For the week of the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost, pastors are welcome to utilize this homily for church members on hospice, adding and subtracting what they desire. A sermon hymn is added if the pastor wishes to sing to the dear saint.
Festival: 23rd Sunday after Pentecost
Text: Malachi 4
Sermon Hymn: LSB #548 Thanks to Thee, O Christ, Victorious
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dearly beloved in Christ, the prophet Malachi speaks with a strange and solemn beauty as he closes the Old Testament. “For behold,” he declared, “the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up'” [v. 1]. These aren’t gentle words, but they are truthful ones. They remind us that every wrong, every act of cruelty, and every sorrow caused by sin will not go unanswered. Evil will not reign forever. The Day of the Lord is coming, and with it, all injustice and pain will meet their end. For those who suffer like you, though, that promise brings relief: God sees, and He will set things right. But for each of us who’ve also sinned and failed to love God and neighbor as we ought, these same words pierce our conscience. Who can stand when the oven burns so hot? Who among us has not been proud, or fearful, or faithless at times? Death itself reminds us that we are not masters of our fate, for it humbles every illusion of control.
Yet hear what follows, [name]: “But to you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings” [v. 2a]. The fire that consumes the wicked is the same light that heals the faithful. What burns away sin also warms the broken. The difference is not found in your goodness, but in your refuge—in the One who shelters you beneath His wings. The Lord Jesus bore that fire for you. On the cross, He stepped into the furnace of divine judgement and absorbed it until not even the faintest ember of wrath remained for you. His resurrection is the dawn Malachi foresaw: the Sun of Righteousness breaking through the night. His wings spread over the dying, not to frighten them, but to cover them with mercy. The same light that exposes sin also reveals the cure: Christ Himself, the great Physician of souls.
When your body weakens and life seems to fade, it’s easy to feel like the eternal evening of death is drawing near. But because you belong to Christ, that evening is not the end. For you, death is not an eternal sunset. The prophet’s image is not of darkness closing in, but of the dawn breaking forth. The Sun of Righteousness rises with healing—not temporary, not partial, but eternal. The pain, the weakness, and the confusion that mark your final days are not the final word. They’re the last shadows before the light; for in Christ, death itself becomes the threshold of the eternal morning. The same God who kindled your life will not let the flame go out; He will perfect it in His eternal brightness.
So, [name], as you rest here, you may entrust yourself to that light. Your body may be frail, but the promise stands: the Sun of Righteousness will rise for you. The heat of His holiness will not harm you, for you are already clothed in His righteousness by virtue of your Baptism. The wings that once stretched out upon the cross now stretch over you in comfort. Soon, you’ll see the face of Him who has carried you through every valley and who now waits to lift you beyond pain and fear. The Day of the Lord is coming, but for you, it will not burn; it will heal you completely and totally, never to become weak again, never to die again. Because for you, the dawn is already breaking.
Now may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
The Lutheran Column 