Malachi 4.1-2a; 2 Thessalonians 3.6-13; Luke 21.5-19

Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace,
hail the sun of righteousness,
light and life to all he brings,
risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
born that man no more may die,
born to raise the sons of earth,
born to give them second birth.
Hark the herald angels sing,
glory to the new-born king.

Words I’m sure that you all recognise, and which in a few weeks’ time, we shall probably all be singing with gusto. It’s a carol written by Charles Wesley, although his own first line - Hark, how all the welkin rings - was altered by George Whitefield to the one with which we are familiar. In Wesley’s time, it was sung to an entirely different tune.
In fact, Wesley himself would probably not have been very pleased with the tune to which we now sing this carol, since he required his words to be sung to something slow and dignified.

And nor would Mendelssohn, composer of the tune that we know, have been very happy either, since his instructions were that the tune to which we sing this carol was to be kept for secular purposes. He wrote it to celebrate the achievements of the printer Gutenberg, 400 years earlier.

I wonder whether anyone knows what the word welkin means. It’s a word used for the heavens of the sky. And I wonder how often you have thought about the meaning of what you are singing when you sing this or any other hymn or carol. Especially with things we know as well as this carol, there is a temptation to sing our hearts out without engaging our brains - we are so familiar with the words. 

Have you ever wondered about the phrase “sun of righteousness”?  Did you know it went back to the prophet Malachi? How much do you know about Malachi? I hope by the end of today, you’ll know more than did before.

No one knows exactly when the prophet Malachi lived, though most commentators believe that the book originated some time during the Second Temple Period. The first Temple was destroyed in 587 BC, and a smaller version finished and rededicated in 516 BC.

The temple is functioning when Malachi is prophesying, so it must have a date later than 516. Most theologians hesitate to be any more precise than to say it was written during the period when the Persians ruled, so some time between 516BC and 333BC.

As for who Malachi was, again there is some debate. A few scholars see him as a real person; most of them think the book originates with an anonymous prophet - the word Malachi in Hebrew is translated as “my messenger”.

And certainly, it would make sense to see Malachi as God’s messenger since his prophecies are clear and direct. The prophet, whoever he was, carries a message from God. Indeed, that is what a prophet is - not necessarily someone who tells the future as is commonly thought, but someone who has a message from God.

The book of Malachi is laid out as a series of dialogues or debates between God, Yahweh, and his people. There are six of these exchanges; our reading today comes from the last of these.  The people have been complaining that worshipping God has brought them no benefits, and that those who prosper are the wicked rather than the righteous.
But there is a hopeful message from God for those who are righteous. The time will come when the wicked and the righteous will be judged; and the sun of righteousness will rise upon them, bringing healing.

The second half of verse 2 has a wonderful picture - I’m not sure quite why the lectionary compliers have omitted it. I’ll read the whole of that verse to you: “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.” It’s a picture of people liberated from what binds them, leaping with joy at the freedom they have.

As I was preparing this sermon, I found a wonderful quotation talking about this verse. David Pawson, who writes on biblical themes, says this in one of his books: “I used to get up at four in the morning to milk 90 cows on a farm in Northumberland. During the winter we kept the cattle indoors and fed them on cake and hay for months.
“Then came the day when we let them out for the first time in the spring. If you know anything about country life, you know what happened next. Even the oldest cow would jump around the field for joy. Malachi says this is how it will be for the people of God. They too will leap for joy on the day when God comes to bring final salvation to his people.”

Malachi in his prophecy concentrates hard on the theme of God’s covenant with his people. His book ends with two images - that of Moses representing the Law, the Torah; and that of Elijah, representing the Prophets. These two pillars were at the heart of Judaism.

Malachi was the last Old Testament prophet; it is he that introduces the Jewish idea that Elijah must return before God’s day of judgement. Even today at Passover, Jewish families leave a spare seat at the table for Elijah, and the children often re-enact going out to look for him coming.
But for us Christians this idea has importance too, and provides a bridge between Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament ends with the image of Elijah coming again; at the beginning of the New Testament, we see in all four Gospels, John the Baptist as the new Elijah.

Elijah’s role is to forewarn people about the judgement which is to come, when, as the beginning of today’s reading puts it, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. But, in spite of this warning, the book of Malachi’s prophecies end with a message of hope.

The final verse, which comes very shortly after the bit we heard this morning, says this: “Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day when the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse.”

Wesley’s carol highlights the fact that it is through Jesus that this hope is brought to fruition. He clearly equates the sun of righteousness with the one who brings light and life, healing and resurrection. These are promises that hold for us through our faith in Jesus.

But throughout the Bible and in Jesus’s own teachings, there is the urgent cry for us to be on guard, to be aware and ready for the time of judgement. The idlers about which we heard in our epistle reading are those who are not ready for the coming again of Christ - they seem to be sitting back and doing nothing.

Getting a balance is not always an easy thing. The Protestant work-ethic can sometimes be taken to extremes - I’m sure we all know workaholics. We all need rest and refreshment and sabbath breaks, but that’s a very different thing to giving up completely.
I have to say I don’t know very many people, certainly not round here, whom I would call lazy. I can however think of many, many people who don’t take seriously the warnings of the prophets and of Jesus himself to be on guard, to be ready for when the sun of righteousness comes.

The great hope is that for those who are prepared an eternity of light and life and healing and joy awaits. That is the Christian hope. That is the hope expressed in those words of Charles Wesley

Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace,
hail the sun of righteousness,
light and life to all he brings,
risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
born that man no more may die,
born to raise the sons of earth,
born to give them second birth.
Hark the herald angels sing,
glory to the new-born king.