Indeed, Who Can Endure?

Malachi says, "... the Lord you seek is coming to his temple... but who can endure his coming?"

We'd all like a stronger, more vibrant sense of God's Spirit in our lives and perhaps we make some attempts to make that a reality as we seek God through spiritual practices like corporate worship, prayer, scripture reading and compassionate actions. Yet do we know truly what we seek? The adage, "Be careful what you ask for" comes to mind. Can we endure the divine visitation? What will Christ ask (demand?) of us when he comes after these many weeks of waiting during Advent?

Malachi looked for a messenger who would purify and cleanse like a refiner's fire and fullers' soap. Purification by fire sounds like an uncomfortable process to me. It was the religious leaders (sons of Levi) who were going to be subjected to the heat first. Ouch?

Lets look beyond the personal for a moment to our national community life. What would a divine visitation in health care reform look like? Most folks see the need for some kind of reform of our health care system. We religious folk might even pray for a system that is more just and compassionate. Yet we might also fear the possible consequences like rationing, lack of freedom in making medical treatment choices and long waits. Over the Thanksgiving weekend with my extended family I heard expressions of horror at having a health care system like the Canadians. Do they have it so bad? We don't want to have to endure these inconveniences even if we do have a system that is more just.

Examine yourself this week. If Christ's coming into your life requires some sort of purification, what might that look like for you? What sort of dross needs to fall away in the crucible of God's love?