Dear Family at Christ Community,

    This Sunday we will hear from Malachi 2:17 – 3:5 and share in the Lord’s Table.  This Table invites us to reflect on our privileged position as God’s people and to know the truth of the indicative spoken over God’s people in Malachi 1:2, “I have loved you.” The Table is a firm answer to the doubt we sometimes feel about the truth of this love.  In the broken bread we have a sign and seal of Jesus’ broken body, broken for us that we might be free from the condemnation of our sin. In the poured-out cup we have a sign and seal of Jesus’ blood poured out for us so that we may share in His risen life. We face no condemnation, and we have new life in Jesus.  He has shown us such faithful love!

    In Malachi 2:17 – 3:5 this shines clearly in the prophetic word about God’s justice.  We all long for justice to be done and weep over the injustice we see all around us.  But we also know we ourselves fall short of God’s perfect justice. How will we stand in the day of the Lord’s judgement? How will good come from things as they now stand, marred by imperfection and sin?  The answer comes from the messenger of the Lord as He proclaims the Lord’s favor to His people and the solution to their sin in His sacrifice on their behalf. Covered by Jesus’s sacrifice, we can live in eager anticipation of His coming rather than in fear of His judgement.  Ian Duguid and Matthew Harmon in Zephaniah, Haggai, and Malachi: Reformed Expository Commentary express the truth of this text in these helpful words:

“What is the solution to the problem of evil and injustice in our lives?  If justice requires that bad things must happen to bad people, on what do we base our own hope to stand before the Judge of all the earth when he comes?  There is only one answer to the problem of our personal evil – and it is found in Jesus. Indeed, whenever we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we see laid out in front of us God’s answer: the Son of God bruised for our transgression; his blood poured out for our iniquity.  Because of that death in our place, we can look forward with joy to Jesus’ coming again as the Judge of all the earth to complete the refining process. Because of the Holy Spirit’s work in all believers, we can know a measure of real progress and victory over sin in our lives in the present, and we can look forward to the day when we will die and stand in his presence finally perfected in righteousness.  What a wonderful day that will be!”

     As you prepare for the Lord’s Table this Sunday, take some time to reflect on your safety in Christ.  Is there a safer place to be than a guest at His Table? Will we, who have been invited by Him to His Table, suddenly become objects of His wrath? No! All who place their trust in Jesus do not need to fear His coming judgment because He has provided the perfect sacrifice for us and continues to refine us so that on the day of judgement we may stand and rejoice in His righteousness.  May we use the Table as a means not only to be reminded of this truth, but also to increase our resolve to fight the sin that remains in our lives and that hinders our experience of Jesus’ love for us. May we be encouraged and empowered to be better witnesses to our friends and neighbors so that they too may find safety in the arms of the Savior.

In Christ,

Robby