Refining Peace

1 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. 2 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; 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. (Malachi 3:1-3)

Christ has come and Christ will come again! The prophets of the Old Testament spoke of the messenger who would "prepare the way" for the One who would come. In the New Testament, John the Baptizer called people to repent in preparation for the coming Messiah. John was the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth - both too old and barren to have had any reasonable expectation that God would bless them with a child. But once again, bounty sprang from barrenness. Are we willing to be the ones who prepare the way? Are our hearts ready to be refined and purified like precious metals? Are we filling in the valleys and leveling the mountains? Do we expect the unexpected?

4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; (Luke 3:4-5)

As we approach the second Sunday of Advent, our focus word is peace. This peace trusts the Refiner to hold us close enough to the flame to remove the blemishes that mar reflection of our creator. Then we'll have eyes that see the truth. We'll speak the hope the world needs. We'll move in love to heal and restore. While we are not replicas of the Creator, may our relatedness be evident. Come, Lord Jesus, come.

76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. 78 By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." (Luke 1:76-79)