Scripture: Malachi 3: 1-4, 4: 5-6 Matthew 11: 7-14
Sermon: My Messenger
Topics: angels, legal repentance, evangelical repentance, messengers
Preached: December 6, 2016
Rev. Mike Abma
Preamble:
Our Advent Sermon series focuses on Angels.
Let me say a word about angels.
In the Old Testament, angels are referred to in 3 ways:
1. Once in Isaiah we have the word Seraph – the plural Seraphim.
2. Throughout the Old Testament we have the word Cherub – plural Cherubim.
3. But by far the most common term for Angel is Malach.
But Malach, in its most basic form, simply means messenger.
When it seems to be a heavenly messenger, it gets translated as Angel.
When it seems to be an earthly messenger, it gets translated often as Prophet.
Malach – Messenger.
To say My Messenger in Hebrew, you would say Malachi.
Malachi – means My Messenger.
We are going to read now from Malachi, the prophet,
Who in our text is referring to God sending another “my messenger”
To prepare the way for his coming.
Listen:
Malachi 3-4
3See, 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. 2But 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; 3he 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. 4Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.
At the end of his writings, Malachi becomes even more specific about who this future messenger might be. This messenger would be like Elijah, sort of an Elijah 2.0
5 Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. 6He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse.
Now to the New Testament.
In all four gospels John the Baptist is referred to as the one preparing the way of the Lord.
He prepared people by calling them to Repent, for the Kingdom of God was near.
By the time we get to Matthew 11, John the Baptist has been thrown in prison.
He is sitting there wondering whether Jesus is really the ONE,
The One they have been waiting for.
Jesus says to the envoy from John the Baptist:
Tell him the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.
Then as this envoy leaves, Jesus has this to say about John the Baptist:
7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John:
‘What did you go out into the wilderness to look at?
A reed shaken by the wind?
8What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces.
9What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
10This is the one about whom it is written,
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.”
11Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. 13For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John came; 14and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15Let anyone with ears listen!
INTRODUCTION
When our family was in San Antonio Texas over Spring Break last year,
we visited the Alamo Museum.
There, on the street in front of the Alamo, was a Street preacher, shouting a version of “Repent, for the End is Near!”
It was a message that made you feel afraid, and guilty and ashamed and miserable all at once.
This street preacher was a messenger of the bad news blues.
I have a feeling that if we conjure up an image of
John the Baptist, or Elijah, or even Malachi,
we probably conjure up an image a little like this Texas street preacher.
A messenger of the bad news blues.
Someone loud and abrasive.
Someone we would rather avoid.
REPENTANCE
I wonder if that is a fair image of John the Baptist
and a fair image of the message he brought?
I tend to think that the people of New Testament times
were not so different from the people of today.
I tend to think they were people who were simply busy with life,
busy surviving.
That they were people who assumed that the world would be a better place if
more people were like them.
That they were people who did not think that much about God —
that was the job of the priests in Jerusalem,
or maybe those practically-perfect Pharisees living down the street.
So what did John say to get these people to perk up their ears?
What did he do to get them to open up their eyes?
How was it that people did not avoid him,
but actually went out of their way into the wilderness to see and hear him?
I do not think John simply shouted a message of the bad news blues.
John spoke about God.
That is what attracted people.
John spoke about God:
The nearness of God,
The nearness of God’s Kingdom;
The nearness of God’s salvation.
Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand!
Repent!
What does that word actually mean?
We tend to think it is all about turning to ourselves and our faults,
but no, it is about turning to God and his love.
We tend to think it is about turning to our darkness,
but no, it is first of all about turning to his Light.
We tend to think it is about producing a laundry list of past sins,
but no, it is first of all about eagerly anticipating a future kingdom.
We tend to think that repentance produces misery,
but no, repentance produces hope.
Repentance is all about turning towards God,
towards his kingdom, his future, and his way.
It involves a full reorientation of life,
some have even called it Being Born Again.
It involves a full-scale change:
a change of mind and heart on the inside;
a change of behavior and direction on the outside.
LEGAL REPENTANCE vs EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE
Because repentance is all about turning toward God,
it is good news, not bad news.
It is an Evangelical Repentance rather than a Legal Repentance.
Let me tell you the difference.
Legal Repentance is this:
Legal repentance holds that
God will not forgive and accept us
Until we have repented before him.
The onus, the weight, the burden is on us to repent.
Evangelical Repentance is different.
Evangelical repentance invites us
to turn away from all our self-centered and self-serving ways
and to turn toward God, humbly and sincerely.
Evangelical repentance holds that once we turn to God,
we are surprised, astonished, amazed,
that God has already turned to us,
has already forgiven us,
has already accepted us.
This is the Gospel.
CHALLENGES OF REPENTANCE
This kind of turning doesn’t simply happen once a lifetime.
This kind of turning needs to happen again, and again, and again,
because it is so easy to lose sight of God,
to lose sight of who we are,
and to lose sight of who God is calling us to be.
Why is it so hard?
Because it is so easy to be caught up in what
this life and this world tell us our identity is based on:
our education, our grades, our careers, our successes.
And it is so easy to forget that we are,
first and foremost,
children of God,
citizens of his kingdom.
Repentance is hard
because it is so easy to be caught up in what
this culture and this society says our worth should be based on:
the health of our bodies, the health of our minds,
the health of our bank accounts,
the health of the number of followers we have on Social Media…
and it is easy to forget that our worth
is first of all grounded in God who created us,
and Christ, who lived, and died, and rose for us.
Repentance is really a very counter-cultural thing to do.
Think about our Morning Liturgy —
A Call to Confession
A Prayer of Confession
everyone turning to God — where else does that happen in your life?
ROADBLOCKS TO REPENTANCE
But there are roadblocks.
Forces that do not want us to turn in that direction.
Can I just mention two things I saw on TV recently?
The first is a television commercial – the commercial for a new Toyota Corolla.
You may know it.
It opens with a scene of a young woman chef
being berated by what appears to be the chief chef.
The meal she has lovingly prepared is slid into the garbage.
She leaves in a huff,
rips off her apron,
jumps into her new Toyota Corolla
and speeds away.
All this happens in 30 seconds
and the only thing you hear is the catchy You Don’t Own Me soundtrack.
You don’t own me
Don’t try change me in any way…
Don’t tell me what to do
Just let me be myself
That’s all I ask of you!
You don’t own me.
And let me mention one more thing I saw.
I was watching the last few minutes of a PBS fundraiser the other night.
It featured a concert given by this teenage musical sensation I had never heard of before – a young guy name Ethan Bortnik.
Well young Ethan got the whole auditorium clapping with his song
Believe in Yourself
All the stanzas to that song are about loneliness, and hardship, and troubles.
But the recurring Refrain is Believe in Yourself.
It goes like this
Believe in Yourself,
and anything is possible
Believe in Yourself
don’t worry bout a thing.
Believe in yourself
and suddenly everything is magical
Believe in yourself
and anything, anything is possible.
That is the Culture we live in:
Believe in yourself
And
Don’t tell me what to do.
Those are the types of songs dancing in our heads.
Repentance is the opposite.
Repentance is coming to our senses.
Repentance is not believing in ourselves,
but turning our attention
to the only One we should, we can, really believe in.
And repentance is not singing, Don’t tell me what to do
Just let me be myself…
Rather repentance is quietly singing
O Lord, I belong to you.
Now show me, teach me, help me
walk in your way and do your will.
CONCLUSION
This Advent season we are listening to the Angels – the Messengers from heaven.
But we should also remember to listen to the Messengers here on earth,
The prophets
Elijah
Malachi
And especially John the Baptist.
Listen as they say Repent, Turn, turn to the Lord.
Listen to them,
and know that even the least of us
who has turned to see Jesus,
turned to see the crucified One,
turned to see the Resurrected One,
turned to be close to him, near him,
is greater, is more blessed
than even John the Baptist.
Amen
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