Sermon Audio: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ministrybymail

“You have wearied the LORD with your words; Yet you say, “In what way have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil Is good in the sight of the LORD, And He delights in them,” Or, “Where is the God of justice?” 3:1 “Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, 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 launderer’s soap. ³ He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, And purge them as gold and silver, That they may offer to the LORD An offering in righteousness. ⁴ “Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem Will be pleasant to the LORD, As in the days of old, As in former years. ⁵ And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness Against sorcerers, Against adulterers, Against perjurers, Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, And against those who turn away an alien— Because they do not fear Me,” Says the LORD of hosts.”

We shake our heads when we see politicians rail against corruption, only to have their own scandals exposed. But before we nod in agreement, let’s ask ourselves—what’s in our closet? What sins do we ignore in ourselves while we cry out for justice against others? This was the spiritual blindness of Malachi’s time, and it’s a warning for us today.

The people of Malachi’s day were such hypocrites, and it was another reason they weren’t ready for the Lord to come. There was, as we have seen and will continue to see, a lot of immorality in Malachi’s time—so much that should not have been happening in a nation that called God their Lord. There was, as we saw last week, a trend for older men to divorce their wives and marry younger women. There were a lot of people giving their leftovers as offerings. There were many priests who would tell you whatever you wanted to hear as long as you paid them. The people of Israel saw this, saw no apparent punishment from God, and profaned Him. They profaned God openly, saying there would be no justice, that God actually took delight in evil and rewarded it.

It’s easy to point fingers at their blindness. But have we ever wondered why God allows evil to prosper? Why doesn’t He strike down the wicked immediately? If we’re honest, haven’t we also questioned God’s justice? Why doesn’t He do something? Why doesn’t God punish that evil and free us from the wickedness of these immoral people?

Where did such thoughts and accusations come from? Anger and delusion. They were angry that such terrible sins were taking place (which we can understand). But they were also angry that these people weren’t being burned up. They thought that when God finally got around to sending the Messenger of the Covenant, the Savior He promised, those immoral people would finally get what they deserved and they would be rewarded. But that was hypocritical because they had skeletons in their closet too.

Notice in chapter 3, verse 1, how God says rather strikingly, “the Messenger of the Covenant in whom you delight.” They did indeed delight in that coming Savior, but for all the wrong reasons. God points out that the Messenger of the Covenant, whom they desired to come and thought would come to their great benefit, would suddenly enter the temple. But then God asks, who could endure the day of His coming? He warns them that His coming would be like a refiner’s fire and like launderer’s soap. This was more than just a hint that this Messenger would not bring what they were expecting.

One of the worst blindnesses of men is that we think that everybody else’s sins are the worst. We think we have no skeletons in the closet or that the skeletons in others’ closets are so much worse than our own.

This is where we need to be purified and washed. The refiner’s fire burns hot. It isn’t just warm—it is so hot it burns away impurities. The refiner would keep the metal in the fire until he could see his face in the silver. When all the impurities were burned away, then the refiner could see his face clearly in the hot metal. If he couldn’t see his face reflected in the liquid metal, it meant impurities remained. Until God can see His face reflected perfectly in us, impurities remain.

The people of our text looked at those divorcing their wives for being old, and they looked at those committing open idolatry. They profaned God for not doing something about it. Adultery and idolatry certainly are terrible sins, and God would bring judgment on those things. But God also told them (and us) in no uncertain terms that when He came, He would also need to purify and launder them. They were smearing the truth for personal gain, milking those who worked for them for every cent, turning their hearts away from the person in need. These too were great sin.

The Messenger of the Covenant was coming. They thought they wanted Him to come, but He would not bring what they expected or desired. He wouldn’t come to pat them on the back for being better than others—they weren’t. They would be refined, purified, and purged by Him, and they would not like it. They would, in fact, reject this purification because they were not ready. They didn’t think they needed the Messenger of the Covenant to cleanse them. They didn’t think they needed cleaning. They saw themselves as the good guys who deserved vindication. They didn’t see themselves as filthy garments that needed washing. That is what made them not ready.

Are you? Are you ready? Are you ready for the Messenger of the Covenant to come and purify you like silver in a fire, to wash you clean like a dirty garment, to clean out the skeletons from your closet?

At times, we have felt the same way as the people in our text. We need to correct that. We are not good guys who need vindication.

• Have we engaged in the sin of gossip while self-righteously condemning others?
• Have we judged others as being too worldly while coveting their possessions?
• Have we looked down on sexual sin in our culture while harboring our own lustful thoughts?

Like the people in our text, we have been huge hypocrites. But yes, you are ready! Yes, there are numerous, countless sins in our past. And having them pointed out as sin is not pleasant. But having them washed away is the greatest of blessings and by faith, we know it.

You are ready to offer a sacrifice of righteousness because—while there is sin that we hide, and there is sin that we deny, and our sin stacks up to heaven—you want it all washed away unlike the people in our text. You want the Messenger of the Covenant to clean you.

When God told them and us that the Messenger of the Covenant would purify them like silver, that was both a threat and a blessing. For those who refused to have their sin cleansed, they would be burned up entirely. But for those who feared the Lord, it was their sin that would be burned up.

Your closet is ready. And I don’t mean the one in your house. I mean your past, present, and future actions, thoughts, and words. The times we have shifted the truth to gain an advantage. The times we have not been faithful in our hearts. The times we have been hypocrites—wanting God to punish others while excusing our own sin. The times we have trusted and feared something more than God.

But here is the good news: we have been purged, purified, and washed by the Messenger of the Covenant. God foretold that zeal for His Father’s house would consume the Messenger of the Covenant. The Messenger of the Covenant is Jesus. This zeal wasn’t about getting every single dust bunny out of the earthly temple. It was about removing sin—false teaching, false worship, and hypocrisy.

Yes, in zeal for God’s house, Jesus drove out the money changers. But Jesus didn’t want to just remove sin from God’s earthly temple—He came to cleanse God’s spiritual temple—you. The punishment of hell was something God, in love, wanted to spare you from. So Jesus took your sin and suffered for it on the cross. He took that death to bring you the greatest blessing—to make you clean, to forgive all your sin.

Your closet is ready. Not because you have cleaned it, but because Christ has. Every sin, every stain, every skeleton—gone. Not ignored. Not hidden. Burned away by His refining fire. Washed away by His blood. God sees Christ’s righteousness in you because He has imputed Christ’s righteousness to you. And when the Messenger of the Covenant comes again, He won’t come for your condemnation— but for your salvation.

You are ready in Christ.

Amen.

—Pastor Aaron Ude

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Rapid City, SD

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