As many of you know, I’m into swords. I’ve got to say that one of the things I find most interesting about swords is the way they are made. You see, nowadays you can get a catalogue or go to a cutlery store and pick out a nice looking sword made from stainless steel. The swords are actually advertised as being stainless steel as if this were a good thing. The problem is that they aren’t really swords. They are decorative objects that are made in the shape of a sword. You see, the blades are just cut out of a piece of stainless steel. Because of this the swords are about twice as heavy as a sword their size should be. Yes, they look good, yes they polish up nice, but as swords go they are pretty much worthless.
But you can also find catalogues that have swords made in the real fashion. These swords are not polished and nice. You actually have to regularly oil them and maintain them so that the blades don’t rust. But these swords have been refined, they have been made in the traditional way, which means that they are lighter than the modern, stainless steel, equivalent and yet they are stronger. And the thing that makes them strong and light is the refining fire that they are beat out in. It is when they go through the fire that they get their strength. It is when they are refined that they become what it is that they are designed to be. The refining fire is what makes a sword a sword and not just a decoration. It is the refining fire that makes the Christian the Christian and not just someone going through the motions. You see, you can go through the motions, you can say the words, you can act out your faith and fit in with many other Christians. But it is only when you’ve been through the fire of your faith, when you’ve faced trial and temptation, when you’ve had to let it all out, it’s only then that you truly are the Christian you claim to be.
I. The Messenger
Today again we look at an Old Testament prophecy that talks about the coming of Christ. Today again we see that what was being promised isn’t exactly what we’d expect. Today again we realize that God keeps his promises to his people, though not really in the way that they expect or want.
The scripture begins by referencing a messenger who will prepare the way for God. This messenger refers to John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Jesus’ ministry on earth. He was about the same age as Jesus as we discover in Luke that Mary and Elizabeth were both pregnant at about the same time. But John the Baptist must have begun his ministry at an earlier age than Jesus because he was well known as a prophet and a preacher before Jesus began his teaching. John, the messenger who prepared the way for Jesus, is an important part of the story. He is featured in the beginning of each of the gospels. Mark, Luke, and even John really begin by talking about John the Baptists ministry or birth or purpose before they even come close to introducing Jesus.
John the Baptist is important, he is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, he is the one who prepared the way for Jesus. And here in Malachi as well as in Isaiah 40, John is referred to as a messenger. His importance is in his message. And his message is one that was needed to prepare the way for Jesus. So what is this important message that begins each of the gospels, that allows the world to be ready for Jesus’ incarnation, for Jesus’ presence? Well, it’s described in slightly different ways in each of the gospels, but it is the same message.
Matthew says that John’s message was simply this: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Matthew says that “people went out to John from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.” (Matt. 3:2,5,6)
Mark says that “John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Mark goes on to say that “this was his message: ‘After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’” (Mark 1:4,7,8)
Luke tells us that John “went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” (Luke 3:3)
The gospel of John doesn’t really tell us about John the Baptist’s message, but rather tells us that he testified concerning Jesus, the Word, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’” (John 1:15) In the gospel of John we see that John the Baptist was all about taking the limelight off of himself and directing it to it’s proper place, to the Son of God.
So, what is the messenger’s message? It is really quite simple when you put the gospels together, for they are really saying the same thing. John’s message was that we need to repent for our sins and turn from them. His message was that we need to be baptized. And his message was that one greater than him was coming who would do things that he could not even imagine.
So, how did John prepare the way for Jesus? I think the first thought might be that he prepared the way for Jesus by telling people that Jesus was coming. This makes sense, but I’m not sure that it is really the part of his message that was preparing the world for Jesus. Rather I think it is the other part of his message that does so. The other part of John’s message is that we are called to repent and turn away from our sins.
II. Know the Need
John, in his call to repentance, makes us aware of our need for a Savior. I believe that I have described before what the meaning of the word repentance is. It is one of those church words that means some theological term and therefore loses some of its meaning because we have made it so theological. But repentance basically means to change your mind. It means to turn around and head the other direction. In the Old Testament, when the people of Israel were traveling to the Promised Land, they angered God and God told Moses that he was going to destroy them. Moses pleaded for the people of Israel and we are told that God repented of his anger and decided to give them a second chance. This doesn’t mean that God’s anger was a sin and he repented because he had been in the wrong. Rather it is saying that God changed his mind. He had decided upon a certain course and he chose to go the opposite way instead. Usually when we think of the call for us to repent we think that it means that we are to be sorry for our sins. But this is not repentance. It is choosing to turn away from our sinful ways and head in a different direction. And this is precisely what John the Baptist called for the people of his day, and also calls for us, to do.
John is telling us of the need we have. He is reminding us that we like to head off in wicked directions. He is sharing with us our need to repent. He is preparing us and our hearts for Jesus by reminding us that we need Jesus. John isn’t giving us the answer to the problem, he is just reminding us of the problem. He is reminding us that we are sinful beings, in need of a Savior. John’s message prepares us for Jesus’ message by bringing us to our lowest, by showing us how incapable of goodness we are by ourselves. John’s message, by itself is quite depressing, for it leaves us trying to turn from our sins and finding ourselves unable. But then Jesus enters the scene and meets the needs that John has reminded us we have.
III. Jesus, the Answer
John has prepared us for Jesus. And Jesus, through his incarnation, through his life and teaching, through his death and resurrection, offers us the path to true repentance. Jesus’ death and resurrection doesn’t make sense if you don’t understand our need for it as John shares it. John’s call to repentance is impossible to truly follow if we don’t have Jesus to live that out for us and sacrifice himself for us.
I want to go back to Malachi 3 again. You see, it begins by talking about a messenger who will prepare the way. But then it tells us that, “suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come.” This is a different messenger. This messenger of the covenant is Jesus himself. And his coming isn’t necessarily going to be the wonderful thing that we all look forward to. Let us continue in Malachi, “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.”
It doesn’t sound like the most comfortable process, does it? And yet this is what we are told that Jesus is and does for us. Again, this only becomes the good thing that it is when we accept John the Baptist’s message that tells us of our need to repent. But when we do repent, when we do turn ourselves over to Jesus, we discover that he is a launderer’s soap, that he is a refiner’s fire. And this whole Christianity thing doesn’t seem like the most wonderful thing in the world after all.
But let me tell you about this refiner’s fire. You see, not only is Jesus the refiner’s fire, he went through it himself. At the beginning of his ministry he met with John the Baptist and he was baptized even though he had nothing to repent for. And at the end of his ministry he died the death of a criminal though he had done no criminal act. The refiner’s fire that Jesus puts us through; he went through it himself. He went through it and suffered and died for our sake so that we would not have to deal with the flames. Jesus took that fire upon himself, though he did not have to, and Jesus offers us salvation from our sins because of what he did. But then Jesus tells us that if we truly want to follow him, we are going to have to go where he leads? Jesus doesn’t promise us complete prosperity and ease of life. What Jesus does promise is a life that will have suffering in it, a life that will have difficulty, a life of pain and trouble, but a life that is good.
God always likes to twist things around and catch his people by surprise. He offers us a chance to follow him, but he tells us that this will be like sending us through a refining fire, like brushing us with a hard soap. But the difficulty, the fire, the soap will not be there to get us down or to hurt us. It will be there to make us stronger, to help us grow closer to him. If we pay attention to the message of John the Baptist, we realize our need for Jesus. If we accept John’s words we acknowledge our need for refining. And when Jesus comes and offers us a life of following him we discover that though this life may be hard, it is the most wonderful thing we can do to follow him. Amen.
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