgency. Why is that? And what good news lies beneath it?

         Begin with Malachi. The word Malachi means "my messenger." And the book itself was probably written by an unknown person or persons sometime in the first half of the 5^th century B.C. According to one scholar, "Malachi accuses his people of committing worship offenses, entering into mixed marriages, divorcing, and failing to tithe, all violations of God’s covenant with Israel."

(William P. Brown, Obadiah through Malachi, a commentary in The Westminster Bible Companion Series, 191-192.) To make things worse, the priests of the time have grown tired of their calling, and they whine that God is unjust.

         What’s God going to do? Through Malachi, God says, "See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple . . . 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; 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 . . ." In other words God says, "You want me to show up and do justice? You got it. But when I come, will you be ready? Will you be ready for me?" Oh! Whatever happened to that easy-going, friendly God? Where did our laid-back, "no worries," "it’s all good," God, go?

         God will be like a fire used for refining silver, burning hot, melting away the impurities in order to leave behind a brilliant luster. And God’s going to be like fullers’ soap made with lye. This soap is applied and the wet clothes are stomped, then left to dry and bleach in the sun.

(Ibid. 200-201.)

         Ever felt God’s refining fire? Ever known God’s purifying cleansing? 

         God’s refining and purifying sounds painful. It sounds scary. What kind of changes will God require of us? What will we have to give up? What will we need to take on?

         And John the Baptist is no easier of a taskmaster. He proclaims "a baptism of repentance." Rather than a baptism for new converts, John preaches a baptism of repentance for all. But what does it mean to repent anyway?

         Presbyterian writer and poet Kathleen Norris says, "Repentance is not a popular word these days, but I believe that any of us recognize it when it strikes us in the gut. Repentance is coming to our senses, seeing, suddenly, what we’ve done that we might not have done, or recognizing, as Oscar Wilde says . . . that the problem is not in what we do but in what we become."

(Kathleen Norris, The Cloister Walk, 165.)

         Coming to our senses. The problem is not in what we do but in what we become.

         Quoting from the prophet Isaiah, John continues. He says, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness." Crying can actually be translated as roaring. The voice of one roaring in the wilderness. "‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’" A straight path to God. Every obstacle that gets in the way of our faithfulness to God filled in, knocked down, straightened out, smoothed over. Everything. Get ready.

         One Christian writer put it this way, "I invite you to ponder the possibility of receiving a telephone call from someone you have never met face to face, but because of the stories you have heard about him, you feel that you know him quite well. Over the years, you have confessed your love for him. You have offered prayers in his name. Today, he has called to say that he is on the way. Imagine what he is bringing with him. He is bringing every single thing you need to continue your journey into the dominion of God. His name is Jesus, but before he can come, preparations must be made."

(John Westerhoff, quoted by Joanna M. Adams in The Christian Century, Nov. 28, 2006, 19.)

         What would such preparation, such repentance actually look like in our lives? What might repentance look like for us as a church? What should we be doing differently as a group, as a part of the Body of Christ? And what would repentance look like in our individual lives? For some of us, maybe it would mean giving something up–a favorite sin, for example. Anger, malice, gossip, lust, laziness, greed, gluttony, or cynicism, maybe. For others of us, it might mean adding something–a social justice ministry, a deeper commitment to daily prayer and study of Scripture, weekly worship, more generous stewardship of time, abilities, and money. Repentance, being refined by God, will take different forms for different people. What is God calling and empowering you and me to do differently?

         Like many of you, I’m tired of hearing about Tiger Woods’ "transgressions." We are all sinners in various ways, and now we know some of Tiger’s sins. But I think this can also be a teaching moment. One sports writer wrote to say that he would not defend Tiger, but neither would he attack him. He said, "I’ll pass on a piece of advice given to me by a sage a long time ago: the happiest lives are lived by those with the cleanest hands."

(Robert Lusetich, "Seriously, Tiger . . . what were you thinking?" on Foxsports.com)

         The happiest lives are lived by those with the cleanest hands.

         Malachi and John holler the good news of God’s refining fire and purifying soap. Like rough drill sergeants their message is loud and clear. And the message is finally about God’s love. God truly wants us to be happy, to be filled with joy. That’s what repentance ultimately leads to–joy. Joy as we are transformed by God. Joy as we prepare for the coming Christ. Joy as we finally meet the One we’ve loved and awaited so long.

         This Advent, how do you and I need to cooperate with God in repentance, in change of ourselves? How do our priorities need to shift as God melts away the waste in our lives? What practical steps will you and I take as God makes us new? Refined, purified, prepared. Let’s get off the bus and receive the repentance God offers–and joy. Amen.