I have added a new feature to my blog; there is a media player below from podbean.com with the audio of the sermon. You can now listen as you read, or perhaps just listen.
Malachi 4:1-6
The Day of the Lord is coming. So says our text. And it is coming with fire and wrath. It is coming to set fire to the wicked, to turn them to ash and stubble. It is coming so that the wicked are burned up and trampled under foot. But what is the Day of the Lord? What does it mean that it is coming? When will it come? And what does that have to do with us?
All good questions. All important questions. All questions that Christians should be able to answer.
Our Bible readings today look toward the end. They look forward into those last times, those days leading up to the very last day when our Lord returns. On that last day he will come in judgment and wrath to destroy the wicked. But for those who fear the name of the Lord, that day will be a day of freedom and joy. It will be a day for healing and for celebration. For the Christian the Day of the Lord is a day to look forward to. But there are days to endure before it comes...
In the Old Testament, the phrase “Day of the Lord” is a common term. The Old Testament prophets use this phrase frequently as they are describing a coming day of judgment. For the Israelites who disobeyed the Lord and followed the false gods of their neighbors, the prophets warned that the day of judgment, the Day of the Lord was coming for them so that they would receive God's judgment for their unfaithfulness.
But, the true prophets of the Almighty God are always more skilled than what we often give them credit for. They see further. They see more. There is this temptation to reduce the visions of the prophets to only one day or only one event. Kind of like a weather man who pops up every now and again to give us a prediction for one particular storm that's brewing on the horizon. God's prophets have a much greater purpose because God has a much greater goal. Our Lord is constantly working on our salvation. He is constantly working out our rescue from this evil world so every prophecy and every prediction always relates to the work that he is doing for us in Christ. The day of the Lord is a day of judgment, but it is also and especially the day of salvation for those who believe on His name.
And so the day of the Lord comes. It is coming soon. And on that day we will be saved!
There are two things in our text that are worth noticing, especially in the last few verses.
The first thing we should notice is that the prophet says that the Lord will send Elijah. If you are familiar with the Old Testament and especially with the Old Testament prophets you will know that Elijah was one of these prophets. And while Elijah never wrote any books, he was certainly very busy. Elijah was a mighty and a powerful prophet. He caused a famine as a warning to the faithless Israelites and their king, King Ahab. He defeated the prophets of the false god Baal at Mt Carmel. He raised a dead child back to life by praying for him and interceding before God on behalf of the mother. So God says he will send Elijah. He is promising to send a mighty prophet.
When the Angel Gabriel came to visit Zechariah as he was serving in the temple, Gabriel told Zechariah that his son John, John the Baptist, would receive the spirit of Elijah. That John would come before Christ to fulfill the words of our text. Our Lord, speaking through the Angel, informs us that John was this prophet. That John came to turn the hearts of the children to their fathers and the hearts of the fathers toward their children in preparation for the coming of Jesus.
This is important for you and for me. It means for us that the Day of the Lord has come. The day of wrath and the day of salvation has come in Jesus. The wrath and the anger of God that will come to consume the wicked like grass in a bonfire has already been set ablaze. And Jesus is the one who was consumed. Jesus is the one who got burned. Jesus is the one who was turned to ash and stubble.
Therefore belief in Jesus, fearing him as the resurrected Son of the Almighty sets us free to leap for joy like calves released from the barn in spring. We can jump for joy because the Lord has set us free from his anger and his wrath, because the Lord has paid for our sin.
The second thing for us to notice, and this is of some importance, is that the coming of Elijah the prophet is to turn the hearts of the children to their father and the hearts of fathers to their children.
Now, this is true on a generational scale. We always talk about the “faith of our fathers”, and the need to return to the faithfulness of previous generations. This is certainly true and there is much to be learned from going back and revisiting the example left for us by those previous generations.
But there is also much to be said for this generation. Our own generation and our own families. Today's dads and today's children. Today's families are under attack. Our world doesn't respect fathers or fatherhood. We are told that dads aren't necessary. No dad is no problem. And two moms is probably ideal. This is nonsense. Children need their father.
And in your home, with your children and with your father, there needs to be strength and love. Dads need to have their hearts turned to their kids. Their hearts, not just their wallets, but also not just the back of their hand. Their kids need their hearts. It is easy for dads to become disengaged from the family, to pursue work, a career, a hobby, whatever. Dads need to put their hearts into their homes.
And likewise with kids. Kids these days have so many distractions. iPods and cellphones and sports and school and extracurricular fun. None of these things has to be bad, but often they are because often they get in the way of relationship with dad. Often the only way Dad can get the attention of his teen is if he send her a text. Teens, and in fact children of all ages need to turn their heart to their fathers.
Jesus does this. He does this in us. He turns our hearts outside of ourselves, away from being stuck in the rut of our careers, our goals or our aspirations; away from being stuck in the rut of our peer groups or friends or electronic gadgets. He turns us.
And the first turning is the most important. It is the turning of repentance and the turning of faith. God our heavenly father has turned his heart toward us by giving us his Son to die for us and then He has also turned our heart to him by sending us his Spirit to call us to faith to cause our hearts to love him and to fear him.
And then he turns us toward each other. In the commandments we learn to love one another and this love begins in the family. Between father and children. Between dad and the little ones God has given to him to cherish.
Amen. Now may the peace that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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