Speaker: Rev Dr David Starling
Scripture: Malachi 2:17-3:5
2:17: “Where is the God of justice?”: Do we
really want that question answered?
3:2: “Who can endure the day of his
coming?” The silver furnaces were not nice places to be. God as a refiner’s
furnace is an uncomfortable confronting image! The process is not a sweet and
beautiful thing, but the product is lovely. Launderer of the ancient world were
out of town. The process stinks: putrefied urine you soak the clothes before
you wash, or strong caustic paints, etc. Seriously traumatic images! Who’s
going to come out of this intact?
3:5: The image of a court-room. God is
coming to bring justice comprehensively, not selective justice! “I will be
quick to testify”: It is you who God will be putting on trial.
3:3-4: There is a different between
purifying silver and burning rubbish. The “silver” serves in integrity and
uprightness. Some people only talk about the bible as forgiveness of sins. It
is the creation of a people who worship God rightly.
God not only redeems, but also reconstitutes
us. Some people describes forgiveness as “gift”, and the consecration (worship
and service) as “payback”. That is not right. Both are privileges, not
“payback” for what Christ did on the cross. God in his kindness, forgives our
sins, redeemed us out of trouble, and gives us the great privilege to offer our
lives up in worship.
First page of the Gospel of Mark quotes from
both Isaiah and Malachi. Isaiah is a promise spoken to Israel in the situation
of exile (salvation, homecoming, deliverance). Malachi is a promise given to
people on the other side of the return from exile (people becoming weary,
cynical, so this involves confrontation). Both promise points us to Jesus. The
Messiah comes without warning!
We, even Christians, can feel the
temptation to live as if God didn’t see and didn’t care. The temptation to the
quiet half-hearted insincerity that goes through the motions of what you do, as
if there is no presence of God in our lives.
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