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The Sun of Righteousness Will Shine on You

            What is it that scares you about God?  Nothing?  OK!  But are you being honest?  Or maybe I should ask, “Are you taking an honest look at yourself?”  Christians who know the Bible’s message about God know that they have nothing to fear, but Christians who know the Bible’s message about humans know that they have plenty to fear.  Consider how the Old Testament Scriptures end.  This is a little Trivial Pursuit question for you.  What’s the very last phrase, the very last word from the Old Testament prophets?  Your hint – It’s right here in the first lesson today.  It’s the word “curse” – “or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.”  Doesn’t that sound ominous, like a dark ready to explode with lightning streaks and a big thunder boomer?  Doesn’t that leave you empty, longing for something more, something better, something comforting?

            That’s exactly the point of Malachi’s little book, the last of the Old Testament prophets.  He leaves us with a longing for something more.  His book is like a big arrow, a big flashing sign.  “Turn the page!  Keep reading!  God is coming, and he has more to tell you.”  And whenever the Lord comes, here’s what he says to us, The Sun of Righteousness Will Shine on Youto burn and to bring light.

To burn

            If you have ever been in the summer sun too long, you know the damage the sun can do.  We are all well acquainted with the pain of a sunburned back and hot pavement under the feet.  Some of us are old enough to remember searing vinyl car seats.  But what if you were left alone to live without protection in the middle of a desert?  There may be no greater pain imaginable.  The sun can literally burn a person to death.

            Four hundred years before Jesus was born many Israelites who lived in the Jerusalem area did not want to believe Malachi when he announced, “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace.”  Picture a huge mountain off in the distance.  Hot, boiling lava seethes below the mountain unseen.  Around the mountain are several smaller hills.  From your view one of those smaller hills is perfectly lined up wit the big mountain behind it.  Every once in a while a little lave spurts up from one of the smaller hills, and from your view it’s hard to tell if the lave is coming up from the smaller hill or the big mountain behind it or both.  Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit Malachi peered into the future and saw both a small hill and the mountain at the same time.  His prophecy pointed to the destruction of Jerusalem and Judgment Day at the same time.  The people who heard Malachi talking about a day that will burn, were concerned only about their small hill, Jerusalem, and figured he was talking only about Jerusalem being destroyed.  “Malachi, how can you say that?  Some of us just got back from captivity in Babylon within the last ten years.  The temple here in Jerusalem was rebuilt and dedicated just eighty-five years ago.  We just finished the celebration of the reconstruction of the city walls.  Everything’s going so well.  You’re walking on thin ice, Malachi.  You might as well go out in the desert and preach to the jackals because we think you’re nuts!”

            Those people had settled into a comfort zone, but they neglected looking into their own hearts and seeing the war zone they had created with God.  God’s message about their sin and their need for a Savior – ignored.  God’s proclamation through the prophets to repent – on deaf ears.  God’s plea for them to return to him – like water off a duck’s back.  They did not want to believe Malachi, but, sure enough, just as he predicted, a small hill of the Lord’s judgment erupted in the year 70 A.D.  God unveiled a display of his anger against the people of Jerusalem who rejected Jesus.  He allowed the Roman general Titus to level the city and slaughter its inhabitants.

            But the real problem was that the people who first listened to Malachi were so focused on their small hill that they ignored what Malachi had to say about the big mountain beyond it, Judgment Day.  “All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the LORD Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them.”  “The arrogant” are those who fill their minds and hearts with their own self-importance.  When standing before God they are so confident in their own self-worth that they don’t recognize their desperate need for a Savior from sin.  They are people … like us, that is, that’s what God sees when he digs into our core.  “The evildoers”?  Well, those are also people ... like us, that is, that’s what God sees when he digs into our core – arrogant people and evildoers.

            Just as the sun’s heat dries up grain stubble that remains in a field after harvest, so the S-O-N of God is the S-U-N of righteousness who will shine on that Day in a way that burns sinners.  In his own words Jesus said, “If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned” (John 15:6).  If that’s not enough to put the fear of God in us, I don’t know what will.  Sometimes I think we get so focused on the small hills in our life and spend all our time worrying why God would allow things that are unpleasant to erupt around us.  But forces us to look ahead to Judgment Day, and what we see is not very pleasant.  He says that the Sun of righteousness will shine on that day, and if we have even one little sin on our account that is not paid for, then the Sun of righteousness will burn us with a fire that won’t go out.  I don’t like hearing that.  In fact, it makes me angry.  I’d like to join the folks around Jerusalem and push Malachi toward and long walk off a short plank.  Where is the hope?  Where is the happiness?

To bring light

            Fortunately, Malachi did have more to say.  God speaks to us through him and says, “But for you who revere my name.”  We need to step aside for a moment to make sure we’re all on the same page regarding God’s name.  God’s name is not just his title.  It’s his reputation, what he reveals about himself – who he is and what he does.  He reveals himself as the awesome, holy God and also as the God who forgives sins for Jesus’ sake.  Thus, those who revere his name are all those who stand in awe of who he is and put their trust in what he did and does through Jesus.

            Now we are ready for the rest of this message of God through Malachi.  “For you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.”  The sun is not only powerful.  It is absolutely essential for life.  That huge yellow ball in the sky brings light which plants need to their photosynthesis thing.  Animals eat plants.  People eat plants and animals.  Without the life-giving light of the sun, this planet would be cold, dark, and empty.  Without the sun there would be no wheat, no corn, no Cheerios, no salads, no stir fry, no steak, no life.  Just as the sun rises each day to bring life for this planet, so the life-giving Sun of righteousness has risen and is shining in our hearts to give us forgiveness.  Jesus is the Sun of righteousness who has brought life and immortality to light through the good news (2 Timothy 1:10) of Scripture.  He is essential for our spiritual and eternal life.  Without the Sun of righteousness there would be no hope, no joy, no peace with God, no genuine life, no forgiven sins.  Malachi wants us to join him in looking at two mountains.  This time, not a small hill and a big mountain, but two big mountains.  The first is Mount Calvary where we see an explosion of the hot lava of God’s anger rain down on Jesus.  Because Jesus took all that heat, we are now covered in his fire-proof righteousness, guaranteeing that every one of our sins is paid for, and we’ll get only the life-giving light of his love now and on Judgment Day.

            There’s the hope.  There’s the happiness.  Malachi adds an illustration from a farm scene to capture it. “You will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.”  Cows typically give birth to calves in the early spring.  When those little calves start to grow, they are rather unsteady on their spindly, little legs.  But within a few weeks they are ready to run and roam.  So when the spring sunshine warms up the barnyard, the farmer opens the door, and the calves burst out, running and bouncing and leaping up and down – Boing!  Boing!  Boing! – as though they had springs in their legs at the sheer joy of being free to bask and play in the warm sunshine.

            Malachi’s message, which some think is a bummer, ending with the threat of a curse, actually brings joy like that, and even more.  He stands in line with other proclaimers of the message of God.  He mentioned laws given by Moses, which had promised of the Savior embedded in them.  He mentions Elijah who came before him and one like Elijah one who come after him, namely, John the Baptist.  And here’s the added bonus of joy for us – we get to join that long line of proclaimers.  Just like Moses and Elijah and Malachi and John the Baptist we get to warn others about sin and display the wonders of Jesus.  We get to point out sin and point to the Savior.  We get to cause groaning and offer growing.  “See I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes.  He will turn the hearts of the father to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers.”  That’s God’s promise that Christians will be communicating with each other inter-generationally and with others around them the message that the Sun of righteousness is shining on us and them with the light of life.

            Let’s say you’ve been outside shoveling snow.  Your toes are cold, your nose is running, and your fingers are numb.  You stumble in the back door, unwrap the scarf, pull off the boots, and wonder whether you should keep your mittens and jacket on because you’re so cold, your teeth are chattering.  You shuffle over to the thermostat.  It’s fifty-five in the room.  Oh no!  The furnace went out.  Suddenly, there’s a knock on the door.  It’s your rich uncle.  “Come with me,” he says, and before you know it you’re in the car on the way to the airport and on a flight to Naples, Florida.  Just before landing the pilot announces that it’s eight-three degrees out.  How do you think the sunshine will make you feel?  Ahhh!  That’s great!  What a relief!

            That’s what Elijah, Malachi, and John the Baptist proclaimed.  They all heralded, “The Sun of Righteousness Will Shine on You,” meaning that when God comes to us, he’s not scary.  He comes as a little baby.  He comes in a dribble of water in baptism.  He comes in a wafer and sip of wine in this special meal.  Best of all, every time he comes to us, he comes with open, protecting arms and an open, forgiving heart.  That’s how we know for sure that when he comes in all glory on the Last Day, we won’t be shivering in our sin but warmed by the light of his Son.  God comes to you and to me, and his last word is not a curse.  It’s a blessing.  I don’t want you to think that just because Malachi ends with the word “curse” that the Old Testament is all bad news and the New Testament is all happy news.  In reality the twin messages about the seriousness of sin and the joy of Jesus are woven together not just in Malachi’s book but from cover to cover through the entire Bible.  So, how do you think the Bible ends?  What’s the last phrase from the last book of Scripture, the Revelation of Jesus Christ?  The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people.  Amen(Revelation 22:21).

Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) on December 14, 2008

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Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church | 1209 North Broadway Milwaukee, WI 53202 | (414) 271-3006

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