““For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and 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. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act,” says the LORD of hosts. “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.””
—Malachi 4:1-6
When was the last time you heard someone’s parting words before a long wait? Maybe it was when you were little, maybe something like Mom and dad will be out tonight, so listen to your sister and eat your dinner and do your homework. Or maybe something less boring, like in the second Lord of the Rings movie when Gandalf tells his friends, Look to my coming on the first light of the fifth day, before riding away on a white stallion, leaving his friends to fight ten thousand monster men.
This passage is a bit like that. These are the last six verses of the Old Testament, the last words spoken by God to his people, before 400 years of silence. It doesn’t seem like much at first: there aren’t many words of encouragement or I love you’s, there are some ominous threats about evildoers, and some uplifting words about wings and calves.
God isn’t leaving detailed instructions here, but he is preparing his people for a long, dark time ahead. By starting with a promise to punish all evildoers in the future, God not only reminds his people that he is just, that he can be trusted, but he’s also telling them that there will be a lot of evil in the days ahead.
So — be patient, and wait.
But on the day when God judges evildoers, God’s people will have their victory. Times will get pretty dark for now, but there will be the sun of righteousness that will heal God’s people.
So — be patient, and wait.
In the meantime don’t forget who God is, remember his ways, remember his Law, remember how God has stuck by his people, despite them breaking his Law all the time. And just as God had sent mighty Moses and fiery Elijah to help his people in the past, so he will send another Elijah to get them ready for God’s return.
So — be patient, and wait.
…only God’s people aren’t very good at being patient and waiting, are they? When God called Moses up to Mount Sinai, and he was gone for a bit too long, God’s people decided to… find themselves another god. When God’s people wanted to have a king like everyone else, they basically fired God and got themselves a king. When God exiled his people because of their sins, but promised he would bring them back home, they got tired of waiting and forgot God. And Christians today? We were told 2000 years ago that Jesus would return. But for most of us it’s something that we’ve just kinda forgotten.
But at least Christians are a bit luckier; we’ve seen the prophecy in today’s passage partially fulfilled. Remember how I said that there were 400 years of silence after this prophecy? Well, after those 400 years, God did come back as promised. But he came back not as a conquering king who burned all the evildoers, but as a man called Jesus. He didn’t judge and cast away the bad people, he found them and told them that the Kingdom of God is theirs too. He scolded the religious folks for having hearts of stone. And after they murdered him, he came back to life, and told his people to wait for his return. In the meantime, he said, things would get pretty dark. But his people must remember him, they must remember God’s Law. They must be patient, and wait.
That’s where Christians are today. We have a sneak preview for where things are going, because we’ve seen it partially completed by Jesus. So Christians must be patient and wait, but in the meantime we aren’t here to just vaguely be nice, or even just to get good grades and get a good job. We’re here as the people of God, remembering his ways, showing God to those who don’t know him, showing them that God is just, he is good, that he keeps his promises, and that he doesn’t drive away people who’re little, who’re alone, who’re hurting, who’re afraid. And the people of God do all this no matter how much evil there is. Because they know God keeps his promises. They know the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.
That’s where Christians are right now. I know all this sounds like something you’d hear from an angry, smelly, shouty man on the street, but it’s what the Bible has said. And I invite you, if you’re willing, to look into the claims made by this Jesus who will come back.
Remember, My Lord 
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