Lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch, says the Lord of hosts. But for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.
Mal. 3: 19-20a
During the month of November, our minds naturally turn to thoughts of harvest and of death. The days are very short. Light is scarce. Darkness seems to be closing in all around. Leaves lie on the ground, raked in piles, or burned. The last of the fall harvest is being brought in. Hunting season is here as animals are harvested for food. We are preparing. We know that the long, cold winter is not far off, whether we are ready or not. The year is ending. The year is dying. It is harvest time.
This is also the time when the church puts before us readings of judgment. We know that at the end of our lives we will be harvested. At the end of time, all of creation will be harvested. The fruits will be gathered together like a pile of leaves. Much of the fruit is rotten and will be reduced to stubble, as our reading from Malachi promises. But we also know that through the death of Jesus, we will rise to new life. The sun of justice will arise. Healing will come. God's promise will be fulfilled and it is not a promise only of woe, but a promise of new life and resurrection.
As the cold of winter death approaches. Let's keep our eyes fixed on the sun of justice with its healing rays. The fire of judgment leads to the light of justice. Christ's light has conquered the darkness.
Peace,
Lincoln
