By Rev. Aidan Moon

Anticipating the Sunrise from On High

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking this SoundCloud link. 

“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Luke 1:76-79, English Standard Version

During Advent, our family took up the practice of lighting the Advent wreath on our dining room table every evening. With small kids, we are in that stage where figuring out family devotional habits and traditions is a bit of a shot in the dark – it’s noisy, chaotic, and requires a lot of patience. Along with all the structure of prayers and scripture needed by these peace-loving parents, there’s also a need for plenty of flexibility. So we’ve developed our own little liturgies – including a loud and enthusiastic “Jesus is the light of the world!” from our three-year-old as he helps light the candles. When we reached Christmas our boys wanted to keep lighting the candles at dinner time. So for the 12 Days of Christmas we replaced our purple and pink candles with white.

The verses above, originally spoken by Zechariah and sometimes sung by Christians as “The Benedictus,” have been a part of our devotions throughout the Advent and Christmas seasons. And around our dining room table, we have had a tangible reminder of the light that has come and is coming again. That sunrise, the “Dayspring from on high,” which has come to give light to us who live in darkness, is our hope and yours. Our peace and yours. As we wrap up the Christmas season and move into the season of Epiphany – a season of light – may the light of Christ dwell in you richly, that in the chaos and noise of normal life, you might find glimpses of that light in simple ways every day.

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado