Third Sunday of Easter

29:12 So beautiful. I think it's so interesting how the music of Christmas sometimes also becomes the music of Easter. I'll talk more about that in a minute, but it's an interesting thing to me. Let us pray. Bright morning star, lamp for our journey, illumine our steps, shape our thoughts. In your truth, grant us freedom. In your will, give us peace. This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our rock and our redeemer. Amen. Earlier this year, back in February, the congregation of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church began to study our faith's many names for God, names recorded in Scripture, names used by Christians in corporate worship, and individual prayer down through the centuries.

30:26 Our conversation about these evocative, curious, spiritually stirring names continues through the season of Easter, and we will conclude in early June with this series. Today, we turn our attention to a name with ancient roots, a name that Christians have also associated with Jesus. Today, we're going to focus on the sun, S-U-N, of righteousness.

31:04 Among the stirring song responses that our choir uses to conclude worship service during Eastertide is a short piece entitled, Jesus Christ Whose Glory Fills the Skies. They're going to sing it later in the service today. I know you will be listening for it. The text for this short piece comes from Charles Wesley, prolific hymn writer and brother to John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. Christ whose glory fills the skies, Christ the true and only light, sun of righteousness arise triumph over the shades of night. Wesley asks us to picture an Easter morning.

32:03 The sun is rising, although the radiance that greets us is not the yellow dwarf star at the center of our solar system, but the risen Christ, whose light chases the shades of night away. Wesley wrote thousands of hymns during his career. He tried to write one hymn every day. So he has somewhere in the vicinity of 7,000 hymns to his credit. And he featured the name Son of Righteousness in a number of them. The most famous has got to be the beloved Christmas carol, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, which includes the soaring verse, and I know you can help me with this. Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace. Hail the Son of Righteousness.

33:00 Life and light around he brings. Risen with healing in his wings. If you're like me, you may be thinking, that's it, I knew I knew this name sounded familiar. For most of us, Hark the Herald is where we first encounter Son of Righteousness, but the name has been around a long time. What does it mean? Where does it come from? Where did Wesley find this evocative title? To answer, we turn our attention this morning to the last book in the Hebrew Bible, to the writings of the prophet Malachi, chapter 4, beginning with the first verse. Listen now for God's word to you. See, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble.

34:05 The day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. This is the word of God. For you, the people of God. Thanks be to God. So according to the prophet Malachi, the dawning of God's righteous son will mean different things to different people. For the wicked, the son of righteousness arrives with the white hot heat of a blowtorch. It will scorch the earth. It will reduce every evildoer to ash.

35:09 They will be incinerated like dry plants in a wildfire so that neither root nor branch remains. On the other hand, for the faithful, the sun of righteousness will bring gentle warmth, the sort of warmth that chases an evening chill away. The rising sun will be the harbinger of spring, a light restoring a barren landscape. It's an invitation to all of creation. Come, dance in the green grass like young cows who frolic after a long winter in the barn.

35:51 Malachi chapter 4 is sort of a whiplash. It yanks us one way and then another. Within the span of two verses, the prophet moves from apocalyptic destruction to a soft-focused scene featuring baby animals. How can the arrival of God's righteousness hit people in such radically different ways? What gives? To answer, let's start with Malachi's context. Malachi preached to people who lived in Jerusalem, and scholars date Malachi's prophetic work to somewhere between 400 and 500 years before the birth of Jesus. What was happening in Jerusalem in those days?

36:46 Well, at that time, Jewish exiles had returned to the city from far-off lands like Babylon, where they'd lived in captivity, in slavery. The exile, though, was now over. The people were in control of their own destiny, and they began to rebuild their city walls and the temple, their streets, and their economy. They pursued the work of civic restoration foretold by prophets like Isaiah and Ezekiel. They were working to renew their entire society. Although, according to Malachi, the road to restoration was troubled. Conflict and acrimony descended on Jerusalem. At various junctures, the book of Malachi records extensive lists of complaints that the people passed along to the prophet.

37:51 They bemoan the ethical laxity of their neighbors. No one has any respect for the truth. Everyone is on the take. There's graft in the marketplace. There's corruption in government. All around us, people misuse their precious freedom. The deceitful are raking it in while the world around us is falling apart.

38:15 The people lay these concerns on Malachi. They ask, where is the justice that God promised? Why do the wicked prosper? Why isn't God doing something to fix this mess? Malachi ministers to people who feel like their society is breaking apart, their community has lost its moral glue, the basic sort of human trust that holds things together. In response, Malachi promises that God will rectify things. There will come a day, says the prophet when the judgment of heaven the sun of righteousness will rise over the horizon like a blast furnace the heat of God's gaze will cleanse the planet of evildoers the only thing left behind will be a field of charred stubble it's a harsh vision Malachi's preaching is edgy scary, dark.

39:28 Typically, passages like this make us feel theologically queasy. Seriously, who wants to spend time contemplating a future in which God cleanses the planet with fire? These are not the sort of biblical verses that we print out and tape to the edges of our computer screens for inspiration. Generally speaking, we want more positives from our faith, more optimism. We seek assurance from our beliefs. That's what we say. Even if some small part of us wonders if Malachi's onto something. Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann puts it this way, For all our intellectual sophistication, our affluence, and confidence that technology will fix things, there remains within us a deep, unsettled feeling that things are indeed falling apart.

40:36 So I should ask, do the frightening aspects in today's text make sense to you? This past week, the Pew Foundation released a poll that describes Americans as being more pessimistic about the state of the world than they have been in decades. We worry about political corruption, governmental mismanagement, environmental disaster, the possibility of another pandemic, AI job drain, inflation. things seem wobbly. Wobbly enough that when the people of ancient Israel describe a world falling apart more than a few of us seem ready to nod along. Malachi honors the concerns voiced by the faithful back then. He tells them that God has a plan to cleanse the world of corruption And then he pivots.

41:45 After one verse of apocalyptic destruction, Malachi changes his tone. Why the quick shift? Has the prophet chickened out? Did he catch a glimpse of fear in listeners' eyes? Did he decide that this situation actually calls for consolation over conflagration? Don't worry, says Malachi, the searing heat is meant for the wicked. The rest of you are going to be fine, more than fine. You're going to be frolicking in the fields. Does the prophet's quick flip-flop make sense to you? Or is Malachi sort of a religious nut? Faith's been in the news a lot this past week.

42:42 Did you notice? Civilian leaders have evoked God and Jesus while praying for success in the war with Iran. Religious leaders, like the Pope, have criticized the rhetoric of war, claiming that it does not reflect the teachings of Jesus. Political figures have fired back. the president posted a meme portraying himself as, let's be honest, Jesus. Religious voices across the spectrum cried foul, pushing back against the AI art, declaring blasphemy.

43:25 I have a few thoughts about this fractious cultural argument. The first is this. As strange and weird as this week has been, I think this debate is actually a good thing. It's a healthy thing when Christian people actually examine their beliefs, actually take time to discuss how the teachings of Jesus might inform their ethical decisions. In other words, I think, wacky and strange as this fracas has been, it revolves around a series of very important questions. Questions like, who exactly is Jesus? What did he stand for?

44:19 What did our crucified Lord think about government-sponsored violence? What would he say to the world right now? I'm glad we're talking. I'm glad we're talking about Jesus and just war theory. Jesus and the possibility that dangerous people might obtain a nuclear weapon. Jesus and the innocent school children who've been killed in this conflict. Jesus and what to do about governments that repress women and sponsor terrorism.

45:02 Now, do I find it curious in the midst of debates like this when government figures and journalists, people who seldom darken the door of a church, start lecturing religious leaders on Christ's teachings? Yes, I do. Do I think it's inevitable when we start a public conversation about Jesus and complicated world issues that people are going to say offensive things, ridiculous things, blasphemous things about our Lord? Yes, I do. But after 2,000 years, I figure Jesus is used to daily doses of blasphemy. And I would also argue that theological debate at its core is simply an attempt to sift bad, unfaithful ideas from faith's deeper truths. I even think that trotting out the word blasphemy is helpful.

46:11 It's an important word, a cautionary word. It counsels us. be careful, be honorable, be humble. Don't portray yourself as God. Take a beat, in fact, before you even claim to speak for God. I think it's a good thing to ask what counts as blasphemy. Bring it on. And I say that not cynically, but hopefully, hoping that an honest conversation about these matters might, it just might, send Christians back to the good book. It might lead us to study what Jesus has actually said. It might get us wrestling with Christ's command to love our neighbors and our enemies. It might have us reflect on the times when Jesus instructed the disciples to feed the hungry.

47:13 It might inspire us to seek truth in our words and grace in our actions. And this all takes us back to Malachi. Malachi urges the people to repair Jerusalem's moral glue before it's too late, before society really starts to fall apart. To instill in them a good spiritual mindset for this work, Malachi describes the coming of the son of righteousness. God's light, he says, will dawn in the face of this new day. The prophet declares the wicked will perish and the faithful will leap for joy.

48:05 What is Malachi doing in these two quick, seemingly very different back-to-back verses? Is he trying to predict the future? Is the prophet saying literally there's a day out there, it's on the calendar, it's on God's calendar, hanging on the wall of heaven. Sometime soon that day will come and God will throw evildoers in the cosmic air fryer while the rest of the faithful dance around the kitchen in joy. Is Malachi offering people a stark choice, a choice between terrible punishment and a glorious reward? Is he trying to scare people straight? Maybe. Maybe, Malachi is saying, here's God's carrot, here's God's stick, choose now, get your moral affairs in order.

49:02 Be ready. I can see how this interpretation works for some people. Although I think it misses something. I think Malachi has more in mind than some far off future. So what then does he want people to see in this vision? On the cover of your bulletin today is a fresco by Fra Angelico. It's entitled Christ the Judge. a dawning golden sun. The risen Christ sits with the world perched on his knee. Christ looks ready with his open and wounded hand to bless all of creation. Unless you think, as a friend of mine once suggested, that Jesus looks like he might be preparing to give the world a spanking. It's a funny observation.

50:04 Insightful, too. What do we expect will happen when the sun of righteousness dawns? Malachi wants us to sit with this question. There's a constant in this story, and there's a variable in this story. The constant is God's righteousness. The sun of righteousness will dawn. The variable here, the difference between apocalyptic devastation and dancing in the fields is us. How will it feel to us to stand in the presence of God's righteousness?

50:55 Think of it like this. Malachi knows that in resettling Jerusalem the exiled people were tempted as people are always tempted to embrace moral perspectives that would benefit themselves and their endeavors this is not unusual in human history that the broad word that we have for this kind of behavior is corruption Of course, nobody likes to be called corrupt. Nobody likes to be judged. And that may explain why we typically push any sort of judgment from God way out there. To the end of our lives, to the end of the world, far away. And we convince ourselves that when that time comes, we'll survive heaven's sorting hat. God will pick us for the team.

51:51 Malachi's vision, though, asks us to contemplate something different. The prophet is not concerned with the distant future. He wants people to feel the righteousness of God shining on the immorality of Jerusalem now. The heat of the sun can be felt in the here and now. The power of Malachi's vision lies in the fact that it describes not some distant future, but the present.

52:24 In listening to Malachi, then you have to wonder. You have to ask yourself, to do a self-examination, you have to ask yourself, what does it mean to be wicked? Why is the light of righteousness painful for some and not for others? the prophet prods us to question ourselves what if there are deeper truths and a more profound authority in the universe than the one that I encounter in the bathroom mirror every morning why does it feel so hot so uncomfortably hot for certain self-righteous souls to hear the prophet speak God's judgment. Others, Malachi suggests, standing under the exact same sun experience something very different. Those who search for a truth deeper than their desires, those who pursue just purposes and holy actions, those who seek a God other than themselves, says Malachi, are going to feel like it's spring, like spring has finally sprung when righteousness steps into the room.

53:46 They're going to run out into the world leaping for joy. In Malachi, God's righteousness is the constant. The variable in play is us. As such, the prophet asks the people, how will you react when God's righteousness dawns? Will you be defensive? Will you push back against those who try to tell you difficult truths? Will you search for more compliant prophets, for yes-men and women, for those willing to tell you that don't worry, God is like you, just like you, a greedy, angry, bloodthirsty deity.

54:32 The alternative to that, according to Malachi, is not moral perfection. It is a willingness to see God's righteousness as a healing balm for our broken souls. It's to say enough. Enough with the lies, enough with the self-deception, enough with the nastiness. I crave freedom, real freedom, freedom from the shackles of avarice, freedom from worshiping the almighty self, freedom to run toward a new day and a welcoming son. Have I told any of you a story about Big Ed? See, I searched my computer to see if I talked about Big Ed with you all before. I was sure that I had, but then I couldn't find it in a single sermon.

55:28 You know, from like last 25 years of sermons, no Big Ed. So I'm going to talk about Big Ed. Now, many of you know, I grew up on a farm in central Minnesota. we raised Hereford cattle. The Hereford bull on our farm was named Big Ed. My aunt actually needle-pointed a picture of Big Ed. Here he is, brown curly flanks, white face. Big Ed weighed over 2,000 pounds. He was an immense creature and he was a gentle soul, except when flies bothered him. One time I was tossing fresh straw into Big Ed's pen. Horsefly was bothering him.

56:21 Annoyed at the fly, Ed kicked in its general direction. His hoof connected with one of the two-inch thick, six-inch wide oak boards that formed the walls of his pen. and it snapped as easily as you or I might snap a toothpick. You needed to exercise caution around the big guy. At the same time, this massive muscled fellow loved a good forehead scratch. He would stick his head over the pen, asking passersby to rub the white patch of corkscrewing fur between his big, glossy eyes. During the Minnesota winter, Big Ed lived in our barn. We cared for him. He had the biggest stall in the place, but it was still a stall. And so every year, Ed would get a bit stir-crazy come April.

57:20 It was usually around this time, every spring, around Easter, when Ed would be released to join the cows in the pasture. We would set up a path for him through the barn, We would open the gate to Ed's stall, and then we would scrabble to sit atop a wagon where we could watch Ed walk slowly out of the barn through the feedlot, taking enormous snuffs of spring air. as it approached the entrance to the pasture he would pick up speed when his hooves hit the grass this tremendous creature all 2,000 pounds of him would snort and and skip literally skip he would cavort like a kite on the wind he would roll on the grass and and then he'd get up and race around it was something to see.

58:17 We were witnessing, I suppose, the scales of winter falling away. We marveled at Ed's embrace of life renewed, freedom found, joy incarnate, all in a 2,000-pound package that could shake the earth. Malachi is clear.

58:43 If we rely on our own damaged, self-righteous, immature egos for salvation, we are going to feel the heat. The grace of God is going to feel like a barricade, a hurdle, a searing indictment of us. If, however, we greet the dawning of the righteousness of God as a healing balm, as a shackle-breaking gift, freeing us from dead-end pursuits. We're going to want to dance. We shall go forth, says Malachi, leaping like calves from the stall. I love the fact that Charles Wesley snuck this hopeful Easter image into his most famous Christmas hymn. Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace.

59:42 Hail the Son of Righteousness. Life and light around he brings. Risen with healing in his wings. Friends, I invite you to stand in body or in spirit to add your voices to today's prayer for the day. The text can be found printed in your bulletins and on your screen.