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 washers’ soap; 3 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.
When my daughter had pneumonia, we noticed a pattern. Her mood would deteriorate. She would get sleepy. We would take her temperature, but we already knew what we would see: her fever was back. Then the screaming would begin: “I don’t want medicine! It tastes disgusting!” After exhausting every form of persuasion available to us, she would finally take her medicine. Fifteen minutes later, she would be sitting up, bright-eyed and cheerful, chatting merrily about anything and everything. The fever was gone, and she had already forgotten the trauma.
Malachi 3:2 does not begin on a promising note. We treasure verses encouraging us not to be afraid, but Malachi opens with the language of fear. He clarifies with metaphors about “refiner’s fire” and “fullers’ soap,” but I am not a silversmith, and I have a machine that does my laundry for me, so these images do not speak to me. Maybe a modern-day Malachi would replace “refiner’s fire” with “acetaminophen” and “fullers’ soap” with “antibiotics.” Reading Malachi reminds me that I am also sick, and my heavenly father is coming with medicine, but it fills me with fear because I know that it will taste disgusting. Sometimes I throw a tantrum, because my fever blinds me to my own illness. Only when I have finally taken my medicine will I be well enough to love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.
This Advent season, we may notice something fearful about the child in the manger. Following him will change us in ways that we are not ready for, and that we would not choose for ourselves. This is terrifying. But it is the path to healing, and once the medicine has done its work we can rejoice like a child whose fever has finally broken.
Contributed by Phil Harrington