Malachi 4:1–6

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

¹"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. ²But 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. ³And 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. ⁶And 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."

Behold! Behold! Wake up! Open your eyes! See what is taking place! The day is coming. Behold! Says the Lord. This is major; it is urgent. By nature, we are dead to God. We are asleep to what is taking place around us. Our eyes are closed and we do not see. But here, with all urgency, God calls us to wake up and see.

And it is with his word that he wakens us. Just as he awakened Lazarus who was asleep in the grave, dead for three days. He demands that we open our eyes and pay attention to what he is about to say. And he says...

The day is coming:

The great and awesome day he has promised is coming. He has not forgotten us. His promises are still sure and trustworthy. The day is coming. At the end of the church year we look forward to the end of time. The great and awesome day when God comes again. The Lord tells us in II Peter, "Remember the predictions of the prophets, for scoffers will come scoffing. They will say, 'Where is the promise of his coming? They deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God. But, by the same word, the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.'"

The days are getting shorter. Darkness is setting in on our world. All looks dark and gloomy. But, God is still found at work in the world. He has not abandoned his world nor his people. When disaster strikes, when difficulties come our way, when we wonder, "Where are you God?" in the midst of disarray, turmoil, darkness, death, God often seems absent. Where is God when we see so many natural and man-made disasters? Where is God when the world is full of wars and violence? Where is God when all around us we see and smell moral decay in society? God is still there. He is at work in this world. The day is coming.

But, he says, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble: In these few words we hear that God will rein in the evil; evil's time will come to an end. All the arrogant and evildoers will be stubble. On that day evil and those who do evil will be overcome and all terrors and signs of destruction and devastation will end. Wars will cease. Oppression will cease. The turmoil will end and the darkness and gloom will be changed to light and hope. And we shall have peace, for those who trouble us and create havoc will be set ablaze.

For those who do not have faith in Christ, it will be a terrible day. For he says, "The day that is coming shall set them ablaze." Those who reject Christ and his salvation will be set ablaze in the eternal fires of hell. The great and terrible day of the Lord will be a terrible day for those who do not know and hold to the salvation that Christ has to offer from the cross.

Just as the day of the crucifixion was a terrible day for Jesus. That was the day he was abandoned by God for your sins. That was the day he bore in his flesh every last sin you have ever committed and ever will commit, small or great, many or few. He was reduced to stubble. His blood was poured out. He died and was buried on account of sin, your sin. When you look at the cross, you see just what will be the fate of those who do not cling to Jesus in faith. The horrors, the torments, the death you see on Good Friday is what awaits all those who are arrogant and evildoers. You see what you deserve. You see what you would get if it were not for Christ Jesus hanging on that cross in your place.

This then gives us sweet comfort. If for those who reject Christ it will be a day of terror, for those who hold to the forgiveness of sins in Christ, it shall be a day of great joy. He tells us: "For you who fear my name, that day the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall." Leaping for joy. Leaping in freedom. Now set free you will leap and jump like a calf when he is set free and let loose from the stall. God even uses a little play on words here, for when he says the "sun" of righteousness, which is a frequent name for Jesus, he uses the word for the sun in the sky that comes up in the morning. As if to say, "The darkness that now surrounds you in this lost and fallen world of terror and evil, shall come to an end, for the light is coming. You will no longer be in darkness with all its gloom. You will no longer have to grope around in darkness, for the sun is about to rise." And that sun is his Son, Jesus Christ.

So when in the midst of disaster, natural disaster, man-made disaster, or our own personal disasters, we cry out, "Where is God?" we know where he is. He has not forgotten us. He has not abandoned this world. He is near to his people. He is coming. His light is about to dawn from on high. Night will be turned to day. And he tells you, "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."

All that oppresses you, all that frightens you, all who accuse you of unrighteousness shall be tread down under your feet. Not only the sinner who lives out there in the world, but the sinner inside you. The sinful nature with which you were born. The evil one who tempts you. The devil who roams around seeking to devour you. Shall be trampled under your feet. The death that is overtaking your body, the illness that slowly is taking away your life, it shall be tread down and turned to ashes. That is the freedom of the cross. That is what Jesus won for you by his death on a cross.

"Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel." Yes, remember them. For you have been set free from the evil one. The wicked will be ashes. For the Lord is coming who will set them ablaze. Now you are set free from the wicked one and from evil by your Baptism in Jesus Christ. Put aside the works of evil and the deeds of darkness. For the Sun of righteousness has risen with healing in his wings. Live in righteousness. Put on the new man who is restored by the Sun of righteousness. For the old man of sin has been drowned in baptism, and a new man of righteousness has been raised from the dead. Do not let the members of your body be instruments of sin and unrighteousness, but let them be used by God as instruments of love and righteousness.

Remember the law of my servant Moses: the law is love. Love your neighbor as yourself. The law is to give yourself and all you have for the good of your neighbor. Don't use your freedom for sin, but use it to love and serve your neighbor. For that is the fulfillment of the law. That is the mark of a true believer in Christ.

For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. Don't be numbered amongst them.

But you, fear the name of the Lord. Trust him. Cling to him in faith. He gives us the sweet promise that the day of the lord is coming. It will be a terrible day for the evildoer, but for you, the one found in faith in Christ, it will be a day of sunshine and light. A day when you will be set free and leap for joy. What comfort and peace this Word of God gives to all who call upon his name in faith!

But before that great and awesome day, he will send the prophet Elijah. That is a topic for another day. Amen.