Malachi 3:2
But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand firm when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire, like fullers' lye.
So here's a confession…this reading scares me. It always has. This one and the scripture on separating wheat and chaff have provided my mind with fearful images. I have this image that I'm going to be put through the proverbial "ringer" and not make it out. But really, that's not how it's supposed to be. The people wanted a savior to come gloriously into the world and save them from centuries of conflict. Malachi wrote that when the savior comes, it's going to be so big, that we will be in awe, that we may not be able to endure it or stand upright. Yet this was not the case, at least at the outset. Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world came as an infant, not as a bigger-than-life, glowing figure with a sickle in one hand and sword in another. He came as a meek child.
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Mary and Joseph take Jesus to the temple for the first time as was the custom. They give two turtledoves and the mother of the child is purified, or spiritually cleansed. Later, the tradition holds that candles were lit in remembrance of this event.
The refiner's fire is not a raging inferno, but a simple candle representing the Christ's light in the world. The fuller's lye is the cleansing agent to wash us clean. At our baptism and confirmation, we are presented with candles and a white garment symbolizing our connection in our own presentation to God. Let us today be a light for others in our actions and prayers.
(By the way, today is also known as Candlemas and there's a roundabout connection with Groundhog Day…check it out)
