Comfortably Cool

 

Read Malachi 2

As we approach the days when the temperature will likely hit the century mark, think to those very cold days we had a couple months ago. That was some cold.

I remember some counsel from over 40 years ago about dressing for cold weather.  It was to dress comfortably cool.  You didn’t want to be warm or if you had to move or do something strenuous, then you would be hot and quickly become overheated. Dress comfortably cool.

As a second lieutenant going through my first combat readiness evaluation in Japan near Mount Fuji, my platoon was about one minute from moving out from our assembly area.  At the last minute, I was given a squad of combat engineers.

They had no assigned mission at that time other than to stay with my platoon in case something came up. 

It was drizzling when they arrived and they were all dressed in rain suits.  If you have never worn one, a military issue rain suit is essentially rubber coveralls. 

If you need to lose 20 pounds of water weight in 20 minutes, then put on one of these suits and walk a mile.  Make sure there are plenty of saline bags for your IV when you are done.

I had to get my platoon moving so I told my platoon sergeant to get those guys out of the rain suits and catch up.  Fifteen minutes later my platoon sergeant caught up to me and told me that the engineers had all dropped out.  They didn’t shed their rain suits and were soaked with sweat and totally dehydrated.

They didn’t understand comfortably cool. The engineer lieutenant and I had a long talk after the readiness evaluation was over but this was a memorable lesson in comfortably cool that I remember to this day.

God through Malachi chastised his people, but reminded the priests that they were not off the hook.  They had a role in the people going astray.

What if your Sunday messages never made you a little uncomfortable?  What if they never invaded your comfort zone?

What if your Sunday messages simply scratched your itching ears and affirmed what you believe without testing it against God’s word?

What if the shepherd entrusted with this flock led you to become more transactional?  What if the vending machine became our model?

What if you were counseled to minimize your contact with those whom we might call the least of these our brothers and sisters?

What if you were led to embrace disconnection from God and the body of Christ?

What if your counsel from your pastor was to just give God the leftovers?

I think that I would hear many comments to the effect of that dog don’t hunt.

You don’t have the same relationship with your pastor that the ancients had with their priests.  You have a personal relationship with God that came through Christ Jesus and continues in the Holy Spirit that dwells within you, but there are expectations from your shepherd.

Some of those expectations might just come from Malachi even though you didn’t know until now and some might just ruffle your comfort zone.

For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth.

The latest trends are good, but truth is essential.

Understanding the world’s systems is helpful, but knowing the heart of God from his holy word is mandatory.

Knowing the seasons and festivals and traditions of God’s Chosen People and of the modern church are enriching, but knowing that God desires mercy more than sacrifice, more than perfunctory offerings, and more than mindless lock-step compliance is sharing a loving God with those in your charge.

The priests and today pastors have always been set apart and are a little different from the people who have a relationship with them.  Jesus noted that the priests violate the Sabbath law and yet they are innocent.

The context of this discussion was that the religious hypocrites were criticizing Jesus for working and healing on the Sabbath.

You will see your priest or your pastor at the ball games or at Walmart or at the town-wide yard sale and he is the same as you, except he is set apart for a specific purpose—to preach the truth and good news.

For that reason, he may not sugarcoat the truth. 

For that reason, you may have some discomfort around him or her.

For that reason, compassion may look more like instruction than a that’s ok.  It doesn’t matter comment. Your priest or your pastor is required by his or her calling to deliver the messages of God.

God was serious about the descendants of Levi honoring his covenant and his laws. You just don’t see many places where God says, If you get out of line not only will I curse you but I will rub manure in your face.

The chapter concludes with some words for Woke America.

You have wearied the Lord with your words.

“How have we wearied him?” you ask.

By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?”

Your ears will not be tickled here. 

The word of God will be understood by the word of God and illuminated by the Spirit of God and not made to fit into the flavor of the week.

Sometimes you will receive challenges.  Sometimes you will receive affirmation, but you will never receive apathy or ambivalence.

I have a role.  My fellow pastors have a role in helping you to respond to God’s love with passion and purpose.  Everything that we do should be done in response to God’s love that we know in Christ Jesus and guided by his example.

It is wholly your response but you who belong to body of Christ and continue to worship him in the assembly are not alone.

You have the counsel of the body.  You have the counsel of your pastor.  You have the counsel of the Holy Spirit who lives within you.

The proverbs tell us that plans fail for lack of counsel but with many advisors they succeed.

They continue:

For lack of guidance a nation falls,

    but victory is won through many advisers.

The book of wisdom of which we will soon embark continues:

A man without self-control

    is like a city broken into and left without walls.

You do not have to navigate this world alone.  You have God’s holy word.  You have a pastor called to speak the truth without sugar coating.  You have God’s own Spirit living in you.

The message may come in different forms and different personalities, but the word of God, your pastor’s message, and God’s Spirit speaking to you should all be in one accord.

If that is not the case, then it is the wrong time to make a major decision.

Imagine if the priests of Malachi’s time had turned away the defective animals.  We don’t know what would have happened, but we do know that the issue would be before the people with each and every sacrifice.

God is first in all things.  Don’t bring him your leftovers and save the good stuff for yourself.

The people might have ignored the counsel and just stopped bringing sacrifices.

The people might have pressured the religious hierarchy to replaces these priests with others more pliable.

The people might have remembered that nothing is hidden from God. God sees the heart.

In any case, the priests would not have been coconspirators in the ambivalence of the people, but those are all hypotheticals.  The priests were complicit in helping the people just go through the motions.

I have told some of you before, that if I ever stand in front of you and just say the words:  For God so loved the world, and there is no passion; it’s time to form a search committee.

Your worship, your offerings, and your sacrifices in whatever form they take in this age must be out of joy not duty, love not compliance, and hope not doubt.

My part in this is to help you remain comfortably cool.  I’m not talking about our passion for the Lord.  We should be on fire.

I’m talking about your personal comfort zone.  We should always be ready to move towards what God has for us next and not pass out because we are comfortable right where we are.  My part is to help you live in faith and love and hope.  It is to challenge you to set doubt aside and keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. It is to know with certainty that the promises of God are true.

I will not be complicit in giving quarter to apathy, ambivalence, malaise, or rebellion. Sometimes you may think me a pain in the …you pick the body part.

We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  Even the Levitical priests had to sacrifice for their own sins before they offered the sacrifice for the sins of the people.  We have all sinned as well—pastor and parishioner alike, but we remain people of passion and purpose and as we live completely for God, our encouragement from fellow believers should be such that we long to stay the course and finish our race.

Our desire to continue and finish our race of faith must be so much more than our desire to remain in our personal comfort zones.

We don’t want to quit.  We won’t just go through the motions.  We long to worship and serve and love God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength.

Your pastor might just challenge you along the way.

And here is something to chew on as we consider God’s chastisement of the priests.  We are all a holy priesthood.  All who have come to Christ Jesus—the stone that the builders rejected—are now a people—God’s people.

You are now a royal priesthood in the order of Melchizedek. Now God does call some to ordained ministry, but all who profess Jesus as Lord are to minister to the world, not because of your Levitical lineage but because your Lord is the cornerstone and foundation of all that you do.

OBTW- Your pastor still will challenge you along the way.

Amen.