Malachi 4:1,2a * November 8, 2009 * Last Judgment * Pastor Pagels
In the name of Christ Jesus our Judge, dear friends:
Three years, one month and thirteen days. That is how much time is left before the end of the world, or at least that’s what some people would have us believe. December 21, 2012 marks the end of a 394 year cycle of time known as Baktun 13 on the Mayan long count calendar, and doomsdayers are convinced that the end of this cycle will signal the end of life as we know it. Small pockets of people all over the world have already formed survival groups, and they are stockpiling basic necessities to survive.
What should we expect? Predictions range from the usual catastrophes like earthquakes and floods and volcanic eruptions to a polar reversal that will cause unprecedented death and destruction. Nuclear reactors will melt, buildings will crumble, and volcanic dust will block out the sun for forty years.
Having calculated that there is money to be made on the
growing hysteria, Columbia Pictures will be releasing a $200 million
blockbuster later this week (November 13) with the fitting title, “2012.” Thanks to the magic of special effects
moviegoers will see
Americans love a good “end of the world” movie, but that’s all it is, right? A movie. We don’t have to move to higher ground. There is no need for us to start stockpiling food and water. We don’t really need to be concerned about the end of the world, do we?
Maybe the best answer to that question is “No and Yes.” The hype surrounding December 21, 2012, is just that, hype. Experts in Mayan culture and even some people who trace their ancestry back to the ancient Mayans have dismissed the idea that the end of the calendar equals a prediction of the end of the world.
These reassurances are nice, but we don’t really need them. Christians know that no one knows when the end will come (Mark 13:32), no one except God. The Lord hasn’t revealed to us when the last day will be, but he has made it clear that there will be a last day. A day is coming when God will come to judge the world.
That is the theme of Last Judgment Sunday. This is the message the prophet Malachi shared with God’s people over two thousand years ago. And this is the same message Malachi shares with us today…
THE DAY IS SURELY DRAWING NEAR
I. A day of unquenchable fire
II. A day of unbelievable
healing
At this time in Old Testament history (about four hundred
years before the birth of Jesus), no one would have confused
And so the people brought the required sacrifices and the priests offered the required sacrifices, but they were only going through the motions. They worshiped God with their lips, but their hearts were far from him. Whether they said it out loud or not many were thinking to themselves: “God doesn’t seem to care about us anymore, so why should we care about him?”
To prove that the Lord had not abandoned his people, to prove that the Lord still cared deeply about his people, he sent Malachi. Malachi means “my messenger,” and that is a good description of what he did. As a prophet Malachi proclaimed God’s Word to God’s people, and his message in today’s text is this:
“Surely the day is coming” (1a). That short phrase was God’s way of reminding his people: “I haven't forgotten about you. I may not be moving as quickly as you would like me to. I may not be doing everything you would like me to. But I will come. And when I do you better be ready because…”
“[That day] will burn
like a furnace. 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 branch will be left to them”
(1b).
Picture a
This is Malachi’s picture of the day of judgment, and it isn’t pretty. For all who do evil that day will be a day of death and destruction. There will be no excuses. There will be no escape. Judgment Day will be a day of unquenchable fire.
And some people who heard Malachi’s words were probably thinking to themselves: “Good. It’s about time. I’m happy to hear that God is finally coming to get rid of the chaff. And if he needs some help, I would gladly go up to God’s seat of judgment and point out who some of those arrogant, evildoers are.”
If we allow this hypothetical conversation to continue, I can anticipate God’s reply: “Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t need your help. I can read people’s minds. I can see into people’s hearts. Maybe you have forgotten that. Maybe you have forgotten that I can see into your heart.”
And when God examines you, when he goes beneath the good-looking, “good Christian” surface, what does he see? Is your heart pure, or is there evidence of arrogance? Does he sometimes look down at you and see a worshiper who is going through the motions? Do you sing hymns and pray prayers in God’s house while your heart is drifting somewhere far, far away?
Judgment Day will be a bad day for bad people, and the bad news is that at our heart and core we are all bad. We all deserve to be judged. We all deserve to be condemned. When we confess (as we will in a few moments) that Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead, there is a part of us that should choke on those words.
But there is another part of us that can stand up straight and speak those words with confidence. We can be confident because the Judge of all is also the Savior of all. Because of Jesus we can be confident that the Last Day will be a great day, or as Malachi describes it, a day of unbelievable healing.
When Christians think about Jesus’ return, I think that most
of assume we will have to look up to see him.
In Revelation John tells us that the Lord will come with the clouds
(1:7), but Malachi asks us to see things a little differently. Instead of looking up into the sky, he
encourages us to look out over the horizon where “the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.”
This is the only place in the Bible where a direct
comparison is made between God’s Son (S-O-N) and our sun (S-U-N). What do these two “suns” have in common? Both provide light. Both sustain life. But instead of making either of those
connections, Malachi goes in a different direction. He points to the sun as a source of
healing.
And in the twenty-first century we aren’t accustomed to thinking like that. We are constantly being reminded about the importance of sun screen and the dangers of skin cancer. While those dangers are real, all the warnings have a way of drowning out any talk about the health benefits we receive from the sun.
It isn’t exactly mainstream medicine today, but some doctors are prescribing sunlight and light from sun lamps to treat their patients. They claim that the vitamin D produced by moderate exposure can actually reduce skin cancer. If that is the case, then Malachi was way ahead of his time.
He believed that the sun of righteousness was and is a source of spiritual healing, and so do we. We know that the One who cured people of leprosy has also cured us of the leprosy of sin. Jesus took our sins on his shoulders. Jesus carried our sins to the cross. Jesus buried our sins in the tomb. And the first light of dawn on Easter morning revealed that the Son had risen.
"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (II Corinthians 5:21). Through Jesus we are righteous. Through Jesus’ sinless life and sacrificial death we have been declared righteous. The Judge pounds his gavel and declares: "Not guilty!" Our debt has been paid. Our sins are forgiven. Our guilt is gone, and so is every reason to be afraid of the Last Judgment. It doesn't matter if he rises like the sun or comes down from the clouds. We look forward to the Last Day because that will be the day when our Lord will take us to heaven.
We know where we are going when we die, and that's great. But there are lots of people, millions of people, even billions of people, who don’t. And that isn't so great. We can shake our heads and wring our hands and say, “That’s too bad,” but that’s not what God says. In his Word God says: “I want all people to be saved. I want everyone to hear about me and believe in me. And before time runs out I want you to help me get the Word out.”
That's why
That's why we place a special emphasis on stewardship about this time every year, to encourage every member to take ownership of our God-given mission, to commit our offerings, our prayers, our lives to this soul-saving work, to ask for opportunities and to seize every opportunity to share the hope that we have, to rejoice with every sinner who repents. And as great as that sounds, imagine how much greater our joy will be when we see some of those forgiven faces in heaven.
Just before the death of actor W.C. Fields, a friend visited his hospital room and was surprised to find Fields thumbing through a Bible. When his friend asked him what he was doing with a Bible in his hand, Fields quickly replied, “I'm looking for loopholes.”
W.C. Fields was joking, but the Last Judgment is no
joke. It isn't the stuff of Mayan
mythology. It is so much more than the
plot of a
To the average person that might sound like a threat. But for believers, for people like you and me who have been given the gift of faith, for every person who is safely tucked under the healing wings of the sun of righteousness, it's not a threat. It's a promise. Amen.