Wednesday Vespers following Populus Zion – December 10, 2025Psalm 85; Malachi 3:1-5St. Matthew 11:11-15
In the Name of the Father, and of the +
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
It is so easy to become weary with the things of God. Reading
the same texts year in and year out becomes boring. The hymns of our fathers aren’t
relevant.
Another way to become weary is to shift your focus. Rather
than reading the Word of God, it is more exciting to listen to radio preachers,
watch the History Channel, or let your pastor do the heavy lifting. “As long as
he is preaching, I don’t need to read it.” If you can’t remember singing a hymn
from your childhood, then it must not be a traditional hymn. Decorations,
presents, and parties are the focus of Advent rather than repentance, the Word
of God, and preparing to receive your Lord. The world is having fun so why
can’t we?
In Malachi’s day, the people began to bring sick, blind, and
lame animals to be offered as sacrifices. Our Lord denounces these actions for
two reasons. First, they are disobeying His commandment. His people have been
commanded to bring Him the first fruits of their labor, the best of what they
have to offer. By bringing diseased animals, the people are mocking the Lord as
though He wouldn’t notice or as though they are more worthy of a healthy beast
than God.
Second, the people of God are despising His priests. The
Levites were given no inheritance, no land on which to raise cattle or wheat.
They were sustained by the offerings of the people. By offering sick and blind
animals, the people are depriving the Levites of their wages. They are
depriving the ministers of God of their rightful sustenance that they might
dedicate their lives to God, His Word, and His people.
At the same time, our Lord denounces the priests as well. The
priests have failed in their duty to warn the people. Rather than rebuke them
for offering profaned sacrifices, the priests were accepting these sickly
animals and proclaiming the people righteous for it. The priests failed both to
teach the people concerning right sacrifice and to guard the Temple of the Lord
from profane things.
It is again, so easy to become weary with the things of God. Why bring God a tenth of what you have when He already has everything? Why offer the sacrifice of prayer when God already knows what you need? Why worry about avoiding sin when God has promised to forgive your sins? When your sins have been washed away in Baptism? When you can come to confession?
Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I send My messenger, And he
will prepare the way before Me.”[1]
God will not sit idly by while His people become weary and His preachers become
lazy. He sent His messenger in the person of St. John the Baptist, whose duty
was to prepare the hearts of men to receive their Lord.[2]
How is a heart prepared to receive his Lord? It is prepared by being confronted
by sin. St. John did not have a pleasant job. He was not given the task of
preaching concerning the vision of a beautiful heaven. He, like Malachi, was
called to teach concerning the Law of God. When the people are not following
the Law of God, John must show them their sin.
It is never fun to be told you are sinning. No one likes to
hear his conscience say, “Don’t do that! God is watching!” let alone to have
someone else do it. Cries of “Tyranny!” and “Who do you think you are?!” and
“Who made you God?!” immediately burst from our lips.
At the same time, we ought to be thankful for Malachi and
John. Men like these, sent by God, are messengers sent before the coming of the
King. It is their duty to prepare you so that you will not be caught unawares.
“Who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand
when He appears?”[3]
None can stand according to our sin. None can stand according to our nature.
None can stand without having heard the preaching of men like Malachi and John.
When the Lord comes, “He is like a refiner’s fire and like
launderers’ soap.”[4]
If you remain in your sins, if you reject the Word of God, if you reject the
preaching of Malachi, you are a solid rod of dross. When the refiner’s fire is
applied to the rod, it will be entirely burned up.
But to you who fear the Name of the Lord, you are a rod with
a core of silver. When the refiner’s fire is applied to you, your sinful dross
which still clings to you, will be purged from the rod. Such purgation will
leave behind a pure rod, a rod of pure silver. It is this pure rod which can
offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness, pleasant to the Lord.[5]
The faith of the people in Malachi’s day was revealed in
their profane sacrifices. The faith of the priests was revealed in their sloth.
No one needs to claim that we cannot see their hearts because their faith is
revealed in the works of their hands. This has not changed. Your faith is seen
in the works of your hands.
Now, do not mistake me. Do not lie awake tonight trembling over your works, “Have I done enough? Have I done the right things? How much more do I need to do?” These questions are useless. God is not concerned with the quantity of your works. Malachi is no where writing about such questions. God is concerned with the orientation of your heart. Do you seek to follow the Word of God? Do you fear the Name of the Lord?
“To you who fear [God’s] name, The Sun of Righteousness
shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like
stall-fed calves.”[6]
To fear the name of the Lord is akin to loving Him. It means you do not want to
disappoint Him. It means you understand that you are undeserving of His love.
It means you trust that He has forgiven your sins by His mercy and that even
still, you are as an ant to a young boy with a magnifying glass in hand. To
fear the Name of the Lord is to desire never to disappoint your Heavenly Father
and trust that He will always, always hold you tenderly in His hand.
The rising of the Sun of Righteousness points directly to
the Incarnation of our Lord. It speaks of His descending into the flesh of man
because in this flesh, He brought healing. The Second Person of the Holy
Trinity became man so that He could die. By His death, you are healed. You are
purged of the sin and filth of former times. You are made righteous, as in the
days of old, as in former years, when Adam and Eve were made stewards over the
earth but had not submitted to temptation.
Though your eyes cannot see it and experience tells you
otherwise, this healing has already taken place. It occurred when Christ
breathed His last on Friday and then breathed again on Easter morning. By this
healing, “you shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles
of your feet on the day that” Christ conquered death.[7]
Though the world roar and foam; though Satan claw at your soul with his
wickedly sharp talons; though your own heart would leap from your chest to
obtain the objects of its lust; you shall trample such wickedness because
Christ is yours. Because your heart has been turned toward your Father and His
heart toward you.
Therefore, “remember the Law of Moses, [God’s] servant.”[8]
That is, remember the Law of the Lord. Until Christ returns, it will never seem
like you are trampling on the wicked. In fact, it will always appear that the
wicked triumph and the Church suffers. In this age, it is necessary to remember
the moral law, to recite the Ten Commandments and the Table of Duties, so that
you would not grow weary. Do not grow weary of righteousness so that you will
not be caught unawares. Do not grow weary of hearing the preaching of Malachi
and John so that you too would be called to repentance. Repent for the sake of
loving your Heavenly Father.
Repent now, for the reality is that the triumph of the
wicked is only an illusion. The wicked are nothing more than a wolf backed into
a corner. They lash out fiercely because they know they are soon to die. The
war is won. The wicked are defeated. Any last efforts are only the final
actions of a dead man, because the Sun of Righteousness has arisen and has
brought healing to all who hear the Word of the Lord.
In + Jesus’
name. Amen.
