Good Morning Friends,
Achieving a state of perfection is not attainable through our own efforts. As best I can tell, it is akin to the tilling of the soil to gradually improve the possibility of productive cultivation. However, today’s lectionary scripture considers some other images of virtuous improvement in the process of metal refining and purification through sacrifice and atonement. The shocking thing is that Jesus caringly washes our feet in the process. So, How Would You Become Pure Were It Not For The King Of Glory’s Love?
Scripture: See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 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; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.
Malachi 3:1-4 (NRSV)
Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in. Who is the King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah
Psalm 24: 7-10 (NRSV)
Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.
Hebrews 2:14-18 (NRSV)
When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
Luke 2:22-32 (NRSV)
Message: It seems that for the last few years we have done a lot of thinking about waiting. In the complex context of our lives, I wonder what we are really anticipating? Sure, we are waiting for a healthy economy and country and family, especially in an election year, but beyond that in the actions of our lives I wonder what are we really hoping for, loving on, and bringing peace to? After yesterday, the first day of February, we all may be waiting for Valentine’s Day, for the issue is about the heart. But this year it falls on Ash Wednesday. Interesting combination. For I doubt there is a more important love than the one that purifies us and that is the love of Christ. It is a baptism in fire. Certainly, there will come a time when the tension and drama of our lives lessens and when that happens, we really need to continue to have a thankful heart that raises praise for what God has done and for who God is in our lives. We will need to thank God who gives us victory through Jesus Christ. But moreover, we will need to remember why we are to rejoice in all things. You see, we are to give thanks by making the deeds of Jesus known to others. God knows we get sad and mad. God knows we have setbacks and disappointments. He knows that we sin and fall short of the glory of God. He knows that we have terrible tragedies in life. And God wants us to take all of our troubles to Him. Today’s psalm suggests we look up to the Lord for the indwelling of the Spirit as our hope. So much of the hope of scripture is in the good news despite the not yet reality of the Kingdom. So, we ask God to speak into our lives with understanding that surpasses our understanding. And hopefully we are listening even though it is uncomfortable. And as I think on this, I conclude, and perhaps you will as well, that we must trust that the Lord will heal us, of whatever ails us. Perhaps then we can better share the good news to overcome the evil of the world when Jesus returns. So, seek the Lord with all your heart in worship when you have the opportunity. Be thankful though the power of the Holy Spirit, to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, knowing that this helps us to believe the more that God is working in and through us for a holy purpose in making us sanctified.
And So, if you have ever watched a silversmith you might have an idea of what Malachi was writing about. It is about yielding to God and being transformed into the image of his Christ. Now this should be very aesthetically pleasing to us, but what is going on in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of religious movements in the Bible and to this day, would indicate that our collective refining of what we call church passes through stages. It begins with the ethical, as an instinctive moral reform, and moves to the theological where we reflect on the formulation of our faith and practices. And only after refining, a stage of aesthetics with the building of buildings and the apparatus of worship. Unfortunately, this last stage is likely to arrest our intellectual activities as a precursor to moral decay and the need to start the process all over again. A morally earnest faith must be continually refined until God’s glory is reflected in us. But even then, sanctification is never finished. Like the tilling of the soil for planting, the work of purifying the heart goes on, and must always be renewed with the seed of love as a bride and groom…as Jesus and the called-out assembly of God, the body of Christ lived out in the gardens we call home. Now, what the Hebrew writer is saying in today’s text is, that Jesus Christ became man to be the high priest for all of us and he fulfills all of those qualifications. He became one of us. He became flesh so that He would live with us and identify with us and know us. He was faithful to the Father in his ministry. He looked to his Father, speaking of His obedience on several occasions. He was appointed by God, the Father to come into this world. He was cleansed from all sin because He knew no sin at all. He was without sin. Simeon and Anna had waited a long time for the Messiah to come and remained faithful and were blessed in seeing the Lord and recognizing why he came. It does not get any better than that… One of the beauties of being human is that, although our bodies wear out, provided we don’t face any diseases that steal our memories, our minds can grow stronger and stronger until the day we die. Simeon and Anna are examples of this.
Pray the revelation of Christ pierce our hearts with comfort and corrections of the Holy Spirit. Pray we realize that God has a plan for us to be transformed and will continue to work in our lives to accomplish the work of purifying us for a purpose. Pray we realize that sometimes the experience may not be all that pleasant. Pray nevertheless, we allow God to be the refiner of our souls. Pray the movement of the Spirit reveals to us what areas of our lives need correction. Pray we conform to the image of Christ as we burn away the impurities that lie within us. Pray we allow God’s image to be reflected through us. Pray we are enlightened with the true light of love always as a forerunner of the Messiah and the hope to come. Pray we bear witness that Jesus came into our lives, that he helped us to die to sin, and that the Spirit rises in us believing that Jesus will come again.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 