"The Sun of Righteousness"

Stoicism was a school of thought that flourished in Greek and Roman antiquity. It was one of the loftiest and most sublime philosophies in the record of Western civilization. The ancient Stoics thought of the world as originally existing in a pristine, perfect, uncorrupted state. They considered this period of the earth’s history as the Golden Age.

Then corruption set in, and the world got progressively worse. Their philosophy was that when things become too bad, the universal logos would step in and bring it all to an end in a great inferno, and a new world would rise out of the ashes of the old. The Stoics also thought that this scenario would repeat itself over and over for infinity.

The warnings of Malachi are prompted by the widespread breaking of the covenantal relationship with God in at least four areas. First, the Sabbath was being desecrated, tithes were being neglected and the worship life of the people was shallow.

Second, the people were marrying their pagan neighbors in direct violation of the Lord’s instructions. Third, money had become an idol, and merchants were able to buy and sell, regardless of the Sabbath, and they were taking advantage of the widows, the poor and the orphans in order to gain personal wealth. Fourth, the priesthood itself had become corrupt.

If any of that sounds like stuff that is going on today, then it’s quite possible that you share the sentiment of many people today who look on an earlier time in their childhood or young adulthood as a better, more wholesome age. The general view is that things are getting progressively worse, politically, environmentally, morally, educationally, and so on.

Someone has even recently projected that if the human race were removed from the face of the earth, the world would recover environmentally from its damaged condition and in time, return to an ecologically harmonious, pristine state.

Obviously, these views have parallels in Scripture’s picture of the world having been created in a perfect state, with uncorrupted human beings and nature living in perfect harmony, with no death, no deterioration, no marks left on the land or on nature of any kind. Then sin entered and everything began to slide down a slippery slope towards its eventual destruction at the end of time.

Somewhat like Stoicisms universal logos, God will bring the old and wicked order to an end and recreate a new and perfect heaven and earth. Malachi says it well when he proclaims, "the day is coming." It is a day located in the future and refers to a time when God intervenes in the world in a clear and obvious manner.

When God brings that old and wicked order to an end, He will recreate that new and perfect heaven and earth because of the redemptive work of His Son. People often look at that day as a day of darkness and destruction, but it also has the expectation of blessing and salvation.

Malachi was the last of the Old Testament prophets, writing the last book of the Old Testament some four hundred years before the New Testament would begin to be written. It is certainly fitting that the Old Testament begins with the creation of a perfect world with perfect people and all of nature in harmony.

The first three chapters of Genesis begin with three major events: the creation of a perfect world, the fall of Adam and Eve and the consequences of sin, and the promise of a Savior who would redeem mankind and prepare the way for the creation of a new heaven and a new earth.

In our text, the Old Testament has come full circle, making a great transition to the New Testament. Our text gives us a reminder of the three events of Genesis chapters 1-3. We see the final day of destruction, when the evildoers will be like stubble, set ablaze and totally destroyed – becoming like ashes. Next, there is the promise of a Savior, with the promise that the "sun of righteousness" (Christ) shall rise "with healing in its wings," and treat down the wicked.

The promise of a Messiah is continued in verse 5 of our text with the promise of Elijah, Christ’s forerunner John the Baptist, who will precede the great and awesome day of the Lord, the birth of Jesus Christ. Then in verse six, we have a promise of renewal and

When Adam and Eve fell into sin, God pronounced punishments on them and on the entire created order. The serpent was cursed above all livestock and wild animals and would have to crawl on its belly and eat dust. Mankind would have to sweat and labor for their food that they would now have to grow. No more just going to the nearest tree. Thorns and thistles would make the work more miserable. Childbirth would be painful. Husbands would rule over their wives. And finally, since mankind was taken from the dust, they would eventually return to dust.

The world is still under God’s judgment and we experience those punishments every day of our lives. Disease and hunger ravage the human race. People die by the thousands every day. Life is generally less than ideal. We work all of our lives trying to have a better, more comfortable and enjoyable life, and even those who are blessed with wealth and health struggle for more money and then spend that money trying to improve the quality and quantity of their lives.

Have you ever seen the oven where they make glass or a place where they do glassblowing demonstrations? Those ovens are hot – hot enough to melt glass – 1500-2500 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.

Remember Enron, the bankrupt energy company from Houston? Many of its 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. Then it was an attitude of "make as much money as you can, no matter what."

The 2005 movie Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room shows the energy traders 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. Their desire to make more and more money was compartmentalized from the rest of life, and ethics and morality were no longer relevant. Their attitudes reflect many people’s attitudes still today.

Arrogance and pride are usually considered the real sin that motivated Adam and Eve too eat the forbidden fruit. Malachi reminds us though that eventually, the arrogant and the evil-doer will be stubble, because the day of the Lord would come, burning like an oven. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze so that it will leave neither root nor branch. Fire and brimstone will rain down on the world, in a cataclysmic, world-wide Sodom and Gomorra type event, the day Christ comes and strikes the land with a decree of utter destruction.

Malachi and the people of the Old Testament lived in anticipation of the coming Messiah. Malachi also offers words of hope and comfort to those who fear the Lord. His reference to Christ as the "sun of righteousness" certainly identifies Jesus as the sinless Son of God who will bring true righteousness through faith in his redemptive work on the cross. So we, the people of the New Testament also live in anticipation of the coming Messiah.

We look forward to leaping like calves from the stall. We look forward to the new harmony that will exist between man and nature, between father and children or parent and child. We look for an end to the disharmony that began when Adam blamed Eve for his sin and when Cain killed his brother.

We can already leap like calves from the stall because of what the sun of righteousness has already done. He has died on the cross as payment for our sins. He has risen from the dead, and through faith, his victory over death has become our victory. Because of Easter, Judgment Day becomes our day of wholeness and health because Jesus is alive and whole, and through Him we have healing for all eternity.

A number of years ago, a book came out with the great title; It’s Friday, but Sunday’s Coming, by Anthony Campolo. Usually, everyone looks forward to Friday because it’s the beginning of the weekend. So we hear a lot of things like TGIF.

But it’s better to say "TGIS: Thank God it’s Sunday!" The big day of the week is Sunday, the day we worship the Lord. It’s good to be in worship, because Jesus is present and he makes it safe for us to be near him.

We live and will soon rejoice in the certainty of Christ’s advent and the completion of his redemptive work, the day the sun of righteousness will rise and that day which will prepare the way for God to bring into existence a new heaven and a new earth. Amen.