“The Sun of Righteousness”
Malachi 4:2

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Third Sunday in Advent—December 12, 2021

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

We continue our series of Advent sermons on Old Testament prophecies of the coming Messiah with today’s Old Testament Reading.  The Lord proclaims through the prophet Malachi: “But for you who revere my name, the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings.”

Imagine what it would be like if the electricity were to go out in our area tonight.  For those of us who live in homes with furnaces and stoves operated by electricity, it would not only be dark, but quickly get very cold.  Think how eerie the countryside and our communities would be--no lights in the windows, no Christmas lights glowing brightly, no porch lights, no pole lamps or street lights, nothing to light the night.

That’s the way it always was throughout most of human history.  Until the invention of the electric light bulb just a century and a half ago, throughout thousands of years of human history the night was completely dark, with only the light of the moon and maybe a dim, little oil lamp, like this authentic oil lamp from my collection that dates from about 250 A.D.

To the people of old, the darkness of night was frightening.  They imagined the night to be filled with all sorts of evils and dangers.  That’s why blackness itself became a symbol of evil, and why Martin Luther wrote in his morning prayer: “I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger.”

Many of us in our modern society rarely even see the sunrise, because we are indoors that time of day.  But, for the people of old, every sunrise, every day was a truly beautiful, and special, and welcome event.  Because, sunrise meant that the darkness, the cold, the dangers of the night were past.  The rising sun brought a new day, filled with brightness, and warmth, and security.

This led some ancient people to actually worship the sun as a god.  It was usually pictured as a round disk with wings, the wings representing the rays of the sun, breaking through the clouds, dispersing darkness and gloom, bringing light and comfort.  Archaeologists call this frequently found figure the “winged sun disk.”

Last week the United Kingdom reinstated testing requirements to travel there.  But, Lord willing, if we can avoid contracting COVID, Terry and I will be going to England for two weeks after Christmas, for our son’s wedding in his fiance’s hometown of Manchester.  That’s actually quite a ways from London and unfortunately we won’t have time to go visit the wonderful museums and other tourist attractions there.

But, on our first visit to England about 25 years ago, I did have the thrill of browsing around the spectacular British Museum in London.  For the first time I had the chance to actually see so many archaeological wonders that I had read about and studied but had never seen in person.  Some of the most amazing treasures displayed there are massive, elaborately carved stone panels from the ancient royal palaces of Assyria and other next-door neighbors of ancient Israel.

And there is one image that is found on almost every single one of these ancient stone panels, a symbol so familiar to all the peoples of the ancient near east, the “winged sun disk.”  In the final prophecy of the Messiah, the Lord borrows this imagery from the culture of that day, to use as a sermon illustration: “But for you who revere my name, the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings.”

As Malachi wrote, the people of God were about to embark on what could be called the real “dark age.” Because, between Malachi and Matthew, the last book of the Old Testament and the first book of the New Testament, there is a gap of about 400 years.  Before entering into this “dark age,” when there would be no more prophecies of the Messiah, the Lord reassures his people one last time: Do not lose hope--the Light of the World IS coming!  “But for you who revere my name, the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings.”

Like a long, dark tunnel, it was thousands of years from the first promise of the Messiah in Genesis, to this last promise of the Messiah in Malachi.  Over the passing centuries, as the people of old waited those long years for his coming, the prophets kept pointing forward to the Light at the end of the tunnel.  As St. Peter says in today’s Epistle Reading, “Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing.”

And so the prophet Malachi, the last prophet of the Old Testament, in the last chapter of the last book of the Old Testament, gives the last promise pointing forward to the Light at the end of the tunnel:  “But for you who revere my name, the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings.”  Through the prophet Malachi the Lord is declaring to the people of old the Good News: “Your long wait is almost over; the Messiah will come soon; you have almost reached that Light at the end of the tunnel.”

Do you sometimes feel like you are waiting for the light at the end of a long, dark tunnel?  Perhaps the long, dark tunnel of illness; the long, dark tunnel of financial difficulties; the long, dark tunnel of problems at work or school; the long, dark tunnel of struggles within your family or marriage.

But look, the promises of the prophets are fulfilled!  The Light at the end of the tunnel is here!  The Sun of Righteousness is risen for you, with healing in his wings.  Breaking through the darkness of sin and the gloomy clouds of suffering, shining on you with the brightness of his righteousness, healing your soul, forgiving your sin, calling you out of darkness into his marvelous light!  “I am the light of the world.” Jesus says.  “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

In our Christmas Eve service we each have our own candle that burns brightly as the lights are dimmed.  It is very beautiful and also very symbolic.  It symbolizes what St. Paul says in Ephesians, “Once you were in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.”  Those little candles we each hold on Christmas Eve symbolize that the spiritual Light at the end of the tunnel is here, right now, for you.  “But for you who revere my name, the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings.” 

When you feel as though you are in a long, dark tunnel, look to the spiritual Light at the end of the tunnel, who is here, right now, for you; look to the Sun of Righteousness, who is risen with healing in his wings, for you.  As the prophet Isaiah says: “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.”