Malachi 4:1-6; St Luke 21:25-36
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
The Day is surely drawing near and it shall dawn uno everyone on the earth, upon the living and dead alike. For just as the sun rises and shines upon both the evil and the good, as the Lord gives daily bread to everyone, so shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with light and warmth and healing for those who fear, love, and trust in Him, and with the fiery heat of vengeance upon all the arrogant, upon all perverse and evil men, upon all workers of lawlessness.
And the rising of that Sun for the Day of Judgment is more sure and more certain than the rising of the sun tomorrow or the turning of the seasons. For the heavens and the earth shall pass away, but the Word of the Lord will not pass away.
All that He has spoken and all that stands written by the prophets and apostles shall be fulfilled. To all those who despise and reject His Word, who shut their ears and harden their hearts and consciences to it will be consumed by fire and trampled underfoot like the ashen remains of a whole burnt offering. Nothing will be left for them but the utter darkness and death of eternal damnation.
Remember, therefore, the Torah of His servant Moses, with whom He spoke face to face. Remember the threatening and terrifying thunder and lightening, the fire and thick darkness of Mt Sinai. Remember the holy and perfect will and Word of God given in the Ten Commandments. For they ever lay bare any who dare stand before the Lord in personal pride or self-righteous arrogance.
Remember, O people of God, your history. For your ancestors according to the faith, the Church of the Hebrews, were right when they said to Moses, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see His great fire any more, lest I die (Dt 18:16). As the Psalmist says, He was angry; smoke went up from His nostrils and devouring fire from His mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from Him. He rode on a cherub and flew; He came swiftly on the wings of the wind (Ps 18:8, 10).
That Day is coming, beloved. The Day of which the prophets foretold. The Day when nothing would ever be the same. When the Lord God would descend into human history and use the locusts to devour the crops. Use the Assyrian army to disciple His people. Use the Babylonians to destroy His Temple. Use the Roman government to crucify His Christ.
As it was for any and all of the days, as it was in the days of the prophets, so it is now in our day: repentance is needed, beloved. For the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. For the Day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved (1 Pt 3:9-10).
Since all of this is to happen, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming Day of the Lord? (1 Pt 3:11-12) For like your ancestors, you were led out of slavery to sin and captivity to death through the exodus of your Holy Baptism, into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Thus do you live daily in your baptism, in repentance and faith. Drowning the Egyptian army of your flesh and arising as the new Israel in faith before the Lord. Burning down to the stalks and roots the tufts and growth of your sin and pride, trampling them underfoot as you stand in the mercy of the Lord and await His goodness and strength.
For remember the Torah of Moses, dear Christians. Not only the thundering Law, but also the Covenant the Lord your God established with you, His people, by His grace. A covenant established by His Word and saving word, sealed unto them by the blood of sacrifice.
He has enacted for you His Word as a living testimony. Even before you consider and recite the Ten Commandments, remember the Gospel declaration from Sinai: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me (Ex 20:1).
What follows, then, are His statues and just decrees. His Word and command that you are to live by faith before the Lord your God and in fervent love toward your neighbor. As St John writes, For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 Jn 5:3-5).
For under the covenant of Moses the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer sanctified for the purification of the flesh (Heb 9:13). When the Israelite brought forth the animal for the sacrifice he was catechized to believe that this animal was for himself a substitute. The shed blood of this animal was the due penalty for his own sins. How much more, now, will the blood of Christ, the very Lamb of God, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to His Father, purify your heart and conscience from dead works, from walking in wickedness, and cause you to serve the living God in a everlasting righteousness and holiness? (Heb 9:14)
Thus do you live, both now and in light of that Day, in faith toward God and in fervent love to one another, by repentance and trust, in the Word and promises of God.
In order to prepare you for that Day, for the coming Advent of Christ, He sends you His preachers of repentance in the spirit and power of Elijah. For all the Law and the prophets prophesied until St John the Baptizer. And if you are willing to accept the Word of Christ, he is Elijah who is to come. Not merely in apparel or diet, but properly in preaching.
For though he has not yet made his entrance in the lectionary, the Forerunner has been in the background this entire Advent. Standing, already, in the Proper Preface each Sunday, calling you to the Jordan of your baptism, leveling the mountains of your pride and sin, raising you up in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and setting before you gifts of Christ in the holy Sacrament.
Each Tuesday in Matins we have been singing the Song of Zechariah, the prophecy concerning the one who will go before the Lord to prepare His way. Tonight, from this final prophet, you hear of he who shall bridge the old and new testaments, the hinge upon which the Door of the Sheep shall turn. For St John is the malachi of the Lord, the messenger of YHWH, who in preaching turns the hearts of fathers to their children and children to their fathers. He shall stand, as a Voice crying in the wilderness, calling you to the baptism of repentance.
This is no less true for you tonight and on the Lord’s Day and every day as it was for the first advent of Christ Jesus. The preaching of St John goes forth even as the Lord continues to send His messengers, His preachers of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, to prepare you for the Advent of Christ on the Last Day and for His coming to you now by way of your ear into your heart and life.
For the preaching of the Law, which calls you to repentance, to fear God and to love one another, must and always precede and accompany the Sun of Righteousness, the Christ, who rises with healing in His wings for you. As it is written, He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you will find refuge (Ps 91:4).
But where does He cover you with His pinions? Where are His healing wings? In what way does He rise and shine upon you?
It is in the preaching of His Cross, beloved, which both crucifies you, putting to death your sin, but also raises you up in and with Christ, forgiving your sin and granting unto you eternal life. The Cross is the Day of the Lord where His wrath is poured out upon His Son and this is the Sign of your deliverance and salvation. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, from the Israel of His Church does the Lord shine forth in conquering might, dispelling the darkness of your hearts and minds, bathing you in the light of His truth.
So then, pray that this Word of the Lord, the preaching of His Cross and Passion, His Resurrection and Ascension, would spread and be glorified, not only unto the world, but also among you and in you.
For you are ever in need of this preaching. For there is great distress, not only in others or in the world around you, but even within yourselves. Within your heart and mind and body and soul. In your life here on earth, and in your dying from this vale of tears.
Truth be told, everything is falling apart and perishing. Creation itself is in turmoil and is dying on account of man’s sin. Along with all of this, you may find yourself betrayed by your loved ones, at enmity with your coworkers, divided among your own family.
Thus do you long to see the Son of Man, to hasten His coming. But where shall you look? How shall you find Him or even know its Him when you do? For many pretenders come in His Name and they actually seem far more authentic, more real than even Christ Himself! They can look like the church, like a properly glorious Temple of God on earth, adorned with impressive and beautiful stone, whether in architecture or in flashy performance.
But do not be misled. Do not chase after anyone or anything with their vain hopes and empty promises. Rather, chase after Christ and Him crucified. He alone is the Cornerstone of the Church, the foundation of God’s City, eternal in the heavens, but established here on earth by His Cross. The Cross of Christ is the beginning of the end. It is already the resolution and fulfillment. In offering up His very life, in pouring out His lifeblood, Christ Jesus has secured for Himself a holy people. You.
As you sang in the Psalm, Gather to Me My faithful ones, who made a covenant with Me by sacrifice! (Ps 50:5). In the Day of His death Christ Jesus was already set ablaze in the burning oven of God’s fury and wrath. He is the once-for-all Sacrifice, by whose death you have been set free, by whose blood you have been sprinkled clean, given a good conscience, and forgiven all your sins. For without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (Heb 9:22).
And this is how His kingdom now comes to you, in the preaching of His Cross and with the gift of His Holy Spirit, so that you believe His holy Word and live godly lives here in time and thereafter in eternity.
Therefore do not flee the Cross, but flee to the Cross. That is where Christ is. And that is how He is with you now. As it is written, Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22).
Behold the Tree of His Cross and know that its leaves are for your healing, for the clothing of your nakedness and the covering of your shame. And its fruits are for your nourishment and health. Where the leaves and fruits of the Cross are found, there is the summer and the sunshine of God’s love.
Cling to that Cross of Christ by the hearing of the Word of His Gospel which shall never pass away. And by the eating and drinking of the fruits of the Tree, the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus at His Word. No matter what happens or befalls you, whether surrounded by armies or trampled underfoot, do not be terrified. You don’t need to defend yourself, for the Lord Himself defends you, fights for you, testifies on your behalf, and saves your life.
Whatever you may suffer, He has already suffered for you. Whatever sins of which you may be guilty, He has borne your guilt, atoned for your sins, and redeemed you in both body and soul. As He is risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity, so shall He vindicate you from sin and death and every evil.
Not only does He number the hairs of your head, but He will not allow any one of them to perish forever — no matter what may happen to your body in this life on earth. His life of perfect faith and love, His humble obedience, even unto death on the Cross, and His Resurrection from the dead — these are your endurance, by which you shall not perish but live.
All that He has done for you, all that He has accomplished and fulfilled, He who is the very end and completion of the prophets, is now given to you freely by the Ministry of the Gospel.
That is what is here set before you, and preached into your ears, and traced upon your forehead and your heart, and put into your hand and mouth, into your body. Not mere words, but the very life of Christ Jesus Himself. A life and light that no darkness can overcome. This is the Apostolic Ministry of Christ, which surpasses even the Prophetic Ministry of Moses and Elijah. For all things have already been fulfilled in Christ Jesus. It is all for you. And it is all for free.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
The Day is surely drawing near and it shall dawn uno everyone on the earth, upon the living and dead alike. For just as the sun rises and shines upon both the evil and the good, as the Lord gives daily bread to everyone, so shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with light and warmth and healing for those who fear, love, and trust in Him, and with the fiery heat of vengeance upon all the arrogant, upon all perverse and evil men, upon all workers of lawlessness.
And the rising of that Sun for the Day of Judgment is more sure and more certain than the rising of the sun tomorrow or the turning of the seasons. For the heavens and the earth shall pass away, but the Word of the Lord will not pass away.
All that He has spoken and all that stands written by the prophets and apostles shall be fulfilled. To all those who despise and reject His Word, who shut their ears and harden their hearts and consciences to it will be consumed by fire and trampled underfoot like the ashen remains of a whole burnt offering. Nothing will be left for them but the utter darkness and death of eternal damnation.
Remember, therefore, the Torah of His servant Moses, with whom He spoke face to face. Remember the threatening and terrifying thunder and lightening, the fire and thick darkness of Mt Sinai. Remember the holy and perfect will and Word of God given in the Ten Commandments. For they ever lay bare any who dare stand before the Lord in personal pride or self-righteous arrogance.
Remember, O people of God, your history. For your ancestors according to the faith, the Church of the Hebrews, were right when they said to Moses, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see His great fire any more, lest I die (Dt 18:16). As the Psalmist says, He was angry; smoke went up from His nostrils and devouring fire from His mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from Him. He rode on a cherub and flew; He came swiftly on the wings of the wind (Ps 18:8, 10).
That Day is coming, beloved. The Day of which the prophets foretold. The Day when nothing would ever be the same. When the Lord God would descend into human history and use the locusts to devour the crops. Use the Assyrian army to disciple His people. Use the Babylonians to destroy His Temple. Use the Roman government to crucify His Christ.
As it was for any and all of the days, as it was in the days of the prophets, so it is now in our day: repentance is needed, beloved. For the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. For the Day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved (1 Pt 3:9-10).
Since all of this is to happen, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming Day of the Lord? (1 Pt 3:11-12) For like your ancestors, you were led out of slavery to sin and captivity to death through the exodus of your Holy Baptism, into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Thus do you live daily in your baptism, in repentance and faith. Drowning the Egyptian army of your flesh and arising as the new Israel in faith before the Lord. Burning down to the stalks and roots the tufts and growth of your sin and pride, trampling them underfoot as you stand in the mercy of the Lord and await His goodness and strength.
For remember the Torah of Moses, dear Christians. Not only the thundering Law, but also the Covenant the Lord your God established with you, His people, by His grace. A covenant established by His Word and saving word, sealed unto them by the blood of sacrifice.
He has enacted for you His Word as a living testimony. Even before you consider and recite the Ten Commandments, remember the Gospel declaration from Sinai: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me (Ex 20:1).
What follows, then, are His statues and just decrees. His Word and command that you are to live by faith before the Lord your God and in fervent love toward your neighbor. As St John writes, For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 Jn 5:3-5).
For under the covenant of Moses the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer sanctified for the purification of the flesh (Heb 9:13). When the Israelite brought forth the animal for the sacrifice he was catechized to believe that this animal was for himself a substitute. The shed blood of this animal was the due penalty for his own sins. How much more, now, will the blood of Christ, the very Lamb of God, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to His Father, purify your heart and conscience from dead works, from walking in wickedness, and cause you to serve the living God in a everlasting righteousness and holiness? (Heb 9:14)
Thus do you live, both now and in light of that Day, in faith toward God and in fervent love to one another, by repentance and trust, in the Word and promises of God.
In order to prepare you for that Day, for the coming Advent of Christ, He sends you His preachers of repentance in the spirit and power of Elijah. For all the Law and the prophets prophesied until St John the Baptizer. And if you are willing to accept the Word of Christ, he is Elijah who is to come. Not merely in apparel or diet, but properly in preaching.
For though he has not yet made his entrance in the lectionary, the Forerunner has been in the background this entire Advent. Standing, already, in the Proper Preface each Sunday, calling you to the Jordan of your baptism, leveling the mountains of your pride and sin, raising you up in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and setting before you gifts of Christ in the holy Sacrament.
Each Tuesday in Matins we have been singing the Song of Zechariah, the prophecy concerning the one who will go before the Lord to prepare His way. Tonight, from this final prophet, you hear of he who shall bridge the old and new testaments, the hinge upon which the Door of the Sheep shall turn. For St John is the malachi of the Lord, the messenger of YHWH, who in preaching turns the hearts of fathers to their children and children to their fathers. He shall stand, as a Voice crying in the wilderness, calling you to the baptism of repentance.
This is no less true for you tonight and on the Lord’s Day and every day as it was for the first advent of Christ Jesus. The preaching of St John goes forth even as the Lord continues to send His messengers, His preachers of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, to prepare you for the Advent of Christ on the Last Day and for His coming to you now by way of your ear into your heart and life.
For the preaching of the Law, which calls you to repentance, to fear God and to love one another, must and always precede and accompany the Sun of Righteousness, the Christ, who rises with healing in His wings for you. As it is written, He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you will find refuge (Ps 91:4).
But where does He cover you with His pinions? Where are His healing wings? In what way does He rise and shine upon you?
It is in the preaching of His Cross, beloved, which both crucifies you, putting to death your sin, but also raises you up in and with Christ, forgiving your sin and granting unto you eternal life. The Cross is the Day of the Lord where His wrath is poured out upon His Son and this is the Sign of your deliverance and salvation. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, from the Israel of His Church does the Lord shine forth in conquering might, dispelling the darkness of your hearts and minds, bathing you in the light of His truth.
So then, pray that this Word of the Lord, the preaching of His Cross and Passion, His Resurrection and Ascension, would spread and be glorified, not only unto the world, but also among you and in you.
For you are ever in need of this preaching. For there is great distress, not only in others or in the world around you, but even within yourselves. Within your heart and mind and body and soul. In your life here on earth, and in your dying from this vale of tears.
Truth be told, everything is falling apart and perishing. Creation itself is in turmoil and is dying on account of man’s sin. Along with all of this, you may find yourself betrayed by your loved ones, at enmity with your coworkers, divided among your own family.
Thus do you long to see the Son of Man, to hasten His coming. But where shall you look? How shall you find Him or even know its Him when you do? For many pretenders come in His Name and they actually seem far more authentic, more real than even Christ Himself! They can look like the church, like a properly glorious Temple of God on earth, adorned with impressive and beautiful stone, whether in architecture or in flashy performance.
But do not be misled. Do not chase after anyone or anything with their vain hopes and empty promises. Rather, chase after Christ and Him crucified. He alone is the Cornerstone of the Church, the foundation of God’s City, eternal in the heavens, but established here on earth by His Cross. The Cross of Christ is the beginning of the end. It is already the resolution and fulfillment. In offering up His very life, in pouring out His lifeblood, Christ Jesus has secured for Himself a holy people. You.
As you sang in the Psalm, Gather to Me My faithful ones, who made a covenant with Me by sacrifice! (Ps 50:5). In the Day of His death Christ Jesus was already set ablaze in the burning oven of God’s fury and wrath. He is the once-for-all Sacrifice, by whose death you have been set free, by whose blood you have been sprinkled clean, given a good conscience, and forgiven all your sins. For without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (Heb 9:22).
And this is how His kingdom now comes to you, in the preaching of His Cross and with the gift of His Holy Spirit, so that you believe His holy Word and live godly lives here in time and thereafter in eternity.
Therefore do not flee the Cross, but flee to the Cross. That is where Christ is. And that is how He is with you now. As it is written, Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22).
Behold the Tree of His Cross and know that its leaves are for your healing, for the clothing of your nakedness and the covering of your shame. And its fruits are for your nourishment and health. Where the leaves and fruits of the Cross are found, there is the summer and the sunshine of God’s love.
Cling to that Cross of Christ by the hearing of the Word of His Gospel which shall never pass away. And by the eating and drinking of the fruits of the Tree, the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus at His Word. No matter what happens or befalls you, whether surrounded by armies or trampled underfoot, do not be terrified. You don’t need to defend yourself, for the Lord Himself defends you, fights for you, testifies on your behalf, and saves your life.
Whatever you may suffer, He has already suffered for you. Whatever sins of which you may be guilty, He has borne your guilt, atoned for your sins, and redeemed you in both body and soul. As He is risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity, so shall He vindicate you from sin and death and every evil.
Not only does He number the hairs of your head, but He will not allow any one of them to perish forever — no matter what may happen to your body in this life on earth. His life of perfect faith and love, His humble obedience, even unto death on the Cross, and His Resurrection from the dead — these are your endurance, by which you shall not perish but live.
All that He has done for you, all that He has accomplished and fulfilled, He who is the very end and completion of the prophets, is now given to you freely by the Ministry of the Gospel.
That is what is here set before you, and preached into your ears, and traced upon your forehead and your heart, and put into your hand and mouth, into your body. Not mere words, but the very life of Christ Jesus Himself. A life and light that no darkness can overcome. This is the Apostolic Ministry of Christ, which surpasses even the Prophetic Ministry of Moses and Elijah. For all things have already been fulfilled in Christ Jesus. It is all for you. And it is all for free.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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