Sermon – God’s Wildman Messenger
Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 1: 59-80
Farmville Presbyterian Church
12/8/24
I know you have never received anything as a gift that you thought you wanted so much until you finally had it in your possession. Once it was with you, then the excitement faded and what seemed so great was really just kind of OK after the first day or two. This is that time of the year when children are making those lists and wishing for the newest and most amazing gifts. “Mom, Dad, I promise I will take care of it. If I can only have this, you won’t have to give me anything else.” I said this myself, recently, as my baritone saxophone is being finished up in Lynchburg this week. It was not my mom or dad that I was pleading with, however. And I did not necessarily have to plead with my wife for this big purchase. I have tried a number of instruments over the years, and none of them very successfully, so it may seem strange to embark on this journey in musicianship at this time in my life, but I want to learn an instrument that I believe I will truly enjoy. Still, the burden is on me to appreciate this opportunity for what it is – a time to grow and enjoy life through music. Don’t let it go to waste.
Oddly, this idea applies to the period after building the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 516 BC, but it was too late for the Jewish priests and religious leadership in the years that followed. People had come back to Judah and Jerusalem after being hauled in captivity to Babylon. They had rebuilt the walls that had been smashed, and the Temple was restored with the help of Ezra and Nehemiah. It was supposed to be a new age for the nation. People had returned. Jerusalem was back. The Temple was back. Things were supposed to be good, again. This is when there was a lot of interest in a Messiah figure, and these are the years leading up to Jesus that Messiah-talk reached fever pitch, but for hundreds of years, no Messiah. The potential greatness of the nation was overshadowed by other armies and other oppression. Alexander the Great swept through and conquered the land in the 4th century. That’s why the New Testament was written in Greek. The Ptolemies and Seleucids and eventually the Romans were all there. People became disillusioned, discouraged, disheartened – forgetting their hearts for God. This was especially the case for those who were charged with the care of God’s worship.
The entire book of Malachi is devoted to rebuking the priests. They had become lazy and corrupt. They had no interest in maintaining a zeal for the Lord or a love for God. They profaned the sacrifices and lived shabby lives for people who were supposed to be leading God’s people in worship. Just before the passage from Malachi that I just read it says, “You have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “All who do evil are good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”
You get the sense of the outrage that spurs the today’s section – OK, you asked for it. Someone is coming. When we were kids, my parents left us alone from time to time when I was supposed to be old enough to watch my sister and brother. I took the responsibility seriously, being the oldest child, but sometimes I would get frustrated if they did not listen to my instructions. In those cases, I always had my trump card, “Do you want me to call mom or dad?” The threat of bringing in someone with more authority was supposed to get attention and action. The ominous warning of someone far more in-charge was supposed to get things back together. That is what Malachi lays out for us. He says that we have a messenger coming to lay the groundwork for the appearance of the Lord. This messenger is coming to shake things up and really get them ready. It is time for tough love.
That’s what it means that he is coming to refine and clean. His preparation is going to be painful but necessary. You cannot have precious gold with impurities. You cannot have fine garments with stains. Who wants to drink dirty water or spoiled food? The messenger is coming to cleanse and purify. It will hurt, but it will get you ready for what’s next. Malichi’s warning is most aimed at the Levites, the Priests. They are the ones who are in most need of a deep cleaning.
Several hundred years later, a priest named Zechariah was offering incense in the inner sanctuary of the Temple. It was his turn to do it, and he had to be in there alone. But he was not alone. He found himself face to face with the angel Gabriel who told him that he would have a son even though he could not have children. Zechariah’s trouble believing this promise made him unable to speak for the entire pregnancy. This baby, though, was the one, the messenger, the one preparing the way for the Lord. This baby was not one for comfort or rich things. He had no interest in flattery or playing nicely with those who were corrupt or perverting justice. He came with a wild look and a powerful prophecy to wake up the people. He came with the Word of the Lord to shake off the dust. He came with a deep clean to prepare the people for the Lord. Zechariah was so excited about this that he had to sing.
I know a good number of people who do not care for musicals. I myself have struggled with musicals in the past because people just do not break into song normally. Musicals seemed too unrealistic to me in that sense, but music and the love of music go much deeper into our souls, and I think that is the point. When we allow ourselves to appreciate the gift of music in this way, it can open our hearts and speak to our souls. We hope that is certainly the sense here in our church. We care about music and seek to do the best with what we have, and yes, we even break out into song – though perhaps a little more planned and orchestrated.
Zechariah erupted into song once his tongue was freed. Mary had just done the same thing earlier in this chapter when she discovered that she would give birth to the Messiah. Luke’s Gospel likes these songs, these gifts of praise about God’s faithfulness in Jesus. And that is what Zechariah is most excited about. Even though he is there consecrating his eight-day old son, he is really excited about the coming of Jesus. Out of 12 verses of his song, he sings about the coming Messiah for 8. His John gets 4, but they are a very important 4 because his son will play an essential role that had been predicted for hundreds of years. He will lead people to Jesus.
John’s story is so outstanding that it almost looks like he waddles out into the wilderness at that very moment. The town, the city, the home is not his comfort. John must live his days in the wilderness with the presence of God uninterrupted. He returns with his Wildman appearance and a message that cuts to the heart of the people.
But this is what you need to realize. This message of hope was not for the past. It was for the present. As Luke was writing this, Rome was preparing to destroy the nation of Israel, if it was not already done at this time. We cannot tell exactly what year this Gospel was written, but it was probably written just before the Romans completely leveled Jerusalem, ending Israel as a nation for nearly 1900 years. People in Luke’s day really needed to know their hope and faith as the Romans were bearing down on them. I used to think that Luke was recording this just so that we could have a written record of what Jesus did because the eyewitnesses were disappearing, and that is at least some of the reason, but Luke’s writing was needed in his day and his time and in his situation. Both Luke’s and Matthew’s gospels were written about the same time, just before and leading up to the end of Israel. They needed hope in God’s Messiah. They needed to remember and to share that story. They needed to find comfort in their struggle. God did not forget them but provided a messenger as promised and a Messiah as promised. Salvation is ours in God’s faithfulness. They needed to hear that truth.
Of course, we still need to hear that truth today. It is no accident that John plays such an important part in our Christmas preparation. Zechariah did not think he had a hope for a future for his family. His line was set to end with them. God proved otherwise. Luke is writing as Israel is destroyed, but he is still singing of salvation, hope, redemption, and forgiveness. If Zechariah could receive a future from God, they could also.
The Gospel never happens in a vacuum. It happens while people are struggling to survive, while children are starving, while people are freezing, while peoples are waring, while people are destroying, and while people are forgetting.
No one who forgets God ends up the hero of that story. No one who abandons the true gospel commands to love God and love neighbor comes out on top. Sure, there are redemption stories of those who fall but come back. We are all a redemption story, but those who turn their back on God for good don’t end up with the story they want.
It is time to sing, again. It is time to rejoice, again. It is time to look forward to what God is about to do, again. It is time to hope even in the night, again. It is time to trust together, again. It is time to stand with that Wildman messenger and to prepare for Jesus, to live with him today and to look forward to seeing him, again, one day. To God be the glory. Amen.