Twentieth
Sunday after Trinity
The
Collect.
O
|
ALMIGHTY and most merciful God, of thy bountiful goodness keep us, we
beseech thee, from all things that may hurt us; that we, being ready both in
body and soul, may cheerfully accomplish those things which thou commandest;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do
well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the
day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts (2 Peter 1:19)
God
began, before there was a single eye to see, His Creation in darkness. A night
of eternity past was ended when God spoke the words, "Let there be
light!" and He spoke it in the nothingness of space that had never
before existed, as well. That past night of eternity was suddenly ended with
the Presence of the Triune God in a Space-Time Continuum that likewise was a
new thing issuing from the Mind of God. But God inculcated His mark of Eternity
upon His new Creation by combining night and day in alternate sequence – the
Night to reflect Eternity Past, and the Day to mirror Eternity Future – for God
is a coming Light, too. We are reminded, by His Work and His Word, of the
unfathomable beauty, love, and power of that Mind which is full of LIGHT. In
the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without
form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of
God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light:
and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God
divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the
darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were
the first day.(Gen 1:1-5) Note how God concludes EVERY subsequent day
of Creation with the words, "…….and the evening and the morning was
the ______day."
God
has created all of the physical universe to be limited in time and endurance.
The earth itself, according to the Scriptures as well as the second law of
thermodynamics, wears thin as a garment. And, Thou, Lord, in the
beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works
of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall
wax old as doth a garment (Heb 1:10-11) But God did not create the soul
of man to perish. He has given life eternal to every soul; yet, the destination
is widely at variance. Some will, by their own actions in rejecting God, be
cast into the fires of Hell while others, who have sought and found the Light of
Christ, shall enjoy an eternity of fellowship with God and His people.
The
whole of Creation has proceeded from a primordial darkness, gradually emerging
into that Light that God has reserved for those who come to Him. The customary
twelve hours of daylight was created as a temporary shadow of a greater and
more grand day of Eternal Light. Just as God began each day of Creation in
darkness (at night) so do we all travel a darkened path, with only nocturnal
lights to guide us, in this life. The symbolism of our struggle is described in
the poem of San Juan de la Cruz, as The Dark Night of the Soul.
All on earth are born with those natures of sin and darkness passed on to us
from Adam. We grope about as drunken men as we seek to find joy and comfort in
a cold, dark world devoid of joy and true happiness. All of our efforts
to improve our condition are pitifully hopeless. We yearn for an unseen Hand of
Comfort, but know not from whence it cometh. At some point, we realize the
Light is somewhere beyond and above us. God, through His grace and mercy, opens
our eyes to Light just as He opened Hagars eyes to the Fountain in the
Wilderness. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light:
they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light
shined. (Isaiah 9:2) The Old Testament prophets and faithful looked, as
did Abraham, to that coming Light of God, and found it in the fullness of time
in the Lord Jesus Christ.
God
the Father knew full well that the genius of His Creation (MAN) must have a
free mind and a free will if He would be able to love his fellows as well as
God. He knew full well, too, that such a mind and will, constantly enticed and
intrigued by the world and its Prince, would not be capable of living in full
obedience to the Hand that made him. So in the Council of Heaven,
convened in Eternity Past, God prepared for our salvation by grace, and not by
law, through the agency of His only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ! As the men from
Adam to Mary and Joseph slumbered and stumbled in the meager lights of promise
and hope – those lesser lights of the moon and stars – they came to know that
their only hope must come from God and not their ability to be righteous under
the terms of the Law of God. Now, would burst upon their souls that Light
described in Malachi 4:2 - But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun
of righteousness arise with healing in his wings. This is the same
Light described in Isaiah 9:2 above and Matthew 4:16, 17 - The
people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the
region and shadow of death light is sprung up. From that time Jesus began
to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand.
Deserts are desolate places. In the desert, water is rare, and vegetation
scarce. There are few comforts to be had in the desert. But when travelling for
hundreds of miles in the deserts of Iran (Persia), I discovered that the night
stars were more brilliant and aided in my travel by illuminating my path than
in more fertile lands. So the stars, especially the Morning Star of God, aid in
our transport across our dark night of spiritual enlightenment. But what of the
morning? What of that brilliant and unmatchable Daystar when it arises – the
Sun of Righteousness? It leaves no shadow of doubt or dismay. Christ is truly
the Daystar from on high! While men once walked by mere hope and faith, we now
have "a more sure word of prophecy". In fact, we have
the witness of the accomplished promise in Christ. If that Daystar which is
Christ has arisen in your hearts, then those hearts could not be more full of
light. There will be no dark corners, and no doubts, as to the path we must
walk. The time comes when He is no longer the Bright and Morning Star only, but
the brilliant Daystar (Sun) that vanquishes every shadow and every doubt. He
came to my heart in His brightness in the tender hours of the morning – long
before the created sun could arise. He lighted my heart and my mind, and made
me see His beauty this early dawn of morning. He does so for all who place
their trust in Him. Have you done so, dear Reader?
