The Rev. Carol S. Wedell

Yesterday morning, many of you gathered here at the church and helped put up the decorations -- thank you!  So now, we're all ready for Christmas, right?  Oops, I can feel the anxiety rising from some of you (most likely the women) as you contemplate all that still needs to get done:  cards, gifts - and you just know there is someone you've forgotten -- wrapping, baking - yikes!   In our house, the tree is up, but the boxes from the attic still line the halls, waiting for the other decorations to find their proper place.   The cards and letters are sitting on the counter, waiting to be addressed and have notes added. Baking supplies have yet to be purchased. And while the wrapping paper is out in the computer room, not one gift has been wrapped.  (Last year my kids asked if we couldn't please have a few wrapped before Christmas Eve!) I feel your pain!

But those of you who have gathered here this morning don't need me to tell you that cards, gifts and cookies are not exactly what this season of Advent is about.  Advent is indeed a season of preparation.  But in Advent, we seek to prepare not so much our homes, but rather ourselves for God's coming into our lives.  And unlike the commercial Christmas season which focuses on what we think we need to get, we are asked to consider what needs to go as we look forward to the birth of a child who came to change the world.

Our Hebrew scripture reading this morning is from the last book in the Hebrew Scriptures, the prophet Malachi.  While we do not know much about him, we know that Malachi was the last of Israel's prophets.  He proclaimed God's message about 100 years after the Hebrew people had returned to Jerusalem from exile.  The Temple had been rebuilt, but the religious leaders were once again corrupt.  Caught up in the daily routines of their lives, the people didn't expect much from God.  They had long since given up on any real expectation of experiencing the presence of God in their lives.

Against that backdrop, the prophet Malachi proclaims the promise of God's messenger, the one whom we seek.   There is good news!  This messenger, "in whom you delight" is, in fact coming!  But this good news is quickly tempered by some strong language, with words of judgment.  In words which ring in many of our ears with the bass solo from Handel's Messiah, we are warned, "But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?  For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap." 

I'm guessing that few of us have direct experience with either refiner's fire or fuller's soap, but it doesn't take much to figure out that neither sound like a pleasant experience!  Fire is used by a metallurgist to burn out the impurities, to cleanse the metal to make it as pure and precious as possible.  That which masks the inherent beauty of the metal is burned away at a high temperature.

Fuller's soap is not in common usage anymore.  All you really need to know is that its active ingredient was lye - the harsh chemical reserved for the toughest of cleaning tasks.  A "fuller" was someone who took raw, linen cloth and immersed it in a solution of lye soap and water.  Then the fuller would scrub the yellowish, homespun cloth until it became gleaming white.  Fullers were known by their hands' red and peeling skin, from handling these caustic chemicals.  (Lectionary Preaching Workbook, Series VIII, Cycle C, Carlos Wilton).

Yet Malachi tells us that this is the way in which God comes - as one who refines and purifies us.  That which stands between us and God, the impurities that keep the most precious part of us from shining through need to go, to be burned away, or given a good Advent scrubbing.  Gosh, these seem like harsh words.  They seem "out of season," with the gaiety that supposedly permeates the world around us. Is this really what we need right now?

If you are like me, you probably struggle some with the concept of God's judgment.  We are much more comfortable with the concept of a loving God, of a God who comes to be with us in the child of the manger.  We would really rather skip these texts and move straight on to Christmas and a more "feel good" message.  Those who are already hurting don't need more "bad news."  Many of us do an awfully good job of judging ourselves, without any help from scripture!

But our texts for Advent bring us face to face with a God who comes with mercy and judgment.  Perhaps we are not doing ourselves any favor if we skip over these tougher words.  For who of us here has nothing in their lives that needs to go, nothing that needs to be cleansed or purged?  Is there anyone here this morning that has no estrangement in their lives?  No long held resentments? No feelings of self-doubt?  Is there any one here who can claim to be whole and holy?

You see, God wants only the best for us, God desires our healing and wholeness.  But we aren't going to get there by avoiding the tough stuff.  So God sends messengers.  God allows to us to be cleansed and refined so that we might be who we were created to be.  In the midst of the very routine events of our lives, messengers come to challenge us, to call us to turn back to the One who has created us in love.

Messengers may be anyone or anything, from a child asking why you are so upset, to an unexpected illness.   "Refiners" who burn away the things that get in the way of our being who God wants us to be may also be a wide variety of folks or events.

Sherri, a long time friend of mine, had a refining "wake up call", if you will, through the voice of her physician.  With two parents who had developed diabetes, one of whom had died from issues related to the illness, Sherri was told that she and her siblings were at a significant risk for developing the disease themselves.  When her sister was diagnosed with pre-diabetes, that was it.  Sherri, her brother and sister all took a long, hard look at their lives and realized that while they couldn't change genetics, they certainly could make choices that could promote greater health.  The next day, Sherri changed her eating habits.  While she had never watched what she ate, she now made intentional choices.  Daily swiiming was added to her regimen.  Many months, and 30 lbs later, Sherri's own glucose numbers have come down.  She and her siblings touch base every Monday for a weigh-in and have frequent screenings.  Her willingness to put herself "through the fire"  has significantly changed her life.

I'm going to proceed in a slightly different manner this morning - and I hope you'll give it a go.  With your eyes shut (or open if you prefer), I would like you to ponder a few questions.  Think back across the course of your life, from childhood until now.  Who have been the messengers of God for you, bringing you the good news of God's presence in your life, of God's love for you? 

The next set of questions are a little tougher.  What have been the refining moments for you?  What "fire" did you endure?  How did you come through that experience?  What did you learn?  Did your priorities change?  

Finally, what in your life now needs to go?  What stands in the way of an open heart to God?  What clutters your mind and your life? A sense of self-sufficiency?  Bitterness over past hurts?  Lack of appreciation for yourself or others?   Last week we talked about naming the darkness.  Where is the darkness within you that needs to be named?  (please share with others around you)

The Rev. Ginger Gaines-Cirelli  tells this story:  "A group of women who were studying the book of Malachi came to verse three of chapter three, which says, "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." This verse puzzled the women. They wondered what they could learn from it about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and report back to the group at their next Bible study. She phoned a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest other than her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched, the silversmith held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that he needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire, where the flames are hottest, in order to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us where the "flames" are hottest. She remembered that the verse says God "sits" as a refiner and purifier of silver, so she asked the silversmith if it's true that he has to sit by the fire the whole time the silver is being refined. The man answered that, yes, he not only has to sit there holding the silver, but he must keep his eyes on it the entire time because if it is left even a moment too long in the flames, it will be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and said, "Oh, that's easy--when I can see my image in it." (Embody Righteousness A sermon preached by Rev. Ginger Gaines-Cirelli at Capitol Hill UMC December 7, Advent  )

I'm guessing that some of you may feel like you are in the fire, even today.  The promise of God is for you:  you will not be left alone, you will not be destroyed.  There is no fire so hot, no situation so desperate that God cannot bring you through.  To be very sure, we don't - we can't - refine ourselves.  But we can choose to how to respond when those refining moments occur.  God's image resides in each one of us - waiting to shine through - waiting to be born in us this Advent.