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Who We Are - Sermon, Sunday, July 20th, 2003
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Malachi 2:17-3:5 as follows —
You have wearied the LORD with your words. "How have we wearied him?" you ask. By saying, "All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and he is pleased with them" or "Where is the God of justice?" "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. "So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me," says the LORD Almighty.
They call it "Reality TV." Strikes me as kind of odd, because it seems to be anything but real. I think "Survivor" was the first show of that kind; when that succeeded, other "reality" programs followed. Now we have not only "Survivor" but "Fear Factor," "For Love or Money," "Dog Eat Dog," Big Brother," "The Amazing Race," and more! I've never watched a single one, but you can't help hearing about them. And from what I hear, it sounds to me like they're all based on pretty much the same format or concept as "Survivor," just in different settings. It seems that the idea in all of them is to, in one way or another, survive. The goal is for one person or team to outwit, outlast, outdo all the others. In order to win the contest, one must outperform all the others — so you're not voted out, so you are the accepted one, the last one standing, the survivor.
Personally, I find the whole idea of such shows to be pretty silly. The fact is, reality TV pales in comparison with real life, with real reality, if you will. And it surely pales in comparison with the most serious challenge of all, the greatest test of all, the one our text talks about. It's the one that every single person must face one day, the challenge of facing God's righteous judgment and surviving! Malachi asks, "Who can endure it? Who can stand when the Judge appears? Who will survive, and not be rejected completely and forever?" Well, some will and some won't. But I'm happy to remind you that due to God's grace in Christ,you and I can and will. WE'RE SURVIVORS FOR REAL — AND FOREVER.
Let's talk not about reality TV, which is unreal, but about real reality. The ultimate reality for every human being is the judgment which all will have to face on that day when there is nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. On that day, dear friend, the Judge will evaluate you and pass judgment. You will be judged not on how you compare to other human beings — whether you have outrun or outdone, outwitted or outperformed other people. No, God will judge you based solely on how you compare to HIM. And his standard for judgment is: "Be holy, for I am holy!"
Not a lot of leeway in that, is there? God himself (not a panel of your peers) will decide if you pass or fail, if you stand or fall, if you survive — or not! Surviving means an eternity of life and love and peace and glory and pleasure in the presence of God and his angels and millions of other holy people. Not surviving means you're found wanting, you're rejected, banished to spend forever in unspeakable misery in the company of the demons and the damned. God's judgment is the ultimate reality for every one of us.
There are always people who aren't thinking about facing God's judgment; they're too busy judging God. In Malachi's day, from among the Jews, came complaints and accusations. Some even accused the LORD of loving evildoers. They said, "All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and he is pleased with them." Who would say that? Probably people who looked around and saw that the wicked seemed to prosper while they, the "good" people, were suffering. Remember, these were the self-righteous folks who felt that their "goodness" was not being rewarded as it deserved. There were others who were a little more subtle. They said, "Where is the God of justice?" "God's supposed to be fair, right? Well, where is he? The ungodly succeed and we fail; they're blessed and we're not!" What they're saying is, "Come on, Lord, let's see some of that justice!"
Those people had lost sight of reality — the reality of their sinfulness, of their unworthy condition, the reality that they didn't deserve anything good from God. They were blind to the reality that their hearts were frozen, dead as far as the LORD was concerned. And all this had wearied the LORD. He was fed up. What they needed to know is that he was on his way. He would indeed come to his people, and the promise of his coming held a warning for some and comfort for others. For those who accused God and begged for justice, he said: "Better be careful what you ask for! You want justice? I'll show you some justice!" For the humble believers who looked for grace and mercy and salvation, the message was, "Yes, I'm coming to redeem Israel!"
Here's that prophecy that we usually hear during Advent, the promise of two "messengers." First will come the preparing messenger (God's people needed preparing, someone to get them ready for their Savior) and then "suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the Messenger of the Covenant, whom you desire, will come." Let's fast forward for a minute, about 450 years. All of a sudden John the Baptizer appeared, preaching repentance and forgiveness and pointing to the coming One. Then, just as suddenly, just as unexpectedly, Jesus was there. There he was, the Messenger of the Covenant, the Angel of the LORD, the Son of God in human flesh and blood, the promised Redeemer of Israel! Now back up again to Malachi's day: "Oh, yes," the LORD said, "I'm coming, all right!"
And that prompted the prophet to ask, "But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears?" Who can pass the test, who can meet his approval and avoid being rejected, who will survive the ultimate reality of facing God in his holiness? The answer: some will and some will not. It all depends on whether you relate to this coming LORD as your Redeemer or your rewarder. A rewarder is what many in Judah wanted, the ones who complained about God's lack of justice. In their stubborn unbelief, they believed that he ought to reward them for their righteousness — as phony and shallow as it was. They wanted God to judge them, you see, on their outward performance. And he said, "OK, if that's what you want." Verse 5: "I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against " — and he names some sample sinners. He will testify against all who live falsely in regard to religion or relationships, legal matters or business dealings, all who abuse power and oppress the helpless.
But it's more than these external sins. The LORD puts his finger on the real problem, and it's the fear factor: "You do not fear me!" There's reality! Those who do not fear the LORD, who do not lovingly respect and honor the LORD as their God, who do not even tremble in terror at his threats, are going to see his justice. And they will not stand — will not survive the ultimate reality of God's righteous judgment. Those who want God to reward them for their performance — well, they will indeed be rewarded.
So how can there be any hope for anyone? We're all equally sinful, born equally lost, equally dead and cut off from God and unable to love him, equally helpless to do anything that pleases God. Who can stand when he appears? The answer lies in the grace of God that changes minds and hearts so that we see that what we need is not a rewarder — we don't WANT him to "reward" us for our performance! — but a Redeemer. The answer lies in that grace that's able to purify sinners and make us acceptable to the Holy One.
That LORD who will come near in terrible justice will also, Malachi says, "purify" and "refine." Like the fire that melts down silver and burns away the impurities, like the lye that deep cleans and removes every trace of filth, so the Redeemer comes to purify sinners. John expressed the reality of the fulfillment when he wrote, "The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." The Messenger of the Covenant did come, as promised. God's Son in human flesh was charged with our performance of evil and non-performance of good. We get credited with his absolute, perfect and holy performance of God's will. His blood washes our sins away, his righteousness is the white robe in which we stand before God, right now, unashamed and unafraid.
The result of Jesus' life, death and resurrection is foretold here: "Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness." Both the people and their sacrifices are holy and pleasing and acceptable to him. Paul summed it all up, writing: "Our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." St. Peter assures us that we are "a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." You, the person — sinful and imperfect as you are — are holy, pleasing and acceptable to God right now, for real, through faith in your Redeemer. And your sacrifices — your entire life offered up in grateful response to God, is pleasing and holy and acceptable to him right now, for real.
Therefore you also have nothing to fear in respect to God's judgment, which is coming. As unexpectedly as the LORD came to to redeem, so, just as unexpectedlly, he will come again. And that's for real! God's righteous judgment is the ultimate reality that all must face. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? Those, and only those, who look to him not as their rewarder, but as their Redeemer. In Christ, you and I can and will stand. We're survivors for real — and forever! Amen.