All That Glitters May Not Be Just Gold
By Shelley Germain, Elder
If I allowed you to open the boxes of my collection of jewelry pieces, you would probably call me a "blingaholic". My history with jewelry began in high school when I was fortunate to work in my uncle's jewelry workshop watching the well-trained artisans create beautiful designs in gold and silver. There were flattened or tubular metals pounded and shaped into leaves and branches or polished circles for ring mountings and necklace links. The favored metals of gold and silver are still standards in jewelry because they are so malleable, don't rust, and can be polished to shine.
The first precious metal mentioned in the Bible is gold. (Genesis 2:11-12). The ancients used gold for many valuable purposes...personal ornamentation, worship statues, wall decor, etc. The Bible mentions gold 417 times, silver 320 times, and the refining of them is directly mentioned or contextualized in about 100 verses.
There is an intense refining process for how gold becomes useful from a misshapen lump of ore to a final product. The most ancient of methods is an extraction by fire...almost 1064 degrees Celsius (1947 degrees F.) of heat. The craftsman refiner sits stirring the crucible of molten gold and skims the impurities off such as zinc, copper, silver, and iron. (See the photo below) 100% purity is too soft for shaping so some impurities can remain to create a 99.5% gold content labeled "pure" 24 karat gold. What does all this have to do with Advent?
In the Book of Malachi, the Prophet prophesies about a Messenger of the covenant (Jesus) who will ask:
Malachi 3:2, "But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap;..."
In connecting the dots of my life, I can relate when I have personally felt like I was in the "fire". I believe many of us can testify to "fire" dots in our lives. Even today we are experiencing the "fires" of Covid 19, political and family divisions, tainted water, mass shootings, chronic illnesses, etc. Like you in reflection, I have come through many fires and as my trust in Jesus has grown, I realize that He was always there with me. I was his lump of clay not knowing Him until He melted and molded me and continues to shape me as His 24 Karat precious child. There will probably be more fires for you and me but Malachi reports "Behold, He is coming, Says the Lord of hosts." Advent will always be this remembrance that He first came as a baby and will come again. Let us continue to expect Him to sit with us in our fires.
Prayer: Dear Jesus, we forget that we are but lumps of ore in need of cleansing, shaping, and polishing. Thank you for refining us in the fires to help us become the pure gold You intend us to be. Thank you for even accepting our impurities. May we always see Your love that abides with us in our fires and may we always glitter for You. Amen.
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