Dear Malachi,
Yes, I mean you, dear reader! You might be saying, “My name is not Malachi!”
but it is a good title for us as followers of Jesus. You see, the name Malachi means, “My messenger.”
Each of us has heard the Word of the Lord proclaiming God’s forgiveness,
love, and salvation, and we are all authorized to share that message with
others. So, …
Dear Malachi,
We are well into our preparations for Christmas, and this
past Sunday we ran into one of the key figures of the Advent Season: John the Baptizer. (I know it is more common to call him, “the
Baptist,” but John was by no means a Baptist, as in today’s denomination, but
he certainly was one who baptized people – a Baptizer.) It was almost obligatory that we should sing,
“On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry announces that the Lord is nigh….”
John came to prepare the way for the Lord. He called people to repentance. That is, he called them to turn away from
their sins and to return to God. He
urged them to turn away from their sinful behaviors and return to the God who
had saved them. Throughout his ministry
his message was, “The kingdom of God is at hand.” He reminded the world that it had a King –
and it was not Herod or Caesar. His
preaching found its highest point when he pointed to that King and said, “Look,
the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
Like John, we modern day Malachim (plural of Malachi)
share the same message. We still call
people to turn away from sin and proclaim forgiveness in Jesus’ name. We remind the world that the King will come
again. He is not far away,
disinterested, or non-existent as some suppose, but He is nigh, close at hand, at work in the Word and Sacraments to touch
us, transform us, and give us life. And,
we point to Jesus as say, “Look! The
Lamb of God!” It is by Jesus blood shed
on the cross that our sins are paid.
And, of course, we remind the world that Jesus not only died, but rose
in victory, lives, reigns to all eternity and will come again.
How do we do that, though? We have not been called to go out to the
Cuyahoga River dressed in camels’ hair to cry out, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?” Instead, our sharing of the message happens
in a variety of ways. The message in our
Christmas cards is one; we point people to the real meaning of Christmas. Our conversations are another opportunity to
declare to people the King has come and has saved us as we discuss the matters
of our lives. Our actions also speak a
message to others. When our choices flow
from the forgiveness we have received people will see mercy, generosity,
kindness, humility, and Christlikeness in us, and they will hear loud and
clear.
So, share the message.
Remind your children about the real meaning of Christmas. Tell a friend, “I think Christmas is all
about God’s love for us and that He came to be one of us!” There are many ways to say the message that
Jesus is the Lord Who Saves His People – literally.
Questions to Ponder
Read Luke 3:1-14
-
Why does Luke go through the trouble of naming
so many people at the beginning of this reading? How is it significant to place the historical
setting of this event?
-
What was John’s message to his listeners?
-
What did John tell the crowd, tax collectors,
and soldiers they should do?
-
What is your impression of John? What do you feel is the most important part
of his message in this reading?
-
Luke quoted Isaiah in vv. 4-6. What message did Isaiah say John would
proclaim? How do you prepare for the
coming of Jesus?
-
God comes to us in the Word and Sacraments when
we gather for worship. How do you
prepare for coming to meet the Lord on Sunday morning? What kinds of things do you/could you do to
prepare for worship?
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