Oakbrook Evangelical Free Church

Introduction:
Did you know that virtually every person in the modern western, and most of the non-western, world has called this year 2006?

Teachers, UWO, Congress, Kwik Trip staff…all call this 2006.
Why? Because 2006 years ago Christ was born. No other man in history has been accorded the almost universal honor of dividing history in half — and with such definitive influence that millions who do not call him Lord are forced to bear witness daily to his tremendous on-going importance in the world by using the date 2006 A.D.

Did you know that all over the western world, and a large part of the non-western world Sunday is recognized as a holiday, and most of these western cultures recognize a difference even between Saturday and Sunday. The historical reason for this is that Jesus Christ was born and that he died and that he rose from the dead on Sunday.
In other words the religious, historical, and cultural significance of Christmas — the birth of Jesus Christ — is so huge that no one can begin to give it an adequate description.

So how could I lead us in worship through Christmas without focusing our attention on the birth of Christ?

Malachi 4:2 ““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.” ESV

I. The Sun of Righteousness Will Rise
The Lord God is a sun and shield.
Isaiah 60:1-3 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. “For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. “And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” ESV

Isaiah 60:19-21 “The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. “Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended. “Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might be glorified.”

Psalm 84:10-12 “For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. “O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!” ESV

Look more closely!
Malachi 3:1-2 ““Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. “But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.” ESV

Luke 1:76, 78-79 “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways… because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high “to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”” ESV

Do you see it?
The prince of peace, the mighty God, the wonderful counselor, the good shepherd, the shepherd and guardian of our souls the Alpha and Omega, the morning star, the bright and morning star, the Son of God is here called the rising sun of righteousness!

He will arise for those who fear Him and bring them light.
Malachi 4:2 speaks primarily of Christ’s second coming. Notice the judgment of 4:1. But the title, Sun of Righteousness belongs to both comings.

It is a widely held that Martin Luther, the 16th-century Protestant reformer, first added lighted candles to a tree. Walking toward his home one winter evening, composing a sermon, he was awed by the brilliance of stars twinkling amidst evergreens. To recapture the scene for his family, he erected a tree in the main room and wired its branches with lighted candles. How appropriate…

2 Peter 1:19 “And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,”

Revelation 22:16 ““I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”” ESV

Again, trees and lights and ornaments and gifts and all the other traditions of Christmas are one of preference and optional. But celebrating Christ and His coming are not. The coming of Christ beginning with his birth is in view in Malachi.

Jesus Christ is the rising son of righteousness.
What does this mean for you and I

1. The first thing implied is that He brings light where there was darkness
John 8:12 “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”” ESV

Jesus helps us see things like they really are.
He makes sense out of things. He said to Pilate, “For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth.
Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.” And Pilate mocked him and said, as though he lived in the twentieth century, “What is truth?”

The strongly held view today is that there is no such thing as absolute truth. You have your truth and I have mine. What is truth! Not because there’s a passion for truth, but because there is so much skepticism that any such thing exists.

And the effect of this skepticism and relativism is moral and intellectual and personal and family bankruptcy. Why do many families come apart? Because they have no anchor of truth. The husband and wife and father and mother have no clear vision of truth.

All they can do is pass on a few tips to their children for how to make more money or stay healthy. And the emptiness gets deeper and deeper with each unbelieving generation.

But Jesus is the light of the world. He brings sense and meaning our of absurdity. He is light in the darkness of confusion and ignorance and skepticism. He gives a fixed point of truth in a world where every standard seems to have come unglued.

Ecclesiastes 12:9-11 “Besides being wise, the Teacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. “The Teacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth. “The words of the wise are like goads, and like well driven nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.” ESV

2. The second thing implied by his being the rising sun is that he brings security where there was danger.
When it is dark there is more danger because you can’t see the path in front of you. You might fall off a cliff or trip over a log or bang your head against a branch.

When the sun finally rises you can move with security. That’s the way it is with Jesus. He points the way to go again and again. He shows up the danger and the foolishness of many choices before we make them. He guards us from many evil forces that only have power in the dark.

So when Jesus comes into the world, he comes as a sun: And in doing this he guards us from destroying our lives and keeps us safe.

Wow! Sometimes we are reasonably fearful and anxious. But in our fear and anxiety we pray and Christ goes ahead of us and He goes with us and he shines his light around us by day and night and we are safe and secure and confident as we trust Him.

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” ESV

Luke 10:41-42 “But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, “but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”” ESV

Christ came to bring light and truth where there is darkness of confusion and fear.

II. The Son of Righteousness rises with healing in his wings
The sun can blister, but it can also bless, and its blessing effect is in view here. The prophet visualized the sunrays of Christ’s presence like the wings of a bird stretching over the earth. Christ would have a healing effect on the inhabitants of the earth, healing them, and the planet, from the harmful effects of past millennia of sin (cf. Isa. 53:5).

Like the restorative powers of the sun’s rays…gives light and heat for growth so the day of the Lord will bring the restorative powers of righteousness. God’s people will be restored and renewed. the sun of righteousness will heal the wounds inflicted upon the righteous.

Psalm 103:2-5 “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, “who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, “who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, “who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” ESV

Exodus 15:26 “I am the Lord, your healer.”” ESV

Psalm 6:2 “Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.” ESV

Psalm 30:2 “O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.” ESV

Psalm 147:3 “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” ESV

And what of Christ and his ministry?…
Isaiah 53:5 “But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.” ESV

Luke 4:18-19 ““The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”” ESV

Matthew 8:16 “That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick.” ESV

Luke 8:43-47 “And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. “She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased…And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed.” ESV

Isaiah 35:5-6 “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; “then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;” ESV

Sickness of the soul.
Sick at heart.
Sick in your bones.
Sick in your blood or eyes, or digestive system, or
Sick in your head (Ha Ha)
From broken bones to broken hearts to broken relationships and families and friendships,

Young in age or young at heart we all have to deal with brokenness, pain, suffering and sickness. His coming is like the rising of the sun that brings warmth and healing!

Healing in the warmth of the sun.
~ Livingroom picture window.
~ QT in a grove of pines with an open meadow and a buck sunning himself.

ILL: Good Samaritan

Luke 10:30-37 “Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. “Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. “So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. “But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. “He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. “And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” “He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”” ESV

John 8:48 “The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?”” ESV

Christ is the good Samaritan who never passes us by.
Christ came to give healing where there is sickness and brokenness!
He does emergency, roadside CPR
He takes us to where we can get the help we need.
He stays by our side
And he pays our bill.
Why are we so easily troubled?

III. Those Who Fear the Lord will be set free to go forth with enthusiastic, exuberant joy.

Christ came to give freedom where there is bondage
and to give calf-like joy where there is dreariness and gloom
He releases the mink from pen and chickens from their cage.
“You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.” ESV

Enthusiastic: excited, passionate, animated joy.
Exuberant: lively, energetic, high-spirited, cheerful