S-1523 2SIA/3C 12/06/15Hymns:
(O)#344; (S)#878; (C) #354,
Texts: Psalm 66:1-12; Malachi
3:1-7; Philippians 1:2-11; Luke 3:1-14
Theme: “A Changeless God” Malachi 2:4-7
Question: “Have you noticed any changes?” (12th
Sermon at Trinity).
Faithful
followers of the Savior, Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Alleluia! The
text is the O.T. reading: “For I the Lord do not change; therefore
you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. From the days of your fathers you have
turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them. Return
to Me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of
hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’” (Malachi 2:4-7)
INTRODUCTION:
In Nomine Iesu
Beautiful
and beloved God’s Advent people, the Office Hymn we just sang Abide With Me has these words: “Change
and decay in all around I see”. It doesn’t take an overactive imagination
to see all of the changes that have taken place in our lifetime. There is no doubt that our world is changing
at a pace that seems to get quicker each any every day.
Some
change is good. With the advancements in technology it is nothing short of
amazing what humanity can do. The Smartphone I carry in my pocket has hundreds
of times more computing power than the first IBM desktop we owned. With this
tiny tool, I can speak and see people all over the world in an instant…and you
can get hold of me fast.
In
the medical field procedures that once required drastic incisions and
invasiveness, are now done with incisions less than a couple of inches long.
Heart bypass surgeries are being performed on hearts that don’t have to be
stopped! Farming has certainly changed. Today, we have 36, 48 and 54 row
planters. They can get a lot done with fewer resources than ever before.
But
as we know all too well, not all change is for the better. Sometimes the
changes introduced are actually examples of the decay that we sang about in the
hymn. Even with all of the computing power and communication ability of the
internet, one of its leading items of commerce is pornography. This rampant
electronic evil is a sign of decay. The radical redefinition of marriage and
the family by a minority and give in to, by a public that is afraid to be called
intolerant is a sign of decay.
Things
that were once considered shameful, are now accepted and regarded as
commonplace, and in some perverse way even celebrated. People hopping from one
congregation to another all because they don’t like something the pastor once
said when he was preaching the clear Word of God in its truth and purity is
another sign of this decay. Signs of decay are all around us daily.
These
changes cause us to question what is happening to our world. We feel out of
place here in this changing world. So much has changed. Some for the better, most
for the worst. If it were up to us, as we listen to the Old Testament prophets
like Jeremiah last Sunday and Malachi today, this process of change and decay
might just lead us to want to throw up our hands and toss in the towel. PAUSE.
Don’t
be too quick to do that. It is important that we hear the Word of God that
comes from the lips of Malachi; God’s Messenger. For I the Lord do not change. These words are
indeed very comforting to you and me. In a world that is so filled with change,
almost on a daily basis so that uncertainty breeds fear and unbelief, to know
that the Lord does not change is an incredible piece of good news! The Lord is
not like us. He is not fickle. He does not change His plans in midstream. There
is no greater news for you and for me this Advent or any day for that matter except
to hear of the changeless God in a
changing world.
But
what makes this proclamation of the un-changeability of the Lord even sweeter
for you and me today is to know to whom these words were spoken. Last Sunday we
heard the Prophet Jeremiah prophesy a restoration of Judah and Jerusalem even
before the Babylonians had conquered them. This was such a message of Good News
in the face of God’s wrath.
But
that is where the changeless message of God given to Malachi is different and
far more damaging. You see, Malachi is carrying the Lord’s message to those who
had returned from Exile. They lived with the pain and grief of not having
Jerusalem and the Temple. If anyone should have held fast to the statues and
practices of the Lord, you would think that it would be these people of Judah.
But
that was not the case at all. Things had changed with the people of Judah. Many
abominable practices had not only crept in, they were being celebrated. In
Judah in that day you could have sung the same words of Abide with Me. Change and decay was all around them. God’s
people had changed from faithful to faithless. We see a laundry list of the
promised judgment in our text. “Then
I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against
the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against
those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the
fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me,
says the Lord of hosts.”
God’s
messenger was going to come and pronounce judgment on those who had embraced
change and decay. As God’s elect in the
Church, we too should know better than the people of Judah did so many centuries
ago. God is very explicit in His Word as to what it means to follow Him. It
means regular times in God’s House, at His table and in His Word. It means
eagerly going up to the house of the Lord, not just settling on some attendance
once in a while. It means to freely forgive others as we in Christ have been
forgiven. It means embracing the radical generosity of the Lord toward us in
Jesus Christ at the Cross as it manifests itself in acts of radical generosity
toward those around us. PAUSE.
Sadly,
we too, are adversely affected by change and decay. The sinful flesh works in
league with the devil and the world and that change and decay rots away at us.
We hear of the change and decay in the world in regard to marriage and we see
the statistics aren’t any better within the Church. We hear the Word of God presented
in its truth and purity and it offends because it actually calls sin, what it
is—SIN. The scandal of the
cross, that Jesus had to die for me, strikes out at us who think we aren’t
really that bad off, shakes our psyche and self–worth. This Change and decay
isn’t just a minor issue among us in the Church, it is rampant!
Yet
to you and me and all Judah, God’s Word of Promise remains secure. For I the Lord do not
change. But this is no cheap grace.
Therefore you, O children of
Jacob, are not consumed. From the days of your fathers you have
turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I
will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. The sweet Gospel
of this message is found in the fact that our unchanging God is in the business
of changing you! This change is what we call repentance. The Lord Jesus through
His Word highlights the decay in us. When we see this sinful decay in the full
light of God’s Word, there comes the cry of faith. Faith cries out to our
unchanging God. He doesn’t change His mind with us. If you and I were dealing
with the change and decay in all others around us, our patience and mercy would
have a limit. But not so with the Lord. This is our changeless God in a
changing world. His grace and His mercy
are indeed limitless. There is no change or decay in you that will cause the
Lord to give up on you!
While
this gracious Lord will not give up on you, He will also not give in to you. Return to Me, and I will return to you,
says the Lord of hosts. This means that you and I can’t be
okay or tolerant of the sin within us. It is this sin which authors the change
and decay that separates us from God. To leave us here would be to leave us in
judgment and death. And this would not do for God! This changeless God in a
changing world calls us back to Him!
This
Holy Spirit inspired call to repentance turns sinners like you and me away from
the empty life of the fathers, toward the fully blessed life of OUR Father in
Heaven through the Eternal Son—the Babe of Bethlehem. When His Word falls on
you and fills your ears, it both kills you and makes you alive. It kills you as
you are buried through baptism into Christ and it makes you alive in the sweet
Gospel of a resurrected Christ. In
this act you are changed by the Changeless Christ!
Just
as John the Baptizer cleared the way for the Gospel that is Jesus, words like
these from the prophet Malachi also call us to change. While this change is not
our choice, it is essential. Without the change that is the call to faith in
Word and Sacrament, we would be lost in decay and death. But it is the
Changeless Christ who works this work in us. He did it when you were washed in
Holy Baptism. He does it every day when the Lord calls you by the Holy Spirit
to Return to Him. When we are so turned and returned, we know what Godly change
is.
Judah
never recovered from their fall. Their going through the motions of worship and
sacrifice left them that way when Jesus actually arrived on the scene to save
the world. You and I cannot get so entrapped with the change and decay that we,
too, only go through the motions of worship and service. Today the Changeless
God calls you to change again and again. And in this change you and I find
life. Life now and life forever in our Changeless Lord Jesus! AMEN.
Now
the peace…
SOLI
DEO GLORIA
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