Tell Out My Soul

Today we light the second Advent candle, the candle of peace. The prophet Malachi calls us to watch for the messenger of God.

Malachi 3:1-4

“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.”

This reading prefigures the coming of John the Baptist, who heralds the arrival of our Lord into our midst. He is preparing the way for peace on earth, a peace that does not descend calmly but one that involves work and struggle. This kind of peace arrives when God’s people have been refined and purified from sin. Peace comes with repentance and this is what John called us to do. Sometimes repentance is difficult, and it’s not an easy thing to look at where we’ve gone wrong and how we can do better. It’s not easy to admit that we have hurt others, or that we have fallen short of being the type of person we have been called to be. So let’s clear away the cobwebs around our hearts and allow the Spirit to cleanse us of our ills so that we can be open to the peace that our Lord Jesus Christ gives so freely.