Second Sunday in Advent (Malachi 3:1)

Look!  An Advent Messenger


This is the time of year when you try to grab people’s attention.
 You are driving here or there and “Look!  That is an impressive light show on someone’s front lawn and rooftop.”  The demonstration is dazzling as it flickers and blinks.  (Some even choreograph it to music.)
 You are trimming the Christmas tree and “Look!  This is an ornament that grandma made quite a few decades ago.”  And then you put it on a branch.
 You are shopping in the mall and “Look!  This would make an outstanding present.”  And you make a mental note about the wish.

That is what the LORD Almighty—the One who is over every host in heaven and army on earth—does through the prophet Malachi  (Mal 3:1).  He announces to his complaining people that he has something, better, someone, to show them  (Mal 2:17).  He is emphatic:  “See”  (Mal 3:1).  It is along the lines of “behold.”  But we don’t talk like that.  “Look.”  There is an urgency in his words.  As well as a certainty.  “See, I will send my messenger”  (Mal 3:1).  The Lord is dispatching a specific individual on an authorized mission and as an approved representative.  That one comes from him and he is for the people.

And there is a purpose for him:  “[He] will prepare the way before me”  (Mal 3:1).  Road construction is not a new phenomenon.  It has been going on for a long time.  In ancient days, when a king was coming, there would be a concerted effort to repair the corridor so that the dignitary could travel on flat ground—no deep potholes to go in or high bumps to go over.  It was to be even and level.

The prophet Isaiah clearly contends the same, pointing ahead.  “A voice of one calling:  “In the desert prepare the way for the LORD”  (Is 40:3; cf. Lk 3:4).  And the gospel writer Luke carefully confirms the identity, detailing the time in history with the precise rulers listed alongside of Caesar  (Lk 3:1,2).  Look.  An Advent messenger.  It is an advance party of one—John the Baptist.  He was to make the route ready.  The King was coming, “the King of glory”  (Ps 24:8-10).  Jesus.

Luke also identifies this messenger’s function as a forerunner to turn the people back to the Lord their God  (Lk 1:16):  “Make straight paths for him.  Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low.  The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth”  (Lk 3:4,5).  He was to address two extremes that would hinder Jesus’ arrival:
 Any ditch of despair.  That is the one who has the inkling that “I am too bad.  My guilt is too big.”  There may be a gazing at one’s lack of love, even in December.
 Any peak of pride.  That is the one who has the idea that “I am not too bad.  My life is too good.”  There may be a glancing at his or her generosity around Christmas.
We need to evaluate where we are—reacting with open anxiety, wallowing in self-pity, or relying on our actions, walking in self-righteousness.  Look!  An Advent Messenger.  We listen to him.

So John took up shop outside of Jerusalem in the wilderness.  Again Luke documents his activity.  “He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”  (Lk 3:3).  There was water.  And there was washing.  And there was a recognition because there was repentance.  That is, a turning from one’s sin and turning to one’s Savior.  The goal was the sending away of sin, a canceling of a debt.  That is because of Jesus, who takes away the sin of the world  (Jn 1:29).  Look!  An Advent Messenger directing us to the forgiveness in Jesus.  We have clean hands and a pure heart  (Ps 24:4).

And we give John our ear.  Or a parent or a pastor, someone in our family or one of our friends as an Advent messenger.  We recall our sin and remember our Savior—the One who came as a Baby and the One who will come as a Judge.  He came to take our place on the cross at Golgotha so that we can take our place by his side in heaven.  And we can be confident that we will.  As the apostle Paul penned to the Philippian Christians:  “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”  (Php 1:6).  Jesus is coming.  That is our focus as we get set for his first arrival in a manger and his final appearance on the clouds.

There is a lot that can take our concentration off the coming Christ.  It is not that displays of lights, decorations on evergreens, and dreams of gifts are wrong.  It adds to this stretch on the calendar.  But Look!  An Advent Messenger.  He leads us to Jesus, who entered this world to erase our wrongs.  He is coming.  Happy Advent.

We read from Malachi 3:1:
“See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me.


December 9, 2018