If you were going to design a Christmas card what would you put on the front cover? Would you draw a picture of the Christ-child lying in a manager as Mary and Joseph stand guard and a wide-eyed shepherd boy peers in on the little babe? Maybe you would sketch an angel next to the words “Peace on earth and good will to all”? Or perhaps you would illustrate Jesus with his sleeves rolled up carrying a box of bleach. What?!? You see, if you would have asked the prophet Malachi to design a card commemorating the coming of Christ that’s how he would have depicted the Messiah. God told Malachi that the Messiah would come as one who purifies and cleans with a launderer’s soap. While Malachi’s portrayal of the Messiah might seem bizarre it does provide a precise picture of what Jesus came to do. Our sermon text teaches us this morning that the Lord comes to launder lives by purifying us from sin, and restoring our usefulness.
The prophet Malachi lived about 400 years before Christ was born and was the last of the Old Testament prophets. 100 years had also passed since the Jews returned from exile in Babylon and in a sense God was starting over with his chosen people. He had purged from the ranks those who refused to worship him and was now going to use this new group to usher in the era of the Messiah. Things started out well as the returnees quickly dedicated themselves to rebuilding the city of Jerusalem and the Lord’s temple. Unfortunately this enthusiasm didn’t last as they decided that it was more important to build beautiful homes for themselves than to finish their house of worship. They also ignored God’s warnings not to intermarry with the heathen. They broke the Sabbath and their marriages. They cheated, lied, and embezzled funds. To top it all off the priests were guilty of many of these things.
With all that going on you would expect God to say, “Enough! I just can’t win with these people!” It’s true isn’t it? The Israelites had often displayed an unfaithful, ungrateful attitude towards the LORD. Think back to how they treated God after he rescued them from the Egyptians. Even though they had just witnessed God’s ability to part the sea so two million people and their possessions could cross over on dry land in a single evening they didn’t seem to think that this same God could, or would provide an adequate supply of food and water on their journey to the Promised Land. So they complained bitterly to Moses and were even so bold as to say that it would have been better for them to remain slaves in Egypt.
The story of the Israelites is often our story isn’t it? We too know that our God is all-powerful and is concerned about our well being, yet when we run into the first signs of difficulty we panic and accuse God of abandoning us! We think that if only we could be in charge of our life things would go much more smoothly. Of course we forget about those times when we did go out on our own only to mess things up. We also seem to conveniently forget that it was God who bailed us out of the mess we had gotten ourselves into.
How do you think God should deal with people who continue to second-guess him and try to go their own way all the time? After hearing about all the sins the Israelites were committing you would expect God to tell Malachi that he was going to send someone to punish the unfaithful Israelites. Instead God says that he is going to send the “messenger of the covenant” who would not punish but purify the hearts of his people.
There you have it – Jesus came as a purifier, not a punisher. And how did Jesus purify us from our sins? He didn’t use soap but his own blood which he shed on the cross. Jesus’ blood cleanses us from our sins because it is pure blood – blood that doesn’t contain any of its own sin and therefore absorbs all of our sinfulness like a big sponge. Therefore we can be confident that because of Jesus our sins are covered and hidden from God and we can trust that he won’t punish us for them.
But in spite of the wonderful work Jesus has done many people are not planning on standing behind Christ’s blood when they appear before God’s judgment throne. They either think that their life has been good enough or they simply don’t know about Christ’s work and therefore plan on standing before God on the basis of what they have and have not done. But that’s foolish. It’s just like the little boy who doesn’t think he needs to wear a toque while he’s playing outside in the -20 C weather. Without that toque it won’t take very long for the boys’ ears to become frostbitten will it? In the same way if we try to stand before God on our own merits we won’t last very long before God throws us out of his loving presence for daring to reject his Son’s work of salvation. Praise God for purifying our hearts through Jesus. Honour him by putting your trust in him for the forgiveness of sins.
While Jesus’ work of purifying our hearts from sin is completed he continues to purify our faith. He does this by sending trials into our lives. He sends tough times because he wants to teach us through experience that we can count on him for everything. Therefore don’t be surprised if God takes away a job or allows you to get sick. When that happens look forward to seeing how God will continue to care for you just as he has in the past.
In purifying our hearts from sin Jesus restored our usefulness as God’s servants. Think of it this way. You wouldn’t spend money to get your favourite shirt dry-cleaned if you didn’t plan on wearing it. In the same Jesus doesn’t just purify us so that heaven can be ours; he’s purified us so that we can serve God. Paul put that thought this way. “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (2 Cor. 5:15).
How exactly does God want us to serve him? Well, in our text God didn’t ask anything extraordinary from his people. He simply wanted them to serve faithfully in the work that he had already given to them. For the priests this meant that they should take their duties seriously and look at it as a privilege, not a burden. For you it may mean to serve God by being a faithful father and husband. Love your wife unconditionally and lead your household as God wants you to lead, with gentleness and patience. If you are a wife and a mother, serve your husband and family faithfully as if you were serving God himself. If God has made you a student, apply yourself diligently to your studies. Don’t put homework off, or do it to get done as quickly as you can, instead do it to the best of your ability and when God blesses your work give him credit for your success.
Of course there are other ways in which we can serve our God. In the book of Malachi God says that we can serve him by bringing him the best of our income. Unfortunately the Israelites during Malachi’s time were bringing anything but their best. They were sacrificing animals that were sick and diseased and not worth selling on the market any way. That hardly showed devotion and respect to the King of Kings! In fact God dared them to bring that same gift to their governor in Jerusalem.
How are we doing in our giving? Are we giving the King of Kings the best of our income, or whatever we can afford to part with? It would seem that many are giving their best when you look at the offering totals. They have been fantastic haven’t they? For thirteen weeks in a row we have taken in offerings well above the amount we have budgeted to spend every week. In fact some Sundays we received a thousand dollars more than we budgeted to spend. Keep that up, not because God needs our money but because we need to give it! Giving God our best is a way for us to show that he truly has captured our heart and remains number one in our life. If you haven’t had the chance to plan your giving do so. Use your offering envelopes as a tool. Set aside your offering in those envelopes as soon as you receive your allowance, or paycheck. Starting January 1st everyone in the congregation should have their own offering envelopes to do just that. The Sunday School children can use the red offering envelopes while all confirmed members will be receiving their own set of envelopes beginning Jan. 1st. When you sit down to figure out how much you want to give to the Lord keep in mind that he purified you for that very purpose; so that you could serve him with your whole life, including your treasures.
Next time you receive one of those cute Christmas cards that picture Jesus as a little babe wrapped in swaddling clothes remind yourself that we can picture our Lord that way because he came to launder lives. If Jesus had not come to purify us from sin we would remain afraid of God just as Adam and Eve were afraid of him when they fell into sin. But Jesus has purified us and in doing so has restored our usefulness as God’s servants. As thankful servants then let’s take advantage of all the opportunities he has given to us and show our thanks and love for our wonderful God. Amen.
