God's Judgement Satisfied

[Read Malachi 4:1-6]

There’s a feeling that we get this time of year in the Midwest. It’s a feeling that has everyone going a little crazy. It’s a feeling that has some people wishing they would have never moved to this place. It’s a feeling of longing that wells up within us, longing for something better, something beautiful, something warmer. We call it Cabin Fever or the Winter Blues. It’s the reason why so many people from the Midwest need to head south for a little bit, hoping to get some glimpse of warmth and sunshine—even a little taste. The short, cold, dark days of winter have worn us out and have us longing for a time/season when we can spend time in t-shirts and shorts, feeling the warmth of the sun beating down on our skin. 

There’s a great line in the Chronicles of Narnia that only Midwesterners truly appreciate. They talk about the reign of the White Witch as being, always winter, never Christmas. I think we get that. That’s the month of March in the Midwest. Before Christmas, there’s a beauty and a charm to winter, but once Christmas is over, the charm of winter wears off rather quickly. By the time it hits March, it feels like it’s always been winter, and we don’t even have Christmas to look forward to. It feels like a slog. Our hopes get picked up by some 50-degree days, then we get 10 inches of snow to knock us back down again. Always winter, never Christmas. 

Our passage this morning is filled with a ton of imagery, and one of the images is of the sun rising on a cold dark land. It’s an image of Easter. On a land where it feels like it’s always winter, never Christmas, a warm light breaks in and creates a thaw. The sun begins to shine on our faces. It melts the snow. It warms our faces. It brings healing and peace and joy. That’s a picture of Easter. This is why we celebrate Easter this time of year. We celebrate when the dead of winter is fading away and the world is coming back to life. We will begin to see resurrection all around us in the world as the grass gets green and trees begin to bud and flowers begin to bloom and our own hearts and spirits are lifted and brought back to life. It’s something we’ve been longing for for a very long time. 

Yet, there’s another image in this passage that isn’t as beautiful. It’s an image that makes us uncomfortable and uneasy. It bothers us a little bit and we don’t long for that at all. We read, ““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.”” (Malachi 4:1, ESV). This is a sobering picture. A day coming when the arrogant and evildoers will be like stubble—like dead pine trees in the fire—and they will be burned up and devoured. A day is coming when the Lord God Almighty will come in judgment upon the earth, and bring every evil thought, every evil deed, into judgment. That’s not an enticing picture. And because of that, we don’t talk about it often enough. But that day is coming, whether we like it or not. 

And, this is written in a way to show God’s people that the day isn’t far off. It’s coming soon in one way and will be more fully revealed in another way. This judgment is actually here. It’s in the world right now. It’s not far off. It’s here, and it’s coming more and more.

It’s written this way to combat one of our natural tendencies—procrastination. We’ve all been there and done that. We know something is coming somewhere down the road in the future, but we don’t have to worry about that now because it’s a LONG way away. So, let’s just ignore it, and pretend like it’s not going to happen. We’ll worry about that when it gets here. This passage is reminding us that this judgment is actually already here. There are already significant consequences for arrogance and evil deeds right now. God isn’t sitting back with his eyes closed as the world runs around ignoring him and spitting in his face. There are consequences for this now AND there will be more consequences in the future. So, don’t procrastinate on addressing this or dealing with it. What are you doing now to prepare for—or respond to—the judgment that’s in the world now and is coming?

I also think it’s important to clarify what this passage means when it talks about the “arrogant” and the “evildoers” because my guess is that most of us probably wouldn’t put ourselves in either category, right? I suppose there are a few people here who might acknowledge, “Yeah, I recognize that I’m arrogant and I’m alright with that.” However, most people don’t think they are an “evildoer.” Most people think they’re basically good and decent human beings. The “evildoers” are those REALLY bad people out there who need to be locked up and taken away from society for a long time. Yet, when this passage talks about the arrogant and evildoer, it’s talking about this in reference to God himself—not the rest of society. So, when you compare yourself to the goodness of God, do you think you would categorize yourself as an evildoer? The answer is yes. Also, when this passage talks about arrogant people, it’s talking about anyone who arrogantly thinks they are smarter than God himself. It’s talking about people who think they know how to live their lives better than the God who created them. That’s pretty arrogant, isn’t it? Isn’t it arrogant to hear God say, “This is how I created you to live. This is how you can live in joy and peace and blessing” and respond to him by saying, “Nah. I think I know how to do this better than you!” That’s the epitome of arrogance.

And this life is painted a life where it’s always winter, never Christmas. This life, lived arrogantly ignoring or defying God is not the good and beautiful life that so many try to say it is. Actually, this is a life where you constantly have this feeling that it’s always winter, but never Christmas. It’s a life where you are constantly longing for something more to come, but it never arrives—always longing for spring, but only getting snow. It’s a life that feels worn out by the cold, dark days of winter. It’s a life that feels a lot like Good Friday—dark, hopeless, longing.

Yet, this passage gives a contrasting picture of a different group of people—a group of people who are not arrogantly ignoring God, but a group of people who fear God—and fear God in a proper, beautiful way. They see the glory and the majesty and the beauty and power of God and say, “That’s who I want to give my life to.” They’re in awe of him. They worship him. They follow him. They lay down their lives for him. And when that happens, winter begins to fade, and spring begins to come. We read, “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.” (Malachi 4:2, ESV). This is a picture of spring in the Midwest, right? The sun begins to shine and it brings a beautiful healing. Our souls are lifted. People are outside again doing stuff. People are running and riding bikes and walking, taking in as much sun as possible. People are out in the sun, leaping like calves from the stall because their souls have been renewed and restored. 

Yet, this passage isn’t just talking about this healing, it’s talking about something much deeper. Because it’s not just talking about the sun, but it says “the sun of righteousness.” This is Jesus and he is shining a light upon the lives and hearts and souls of his people, bringing healing—healing their weary and worn out souls, healing their longing for something more, breaking through the long winter of their soul, and bringing life and healing and peace and joy. 

That type of healing of our heart, soul, and mind comes to us not because we’ve earned it by “living a good life” or “being a good person” or “raising a good family” or “giving a bunch of money to charity”.  When we’re honest with ourselves, every single one of us falls under the categories mentioned at the beginning of this sermon. We’re all—including me—arrogant evildoers who think we’re smarter than God and do whatever we want to do. That means every one of us deserves the judgment of God described in this passage. Yet, the beauty and power of Easter is the reminder that Jesus Christ bore that judgment for us. That’s why he endured the pain and suffering and the cross. Even though he was NOT an arrogant evildoer, he received the judgment of arrogant evildoers who look to him in faith and trust in him alone for their salvation. 

That’s the only way to be freed and rescued from the judgment described in this passage—trust in the one who bore this judgment on your behalf. That’s the only way to be set free from the life that feels like it’s always winter, but never Christmas—look to Jesus Christ in faith. When you do that, when you trust in the one who bore the judgment and triumphed over it in his resurrection, then you begin to experience the power of spring in your life. Jesus—the sun of righteousness—will begin to rise and shine on your life and bring healing and peace and joy. That’s when that longing feeling begins to be satisfied in your life. 

And, when you trust in the one who’s conquered sin and death—when you trust in Jesus Christ—you no longer have to live in fear of the judgment that comes in this life OR the final judgment day that is coming. You don’t have to fear that day because you know that Jesus has already received that judgment for you. Jesus suffered and died for us—in our place—he was buried and placed in a tomb—in our place—and rose again from the dead—conquering sin and death—for us—and as he rose from the dead, he brought healing and rejoicing and salvation with him out of the grave. So you can look forward to that day, even long for it, because you know that on that day you will finally receive everything you’ve ever longed for—and the wintriness of this life will be turned into an endless summer of joy and peace in God’s presence. 

However, some will live in fear of that final day because nobody has received that judgment for them. Some will fear that day because they still don’t fear God. They continue to refuse to acknowledge Him and follow Him and serve Him with their lives. They still act like an arrogant evildoer who thinks they know better than God. So, they will live in fear their whole lives—trying to pretend like this day is never coming, but knowing deep down it will one day arrive and they will receive this judgment and they will be like stubble that is burned up and destroyed. So, they will live in fear. 

But you don’t have to live in fear. The answer to this problem is not to live in fear. Rather, the answer is to turn your heart. This passage speaks of a prophet who will come and proclaim a message to the people and we read, “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.” (Malachi 4:6, ESV). His message will turn the hearts of rebellious children back to their faithful Father. Notice the language of hearts being turned. That’s what needs to happen. It’s not just your actions that need to change, it’s your heart. Faith in Jesus Christ that brings about salvation, is about hearts that are changed deeply—so deeply that everything else changes about them. 

I emphasize this because people’s first inclination is to respond to these types of messages by saying, “Ok. Ok. Ok. I will shape up my life. I’ll live a better life. I’ll do better things. I’ll start coming to church more often. I’ll maybe even give a little more to church.” And I’m saying, that’s not what I’m talking about. True faith is about hearts that turn back to the Lord. It’s not about simply doing the right things because “that’s what we’re supposed to do.” It’s about LOVING DOING the right things because we love and trust the God who has shown us how to live a blessed life. That’s what we’re talking about. God isn’t calling you to pretend like you love him and trust Him. He actually calls you to do it. He calls you to love him. He calls you to trust him deep in your heart. And because you love Him and trust Him deep in your heart, then you love to do the things He’s told you to do. 

Yet, you’ll quickly realize the difficulty of this task. How do you change your own heart? The answer is simple but difficult. You don’t. God is the one who changes hearts. So, if you’re here this morning and desire to move out of a life that feels like it’s always winter, never Christmas, into a life that feels like spring is breaking in and your at the beginning of an endless summer, the answer is to get on your knees before God and ask Him to change your heart. Acknowledge that you’ve failed and messed up, acknowledge that you haven’t loved him or trusted him as you should have, acknowledge that you want your heart to change but can’t change it yourself, then ask him to change your heart and help you to love him and trust him and serve him and follow him for the rest of you life. I can guarantee you, that’s a prayer that God will answer, every single time, without fail. 

I’ll also tell you that the Christian life is a life where you are praying that prayer over and over and over again. And the beauty is, as you honestly pray that prayer over and over again, the sun of righteousness shines more and more on your life, brings more and more healing and peace and joy on your life, breaks the wintriness of your life, and slowly begins the process of the endless summer you’ll enjoy for the rest of eternity.