O Dayspring
Notes
Transcript
But 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.
O Dayspring, splendor of light everlasting: Come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.
Introduction
Introduction
“The sun’ll come up tomorrow! Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there’ll be sun...”
Today our O Antiphon refers to Jesus as the “Sun of Righteousness”. Sometimes this antiphon uses the words “O Rising Orb” or “Oriens”- referring to the sunrise in the East.
It is interesting that this is the O Antiphon appointed for December 21, the winter solstice, the shortest, darkest day of the year. It is into this darkness and our own that this “rising Sun” comes to dispel the clouds of sin’s darkness and the shadow of death.
When light hits the darkness, three things happen: Things get exposed that are hidden, We begin to see clearly, and it helps us to know our bearings.
Light Exposes our Darkness.
Light Exposes our Darkness.
The Apostle John writes,
And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
When light hits the darkness, the darkness is exposed for what it is. Nothing can be hidden anymore. Just like a thief hates the light for fear of being caught, so our darkened hearts fear the light as well, for the light leaves nothing hidden.
When light comes into darkness, it exposes what goes on in the darkness. Thieves, who break in and steal are identified. Shoddy workmanship becomes known.
When the Sun of Righteousness arises upon us, the first thing that happens is that we are shown to be who we really are. Not the good people that we project to others, but, like the Pharisees, we are hypocritical, white-washed tombs. For in the light of the Judgment of the Sun of Righteousness, all of the deeds that we have ever done will be exposed. Every filthy word we ever uttered or thought. Every lust of our hearts. All of the bad things we did, all of the good things we didn’t do. Our past.
When the light of Christ first shines upon sin-deadened sinners, it exposes them and their deeds for what they are. It shines on our past, our sins, the evil we have done, all of our thoughts, all of our actions and inactions, those things that we would never reveal even to those closest among us. All exposed for all to see. The light of Christ shows us who we really are. And just as Jesus calls out the Pharisees on their hypocrisy we, too, are whitewashed tombs.
We all have
This light is too much! Our inclination is to avoid it at any cost. To run from it by denying that it is there. Many do not believe in God because they falsely think that if they do not embrace a belief in God then the consequences do not attach to their lives. We are tempted to keep a distance from that light, to run and hide from it as Adam and Eve did with God, that somehow we can find a little patch of darkness, hoping against hope that the light has a place that it cannot find. But it does.
But even though it could consume us and destroy us, the verse upon which the O Antiphon is based tells us that this Sun of Righteousness comes with healing in His wings.
That His light exposes our “everything” is the way in which God actually draws us to the Light. For this is nothing less than the Holy Spirit convicting us of our sin, even as John the Baptist cried out, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is here.” “O, that warning cry obey, now prepare for God a way.” God exposes our sins so that we might repent.
He shows us our sins so that we might cast our burden on the Lord and He will sustain you.
The light exposes our sins so that it might swallow them up in Jesus for you.
ACTUAL transcript of a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October, 1995. This radio conversation was released by the Chief of Naval Operations on 10-10-95.
Americans: “Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision.”
Canadians: “Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.”
Americans: “This is the captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.”
Canadians: “No, I say again, you divert YOUR course.”
Americans: “THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN, THE SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES’ ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH. THAT’S ONE-FIVE DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTER MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP.”
Canadians: “This is a lighthouse. So........Your call.”
Like a Lighthouse, The Light of the Sun of Righteousness shows us where we are in our walk of faith. It sets boundaries. The Scriptures speak about this when they declare:
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
Our natural inclination is to live without boundaries. Without standards. We want to call the shots in our own lives and answer to no one. We even suppress the law that God has written on our hearts in the First Use. It is the way of mankind. The world reflects this today in its blatant lawlessness, calling evil good and good evil.
The Light Saves Us.
The Light Saves Us.
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Don’t run from the light. Offer all that is exposed back to God in confession. His healing absolution is yours.
You are forgiven because Jesus became your darkness. He took all of your darkness into Himself, and took it to the grave with Him. All of your filth. All of your sin. All of your heart. All of your past now underground, no longer standing. And when He arose, He left your darkness in the grave. You stand forgiven. His own. You have been “enlightened.”
Your Baptismal call is now to live in that light. That light that exposes the darkness of others so that you can beam the light of Christ that is reflected from you into them to give them light. Love your neighbor. Pray for your enemies. Evangelize those who persecute you. Love the Lord with all of your heart, soul and strength, and your neighbor as yourself by keeping His commandments. Fund the work of the Lord with your tithes and with your offerings. Live in the light of His grace.
The Light Gives Direction
The Light Gives Direction
How do we live in His grace?
ACTUAL transcript of a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October, 1995. This radio conversation was released by the Chief of Naval Operations on 10-10-95.
Americans: “Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision.”
Canadians: “Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.”
Americans: “This is the captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.”
Canadians: “No, I say again, you divert YOUR course.”
Americans: “THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN, THE SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES’ ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH. THAT’S ONE-FIVE DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTER MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP.”
Canadians: “This is a lighthouse. So........Your call.”
Like a Lighthouse, The Light of the Sun of Righteousness shows us where we are in our walk of faith. It sets boundaries. The Scriptures speak about this when they declare:
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
God’s Word is our Lighthouse. It beams the boundaries of being.
Our natural inclination is to live without boundaries. Without standards. We want to call the shots in our own lives and answer to no one. We even suppress the law that God has written on our hearts in the First Use. It is the way of mankind. The world reflects this today in its blatant lawlessness, calling evil good and good evil.
Children of the Light are given a standard by the Sun of Righteousness: The Holy Scriptures, and God’s law. They show us that there is accountability in this life to the Lord. They show us what God’s will is for us in His Law. And most of all, they show us that Jesus is Emmanuel, that He is with us and gifts us with His Holy Spirit, walking beside us that we might serve Him in all that we do and say. Because we have been cleansed from our darkness, we now seek to live out our lives in this light. And it is this light that guides us through life, that marks both the obstacles and the goal of heaven.
Our text expresses the joy of the coming of this Sun of Righteousness: You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall When the burden of our sins is removed, we “skip” like a young calf playing in the field. True Christmas Peace and Joy and Love are not humanly possible. They are gifts from Jesus Himself who has made us into Children of the Light.
Our text expresses the joy of the coming of this Sun of Righteousness: You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall When the burden of our sins is removed, we “skip” like a young calf playing in the field. True Christmas Peace and Joy and Love are not humanly possible. They are gifts from Jesus Himself who has made us into Children of the Light.
And so, with the joy of the calves leaping from the stall, knowing that the Light has not destroyed us in judgment, but swallowed us in the righteousness and holiness in the Sun of Righteousness, the cry rings out: Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel. Amen.