Malachi 4 1-6 2007
Pentecost 25 (Proper 28)
November 18, 2007
Malachi 4:1–6
“The Right Side of Judgment Day”[i]
Introduction: Generally, most of us are preparing for Thanksgiving, the Holidays and the coming celebration of our Lord’s birth. Hold on though. We are in another important time in the church year. To skip it would be like reading the beginning of a story over and over with out completing the book until the very end with it’s final resolution. For this Sunday, we focus on the prophet Malachi’s urgent call to be prepared for the “Day of the Lord,” “The Day of Final Judgment”, “The Day of our Salvation.” Such preparation calls for us to hear the Word of the Lord and to draw close to Jesus now by returning to certain great days of his first coming: Transfiguration, Good Friday, and Easter.
Prophets come to speak the Word of the Lord. They speak the word of Law and judgment and they come to speak of God’s grace and mercy and love in the gospel that is the good news of what God does to save us. So Malachi preaches to the people. It is important to remember what the people were doing. Malachi’s warnings about the Day of the Lord are prompted by the widespread breaking of the covenantal relationship with God in the following areas: First, the Sabbath was desecrated, tithes were neglected, and worship life was shallow (1:6–14; 3:8–10). Second, the people fell into mixed marriages with pagan neighbors (2:11–15). Third, money had become an idol, and they were taking advantage of the widows, poor, and orphans in order to gain wealth (1:12–14; 3:5). Fourth, the priesthood had become corrupt (2:1–9).
There is a farm in central Wisconsin located about six miles from the nearest town. There was a road that had two curves that formed an S and were sharp enough that drivers needed to slow down to take them safely. Unfortunately, not everybody did, and some cars ran off the road. This stretch of road became known as Dead Man’s Curve. One of the local churches put up a billboard right beside the curve. It said something like this: “Are you prepared to meet your Lord? Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Malachi is much like that sign, only the danger is not from a sudden death in a car accident, but from the sudden return of Jesus on the Last Day. For Malachi, this great and terrible day was just around the corner. It was certain to happen, and Malachi urged the people to prepare for it.
On that day, judgment would be rendered. People would be separated into two groups. Either you would be one of the righteous or one of the wicked, the servant of the Lord or arrogant and rebellious. When the day came, you were either in or out.
If you were judged wicked and arrogant, and then thrown out, that day would be terrible. Malachi sees it like being thrown into a furnace. Not some warm, preheated oven, but fire that would burn everything to ashes. In many theme parks you can watch glassblowing demonstrations. The ovens are hot enough to melt glass—1,500 to 2,500 degrees. The fires in those ovens are white, yellow, and red, with roaring flames billowing and swirling around. You know that if you stuck your hand in there, it would be gone in an instant. Malachi sees the Last Day as that kind of end, burned to a crisp, for those judged wicked.
But if you are judged righteous, the Lord’s Day would be one of joy, wholeness, and victory. Malachi pictures it like a calf jumping in spring. I think many of us can identify with this picture. One of my family’s favorite times of year is in the spring when Rich Grulke brings cows over to Kevin Wolfe’s Pasteur. It isn’t long before the cows bear calves. Not long after that we see those calves kicking up their heels, enjoying life and sniffing the warm and fragrant breezes of the spring.
On the Day of the Lord, those who are righteous will be so excited, healthy, and whole. No more pain or tears. No more dead man’s curves - only Victory and vindication. No more ridicule by unbelievers or sin to make the people of God feel as though God is weak and distant from our lives. There will be the kicking up our heels in happiness there.
How will God decide who is in and who is out? Malachi lets us know that too—earlier in his book. He challenged the people of his time in a couple key areas. First, they had become too enamored with money and possessions. Second, their worship life was in shambles.
Malachi could give his prophecy to us, couldn’t he? Money has become all too important in our society. Remember Enron, the bankrupt energy company from Houston? Many of the executives were brought to trial. Some of them were active churchgoers and Sunday School teachers. They appeared to be fine, upright people. But in the boardroom, when it came to money, everything changed. Away from church they had the attitude of “make as much money as you can, no matter what.” The 2005 movie Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, shows these business people yelling, “Burn, baby, burn!” as fires drove up the electricity rates in California. They didn’t care that people’s lives were being destroyed. They were cheering because they could make more money. This attitude of “make as much money as you can” seems to be prevalent in the United States today. But “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” (Mal 4:1).
So Malachi’s words of warning to his people apply just as much to us: be careful or you may become dangerously close to the wrong side of Judgment Day when money means that much to you.
Then Malachi turned to the people’s worship life. He challenged them about halfhearted worship, showing up only part of the time, and giving leftovers instead of their best to the Lord. Here again he could be speaking to us as well. How much focus and preparation do we spend preparing for worship that is individually? It seems like the most important part is just getting here, this too is a challenge some times. Wouldn’t it be more prudent to consider what we are doing, noting that we, joining together as a church are coming into the presence of the living God. If the president of the United States was coming, can you imagine how much preparation we would make, what to wear, what to say, how to act? Certainly when in His presence, we would pay attention to what he was saying. How much more should we do these things for God? Sometimes, when we come to church our focus isn’t on the Lord, or His Son Jesus. Rather we come to church and watch what is going on to make sure that everything is done right, making sure that it meets up with our expectations. I don’t like this service or I don’t like this hymn. Why did pastor do that? Then, if those expectations aren’t met, we start complaining about what went wrong in the service instead of praising and thanking the Lord for the opportunity to be in worship. Sunday then becomes our own personal critic’s corner. Pastors are not immune from this. We are often left thinking, boy, that sermon sucked, or I wish I had said this or that, I wish I had done this or that. While the congregation may be sitting back in their critic’s corner the pastor feels like he is putting on a stage show to please as many people as he can. Is this really what worship is all about? Hardly. Rather, together, we must focus on the most important things. What is God saying to me today? How will His Word and life giving sacraments change me into the person that He wants me to be? How can I apply these life changing gifts to my every day life?
So Malachi’s words of warning to his people apply just as much to us: be careful or you may become dangerously close to the wrong side of Judgment Day when worship is treated so poorly.
Malachi’s words make the heat from the furnace on the Last Day just too close for comfort. And that’s the way it would be if he hadn’t mentioned two key figures: Moses and Elijah. Besides Judgment Day, there are other big, important days of the Lord. Transfiguration of Jesus is one of them.
Jesus goes up on a high mountain. Peter, James, and John are with him. He is transformed right before their eyes with dazzling, bright white light. They fall down in fear and amazement. Then, who appears, Elijah and Moses? And Peter says, “Master, it is good that we are here” (Lk 9:33). How right he is!
Jesus is brighter than the sun, brighter than a fiery hot furnace, but it’s good to be near Jesus. It’s safe to be near him. He doesn’t burn the disciples to a crisp. Instead, he brings them to the right side of Judgment Day.
How? Jesus comes down that mountain and heads straight for another big, important day of the Lord—a judgment day like no other. This day is Good Friday. On the cross, Jesus takes the judgment against us on himself. Our wickedness, love for money, messed-up worship lives, rebellion, and arrogance become his, and “the sun of righteousness,” Jesus (v 2) gives us his righteousness. It’s good for us that Jesus is there on that great (for us) and dreadful (for Jesus) Day of the Lord.
Then comes another calf-kicking jubilant and most joyous of days, Easter. Jesus rises from the dead, and his victory becomes ours. His disciples, the women who come to the tomb and Christians throughout all time leap for joy. Judgment Day, the Last Day, becomes our day of wholeness and health because on Easter Day Jesus is alive and whole, offering healing for all eternity. It is good to be near Jesus, because he makes Judgment Day safe for us, just as he kept his disciples safe during his Transfiguration when Elijah and Moses were there with him.
Just like Peter said at Jesus’ Transfiguration, it is good for us to be here, it is good for us to be here in church. No, our gathering together is nothing as earth-shattering as the day Jesus talked to Moses and Elijah. This day is certainly not anything as incredible as Good Friday or victorious as Easter. Our gathering is definitely nothing as great and terrible as the Last Day. But every Sunday is a little Day of the Lord because He is here and we are with him, and it’s safe to be near him.
What a difference that makes in our worship! It’s not about you or me. It’s about Jesus and singing praises to him. It’s about coming to hear his Word. It’s about growing closer to him. It’s about doing just what God said when Jesus was talking to Moses and Elijah during his Transfiguration: “This is my beloved Son; listen to him” (Mk 9:7). It’s about walking up to the altar and being so close to Jesus that you take his body and blood into yourself during the Lord’s Supper. He is in you and you are in him, and it’s safe. Yes, it is good to be here because Jesus Brings Us Safely to the Right Side of Judgment Day.
Certainly what we hear, say and do on this day takes us through the week, knowing that we are safe in Jesus arms, always and forever. Amen.
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[i]Rev. Glenn A. Nielsen, STM, MA, PhD, director of vicarage and professor of practical theology, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri