13^th December 2009

Sunday 6 December 2009

Lessons -- Malachi 2:17-3:6; Luke 3:1-6

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. But who can endure the day of his coming and who can stand
when he appears? (Malachi 3:1,2 NRSV)

Little is known of the prophet Malachi (the 'messenger') whose writing is
the last in the Old Testament -- a kind of preparation for the Gospel.
Before becoming a prophet he may have been a priest dissatisfied with the
flippant way in which God's name was treated in the sanctuary and in the
whole of life.

He probably wrote in approximately 430BC after the return from exile in
Babylon and the restoration of the Temple by Nehemiah and Ezra, when
people had become blase in worship and fascinated by pagan gods who
appealed to their natural instincts. They had adjusted nicely to their
more settled environment -- divorcing their Hebrew wives and marrying
foreign women and generally becoming incapable of distinguishing between
good and evil.

Into this grim situation Malachi speaks a harsh word. 'He disturbed the
peace, disheartened worshippers and embarrassed the priesthood with
reminders of a Name they would rather forget. (I Kirk, Unpublished Sermon,
4 Sep 2009). As a fellow Hebrew he insisted that they stop belittling God
with their slipshod worship, shonky teaching, tepid commitment, contempt
of ethical responsibilities and weak capitulation to gods who gave them
what they desired.

Across the centuries Malachi's harsh word also speaks to us:

* Is our worship notable for glorifying the unsurpassable Name of God
before the nations, or have we become fascinated that many gods can
satisfy our different needs?

* Is our teaching notable for centring on the unique splendour of God's
goodness and mercy for the nations disclosed to the Hebrews and embodied
in Christ, or have we taught that there is a little bit of god and good in
all religions?

* Are our ethical standards notable for affirming the unique dignity of
our creation as male and female, and their fruition in marriage, or have
we capitulated to the belief that sexuality and marriage is a matter of
individual choice?

* Is our participation in the Church notable for being joyful and
prayerful in worship, sacrificial in giving and using money and
disciplined in learning and practising our faith, or have we settled into
a routine which is comfortable, undemanding and amiably accepting?

* Is our prophetic ministry notable for calling Australians to honour God,
oppose corruption in public life and defend human dignity, or have we
become a mouthpiece for sectional interests? (Labor, Liberal, Green.)

Have we let ourselves, our politicians, our Church leaders and our public
opinion-makers be shaped by ideologies which are antagonistic to God's
goodness and mercy revealed to the nations through the Hebrews and in
Christ?

These are urgent questions for a Church no longer at the centre of public
life in Australia. Malachi's word to his generation 2400 years ago also
causes us much soul-searching. But his searing criticism is accompanied
surprisingly by a word of hope! Our grievous shortcomings shall not stand
in the way of God's good purposes for humanity. Instead of darkness he
foresees a ray of light. 'The messenger of the covenant in whom you
delight is coming to prepare the way for the Lord of all. (3:1b)'

It is unclear whom Malachi expected to come to judge and forgive the
flippant Hebrews. He may have thought it would be his role or Elijah's.
Interestingly, he is the only prophet to say that God will send a
messenger before his own final advent (G von Rad, The Message of the
Prophets, 255). But, as later generations looked back through the events
of Christ's risen, crucified and incarnate life and the ministry of John
the Baptist, they saw in Malachi's harsh and hopeful words the
anticipation of the world's redemption.

This expectation of forgiveness and renewal is taken up in Luke's account
of John the Baptist (Luke 3:1-6) who encapsulates the best of Hebrew
prophetic speech and points to its fulfilment in the coming of Jesus.

Luke sets the scene to make the point that what is about to unfold is of
universal significance -- not only for a few Hebrews or Christians!
Christ shall come as Ruler of the world (symbolised, on the political
side, by Rome, and on the religious side, by Judaism). His reign is for
the whole of humanity.

Despite the global importance of this historic event, the pre-publicity is
low-key and unpromising! John the Baptist doesn't appear in a prominent
public place, like a Roman palace or Jewish Temple, but in 'the
wilderness' -- a God-forsaken place which represents all that is hostile
to God and humanity.

Things don't sound any more hopeful when we hear that John the Baptist
comes 'preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins'
(3:3). So conditioned have we become to think that we humans are basically
good that we shudder at such primitive negativity. No wonder some high
profile ministers re-write hymns and liturgies to remove 'grace', 'sin'
and 'penitence'.

Consider though the possibility that, in dodging the truth about
ourselves, we will become deaf to really 'Good' News! We will not hear:

* if we excuse our poor attempts to honour God and dignify others;

* if we deny the truth about the human race as we look at world history;

* if we ignore the fractures in our own relationships;

* if we believe in our own 'moral progress';

* if we deny the corrosive effect of relativism in society; or

* if we ignore strife in the Christian community.

As John the Baptist and Malachi force us to see, our humanity is scarred
by sin!

At the same time, we need not despair. The Good News to which John and
Malachi point is a Person who is the bearer of hope because he is the
embodiment of the immeasurable grace and goodness of God. In him there is
hope for all humanity through the 'forgiveness of sins'. Even though all
of us have settled for a way of life which is far removed from the
humanity which God intends for us, Christ has come into our midst to
display the mercy of God.

What was foreshadowed by prophets in a tiny, often despised nation and
announced by an eccentric prophet in a tiny, God-forsaken part of the
world is therefore crucial for all. Far from being an obscure event with
relevance for a few people, it is the event of mercy and hope for all
nations.

We should remember this at a time in our history when Christian hope in
God's all-sufficient grace, and the need to acknowledge our sins and God's
mercy, is treated as if it were a dangerous relic of a bygone age or a
private religious matter. It is not. It is an earth-shaking public event
which both challenges sin and declares it forgiven in the person of Jesus.

We must resist the all-too-human tendency (so unerringly exposed by
Malachi in his day) to dishonour God and disdain others by accommodating
ourselves to the surrounding culture and excusing our part in the
brokenness of humanity.

When powerful ideologies shape public opinion in ways that dishonour God
and dehumanise our life-together, Christians should speak a harsh word to
our nation and the Church. We must not let ourselves be hoodwinked by
people and programs (in church or community) which falsely inflate our
worth or ignore our responsibilities before God. Like the prophets, we may
have to be
unpopular with our fellow citizens or leaders!

Whatever the protests made, however, we must never lose sight of
the one event in human history in which hope for fractured humanity
has taken place. The Good News, which we are invited to greet with
great rejoicing, is that the One whom prophets like Malachi saw
from a distance has come among us in Jesus Christ. It is in his
incarnate, crucified and risen body there is hope for the Church
and for all nations.

Thanks be to God!

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Rev Dr Max Champion is minister in the St John's Uniting Church, Mt
Waverley, Victoria, Australia. Dr Champion is Chair of the Assembly
of Confessing Congregations within the UCA.