“For
he will be like a refiner’s fire and a launderer’s soap.” (Malachi 3:2)
Malachi,
the final prophet before Jesus arrives as God in our world uses these two
surprising and painful images of what Jesus is doing.
Burnt and Blistered
The
first image is of a refiner’s fire to purifier: ferocious (it is fire) but
controlled (to refine). A fire of
kindness as it clarifies and crystallises and perfects us. Nothing soft about it – it’s a fire! But it has a purpose.
The
second image is not of some ‘soft & gentle’ washing liquid that is more
cosmetic than cleaner. Malachi has in
mind the burning lime-based alkaline that blistered and burnt un-calloused
hands. Painful, but purposeful to remove
the dirt.
Both images presume people are impure and dirty and need refining & cleansing. Both images assume we do not come to Jesus because we are clean and pure (and only if we are) but we come to Jesus to be made clean and pure (something only he can do)
What are the impurities Jesus refines from
us?
Put
another way: What are the stains and dirt he comes to clean?
“I
will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against
those who defraud labourers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the
fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear
me,’ says the Lord Almighty.” (Malachi
3:5)
Sorcerers
is not about magic and magicians but refers to those who trust luck not
wisdom. Who try to shortcut the normal
ways of life. They are those who suggest
that God cannot be trusted to provide by bypassing the normal route of
establishing life through employing ‘special’ practices. They try to be lucky not wise. Some forms of gambling, some ways of misusing
the benefits system
or tax rules, some methods of making the most of injury claims and the like are
‘sorcerers’.
Adulterers
suggest that God is not faithful and not be trusted and won’t be loyal. It’s not just their partner they crush but
its people’s ability to perceive who God is.
Perjurers
or liars are those who gossip and bitch and degrade with words (or with
silences – omission is as bad as commission).
Through that they suggest that God is not trustworthy. His words, like ours are sometimes true and
sometimes false.
Defraud
and oppress and deprive the vulnerable – locally, nationally,
internationally. In turning a blind eye
to the news we hear or to the true cost of the cheap clothes we buy. They suggest that God does not care by reaping
personal benefit from others’ misfortune.
What are the fire and soap Jesus uses to
refine and cleanse?
What
is life like in the refiners’ fire (ferocious but controlled) and the launders’
basket (vigorous but purposeful)? What
is the ‘fire’ and ‘soap’ God uses?
Fire
is an external influence: no one chooses it.
They are the external afflictions that God brings or uses to refine
us. (cf: James 1:2-4) If you want to be pure do not jump out of the
fire when it comes; do not abandon God but allow him to refine and purify you.
Washing
is a self-made choice: if you want to be clean you choose to have a bath. It is self-imposed self-denial that God uses
to cleanse us. (cf: Matthew
5:29-30) If you want to be clean get
into the bath! How? Fasting, generous giving, killing sin, costly
obedience and a thousand other ways we can choose for Jesus to cleanse us.
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