Scripture: Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 3:1-6
Theme: Prepare the Way - Refine
Title: Refined to a Shine!
Subject: Second Sunday of Advent (Year C) 2018
This sermon focuses on the idea of refining; of allowing the LORD to refine you as well as you being a refiner of your own minds, soul and heart (co - operating with God).
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God our Father and from Jesus Christ our Savior and LORD!
Pause for a moment this morning and reflect on the home you grew up in and all the things that surrounded your growing up years. If you could only use one or two words to describe that journey what one or two words would you use?
Recently, a survey was done that asked that very question - If you could describe your family or your growing up years with one or two words what would they be?
Here are some of the top answers:
+Busy +Carefree +Loving +Crazy and Loud +Lonely +Kindness
+Tidy +Safe +Challenging +Chaotic +Dysfunctional
If you are like me you would need several one or two word answers.
One of those words for me would have to be the word "SHINY".
I know - rather odd word, right?
But then again that was one of the things that both my mom and dad loved. They loved it when the floors, when the cars and when practically everything else around the house was clean and shiny and that even included the faces of their children.
Another word would be "Work".
My parents did not believe in giving an allowance. If we wanted to make some extra money then we either had to do something special around the house or seek outside employment. I did all kinds of things like mowing yards, raking leaves, tending to cemetery sites and even cleaning houses. One of the those houses belonged to my aunt and some of the things I remember doing most was cleaning up her bathrooms, waxing the kitchen cabinets, the floors and cleaning the brass bed. Each one of these tasks included both words - "Work and Shiny".
-All the bathroom faucets had to be "shiny"
-All the wooden cabinets had to be waxed and polished so they would be "shiny"
-The kitchen floor had to be waxed and polished and be "shiny"
-The brass bed had to be cleaned, polished and looking all "shiny"
The hardest of all of those tasks was the brass bed. Over time that brass bed would get badly tarnished and would need a real good cleaning. Most of the time I used some old rags and this cleaning/polishing solution called "BRASSO". It wasn't an easy job but when it was done that bed looked beautiful - it was clean, polished and "shiny".
I also remember as a child I would occasionally take my coins and spend some time using the same "brasso" or some silver cleaner and clean up my collection of pennies, dimes and quarters. It always has amazed me how dirty money could get over time. Later on when I worked at Jackson County State Bank during my time at Seminary I found out that money (paper and coin) can be some of the dirtiest things we have on our planet. I always thought someone should have made a money cleaning machine and recently I looked on Amazon.com and found that actually someone has and for around 40.00 you can buy one.
Our passage in the book of Malachi this morning refers to the spiritual work of cleaning, refining and making things shiny. Of course it is not talking about one's money or some brass bed. It is talking about one's relationship with God and one's own spiritual life.
Bible scholars tell us that our prophet lived around the same time as Ezra and Nehemiah (455 - 420 B.C.). Like them he would have been working with both the local Jewish community and those who were returning back to the land of Israel from Exile who were determined to rebuild the Wall, the city of Jerusalem and restore Orthodox Jewish Worship.
You see, a great many of the Israelites that had been left behind by the Exile had given up worshipping the LORD - the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They have even given up learning and speaking the Hebrew language. They felt that God had either abandoned them or rejected them all together. They came to believe that it would be best to worship some other god or goddess or merely forget worship all together.
So, what we see happening at the time of Malachi is rather simple. Malachi, Ezra and Nehemiah were coming back to live in the Promise Land. They thought they would find things in great shape. They also thought that the revival that had been spurred by the Prophets Haggai and Zachariah ( ca 516 B.C.) would still be having a major impact. The temple had already been rebuilt and worship was suppose to be flourishing. However, they found themselves having to be missionaries witnessing to their own people about God.
One of the things that was in their favor, though, (and this was a big one) was that the Holy Spirit was going before them and doing all He could to warm up the hearts of the local people. Even though many of them had chosen polytheism there was a real hunger to once again to believe and follow the Good God of Creation - the Lord God Almighty - the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
One of the great chapters of the Bible testifying to all of this is found in Nehemiah chapter eight. There, Nehemiah shares how the people were so hungry for the LORD that they stood and listened to the Priest Ezra read the Torah for hour upon hour receiving and relishing each and every word he shared. They were eager to hear about the God who had rescued their ancestors from Egypt and now who was enabling them to rebuild the Promise Land. Nehemiah tells us that these people came back a second day which then ushered in a new period of renewal and revival.
Malachi's message was written to help those who wanted to come to faith or who wanted to renew their faith in God. Malachi wanted his people to understand:
+How much the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY loved them.
+How the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY would help them restore their relationship with Him
+How important it was for each and every one of them to be faithful and live out the life of holiness that God has taught their forefathers/foremothers.
And in the midst of all of this, Malachi wanted to remind them that God was coming again. He wanted to them to know that God was coming again not only to rescue and redeem them but to examine their hearts and lives. Malachi and others called this "coming again" the "Day of the LORD".
The "Day of the LORD" was this time when the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY would appear and would bring justice to the earth. The "Day of the LORD" was this time when each and every one of them would appear before the LORD for a time of examination. This examination would determine their eternal destiny.
In chapter 3:2-3 Malachi talks about the LORD God Almighty being a REFINER. A refiner that would help them be prepared for the Coming Day of the LORD. A refiner that would help them get be recipients of God's anointing and blessings.
Now, we get the idea that while Malachi is talking to the people in general he is addressing his comments to a particular Israelite tribe - the Levites. If you remember the Levites had been given the task of performing all the holy services for the LORD in the Tabernacle and in the Temple. It was this group of people who were to take special advantage of the work of the LORD as Spiritual Refiner. The closer the Levites were to the LORD the better they could bring the people into a time of anointing and blessing.
Today, it could be said that all of us are those Levites. When Jesus sent His Holy Spirit a whole new age was ushered in - the age of the Priesthood of All Believers. The age when any man, woman or child regardless of race, culture, education or anything else could be redeemed, filled with God's Holy Spirit and be a witness for the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY.
So, when we read the words of Malachi along with the words of Luke 3:1-6 we must understand that those words are meant for us today just as much as they were meant for those who lived during those times.
We too today stand in the same line for the coming of the Day of the LORD.
We all know that one day Jesus is coming for His Church. We know that the Second Coming may very well be just around the corner. We also know that there is a day of appointment for each and every one of us. Hebrews 9:27 makes this crystal clear:
"And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes the judgment"
That is an appointment in which we all need to be prepared. We must be prepared to be like the Bride that the Apostle Paul writes about in Ephesians 5:27 - "without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she (us) might be holy and without blemish."
Part of the goal of the Advent Season is help us celebrate Jesus' first coming but the more important goal of the Advent Season is to help us be ready for Jesus' Second Coming. We are to do our best to make sure that we are ready to meet Jesus at any time, any day or any hour.
One of the ways we can do that is to allow God to refine us and for us to be a refiner of our own souls as well.
+How can we help refine our souls this Advent Season?
+What are some of the things that we can do to better allow the LORD to refine us?
Let's look at some of them. One of the first things that we can do is to realize:
I. Refiner's don't accept A Status Quo Relationship with the LORD
Let's take a moment and think about the Old Testament Prophet Moses. You might think reading Moses' story that at some point that Moses would have had enough of God. I mean after the Burning Bush, the Plagues, the Red Sea and the experience on Mt. Sinai you might think that Moses would just want to sit back and rest on all these experiences. That he would feel that he did not need for God to refine him or their relationship any further.
But listen to what Moses says in Exodus 33:13 -
"Now therefore, I pray you, if I have found favor in your sight, let me know your ways so that I may know you, that I may find favor in your sight"
The truth is, Moses never gave up having a better - a more refined - a more shiny - relationship with the LORD. He never gave up on working for a better daily walk with the LORD.
It seems like the closer Moses got to the LORD the more he desired to get closer and closer and closer. Once Moses got a taste of the LORD he never got to the point where he was satisfied with His relationship with the LORD. He always wanted to follow the LORD better, be more holy and be more like the LORD.
We see this same attitude out of the Sons of Korah as they write:
As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God." (Psalm 42:1)
Today, we must understand that the LORD is willing, ready and hungry for having a deep personal relationship with each and every one of us. The Bible tells us that the LORD created us out of love for that very relational experience. He loves to hear from us, spend time with us and hang out with us. He loves to walk with us, work with us and spend quiet time with us throughout our day.
In fact, the LORD created a whole day for us to do nothing more than just hang out with Him. We call it the Sabbath Day. Way before Abraham and the Laws of Moses the Lord created a whole day for us just to spend time with Him.
Now, reflect on that for a moment. We get the Sabbath all mixed up at times. We put all these restrictions on it and we cause it to be a day of rules and regulations. The truth is the LORD just wants some time to hang around with us. He wants to join us in worship, to hear our prayers and to be in our Presence teaching us, anointing us and blessing us.
Now, we can do those everyday of the week but the LORD made this one day - this 24 hour period of time just so that we could have some time to be with Him.
But to do so it means that we must get serious and not allow our present relationship with the LORD to just be the Status Quo. We are invited to allow the LORD to refine our relationship, to make it sweeter and sweeter as the days go by.
Every so often you meet a couple who have been married for a long time and who honestly seem like they are tired of one another. Their relationship seems stagnant at best. From all appearances it seems that all that is left is for one of them to graciously bow out of this life. They don't speak very often to one another and when they do it is usually not with loving tones. You get the idea that they have thought about leaving one another but that it would require too much work so they just grind it out.
Regrettably, some people have the same relationship with the LORD. It is stale, stagnant and going nowhere. They do everything grudgingly or just by habit. There is no joy, no celebration or enthusiasm. Somewhere along the line they just decided this is as good as it gets and they grow comfortable with a spirit of apathy.
But the Bible tells us it doesn't have to be that way. Common sense tells us it doesn't have to be that way. When you think about it, it is rather foolish to believe that our relationship with the Good God of Creation should ever become stagnant, apathetic or listless. It may have its ups and downs but the longer we walk with the LORD the more we realize that we can experience a progressive relationship with the LORD. That we can enjoy His Presence - His Love - His Grace and His Mercy in ever new and wonderful ways.
II. Refiner's also have a Goal in Mind - Purity and Holiness
The ancient refiner had one goal in mind - that of helping the silver ore or the gold ore become as pure as possible. This was their life's vocation. Their work was to take away all the dross (the impurities) so that the true nature of the metal could shine through.
The refiner knew that if they could reveal the true nature of the metal be it copper, silver or gold that it would be both beautiful and extremely valuable. They knew that all they had to do was to get rid of that which tarnished it, that which polluted it or that which kept it from being pure. All they had to do was make it possible for the true essence of the metal to come to the surface.
It is this very idea that King David writes about in Psalm 139. The whole psalm is written for David to praise the LORD and to ask the LORD to refine his heart and his life. Listen to verses 23 - 24:
"Search me, O God and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
King David knew that mankind had been fashion in the image of the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. David knew that deep down in man's DNA was the image of Holiness, Purity and Righteousness. Now, David also knew the power and penalty of sin. He was very well aware of what sin had done to the heart and mind of mankind.
But David also believed that it was possible through the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY for a person to be made holy and righteous again. For the Holy Spirit had revealed to David that God had made man
"... a little lower than the angels, and has crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of Your hands; and have put all things under his feet." - Psalm 8:5 - 6
If you allow that to sink in for a moment you begin to realize that we humans were made to be full of glory, honor, righteousness, holiness and purity. When the Church challenges us and invites us to live out a life of holiness it is not something that is beyond our capability. In Christ, we can be freed from both the power and penalty of sin. With the infilling presence of God's Holy Spirit we can be freed from the impurities and dross of sin(s) and we can allow our true nature - our God given nature to shine.
That is all that it means to live a holy and sanctified life. It is allowing the Light of Christ to shine through. It is allowing God's Image to shine through. It is literally being what we are - the Salt of the Earth. It is enjoying the Oneness with God that has always been our destiny.
Gold and silver can only be who they really are - these beautiful metals that the LORD GOD created and put on our earth. However, like us they have been polluted with dross and surrounded by other materials that can hide their beauty and majesty. A refiner's vocation is to allow the true nature of gold and silver to come to the surface. A refiner's vocation is to set silver and gold free to shine and to reveal its beauty and glory.
In the same way that is our life's vocation. We are to allow the LORD to refine us. We are to join in that refining process to become the people that God wants us to be in this life and in the life to come. We are to be people who bear the Fruit of the Spirit and who walk in the glory and honor of God. We are to be His Holy People living an Abundant Life. That is our life's goal.
III. Finally, a Refiner Invites the Fire
Ancient Refiners understood the power and presence of fire. Not only did they understand it they invited it. They did everything possible to make sure that when they did their work with metals that the best fire and the perfect heat were present.
They even invented new ways to make the fire hotter and hotter. Archaeologists have discovered that the average temperature that these ancient refiners were able to generate was somewhere near 1850 degree (F). That is just a little cooler than molten lava.
They used handmade fans that enabled them to increase the heat. Refining was both dangerous work and an art. If you didn't have the fire hot enough you couldn't purify the metals. They wouldn't become pure. And if you didn't keep your eye on everything you could not only make a mess you could start a wildfire and kill yourself and your family.
Getting rid of the dross was perhaps the hardest work of all for a refiner. One had to carefully spoon away the dross out of the molten metal. You can imagine how hard that would be with the metal hovering around 1850 degrees. You could easy burn a whole through your skin in a matter of seconds.
All of this took great skill, dedication and fire.
And who has better skill to refine us than God's Holy Spirit?
Who else knows just how much fire we need and how hot it needs to be? Who else knows how to remove the dross that we need from our hearts, minds and souls?
This morning, if we want to be pure and holy then we must allow the HOLY SPIRIT to bring on the heat and the fire. We must allow the Holy Spirit to be the Holy Spirit in our lives - convicting, cleaning, leading and guiding. We must allow the Holy Spirit to spoon off the dross out of our lives. The dross would be anything that would cause us to be impure, unholy or unrighteous.
In Acts chapter two we read how the Holy Spirit fell on those in the Upper Room. We rejoice and celebrate that outpouring of God's Holy Spirit.
But we forget sometimes that they first had to wait 10 days - 10 days of praying - 10 days of allowing the Holy Spirit to convict them, cleanse them and get them ready. 10 days of the Holy Spirit refining them as they forgave one another and became one with one another. 10 days of facing the heat so to speak.
And even after the fire of the Holy Spirit fell we read in the Book of Acts how those like Peter and Paul and others experienced more and more Holy Spirit refinement. The longer they lived the more they allowed the Holy Spirit to burn off anything that would hinder them from being the people God desired for them to be in this life.
They knew that they too would one day stand before the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. They knew that their day of appointment was coming and they would under God's examination. They wanted to be ready for that day so they prayed for the refining fire of the Holy Spirit. They prayed constantly for God to cleanse them, infill them and empower them. They did their best to live a life worthy of Jesus Christ - their Messiah and Lord.
This Advent Season one of the questions that the HOLY SPIRIT has for us is -
+Will we allow Him to bring His Holy Fire and Heat into our lives?
+Will we allow the HOLY SPIRIT to refine us this Advent Season?
-Or are we happy just where we are?
-Are we comfortable with our impurities and imperfections, our little misgivings and failings?
-Are we comfortable being a 10 karat Christian rather than a pure 24 karat Christian?
-Are we comfortable being a Silver Plated Christian rather than a pure Silver Christian?
We hear a lot of talk today about just being sinners saved by grace. That is true - we are sinners saved by grace. But we are also New Creations - We have been Born Again. We have been redeemed and have been infilled with God's Holy Spirit.
We are not to live below the level that God wants us to live. We are not to live like we have not be saved or redeemed. We are not to live like those who have never heard of God or who have never been forgiven of their sins.
We are to live like God wants us to live. This is what Malachi is challenging us to do in this passage. All around him were fellow Jews who were not living as Jews should live - putting God first in their lives and living out a life of holiness. Malachi knew that when the Day of Judgment came they would be found wanting - they would not be ready. They would be rejected by the LORD.
So, inspired by the Holy Spirit the Prophet Malachi invites those would listen to allow the LORD to refine their lives. To allow the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY to bring on the fire and heat of His Holy Spirit.
This morning, the LORD invites all of us to push away the Status Quo.
This morning, the LORD challenges all of us to desire to have a deeper and more meaningful relationship with Him.
This morning, the LORD invites all of us to experience the refining fire of His Holy Spirit.
For one day we will be standing before the LORD for a time of examination and judgment. The best way I know for us to be ready for that day is to have an up to date relationship with the LORD and to constantly under the leadership and guidance of His Holy Spirit. As we close this morning - this Second Sunday of Advent - let's invite the Refining Fires of the Holy Spirit into our hearts, minds and souls!
Let us determine that just as beautiful as all the Christmas lights that we see all around us that we are going to be just as spiritually beautiful being a light for God in the darkness of our world. Let us be determined that when it is our time to stand before the LORD that we present ourselves as Pure and Holy.
Let us hear the words of Peter the Apostle one more time:
"Therefore, beloved since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish and at peace." (2 Peter 3:14).
Closing Hymn - Cleanse Me (J. Edwin Orr)
God's Refining Fire
Open Altar/Prayer/Blessing
