Advent 2: Promised Peace

Promised Peace
Malachi 3: 1 – 4.

I. Introduction.

I am really proud of the way our church members responded to my challenge last Sunday. (Some might say it was more of a “guilt trip” than a challenge.) On Thursday night, the downtown Christmas Parade marched by our church property on two streets. The parade began at the Civic Center and marched South on First Street. Then, it turned around and returned to the Civic Center, North on Second Street.

We blocked off Groesbeck Street with tables on both ends. We served free hot chocolate and cookies (from Brookshire Brothers’ bakery). And, we gave away information about our church and our Lord. The information about our church was printed on a color flyer, promoting the music ministry, children’s ministry and youth ministry. The information about our Lord was on a multi-media CD.

When I got home Thursday night, I made a list of all the people from First Baptist who showed up to help with this project. I am not going to read the list, because I know I missed some folks. But I counted 57 names of people who came to help! That is really good, but it’s not my favorite part of the project.

My favorite part of the project is the fact that it was not my idea. Kurt England came up with the idea at last year’s Christmas Parade. Then, Kurt came by and met with our church staff to work out all the details. Kurt claims that he was just the organizer, but without his organization this would not have been successful. Kurt was so organized that he actually counted the cups before we started serving hot chocolate. Then, he counted the cups when we finished to see how many we served. We served 1,100 cups of hot chocolate!

Every time we gave away hot chocolate, we also gave away the flyers and the CD’s. But, most people came to us in family groups. We typically gave away one flyer / CD and three or four hot chocolates. So, we sent out groups of our folks to walk the parade route and give away flyers and CD’s to people who never came by for hot chocolate and cookies.

Let me tell you what is on the multi-media CD… If a person places the CD in a music CD player, they can listen to a dramatic reading of John 3 in either English or Spanish. At the end of the reading, there is a presentation of the Gospel and explanation of how to become a Christian. If a person places the CD in a computer, there is more available. There are six video testimonies of people describing how and why they became Christians. There is a dramatic reading of the entire Gospel of John. There is a Gospel presentation. And, there is a link to an Internet site where the person can download an audio copy of the entire New Testament in one of 350 languages. (You can preview the contents of the CD at http://whatsmissingtexas.com )

There are two reasons why we did this project. First, we wanted to make First Baptist Church more visible in our community. I walked up First Street and Second Street and think I gave away around 100 flyers and CD’s. I told people, “This is a gift from First Baptist Church.” Probably 1 out of 4 people asked me, “Where is First Baptist Church?” Some people asked me that while standing on our church property!

Our second reason was to share the Gospel with our neighbors. I know this is not politically correct, but this is the truth. There is a real heaven and a real hell. Heaven and hell are the final, eternal destinations of all human beings. There is only one way for a person to go to heaven and not hell after death. It is to give your life away to Jesus Christ as the Lord of your life.

Anyone who has faith in Jesus as Lord, has a future. Those who do not have faith in Jesus as Lord, do not have a future.

As Christians, we believe that the decisions made in the present affect the future. In fact, if you live your life with Jesus in the present, you can live in the future with Jesus. If you serve Jesus on earth, you can serve Jesus in heaven. There is no other way to have the promise of heaven, the promise of a future peace.

The Scripture we read this morning is a Scripture about the future. On one hand, the prophet Malachi was writing about the future for a people who lived approximately 450 years before the birth of Jesus. On the other hand, he was writing about our future, 2000 years after the birth of Jesus.


Read Malachi 3: 1 – 4.


My grandfather died in 2004, after suffering with Alzheimer’s Disease for more than 12 years. During these 12 years, we watched his mental abilities deteriorate. My grandmother never wanted to place him in an Alzheimer’s home. She wanted to take care of him at home. But, eventually it became too difficult to meet his needs at home.

I remember one Christmas when he was still at home. He didn’t even know who I was. He knew my grandmother; he knew my dad; but he didn’t know me.

After Christmas dinner and after all the gifts had been opened, I sat down by myself and looked at a photo album. I found a picture of my grandfather’s high school basketball team. While I was looking at that picture, my grandfather sat down next to me and told me every name of the boys in the picture. He knew their names, where they had served in World War 2, which ones died in the war and which ones made it home. He could remember the distant past but could not remember the more recent past.

Soon after this, we had to place my grandfather in the Veteran’s Home in Oxford, Mississippi. He no longer knew my dad or my grandmother. He eventually stopped talking altogether. All he did was smile and laugh. At this point, I think he lived the rest of his life with no knowledge or understanding of his past.

It is a terrible thing not to remember your past. But, imagine how much worse it would be to have a past and no future.

This was the situation facing Malachi and the people of Israel. Technically, it was the people of Judah.


II. Verse 1…"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.

In 587 BC, the Babylonian army destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the nation of Judah. They tore down the walls of Jerusalem and burned down the Temple. Then, they selected the strongest, wealthiest, smartest and best leaders to take into captivity into Babylon. With the best leaders held in Babylonian captivity, the people remaining in Judah had no hope of ever restoring their nation or their status.

This captivity lasted only as long as Nebuchadnezzar was the king. The kings who followed him did not have the ability to hold the empire together. Eventually, the Babylonian Empire was conquered by the Persians. The Persians were not interested in holding their conquests as captives. Instead, they returned the captives to their native lands and controlled their politics from afar. So, they sent the Judahites back to their native land and gave them the money they needed to re-establish their nation and to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.

The Persian Empire provided Judah with peace. At least there was no war. Persia valued the small piece of property that Judah called home. It gave them a buffer from their enemies in Egypt. If Egypt tried to move North toward the center of the Persian Empire, Persia could stop them before they got too close. As long as Judah belonged to Persia, there was no threat of war. They were safe. They were at rest. They experienced what the world would call “peace.”

This sounds like a good arrangement, but it wasn’t. Judah was back home in their own land. The Temple was rebuilt. The Levitical priesthood was restored. The sacrificial system was in effect. BUT…Something was missing. The glory of God never returned to the Jerusalem Temple. All of the worship and sacrifices taking place in the Temple were nothing more than simply “going through the motions.” They were doing the right things, but God was not present in their worship.

This is where the world’s idea of peace contradicts the Bible’s idea of peace. The biblical notion of peace is based on the Hebrew word “Shalom.” Shalom literally means “whole” or “complete.” In other words, peace is not simply the absence of war or conflict. Peace is the result of a life that is “complete.” You can go searching for peace in your life, but it will be elusive. You may feel that peace is within your grasp, but it’s not. Peace cannot be obtained. Peace can only be given. Peace is the by-product of a life that is “complete.”

Judah experienced the absence of war. But they did not have peace, because they also experienced the absence of God. If God is not present in your life, you will never experience “wholeness,” “completeness,” peace.

Notice the promise Malachi made. “…Suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple…” There would be no true peace until the Lord, himself, comes. Yet, this coming of the Lord would be preceded by a coming messenger from God. The messenger would not be the Lord. The messenger would be the one to “prepare the way” of the Lord.

It is ironic that these words are quoted in Mark 1 as a description of John the Baptist. This is ironic, because Malachi was the last prophet to speak to God’s people until the coming of John the Baptist. There was a 400 year silence between Malachi’s prophecy and the fulfillment of this prophecy in John the Baptist. John was the one who prepared the way for the coming of Jesus. Jesus is the Lord himself, who has come to bring peace to God’s people.


III. Verse 2… 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.

This is the meaning of Christmas—and the meaning of Advent. Christmas Day is the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the only begotten Son of God. Advent is the season in which we prepare for the coming of Jesus. We anticipate the coming of Christmas Day, when Jesus came in the past. We also anticipate the future coming of Jesus, when he does not come as a baby in a manger but comes as our victorious Lord.

On one hand, we look forward to the future coming of the Lord. It will mark the end of our temporal lives on earth and the beginning of our eternal lives in heaven. It will mark the end of sin’s reign over us and the beginning of a new, sinless life in the presence of God.

On the other hand, Malachi tells us this is not something to look forward to. The coming Day of the Lord will be a day of judgment and purification. We should not delight in judgment. And purification is not appealing.

Malachi used two images to describe the way the coming Lord will purify his people. He will be like a refiner’s fire and a launderer’s soap. The refiner used a very hot fire to separate impurities out of precious metals. The metal was melted down and the impurities burned away. The launderer washes clothes by soaking them in water and scrubbing away the impurities with soap. The goal of both the refiner and the launderer was to take something impure and to change it into something pure. The end product was beautiful. But the process was painful.

We say we want the Lord to come. Yet, just like with a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap, the coming of the Lord will produce a beautiful product through a painful process. He separates the sin from our lives and scrubs away all impurities. This is a process that we cannot do ourselves. Only the Lord can take away our sins and impurities.

In its historical context, this passage was a word from God to the people of Post-Exilic Judah. God told his people that he was not willing to give up on them, but he was also not able to condone their sin. Therefore, God would provide a way for his people to be purified…Even if it requires fire and water.

In our modern day context, this is a message about Christmas. God is not willing to give up on you and simply allow you to spend eternity in hell. Therefore, God sent his Son to provide a way for you to be purified. Jesus was born so that our sins can be taken away…That you and I can be pure…That we can stand in the presence of God.


IV. Verses 3 – 4…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.

The last thing we read in Malachi’s prophecy is God’s desire not only to purify his people but to purify his priests. In Old Testament times, the Levites were God’s representatives on earth. They spoke God’s Word to God’s people and offered the people’s sacrifices to God. When Jesus came, there is no longer a need for priests. Jesus is the ultimate and final priest—representing God to God’s people and representing you and me before God through the sacrifice of Jesus’ own life.


V. Conclusion.

Perhaps this will help us to understand the words the angels sang to the shepherds on that first Christmas in Bethlehem. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests (Luke 2: 14 NIV).”

Jesus was born on that first Christmas so that we might have peace. Peace can only come when our lives are complete…The presence of God in us. But, the presence of God brings purity, like a refiner’s fire and a launderer’s soap.