For some reason, people like to tell jokes about death. Like this one for example… The neighbor's cat was run over by a car, and the mother quickly disposed of the remains before her four-year-old son Billy found out about it. After a few days, though, Billy finally asked about the cat. "Billy, the cat died," his mother explained. "But it's all right. He's up in heaven with God." The boy asked, "What in the world would God want with a dead cat?"

I think we like to tell jokes about death for the same reason we like to tell ghost stories on Halloween. It gives us a way to sidle up to a subject that we are nervous about confronting head on. But today, I would like us to think of death as a door, and I would like us to walk up to it face on and, in a sense, open it and look through it together. In Ecclesiastes 3 it says: "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die…He has made everything beautiful in its time." Those are striking words, aren't they? There is a time to die, and something …beautiful. Now, that could sound like a bunch of pathetic nonsense, depending on which STORY you find yourself in. There are two main stories alive in the world today…

STORY ONE goes like this: Once upon a time, the universe banged into being for no apparent reason and with no apparent purpose. Someday it will end and there will be no one left to remember it ever existed. In the meantime, we live and die. And that's about it.

STORY TWO begins with a Creator who designs the universe to produce life. The Creator cares about everything He has made, including us. The Creator reaches out to us in many ways, constantly inviting us into a relationship of trust. When we die, we enter into the Creator's presence so that in some sense this life that we live is a prelude to a dimension of life that never dies.

Now at least one of these stories is false, and if you believe the second story is false, then no wonder you fear death! You've got to grab for all the gusto you can in life, because when life is over, you've seen your last gusto, baby! You only go around once in life, and when you die with the most toys, that's tough, because not only can you not take the toys with you, you're not going anywhere you can take them to anyway, and there's no you left and nowhere to go!

But what if the second story is true? I'm not just asking what if we pretend it's true to help us make it through the night. I'm asking you to consider, what if it is actually, really, accurately, powerfully, definitely, factually, fully, and finally TRUE? If that's the case, then we can stop fearing death. Because the fear of death takes a terrible toll on life, but when we overcome the fear of death through believing and living by that second story, the reality of death actually yields many gifts! To illustrate this, I would like to get your help in a little experiment...

First, let's follow the First Story through to its logical conclusions. I'll ask you to help me from time to time - when I give you the cue - to ask out loud, "WHAT'S THE CONSEQUENCE OF THAT?" OK? First, I'm aware that I'm going to die someday. WHAT'S THE CONSEQUENCE OF THAT? I have to cram all the experiences and pleasures I can into the limited time frame I am allotted, and I have to fear or flee from every pain or frustration, since they are wasting precious time that I wish were being filled with pleasure. WHAT'S THE CONSEQUENCE OF THAT? I have just eliminated from my life all the pleasures that take a long time and all the virtues that require discipline and difficulty. And WHAT'S THE CONSEQUENCE OF THAT? I become superficial, hurried, maybe frantic, always disappointed, always afraid that I won't get happy and stay happy. WHAT'S THE CONSEQUENCE OF THAT? Well, if I am the only one living this way, it's bad enough, but if more and more people are living that way, it's not hard to imagine that you get a world very much like the one ours is fast becoming - cheapened, polluted, scarred, tense, anxious, empty, & frantic. It's all meaningless in the end, so who cares? Death wipes it all away, so…whatever.

Now let's run through the same thought pattern living in the Second Story. I understand that I am going to die someday. WHAT'S THE CONSEQUENCE OF THAT? I realize I should focus on things that will have value not only in this life but also in the life to come. WHAT'S THE CONSEQUENCE OF THAT? I am able to maximize the joys of life, to slow down and really savor them, rather than rushing through them to cram the next one in. WHAT'S THE CONSEQUENCE OF THAT? I find myself being grateful for every small pleasure of this life, seeing it as a gift from God and seeing a preview of heaven. WHAT'S THE CONSEQUENCE OF THAT? I am enabled to see the hardships of life in a new perspective too, as character-building opportunities to grow and develop the sinews and muscles and backbone of my soul. WHAT'S THE CONSEQUENCE OF THAT? I feel that the trials of this life aren't even worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed in the next life. WHAT'S THE CONSEQUENCE OF THAT? I feel a confidence and freedom from worry in the face of every trial, including the trial of death. WHAT'S THE CONSEQUENCE OF THAT? I do not live life in a hurry or in a desperate attempt to distract myself from a meaningless end; instead, I live life to the fullest, life as God intends it to be lived. WHAT'S THE CONSEQUENCE OF THAT? Well, if I live this way, it's good for me, but if, with God's help, I can influence more and more people to live this way, then the world will become a very different kind of place, AND I will be ready to walk through that door of death, because God has given me the sure hope that it is a beginning for me!

God tells us, very clearly in his Word, that the second story IS absolutely true! There is a Creator who has made this world and loves it, and intends to have those who love Him live with Him forever! Our text comes from the last chapter of the Old Testament. It was a prophecy of Judgment Day. God's people have always complained that evildoers and unbelievers seem to have it so much better, and God does nothing about it. So WHAT'S THE CONSEQUENCE OF THAT? Then why even serve God? It would be a waste of time! Not so, according to God! The evil doers are not getting away with anything. God sees all and will judge all. The Day is surely coming! God makes it clear in the previous chapter: "You will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve and those who do not."

Verse 1: "Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire," says the LORD Almighty. "Not a root or branch will be left to them." What is the purpose of this message? Judgment Day is surely coming! WHAT'S THE CONSEQUENCE OF THAT? Every sinner should quake at the thought of provoking Him who has the power and authority to carry out his threats. Not only will God's coming be fierce, it will be final. WHAT'S THE CONSEQUENCE OF THAT? There will be no second chances! There is a day coming when it will be too late for those who are not sorry for having grieved God. But this is why Malachi was sharing this message: It is not too late right now! Repent! Turn from your evil ways! Believe that the second story, the one about God loving you, is the real one! Look to Him for your salvation! And put the life you are living to please yourself behind you!

We sinners need this sobering reminder because the sinful nature in each of us delights in God's delay. There is an arrogant side to all of us that wants to believe that the Judge is never coming and that even if He should choose to return some day, his judgment will be no more than a warning ticket, giving us a second chance to get our spiritual house in order. The clear message of God's law in our text rejects any such foolish notions. The prophet warns us that the judgment is coming and that it will be final!

But that day will not be a disaster for everyone! It will be wonderful news for many! For you and me! Verse 2: "But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings." Through history, the proclamation of the Lord's saving name has produced saving faith in the hearts of many, many people. In our gospel verse, Jesus said: "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." Jesus made everything different for us! He made the second story an awesome, hope-filled one! Everyone, who through Jesus, revere the Lord's name, are already blessed by God's grace, and will receive even greater blessings from the Lord's hand when He returns as Judge of all! For them the dawning of eternity will produce a glorious sunrise!

What an important promise! Even those of us who revere the Lord's name wonder from time to time if He is going to return for us. We live by faith, fighting the good fight. We live, trusting that the righteousness our Savior earned for us is credited to us through faith day by day! And it is - our Savior has made us people whom the Lord loves and does not condemn! So can we hang on to our faith in this awesome promise of God's? Yes! Because God renews his promises with us and He reinforces our faith! The Lord, the Sun of righteousness, will come soon, and when He does, the battle will finally be over! The rays of his healing righteousness will swiftly wing their way to us weary people. No longer will we live by faith! When the Lord comes, we will live by sight! No longer will righteousness only be credited to us. When the sun of righteousness rises on judgment day, sin's dark night will be over, its deadly effects will be gone, and God's people, you and I, will be perfect through and through!

What is truly amazing is that this message, which is such a threat to our sinful nature, is at the same time the sweetest message of comfort to every Christian! To you and me! The only way we can make sense out of this is by fixing our eyes on Jesus. Without Him, our story will be pretty sad. But Jesus is the main character in our story! And WHAT'S THE CONSEQUENCE OF THAT? The gospel promises that Jesus is our Sun of Righteousness! With his perfect life He has provided the holiness we need to enter the home of our holy God. The gospel also promises that Jesus has already faced God's terrible judgment for us! He has paid all of sin's penalty and thereby has removed all threat of further punishment. When our Judge comes, it won't be to destroy us but, rather, to welcome us into heaven's perfection!

As an old minister began to worry about his impending death, he expressed his fears in a letter to a former student, wondering about his ability to die honorably and to hold on to his Christian faith. The student replied: "Dear friend, let me advise you now as you often have me. If you were about to cross a deep chasm, and there were a bridge over it, would you stand there looking in at yourself, wondering if you trusted enough in bridges to be able to cross? Or would you not rather go and examine the beams and timbers of the bridge and the quality of its construction, and determine whether the bridge were trustworthy, and then pass over it in confidence? Our faith is in Christ; so focus on Him and His sufficiency, rather than on yourself!

Friends, we are living in the second story! The one where God is real, and where He really loves you, and where He is really going to take you to be with Him forever! So focus on his Son, our Sun! Look forward to the day when that Sun will rise, which will produce a beautiful sunrise for you - the beginning of an eternity with a God who loves you more than anything! Let your soul be healed forever by the Sun of Righteousness! Amen.

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