"Healing In Its Wings"

​23rd Sunday after Pentecost – C (Proper 28)                                         LSB #’s 348, 411, LW # 18
Text – Malachi 4:2a
 
But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.
 
HEALING IN ITS WINGS
 
 
A sudden Arizona monsoon surrounded the house, blowing dust into the air until the visibility outside was completely gone.  Thunder, lightning & pelting rain followed.  Then the power went off & visibility inside was completely gone.   When the lights flickered on 15 minutes later, a startled child asked, “Who turned on the lights?” 
The Creator of the universe sees our world in similar stormy darkness.  Engaged in a romance with sin, more & more Americans are becoming lost in the mind-numbing darkness.   Millions of people are finding it impossible to recognize truth or reality.   Satan has deceived people into thinking they have the power to create reality. 
In the OT reading three weeks ago, we heard God giving counsel to Cain  who was also lost in darkness: “Why are you angry,  & why has your face fallen?  If you do well, will you not be accepted?  And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door.    Its desire is for you, but you should control it.”  (Genesis 4:6-7) 
How do you control the darkness?  None of us are capable of creating light as did God: “In the beginning, God created the heavens & the earth.  The earth was without form & void, & darkness was over the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.   And God said, ‘Let there be light,’   & there was light.”  (Genesis 1:1-3 ESV) 
No human being can replicate that astonishing feat.   If we as a nation, if we as individuals, are lost in mind-numbing darkness, if our lives are without form & void, what hope is there?  We personally know people who are suffocating in that kind of darkness, & we can feel our powerlessness to help.    Such were the circumstances in the days of the prophet Malachi.   It was with great fanfare, that God’s people, who’d been exiled to Babylon, were released by king Darius & allowed to return to Jerusalem.  The temple was rebuilt & then dedicated in 515 B.C.  It was about 80 years later when Malachi wrote while serving God’s remnant in the province of Judah.   Things had not gone well since the fanfare died. 
The prophet Ezra initially led the people of God back to Jerusalem, but the Persian king Darius who sent them, ended up at war with the Egyptians.  That was one cause of the failure of Ezra’s reforms.  When Nehemiah appeared some years later, the colony was in steep decline.  After 12 years of vigorous work to improve conditions, Nehemiah went back to Persia. 
After a period of time, Nehemiah returned to find that many of the abuses he’d abolished in his first visit were again being practiced by the people of Judah.  The Sabbath was desecrated; pagans were accommodated into the Jewish community life & married into Jewish families without accepting faith in Yahweh as their Lord & Creator. 
It is into that unfaithful context that Malachi was called to be God’s prophet.     Into what kind of context   has God called you?     We see much confusion & darkness in our nation, but there’s darkness in our personal lives as well.   All of us struggle with Satan’s temptations to sin.   Health concerns are a constant issue bringing with them fear & anxiety that darken our mood.  
Our relationships with family, neighbors & co-workers can bring darkness into our lives as they give us reason to be concerned about their eternal future.   Financial pressures weigh on us while working & when retired.  If you’re the type of person to worry, you will never run out of things to be stressed about.  All of that can pile up on us & drag us down. 
When we allow the darkness to drag us down we are not reflecting the light of Christ as the Holy Spirit calls us to.  When we allow the darkness to drag us down we try to take control of aspects of our lives that belong to our Lord.  The good works that God’s Spirit prepares in advance for us to walk in  tend to get left high & dry,  as do the people who would benefit from them.  One of the worst aspects of the darkness in our day is how so few people see it for what it is.  Gaslighting has become rampant among public figures, & they practically dare anyone to call them out on it.  As the father of lies, Satan loves the lack of shame being displayed. 
What is evil is called good, & what is good is called evil.  If you dare to call out the gaslighting, in the best circumstances it will be suggested you are too naïve to understand truth.   Worst case – people have no qualms about destroying your reputation & life. 
Now, gaslighting is typically effective only when there’s an unequal power dynamic.  Our nation’s media & politicians are in positions of power.  Feeling powerless, we get frustrated with the volume of gas lighting.  It seems that no one is truly held accountable for all the blatant attempts at deception.  Psalm 13 expresses some of the frustration we feel:
“How long, O Lord?  Will you forget me forever?  How long will you hide your face from me?”  (13:1 ESV)   In the 3rd chapter of Malachi, the prophet wrote of the remnant in Judah:
“Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another.  The Lord paid attention & heard them…  ‘They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts… & I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.  Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous & the wicked, between one who serves God & one who does not serve Him.’”  (3:16-18 ESV) 
 
Through the prophet Malachi, God promised His people that they would once more see the distinction between the righteous & the wicked.  That same promise holds true for you.  That promise also leads into the OT lesson for today:
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant & 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)   Those strong words are not gaslighting, but words of judgment.  They will become truth & reality on the Last Day. 
For those who persevered & trusted in the Lord, that will be a great day of joy & of
healing.  In this life, in this age, what goes around comes around.  There is nothing new under the sun as Solomon wrote.  Persevering in the brokenness of this sinful world is a challenge beyond our own resources.  Those who try will fail. 
While the sun appears to shine & grind on forever, the believer, seeing that history is linear & not circular, knows that the sun will run its course, complete its mission & pass away.  The time will come when the services of the sun are needed no longer.  Into the darkness of this broken world, will come the sun of righteousness with healing in its wings. 
The Hebrew word can be translated as abundant peace, or as healing.   It is not only the opposite of disease, but also of disaster & trouble.   A Hebrew synonym refers to the new flesh growing on a wound.  This healing can also be related to repentance as in Hosea 6:1, “Come let us return to the Lord for He has torn that He may heal…” 
The prophet Isaiah wrote, “…by His wounds we are healed.”  (53:5)     Is there a burden you are carrying this morning?   Are you aware of how that burden weighs upon you?   Have you been trying to run from it?  Have you confronted that burden using the promises of God?   Our burdens & struggles are at least some of the context into which our Lord has called us. 
Like the prophet Malachi, you & I have been called to shine the light of Jesus Christ into the darkness that we see, & into the darkness that we feel.  Jesus felt the darkness & twice in Scripture He’s recorded as weeping as He confronted the darkness of this world.  Malachi wrote to encourage the people of Judah as they were feeling the darkness of sin in their lives:
“But for you who fear [the Lord’s] name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.”  (4:2a ESV)   The unique character of righteousness in this text is that it will bring about “healing” for all the wounds inflicted by the unrighteous & the world.  But when?  That is often our question.  If we as a nation, if we as individuals, are lost in mind-numbing darkness, if our lives are without form & void, what hope is there?  God’s answer – those who have faith in Jesus already have received this healing.  The promise of healing was true in Malachi’s day.  It was true in the days of Jesus as He miraculously healed many people.  It is true in our day as well, yet, there is a greater & final fulfillment to come at the resurrection to eternal life. 
Even here on earth there are too many fulfillments of God’s promises to list.  Each of them gives us at least a glimpse of the final glorious fulfillment of our resurrection from the dead – the ultimate in our healing.  Until then we need the fruits of the Spirit – “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…”  (Galatians 5:22-23 ESV) 
 When health concerns tempt us to fear & anxiety, persevering in the brokenness of this sinful world is beyond our own resources.  In response, if healing is not the immediate plan, the Holy Spirit offers peace, patience & self-control, to counter Satan’s temptations. 
When family, neighbors & co-workers give us cause for doubt regarding their eternal future, we confront that darkness, not with our own resources.  We are too weak to control the darkness.  Rather, the Holy Spirit offers us love, faithfulness & gentleness that our lives may help them to see a joy that they do not have. 
Yahweh created all of the universe.  He’s intelligent beyond anything we can imagine, & He uses even the darkness of this world to bring about good.   Look at Judas, the betrayal & the cross, Satan meant all of it for harm, but Yahweh used it to bring you forgiveness & eternal life.  Will He not also use the brokenness of your life here to bring you repentance & healing? 
It is Yahweh alone who turns on the light of salvation in the darkness of our hearts & minds.  “But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.”  (Malachi 4:2a ESV)   Malachi is bringing to us a picture of the sun rising on a new day.  It is a picture of peace & light after storms of fear & darkness.  There is much darkness in our world, in our nation & in our own personal lives.  Our culture is increasingly calling evil good, & calling good evil.  None of that erases what Jesus Christ has done, & will continue to do, until the end of this age.  Jesus has forgiven all our sins, & He continues to do that each day of our lives.  The salvation found in Him is sure & certain, but it is also found only in Jesus. 
His healing creates a community on earth that will last into eternity.  We often call that the kingdom of God.  The Holy Spirit calls the marginalized of this life & brings them back into the heart of their Creator.  When we feel powerless to help, God’s Spirit wants us to remember these words of St. Paul, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  (2 Corinthians 12:10 ESV) 
When we feel weak, that’s when we are most likely to lean upon Jesus, the Son of Righteousness who bring healing in His wings.  And with God, nothing is impossible.  He has come to control the darkness for us, & one day to deliver us from that darkness forever.  Amen.
 
 
I want to walk as a child of the light.  I want to follow Jesus.  God set the stars to give light to the world.  The star of my life is Jesus.        I want to see the brightness of God.  I want to look at Jesus.  Clear Sun of Righteousness, shine on my path, & show me the way to the Father.  I’m looking for the coming of Christ.  I want to be with Jesus.  When we have run with patience the race, we shall know the joy of Jesus.          In Him there is no darkness at all.  The night & the day are both alike.  The Lamb is the light of the city of God.  Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus.  Amen.  LSB 411.