November 24, 2019                                                                      Text:  Malachi 3:13-18

Dear Friends in Christ,

            In the early editions of Lutheran Worship, what many of you know as the “blue hymnal” they made a mistake.  In the beloved Thanksgiving hymn “Come, You Thankful People, Come,” they printed that the fruitless ears Christ would store in his garner evermore.  The copy editors missed it and folks sang right on through it as if nothing were amiss.  Being fruitful in faith, or being fruitless, didn’t seem to make much difference.

            God’s people, like those in Malachi’s day, can become discouraged when it doesn’t seem to make much difference whether we are faithful to the Lord or not.  “It is vain to serve God.  What is the profit of our keeping his charge?” (v. 14)

            As we live in this world let’s find some encouragement this morning.  There is something far greater than this present world.  This moment in time and all that our eyes see is transitory and will pass away.  Only . . .

“GOD’S FUTURE IS THE REAL WORLD”

            Sometimes we think we know what is real and substantial by looking at the world around us.  The people of Israel looked around and saw that the wicked were doing just fine.  The Lord confronts them but they say, “How have we spoken against you?” (v. 13)  The Lord then rattles off their complaints – the arrogant are blessed, evildoers prosper and those who put God to the test escape.

            What do you see when you look at our real world?  Do your eyes focus on the same things?  Arrogant blessed – entertainers, sports figures, politicians, a neighbor or boss?  Evildoers prosper – the immoral people’s rights seem to be more important than the Christian, those who rebel against the church are held in high-esteem.  Even the church is at fault.  The arrogant that water down the gospel of Jesus, the wolves in sheep’s clothing just out for themselves.  Do you ever confront God with these complaints like the people in Malachi’s time?

            Some in Malachi’s time heard the Word of God and believed.  We are told, “Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another.  The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name.” (v. 16)  From the tragic mass of rebellious Israel, God called forth his faithful ones.  They saw with their eyes the same things others saw.  But they knew that the Lord had a greater reality – a reality defined not by sight but by faith.

            What about you and I?  Is the world around us all there is?  When we are called to repent, do we process it through our human experience in this world?  Or do we hear, believe, and confess to each other a more powerful reality than this world has to offer?

            We are called to faith by things misunderstood by this world though they are things of this world.  Have you heard a Pastor with his all-too-human voice say, “Your sins are forgiven?”  Have you been touched by the water of baptism?  Have you knelt at the altar and received bread and wine while fully believing they are the very body and blood of Jesus?  Then you have experienced in this world the very promise of God’s future.

            All this is based solely on the magnificent grace of God.  It was His grace that sent His Son into this world to share our humanity.  It was His grace that led Jesus to Calvary, where He, the Lamb, was slain once and for all of humanity.  It was His grace that raised Jesus on Easter morning, granting freedom and forgiveness and hope, beyond this world for all humanity.

            It will be revealed in the end.  Listen to the text, “They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.” (v. 17)  We are the Lord’s treasured possessions.  Sons and daughters of a loving father.  But that is not all.  The Lord also says, “Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.” (v. 18)  In this world, that distinction seems blurred; in the reality of God’s future, there is no blurring for them or us.

            Last weekend we spent Sunday with a seminary classmate of mine and his family.  He Pastors a church in the Northern Illinois District.  As we are apt to do in this profession “we talked shop.”  He told me he had been at a recent Pastor’s Conference where his District President gave an update on their district.  He said it was like being at a funeral with all the bad news of churches on the verge of closing and others who were struggling.  We thanked God for the churches we serve and the hope that our Lord gives us.

            What our eyes see can be difficult to turn away from.  But we can see our future.  It is filled with the redeemed of Israel.  We will see the Blessed Son of God who redeemed us through His holy, precious blood.  We will see the new heaven and new earth as we stand in the midst of those whose robes are made white in the blood of the Lamb.  This is your future because it is God’s future.

            Our reality is greater than that granted by this poor world.  By His grace it goes beyond our eyes to what our heart believes.  Come, Lord Jesus.         Amen.