Sermon Dec. 6, 2009 Lk. 1:68-78 mal. 3:1-5

Advent is a time of waiting in the dark, where the light of love is obscured by violence, in its variety of terrible shapes and guises. All of us continue to live under the shadow of death, in mortality and as a nation. The president with his Nobel Peace Prize announced another troop increase in Afghanistan, with a date to start to remove them. I sincerely pray that this will be a path toward peace, but I fear that we are throwing more blood and treasure down the drain. Zechariah's prayer spoken under Roman occupation,  is certainly appropriate to our day and time. I have long loved the words, tender mercies. in a tough world, we certainly need the tender mercies of heaven, to ease our way through.

 

In a dark time, Zechariah's prayer sees the private matter of a surprise birth as a harbinger of a change for the people of Israel, a multi-layered salvation. His prayer is one from the side of the underdog, more sinned against than sinning. The prayer get more and more specific as it moves toward his new son. Zechariah strikes me a a thoughtful person. of course, he's had time to think, as he has been struck mute during the pregnancy of Elizabeth. He sees deeper meaning behind the birth of John.The birth of John is a signal flare that a new day is coming. The hymn, O Come Emmanuel, speaks of a dayspring, instead of the more pedestrian dawn. It's the dawn of a better days, that sees signs of tender mercies, of forgiveness, of light in the darkness of trouble.

 

Malachi means my messenger or my angel. He too awaits a messenger to bring news of a change. Our passage is directed at the people's complaints that life is not fair. Malachi's messenger is turned into John the Baptist or Jesus by Handel. God is wearied by a mixture of personal and social sins. The image is different here. God's judgment is portrayed in terms of removing impurity or stain, refining metal or doing laundry. Judgment is directed against improper worship. It reminds me of the priestly Messiah of the Dead Sea Scrolls where the temple would be cleansed; think of how Jesus cleansed the temple in the gospels. When worship is purified then judgment will be directed against  public sins, sins that stain social foundations and institutions. Older cultures often saw sin as polluting or staining the community. When I would stain something, my mother would tend to its cleaning and say, "it's like it's as good as new." Here, the judgment is directed against the destructive, corrosive effects of social evils, but it is not annihilation but a clean-up operation. Social sins affect the quality of our lives together. A better world would remove those blights that keep human life from flourishing. 
 

To close, we can take a clue from the name of the Scripture, Malachi, my messenger or my angel. Our lives are messages about the Christian life. They broadcast our commitments, worship-our sins-our prayers. When people gathered at the Methodist church and brought 75 meals to the jail, they were angels with food. Two folks, Carol and Joann, who have done Bible Study as the Lake Santee group with Marilyn as long as we have been doing it, took off on Thursday as they had to prepare a 75 person meal for Tony Miller's funeral. Right around Thanksgiving two people were ringing bells for the Cheer Fund at LoBill/Marsh on Main St. Their message announces paths of peace and tender mercies. What we choose to do with our time announces to heaven and earth what gospel mesage we want to publicize or waht bad news we prefe to shout from the rooftops.