Jonah Albrecht

2nd Sunday in Advent

December 10th, 2023

Malachi 4:1-6

God’s Saving Love Stirs Up My Heart

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts. 4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. 5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

On a winter day a pastor and his family were in Monterey, California. As they drove near the beach, all these cars were pulling off the road, toward the beach. They couldn’t tell why. So they turned in to see what was going on. It was this stunning sunset—brilliant orange, red, and pink. People were all over the place interrupting their schedule to look at the sunset. Not one person was turned toward the darkness. They were all drawn to this beautiful light. And as he looked at them it struck him they were all orange, red, and pink. They reflected the light they faced. That light changed them. Sadly, it didn’t last but a few minutes.

But this is how it is always with the Holy Christian Church. All Christians are facing Christ, the Sun of righteousness, the Light of the world. And we all are reflecting Him in this dark world. Jesus said both, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12) and “You are the light of world” (Matthew 5:14). Our reflection of the Sun of righteousness draws people out of darkness into this marvelous light.  Reflecting Christ our Savior you “proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). Jesus shines through you to all the darkened world.

Malachi was the last prophet in the Old Testament. After his 55 verses, there was a drought of messages from God until John the Baptist 400 years later. Malachi highlights the holiness of God compared to the unholiness of mankind. God’s free grace vs man’s self-righteous desire for reward. God’s extreme patience, but man’s stubbornness. Through the use of rhetorical questions, Malachi reveals the guilt that falls upon the people for their wicked disobedience, the more God’s love and mercy becomes unfathomable and wondrous.

The context for our text this morning can be found in Chapter 3:14-15, “14 You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the LORD of hosts? 15 And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.'” This was the charge the Lord had brought against those who despised, rejected, and made a mockery of God. They saw how the wicked were flourishing and escaping the punishment of God and it turned them lax in their worship of the LORD. They offered blind, sick, and lame animals for their sacrifices when God called for the lamb without blemish and spot. These wicked people did not see the point because it didn’t seem to be getting them anywhere compared to those who completely disregarded God. Sound familiar?

Is this not the same attitude that sneaks its way into our hearts today? Does it not seem like the evildoers walk away unpunished, but the righteous can’t manage to get ahead? What is the point of going to church or living in the path God laid out for us when it appears to be restraining and not worth our effort compared to those who live “free.”

Psalm 73 provides a parallel to this attitude infecting the people of Israel. Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. 2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. 3 For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek. 5 They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind. 6 Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment. 7 Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies. 8 They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression. 9 They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth. 10 Therefore his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them. 11 And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?” 12 Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. 13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. 14 For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning. 15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed the generation of your children.

It is almost as if this Psalm could have been written in the 21st century. As the days drag on, the evil we see around us swelling, there the temptation sits. It sneaks its way into our heart with a small thought of wonder, “Is what I’m doing really worth it in the end?

Hear, now God’s patient assurance: Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed his name. 17 “They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. 18 Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. (Mal. 3:16-17)

The day is approaching where the Lord will make an absolute distinction between the righteous, those He knows are His and those who spurn His Word and indulge in the world. “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.

Last week we heard how the Righteous Branch is our dear Savior Jesus. We are grafted onto Him by faith and by His awesome love, we are found to be covered by His righteousness and spared from the Judgment that is coming. The evildoers and the arrogant do not have that branch. They have nothing to preserve them from the fiery condemnation of the LORD. Rather they are left like ashes that are trampled underfoot. That is, though they may seem to escape punishment for their debauchery and defiance of God, they will become nothing but dust under the feet of God’s faithful, under your feet. Their time of destruction is coming and it does not endure for 70,80,90, 100 years, but for eternity.

This is the complete opposite of the one who endures faithfully to the Lord till that great and awesome day of the LORD. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts.

To fear the name of the LORD is not to be afraid, but to look upon with great awe and wonder. It is to respect and honor His name here on earth in everything that we do. Honoring God’s name is only possible because the Sun of righteousness has brought healing in His wings. This is none other than the Son of God. Jesus is the bright star of Jacob and the Light to enlighten the Gentiles. As the sun rules the day, so also Christ rules the day of the New Testament, the time when that great Sun arose and was revealed.

The Sun of righteousness shines brightly and is even more incredible than the greatest colorful sunshine that only lasts for a few minutes. Jesus does not fade away, nor does He set in the West. He shines His light of salvation continually for everyone who looks upon Him. The wings of healing He gifts to you is that salvation. It is forgiveness of your sins: Cleansing of every opportunity you did not do what God demanded; every guilty stain that you could not wash away; every thought of envy towards this evil generation that hides under the guise of prosperity. The healing of the Sun of righteousness is complete and thorough. It blasts every bit of darkness that has stained you. It stirs up your heart.

It stirs up your heart to repent of your sins. To lean on your Savior and in faith and receive from Him the warm assurance that your sins stand forgiven and forgotten before God. God only sees the light of your Savior shining brightly in your heart and soul. In everything you do, this healing light of the Sun shines through you. It leads you to share and witness your faith to any who may listen. So that by the light of your Savior reflecting through you, a lost soul might be drawn from the darkness and into His marvelous light.

One commentator describes the Sun of righteousness in this way, “To the suffering, dying world comes the Lord Our Righteousness, the Physician of our sin-sick soul (Ps. 41:4; 103:3; 107:20; 147:3; Is. 57:18f.; 61:1ff). While He is the Propitiation for the sins of the world (1 John 2:2), He is in a special sense the Savior of them that believe (1 Tim. 4:10), that fear His name, for they alone possess and enjoy the healing brought to them in the Gospel. They have in Him that peace passing all understanding, that peace of heart and mind and conscience which comforts them in the valley of the shadow of death (Is. 25:1–8; 26:19ff.)”

There is a great distinction between you and the world right now, but it will be made even more clear on the last day. You have the light of the Sun of righteousness shining on you, in you, and through you. They are in utter darkness, wandering about aimlessly. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall, being well-fed by the sweet message of the Gospel in Word and Sacrament. Today we are celebrating the Lord’s Supper and receiving the very body and blood that Jesus shed for you for your forgiveness, life, and salvation. God does not let you go hungry, but everywhere you wander, He will be with you to feed your soul with His love, forgiveness, and promise.

“Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. 5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

If you were to look as a Jewish Bible, you might find verse 4 actually comes after verse 6. That is because they did not want the Old Testament to end with a curse. Changing the word order does not take away the weight of the curse uttered in the same way that ripping up your credit card doesn’t take away your debt. That great day of the LORD is coming and it will burn up all who are found to have a heart darkened, facing away from the healing rays of the Sun of righteousness. But you have nothing to fear or dread about that day. Rather, you can be like the New Testament believers who anxiously awaited Elijah, that is John the Baptist to fulfill the role as the forerunner of the Messiah; stirring up the hearts of the people to repent and turn back to God that the Messiah might find them with the rays of righteousness shining in their hearts.

You can look forward to Jesus’ second coming where He will distinguish between believer and unbeliever in an unmistakable way. Hear the proclamation: Your sins are forgiven! Let your hearts be stirred up in repentance to God’s glory for this gracious gift of our Father’s enduring love.

One of the most incredible sights to behold on this earth is the jaw-dropping beauty of a setting sun. However, like that pastor witnessed that day in California, the beauty only lasted for a moment but turned to darkness. Beloved, the healing ray of the Sun of righteousness do not fade away and do not depart from you. But it restores you, comforts you, and stirs up your heart to glorify your God and Father who has blessed you so in His love. Amen.