Dear friends in Christ.
How many of you are simply amazed to realize that there are merely four days left until Christmas Eve, and eleven days left until New Year’s Eve? How many of you have found yourselves wondering what happened to 2009? How many of you are simply relieved that this year is nearly over and are looking forward to a new start in 2010? If you are, I’m not surprised, after all 2009 was a difficult year for most of us. It was a year filled with four very difficult and emotional funerals for our congregation as well as a number of emotional and unexpected funerals for good friends around town. It was a year filled with economic hardship, layoffs, decreased hours, decreased salaries, and quite a few jobs lost. It has been a year where we have seen more and more people coming in to make use of the food shelf to help them make ends meet. It’s been an up and down year with quite a number of different things going on, and yet, it has been a year in which we were able to give glory to the Lord our God, just as Mary and Elizabeth were able to do in our text today.
For them, it had also been an incredibly busy year as so many things had happened for them! Joseph had asked Mary to be his wife. The angel Gabriel had appeared to Zachariah while he was performing his priestly duties in the Holy Place of the Temple, while the people were praying outside, announcing to Zachariah that his wife would soon give birth to a son, who would be the forerunner of the Messiah. Zachariah had been struck with speechlessness as a sign of the truth of the message Gabriel had brought, all while Joseph was busy preparing to bring Mary into his home as his wife. It was during that time, in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, that the Angel Gabriel appeared in Nazareth, to Mary, announcing that she would be the mother of the coming Messiah. In that simple moment, Gabriel made known to Mary that all of God’s promises would be culminating in the birth of her son, Jesus! She was the woman that God had chosen for the honor for which so many women had hoped! She was the virgin about whom Isaiah had prophesied nearly 700 years before, and she gave glory to the Lord by simply believing that what the Lord said to her would be accomplished.
It was at that time, as our text tells us that “At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!” (Luke 1:39-45, NIV)
What excitement Elizabeth must have felt as Mary’s greeting met her ears and the baby in her womb leaped for joy at the presence of the Messiah growing in the womb of Mary. What excitement Elizabeth must have felt, as the Holy Spirit filled her heart, giving her the opportunity to glorify the Lord for the coming of the Messiah, even before Mary had the opportunity to tell Elizabeth what had happened. What joy must have filled Mary’s own soul as the Holy Spirit filled her heart and moved her to cry out: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.” (Luke 1:46-55, NIV)
Well that same joy that Mary and Elizabeth experienced in our text can be ours as well! For as we bring our Christmas preparations to a close this morning, we are taking this opportunity to glorify the Lord God, our Savior because he has indeed fulfilled all of his promises. We are glorifying the Lord God our Savior today, because he is the one who has showered us with his mercy. We are glorifying the Lord our God today, because he has established his eternal kingdom of Grace in our hearts through the faith created there by the Holy Spirit! In his great mercy, it is the Lord who has not treated us as our sins deserved, but called us to faith in Jesus Christ our Savior. In his great mercy, it is the Lord who has called us to be his own and taught us the precious truths of salvation, through the pages of the Scriptures. In his great mercy, the Lord has revealed the many promises that he made to his people Israel; promises about the coming Savior who would free his people from their sins, call them back to himself, and be their shepherd under whom they would live in safety. Just as Micah prophesied in our first lesson, when he said, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times." Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor gives birth and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be their peace.” (Micah 5:2-5a NIV)
Just as Mary glorified the Lord because he had been mindful of the humble state of his servant, so also we glorify our God because he has chosen us to be his own. Just as Mary glorified the Lord because the Lord had done great things for her in making her the mother of the Savior, so also we glorify the Lord because he has done great things in calling us to faith. Just as Mary glorified the Lord because he did not treat Israel as they deserved, but mercifully acted on behalf of Abraham and all his descendants, continuing to issue promise after promise of the Savior, forgiving sins, and establishing his line and up holding it even through captivity and many other difficult struggles, so also the Lord continues to act in mercy on our behalf. Even though it has been and up and down year for us, the Lord has not been up and down with our forgiveness, but has been constant in his assurance of our forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior. Even though we have experienced some difficult situations in our work place with reduced hours, unusual shifts, layoffs, and unemployment issues, the Lord has not reduced the grace and mercy that he continually showers upon us. Rather, the Lord has continually stood beside us in every situation we have faced. The Lord has continued providing for our needs in every area of our lives. The Lord has constantly defended us from danger and worked out even the worst situations we’ve faced so that they would ultimately serve our good. It is because of this that we have gathered to give glory to the Lord our God today, who graciously and mercifully fulfilled all his promises of a Savior when Immanuel, the Christ, was born in Bethlehem to Mary—the virgin Isaiah spoke about, the one in labor as Malachi prophesied, the one whose soul glorified the Lord and whose spirit rejoiced in God, her Savior.
As Mary said, “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.” (Luke 1:46-55, NIV)
Amen.
Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church Le Sueur, MN
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Rejoice, O Daughter of Zion (Zephaniah 3:14-17)
Of all the reformers and church leaders of history, we are most familiar with Martin Luther, simply because every year we are reminded of how the Lord used him to bring back the truth of the Gospel to churches in Germany. Yet, there is another church leader who his just as famous in England as Luther is in Germany. That man's name is John Wesley, the founder of the Wesleyan Church. When John Wesley was about 21 years of age he went to Oxford University. He came from a Christian home, and he was gifted with a keen mind and good looks. Yet in those days he was a bit snobbish and sarcastic. One night, however, something happened that set in motion a change in Wesley's heart. While speaking with a porter, he discovered that the poor fellow had only one coat and lived in such impoverished conditions that he didn't even have a bed. Yet he was an unusually happy person , filled with gratitude to God. Wesley, being immature, thoughtlessly joked about the man's misfortunes. "And what else do you thank God for?" he said with a touch of sarcasm. The porter smiled, and in the spirit of meekness replied with joy, "I thank Him that He has given me my life and being, a heart to love Him, and above all a constant desire to serve Him!" Deeply moved, Wesley recognized that this man knew the meaning of true thankfulness. Many years later, in 1791, John Wesley lay on his deathbed at the age of 88. Those who gathered around him realized how well he had learned the lesson of praising God and rejoicing in every circumstance. Despite Wesley's extreme weakness, he began singing the hymn, "I'll Praise My Maker While I've Breath." (Copied from http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/p/praise.htm. Accessed 12/11/09 Adapted.)
In the same way that John Wesley was able to praise God and rejoice in him, even on his death bed, so also we can rejoice in the Lord, just as Zephaniah encourages us to do in our text today. He writes, “Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away your punishment.” (Zephaniah 3:14-15 NIV).
When God’s people heard these words, the believers must have shouted for joy right then and there, because when Zephaniah first delivered these words, those who had remained faithful to the Lord and who were eagerly looking forward to the coming Messiah were living in a nation that was falling apart spiritually. Many of the Israelites had been led away from the worship of the true God and had begun to make sacrifices to idols and false gods. Some of them had been led down this path simply because they had intermarried with the heathen nations around them. Others had been led down this path because many of their kings had turned away from the Lord, embraced the false gods of the nations around them, and encouraged the people to do the same. Because of this, the Lord had sent the prophets like Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and many others to proclaim his harshest law so that the people might see their sins and turn to him in repentance, but too many of the Israelites had not listened. Even when King Josiah was working to reform the religious life of the Israelites, it was not enough, as the majority of Israel continued to walk the path of the Lord’s punishment. Not merely the punishment that would bring the Babylonians in to conquer them, but also the punishment of eternal death and damnation for those who refused to listen to the Lord’s warning and turn to him in repentance. Yet even in the midst of a message of harshest law, the Lord also delivered a joyful message of forgiveness as Zephaniah called to the people and said, “Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy,” (Zephaniah 3:14-15 NIV).
Well, that same message of the Lord’s removal of our punishment is the message that causes us to rejoice today as well. Though we are living in a nation where so many people have turned away from the worship of the Almighty God to serve idols of greed, selfishness, and self-indulgence we are still able to rejoice in Lord. Though we are living at the beginnings of an economic recession the likes of which very few of us have ever experienced, we can still praise our Lord. Though we are living in a time when more and more churches are proclaiming a message that resembles, but is completely unlike the Word of God, we can still rejoice because we know that we are part of Zion. We can still rejoice because we know that we are members of God’s chosen people, we can still rejoice because we know that through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior, the Lord our God has removed our punishment from us and placed it upon his Son, our Savior. In his great love for us, the Lord our God sent his Son to the cross where he endured the flames of hell as he was rejected by his father in heaven. He watched as his Son, who is true God from all eternity, who as true God cannot die, he watched as his Son died to pay for our sins.
It is because of this that we rejoice today! We rejoice in the Lord who removed our punishment that we deserved and brought us into a right relationship with him. We rejoice in Jesus our Savior who willingly gave his life in our place so that he might free us from that punishment forever. We rejoice in the Holy Spirit who now lives in our hearts creating and sustaining the faith that we have in Jesus Christ our Savior, and we rejoice in our Savior who turned back our enemy by his resurrection from the dead so many years ago.
What greater reason could there be for us to rejoice today, even as we prepare ourselves to celebrate the birth of our Savior? What greater reason could there be for us to rejoice today than the knowledge that Jesus turned back our enemy by his willing death and his triumphant resurrection. For it is satan who has been our enemy from the beginning! Already back in the Garden of Eden he reared his ugly head and enticed Adam and Eve to sin against the Lord’s commands. It was satan who brought disaster on Job and inflicted his body with boils and sores hoping to make him to turn against God. It was the devil who tempted David to break the Sixth Commandment and commit adultery with Bathsheba. It was satan who tempted Jesus in the wilderness, hoping to cause Jesus to stumble and fall into sin so that he could no longer be our Savior. And it is the devil who tempts us still today. He is the one who whispers in your ear trying to convince you that what your doing really isn’t a sin if you don’t get caught. He’s the one who is sitting right next to you, trying with all his might to distract you from God’s Word. He is the one who constantly seeks to distract you by reminding you of all the things you could be accomplishing if you didn’t have to sit here in worship. He is the one who is constantly seeking a way to turn us away from the Lord, cause us to grow angry with him, curse him, and simply turn our backs on the Lord our God. He is the one whom Peter calls a roaring lion prowling around looking for someone to devour, and he would have devoured us years ago had it not been for Jesus.
Yet it is because of Jesus that we rejoice today since we know that Jesus is the one who has defeated the devil and turned back our enemy. Already back at the beginning, shortly after he had completed the creation of the world, it was Jesus who turned back satan, our enemy, when he tried to mutiny against the Lord and take over heaven. It was Jesus who cast satan out of heaven and watched him fall, like lightning, to the earth below. It was Jesus who sent satan running when satan tried to tempt Jesus in the wilderness. It was Jesus who endured all the pains and anguish satan threw at him as Jesus hung on the cross. It was Jesus who crushed satan’s power when he died. It was Jesus whose victory march through the heart of hell showed satan that he was done for, and it was Jesus’ resurrection which publicly declared to the world that he had turned back our enemy for good. Though satan tried to defeat the Lord Jesus in heaven and he lost. Though satan tried to defeat Jesus on earth, he lost. Though satan tried to take Jesus out even while he was on the cross, satan lost. Though he continues in his effort to defeat Jesus at every turn, we can still rejoice because we know that the Lord, our Savior, has not only turned back our enemy, but he is always with us, just as Zephaniah tells us: “Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. On that day they will say to Jerusalem, "Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing,” (Zephaniah 3:14-17 NIV)”
What beautiful words these must have been for the people in that day. For with these words, the Lord was reminding his people that no matter what happened, he was with them. Even if the nation of Israel turned away from the Lord to worship idols, the Lord would remain with his faithful people. Even though they might face death and destruction at the hands of the Babylonians and other nations who attacked them, the Lord, the King of Israel was with them. Even if all the world turned against them, through faith in the Savior whom the Lord had promised to send, they had a promise from the Lord their God that he would stand beside them and be with them through all things.
The same is true for each and every one of us today! The Lord, our God, is with us! He is with us right now as we have gathered to praise his name. He will be with us as we gather in the narthex to talk with each other. He will be with us as we travel on our way home. He will be with us as we sit down to dinner, and he will be with us as we crawl into bed tonight and rest ourselves for our work tomorrow. No matter what happens the Lord is with us. Even if we should face an economic turn for the worse, the Lord will be with us. Even if we should feel the hardship, frustration, and worry of fishing for a job in a lake with no fish, the Lord is still with us. Even if we should be assailed by the swine fu this season, the Lord will continue to stand by us. No matter what we face in this life, we do not need to be afraid, we do not need to worry, because the Lord our God is with us today, tomorrow, and forever. Just as he promised his disciples that he would be with them to the end of the age, he has promised that he will be with us to the end of the age. Not only to the end of our age. Not only until the end of the world, but he will be with us until the end of eternity, because we are his chosen people. We are the daughter of Zion, and for that we rejoice today.
What a comfort to know that as Christians we can rejoice in any and every situation in life, because we belong to the Lord. We can rejoice, just as that porter did as he spoke with John Wesley. We can rejoice, just as John Wesley did on his death bed. We can rejoice, because we are the Daughter of Zion, from whom the Lord has removed punishment; for whom the Lord has turned back our enemy; and with whom the Lord continually dwells.
Amen
Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN
In the same way that John Wesley was able to praise God and rejoice in him, even on his death bed, so also we can rejoice in the Lord, just as Zephaniah encourages us to do in our text today. He writes, “Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away your punishment.” (Zephaniah 3:14-15 NIV).
When God’s people heard these words, the believers must have shouted for joy right then and there, because when Zephaniah first delivered these words, those who had remained faithful to the Lord and who were eagerly looking forward to the coming Messiah were living in a nation that was falling apart spiritually. Many of the Israelites had been led away from the worship of the true God and had begun to make sacrifices to idols and false gods. Some of them had been led down this path simply because they had intermarried with the heathen nations around them. Others had been led down this path because many of their kings had turned away from the Lord, embraced the false gods of the nations around them, and encouraged the people to do the same. Because of this, the Lord had sent the prophets like Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and many others to proclaim his harshest law so that the people might see their sins and turn to him in repentance, but too many of the Israelites had not listened. Even when King Josiah was working to reform the religious life of the Israelites, it was not enough, as the majority of Israel continued to walk the path of the Lord’s punishment. Not merely the punishment that would bring the Babylonians in to conquer them, but also the punishment of eternal death and damnation for those who refused to listen to the Lord’s warning and turn to him in repentance. Yet even in the midst of a message of harshest law, the Lord also delivered a joyful message of forgiveness as Zephaniah called to the people and said, “Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy,” (Zephaniah 3:14-15 NIV).
Well, that same message of the Lord’s removal of our punishment is the message that causes us to rejoice today as well. Though we are living in a nation where so many people have turned away from the worship of the Almighty God to serve idols of greed, selfishness, and self-indulgence we are still able to rejoice in Lord. Though we are living at the beginnings of an economic recession the likes of which very few of us have ever experienced, we can still praise our Lord. Though we are living in a time when more and more churches are proclaiming a message that resembles, but is completely unlike the Word of God, we can still rejoice because we know that we are part of Zion. We can still rejoice because we know that we are members of God’s chosen people, we can still rejoice because we know that through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior, the Lord our God has removed our punishment from us and placed it upon his Son, our Savior. In his great love for us, the Lord our God sent his Son to the cross where he endured the flames of hell as he was rejected by his father in heaven. He watched as his Son, who is true God from all eternity, who as true God cannot die, he watched as his Son died to pay for our sins.
It is because of this that we rejoice today! We rejoice in the Lord who removed our punishment that we deserved and brought us into a right relationship with him. We rejoice in Jesus our Savior who willingly gave his life in our place so that he might free us from that punishment forever. We rejoice in the Holy Spirit who now lives in our hearts creating and sustaining the faith that we have in Jesus Christ our Savior, and we rejoice in our Savior who turned back our enemy by his resurrection from the dead so many years ago.
What greater reason could there be for us to rejoice today, even as we prepare ourselves to celebrate the birth of our Savior? What greater reason could there be for us to rejoice today than the knowledge that Jesus turned back our enemy by his willing death and his triumphant resurrection. For it is satan who has been our enemy from the beginning! Already back in the Garden of Eden he reared his ugly head and enticed Adam and Eve to sin against the Lord’s commands. It was satan who brought disaster on Job and inflicted his body with boils and sores hoping to make him to turn against God. It was the devil who tempted David to break the Sixth Commandment and commit adultery with Bathsheba. It was satan who tempted Jesus in the wilderness, hoping to cause Jesus to stumble and fall into sin so that he could no longer be our Savior. And it is the devil who tempts us still today. He is the one who whispers in your ear trying to convince you that what your doing really isn’t a sin if you don’t get caught. He’s the one who is sitting right next to you, trying with all his might to distract you from God’s Word. He is the one who constantly seeks to distract you by reminding you of all the things you could be accomplishing if you didn’t have to sit here in worship. He is the one who is constantly seeking a way to turn us away from the Lord, cause us to grow angry with him, curse him, and simply turn our backs on the Lord our God. He is the one whom Peter calls a roaring lion prowling around looking for someone to devour, and he would have devoured us years ago had it not been for Jesus.
Yet it is because of Jesus that we rejoice today since we know that Jesus is the one who has defeated the devil and turned back our enemy. Already back at the beginning, shortly after he had completed the creation of the world, it was Jesus who turned back satan, our enemy, when he tried to mutiny against the Lord and take over heaven. It was Jesus who cast satan out of heaven and watched him fall, like lightning, to the earth below. It was Jesus who sent satan running when satan tried to tempt Jesus in the wilderness. It was Jesus who endured all the pains and anguish satan threw at him as Jesus hung on the cross. It was Jesus who crushed satan’s power when he died. It was Jesus whose victory march through the heart of hell showed satan that he was done for, and it was Jesus’ resurrection which publicly declared to the world that he had turned back our enemy for good. Though satan tried to defeat the Lord Jesus in heaven and he lost. Though satan tried to defeat Jesus on earth, he lost. Though satan tried to take Jesus out even while he was on the cross, satan lost. Though he continues in his effort to defeat Jesus at every turn, we can still rejoice because we know that the Lord, our Savior, has not only turned back our enemy, but he is always with us, just as Zephaniah tells us: “Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. On that day they will say to Jerusalem, "Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing,” (Zephaniah 3:14-17 NIV)”
What beautiful words these must have been for the people in that day. For with these words, the Lord was reminding his people that no matter what happened, he was with them. Even if the nation of Israel turned away from the Lord to worship idols, the Lord would remain with his faithful people. Even though they might face death and destruction at the hands of the Babylonians and other nations who attacked them, the Lord, the King of Israel was with them. Even if all the world turned against them, through faith in the Savior whom the Lord had promised to send, they had a promise from the Lord their God that he would stand beside them and be with them through all things.
The same is true for each and every one of us today! The Lord, our God, is with us! He is with us right now as we have gathered to praise his name. He will be with us as we gather in the narthex to talk with each other. He will be with us as we travel on our way home. He will be with us as we sit down to dinner, and he will be with us as we crawl into bed tonight and rest ourselves for our work tomorrow. No matter what happens the Lord is with us. Even if we should face an economic turn for the worse, the Lord will be with us. Even if we should feel the hardship, frustration, and worry of fishing for a job in a lake with no fish, the Lord is still with us. Even if we should be assailed by the swine fu this season, the Lord will continue to stand by us. No matter what we face in this life, we do not need to be afraid, we do not need to worry, because the Lord our God is with us today, tomorrow, and forever. Just as he promised his disciples that he would be with them to the end of the age, he has promised that he will be with us to the end of the age. Not only to the end of our age. Not only until the end of the world, but he will be with us until the end of eternity, because we are his chosen people. We are the daughter of Zion, and for that we rejoice today.
What a comfort to know that as Christians we can rejoice in any and every situation in life, because we belong to the Lord. We can rejoice, just as that porter did as he spoke with John Wesley. We can rejoice, just as John Wesley did on his death bed. We can rejoice, because we are the Daughter of Zion, from whom the Lord has removed punishment; for whom the Lord has turned back our enemy; and with whom the Lord continually dwells.
Amen
Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Let the Lord's Messenger Clear the Way (Malachi 3:1-4)
Dear friends in Christ.
I think it was about this time last year when we began talking about the construction project that took place in St. Peter this past summer. I remember hearing people saying things like, “I wonder how they’re going to do it?” and “That’s sure going to be a mess.” Already back around Easter Time. Then sometime in April or May we saw semi trailers positioned all around St. Peter, with their Discover 169 banners, proclaiming that the down town would still be open during the construction. There were articles in the newspaper and even pictures of what it would be like when the project was completed. In short there were quite a number of messengers clearing the way and preparing us for the project that was to come. In our text today the Lord did the very same thing for us and for his people as he sent the Prophet Malachi as the Lord’s Messenger to begin the process of clearing the way for the Lord. In fact, nearly 400 years before the Savior was to be born, the Lord began clearing the way for the Savior through his messengers, just as Malachi wrote in our text: “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years.” (Malachi 3:1-4 NIV).
Now, when Malachi first spoke these words, he was speaking to the people of Israel a little more than 100 years after they had returned from their Babylonian captivity. Though the people had originally been very excited about returning to the land, rebuilding their homes, the city of Jerusalem, and even the temple of the Lord, by this time, the Israelites had become very apathetic toward the Lord and his worship. Rather than bringing to the Lord the first and the best of their livestock for their offerings, they were keeping the best for themselves and offering to the Lord the blind, the lame, and the crippled animals from their flocks and herds. But the worst part of all of this was the fact that the Levites were accepting these animals and offering them to the Lord on behalf of the people! The very people whom the Lord had established as the spiritual leaders of the community and put in charge of worship were disregarding the Lord’s commands by their actions. They were mocking the Lord by accepting these sub-standard offerings, and they were allowing the people to feel at peace as they continued in their sinful lives.
Because of this, as Malachi begins to clear the way for the coming Savior, he reveals that coming Lord would be the one to refine and purify the Levites so that they might once again bring acceptable offerings to the Lord! And as we know, this is exactly what the Lord Jesus our Savior did. For already with John the Baptist, the messenger whom Malachi promises will prepare the way for the Lord, the Lord began his refining the Levites and the people Israel. For as a refinery will pass precious metals like gold or silver through an extremely hot fire so that the impurities might be melted out of them, the Lord began this refining process with the fiery preaching of John the Baptist. As the people came to him by the Jordan River, he did not wink at their sins, but he stood before them proclaiming the truth of God’s Law. Unlike the Levites of Malachi’s day, John breathed the fire of God’s Word, designed to burn away the impurities of sin, and to purify the people of Israel by assuring them of the forgiveness that the Lord offered them through Jesus the Lamb of God. Even when the self righteous Pharisees and Teachers of the Law came to him, he did not hold back, but unleashed the flame thrower of God’s Word at them, going so far as to call them a brood of vipers so that even their sins might be burned away and so that they might turn to the Lord in repentance, receive his forgiveness and pass through to the other side as God’s refined people.
It was in this way that the Lord used John as his messenger to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus so that when Jesus did come to his people he would be able to not only continue refining, but add fuel to the refiners fire so that it might burn even hotter. And that is exactly what Jesus did, for he is the one who traveled throughout all of Israel proclaiming the message, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” He is the one who continually went head to head with the self-righteous religious leaders of the day. He answered every challenge they gave him and continually used his word to burn away stubbornness and sins so that he might forgiveness. Though there are very few recorded instances of religious leaders turning to Jesus and following him on the way that had been prepared, through his preaching and teaching, there were many in Israel who were convicted of their sins, turned to him in repentance, and received the forgiveness that he offered them. There were even some from the Sanhedrin, like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, who were refined by the Lord’s Word and brought from their self-righteous ideas to the forgiveness that Jesus provided.
Just as the Lord Jesus traveled the road that his messengers had prepared him and then served as a refiner and purifier of his people, so also the messenger of the Word has been doing the same thing for you and me. In fact, for the past few weeks, we have been reminded again and again of how our Savior will return on the Last Day. We have heard the Word of our Savior proclaiming to us our need to repent of our sins, draw near to him, and receive the gift of his forgiveness. In many ways the Lord has used that message of his imminent return as a flint and stele to light our hearts on fire so that the impurities or our sins might be burned away so that we might receive his forgiveness and pass through to the other side as God’s refined people! Just as Malachi said in our text: “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years.” (Malachi 3:1-4 NIV).
This is exactly what the Lord has done for each and every one of us! Through the messengers he sent, messengers like Malachi and John the Baptist, the way was cleared for Jesus to enter our hearts and create faith there. Through messengers like Malachi and John, the way was clear for Jesus to enter our hearts and assure us that through his perfect life lived on our behalf that we are now without sin in God’s eyes. It was through God’s messengers that we have are now assured that when our Savior went to the cross, he not only carried the full weight of our debt on his shoulders, but he went so far as to replace our guilt with his innocence. Now, through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior, we have been refined and purified before him and the Lord for all our days. Through faith in Jesus Christ we have come to enjoy our daily trips through the fire of his Word. We have come to enjoy our daily trips because we know that it is only through his law that the impurity of our sins is melted away, and we are purified before the Lord. We enjoy those trips because we know that once purified through our sorrow over sins and the repentance to which the law moves us, we are once again molded into God’s holy people through the press of the gospel.
Now, because of all the work done by the Lord’s messengers, to prepare the way before him, we look forward to the Lord’s appearing with nothing less than joy. Since we know that he is the one who came as a little child so that he might free us from our sins forever, we joyfully look forward to the celebration of his birth. Because we are so familiar with every aspect of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection through which we have been made righteous before the Lord our God, we give praise to the Lord who loved us so much. Because we know that we have been made righteous before the Lord through faith in Jesus Christ, we not only reflect on the fact that he will return, but we look forward to it with all our hearts. We look forward to that grand and glorious day, because when Jesus does return we will be refined and purified one last time. For on that day, as all believers are gathered before the Lord, all the world will hear that we who believed in him are his holy people. We have been declared not guilty through faith in him, and all people will see as we are made righteous forever!
How well we have been prepared for that day! In the same way that the messengers prepared the way for the construction project through St. Peter, so also the Lord’s messengers have prepared the way for our Savior to enter our hearts. We have heard the call to repentance, we have been refined by the fire of God’s law and formed into his people through the gospel, and we are now looking to our Savior’s appearing as the baby in Bethlehem as well as his reappearing on the last day. Amen.
Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church Le Sueur, MN
I think it was about this time last year when we began talking about the construction project that took place in St. Peter this past summer. I remember hearing people saying things like, “I wonder how they’re going to do it?” and “That’s sure going to be a mess.” Already back around Easter Time. Then sometime in April or May we saw semi trailers positioned all around St. Peter, with their Discover 169 banners, proclaiming that the down town would still be open during the construction. There were articles in the newspaper and even pictures of what it would be like when the project was completed. In short there were quite a number of messengers clearing the way and preparing us for the project that was to come. In our text today the Lord did the very same thing for us and for his people as he sent the Prophet Malachi as the Lord’s Messenger to begin the process of clearing the way for the Lord. In fact, nearly 400 years before the Savior was to be born, the Lord began clearing the way for the Savior through his messengers, just as Malachi wrote in our text: “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years.” (Malachi 3:1-4 NIV).
Now, when Malachi first spoke these words, he was speaking to the people of Israel a little more than 100 years after they had returned from their Babylonian captivity. Though the people had originally been very excited about returning to the land, rebuilding their homes, the city of Jerusalem, and even the temple of the Lord, by this time, the Israelites had become very apathetic toward the Lord and his worship. Rather than bringing to the Lord the first and the best of their livestock for their offerings, they were keeping the best for themselves and offering to the Lord the blind, the lame, and the crippled animals from their flocks and herds. But the worst part of all of this was the fact that the Levites were accepting these animals and offering them to the Lord on behalf of the people! The very people whom the Lord had established as the spiritual leaders of the community and put in charge of worship were disregarding the Lord’s commands by their actions. They were mocking the Lord by accepting these sub-standard offerings, and they were allowing the people to feel at peace as they continued in their sinful lives.
Because of this, as Malachi begins to clear the way for the coming Savior, he reveals that coming Lord would be the one to refine and purify the Levites so that they might once again bring acceptable offerings to the Lord! And as we know, this is exactly what the Lord Jesus our Savior did. For already with John the Baptist, the messenger whom Malachi promises will prepare the way for the Lord, the Lord began his refining the Levites and the people Israel. For as a refinery will pass precious metals like gold or silver through an extremely hot fire so that the impurities might be melted out of them, the Lord began this refining process with the fiery preaching of John the Baptist. As the people came to him by the Jordan River, he did not wink at their sins, but he stood before them proclaiming the truth of God’s Law. Unlike the Levites of Malachi’s day, John breathed the fire of God’s Word, designed to burn away the impurities of sin, and to purify the people of Israel by assuring them of the forgiveness that the Lord offered them through Jesus the Lamb of God. Even when the self righteous Pharisees and Teachers of the Law came to him, he did not hold back, but unleashed the flame thrower of God’s Word at them, going so far as to call them a brood of vipers so that even their sins might be burned away and so that they might turn to the Lord in repentance, receive his forgiveness and pass through to the other side as God’s refined people.
It was in this way that the Lord used John as his messenger to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus so that when Jesus did come to his people he would be able to not only continue refining, but add fuel to the refiners fire so that it might burn even hotter. And that is exactly what Jesus did, for he is the one who traveled throughout all of Israel proclaiming the message, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” He is the one who continually went head to head with the self-righteous religious leaders of the day. He answered every challenge they gave him and continually used his word to burn away stubbornness and sins so that he might forgiveness. Though there are very few recorded instances of religious leaders turning to Jesus and following him on the way that had been prepared, through his preaching and teaching, there were many in Israel who were convicted of their sins, turned to him in repentance, and received the forgiveness that he offered them. There were even some from the Sanhedrin, like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, who were refined by the Lord’s Word and brought from their self-righteous ideas to the forgiveness that Jesus provided.
Just as the Lord Jesus traveled the road that his messengers had prepared him and then served as a refiner and purifier of his people, so also the messenger of the Word has been doing the same thing for you and me. In fact, for the past few weeks, we have been reminded again and again of how our Savior will return on the Last Day. We have heard the Word of our Savior proclaiming to us our need to repent of our sins, draw near to him, and receive the gift of his forgiveness. In many ways the Lord has used that message of his imminent return as a flint and stele to light our hearts on fire so that the impurities or our sins might be burned away so that we might receive his forgiveness and pass through to the other side as God’s refined people! Just as Malachi said in our text: “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years.” (Malachi 3:1-4 NIV).
This is exactly what the Lord has done for each and every one of us! Through the messengers he sent, messengers like Malachi and John the Baptist, the way was cleared for Jesus to enter our hearts and create faith there. Through messengers like Malachi and John, the way was clear for Jesus to enter our hearts and assure us that through his perfect life lived on our behalf that we are now without sin in God’s eyes. It was through God’s messengers that we have are now assured that when our Savior went to the cross, he not only carried the full weight of our debt on his shoulders, but he went so far as to replace our guilt with his innocence. Now, through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior, we have been refined and purified before him and the Lord for all our days. Through faith in Jesus Christ we have come to enjoy our daily trips through the fire of his Word. We have come to enjoy our daily trips because we know that it is only through his law that the impurity of our sins is melted away, and we are purified before the Lord. We enjoy those trips because we know that once purified through our sorrow over sins and the repentance to which the law moves us, we are once again molded into God’s holy people through the press of the gospel.
Now, because of all the work done by the Lord’s messengers, to prepare the way before him, we look forward to the Lord’s appearing with nothing less than joy. Since we know that he is the one who came as a little child so that he might free us from our sins forever, we joyfully look forward to the celebration of his birth. Because we are so familiar with every aspect of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection through which we have been made righteous before the Lord our God, we give praise to the Lord who loved us so much. Because we know that we have been made righteous before the Lord through faith in Jesus Christ, we not only reflect on the fact that he will return, but we look forward to it with all our hearts. We look forward to that grand and glorious day, because when Jesus does return we will be refined and purified one last time. For on that day, as all believers are gathered before the Lord, all the world will hear that we who believed in him are his holy people. We have been declared not guilty through faith in him, and all people will see as we are made righteous forever!
How well we have been prepared for that day! In the same way that the messengers prepared the way for the construction project through St. Peter, so also the Lord’s messengers have prepared the way for our Savior to enter our hearts. We have heard the call to repentance, we have been refined by the fire of God’s law and formed into his people through the gospel, and we are now looking to our Savior’s appearing as the baby in Bethlehem as well as his reappearing on the last day. Amen.
Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church Le Sueur, MN
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