2024 Advent Devotion: Day 7

Saturday,  December 7

Malachi 4:1-6; Luke 9:1-6

Malachi 4:1-6 describes a perplexing scene on the day of the Lord’s judgment. We read of a terrifying image of a voracious fire that consumes the wicked. The faithful are also present for this burning, but their experience is quite different. Instead of being consumed by the terrible furnace, they bask in the goodness of its healing light. The righteous jump for joy like cattle freed from their stalls; meanwhile, the wicked are reduced to ash. Though the experiences of the righteous and the wicked on this day could not be felt more differently, the events are inseparable. The same fire that burns the wicked shines its healing rays on the righteous. The jumping of the righteous crushes the wicked to ash beneath their feet. It is not in displays of might or acts of violence that the righteous crush the wicked, but through the celebration of what God is already doing.

The image of ash (or dust) beneath the feet of the faithful appears again in Luke 9:1-6. Jesus commands the disciples to shake the dust off their feet as a warning to the townspeople when they are rejected. The proud and evil are likewise reduced to dust under the disciples’ feet as they go about their day, remaining obedient to God. Here again we see the obedience of the faithful being the mechanism by which the wicked are judged, only in Luke it is a warning rather than the final judgment. Much like the righteous crushed the wicked by jumping in the healing light of God’s judgment in Malachi 4:1-6, the disciples participate in the judgment of the proud townspeople by walking away and staying focused on proclaiming the Light they see.

The depiction of the righteous fixing their eyes on the healing light of God as the wicked are reduced to dirt beneath their feet is particularly powerful during Advent, as we wait for the inbreaking of the Light into our world. Malachi and Luke remind us that worship and adoration of this Light is not a distraction from the injustices around us, but the mechanism by which they will be undone! As we bask in the Light that is to come, let us be reminded that it is through our bringing of praise that we will be made victors over evil. This is how the righteous participate in the coming of God’s judgment and justice. It is through our enjoyment of the Light that the power of the wicked is reduced to ashes. Even in the midst of darkness, may we prepare our hearts to celebrate the goodness that Christ the Light shines on us.

Abigail Hackworth
School of Divinity Student