SUNSHINE!

I saw it! Indeed, I did! For the first time in six months! The sun. That spectral type G2V yellow star at the center of the Earth’s solar system. I spotted it! That ball of plasma 90 something million miles away from most places on earth; about ten times that distance away from Scotland!

Well, I don’t know what happened or how, but I just happened to catch a glimpse of this elusive planet (see me basking in the effulgence of its radiations!). Last Wednesday. And, for the first time in six months, the temperatures hit a searing 51°F. But, alas, all of this lasted just one single day! Since that glorious morn, the situation has reverted back to the perpetual solar eclipse that prevails in these parts. The chariot of Helios has gone into hiding again. And mercury has dipped: they say it will snow tomorrow!

Oh, Spring, where art thou?

Not an easy task to echo the sentiments of Elizabeth Clephane penned in 1872 …

I take, O cross, thy shadow
For my abiding-place:
I ask no other sunshine than
The sunshine of his face;
Content to let the world go by,
To know no gain nor loss;
My sinful self my only shame,
My glory, all the cross.

No other sunshine? I need that kind of contentment! But truly, His is the only Sunshine that will never be eclipsed, obscured, or otherwise dimmed. His is the only Sunshine that can thaw cold hearts, enliven dormant souls, rejuvenate captives in the dark and dreadful dungeons of sin. The heavenly lights? They won’t shine long (Isaiah 13:10). The celestial hosts? They wither away (Isaiah 34:4).

Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
Than all the angels heav'n can boast.
Joseph Seiss, 1873

And in the new creation, at the end of time, it seems that the grand new city, the New Jerusalem, might not even have any more light-generating bodies in the sky for …

… the city has no need
of the sun or of the moon
to shine on it,
for the glory of God
has illumined it,
and its lamp is the Lamb.
Revelation 21:23

No life without the sun, we’ve been taught. But in God’s economy, there is no life without the Son. The Son who gave Himself for us and for our sin, accomplishing our redemption through His work on the cross. So it is appropriate in these last weeks of Lent to reflect upon a Lutheran Easter hymn (Christ lag in Todesbanden, which has also been wonderfully wrought into a cantata by Bach—BWV 4) that enjoins believers to celebrate the Feast of the Resurrection.

Therefore let us keep the Feast
With heartfelt exultation;
The Lord to shine on us is pleased,
The Sun of our salvation.
On our hearts, with heavenly grace,
Beams the brightness of his face,
And the night of sin has vanished.
Hallelujah!
Martin Luther, 1524

Hallelujah, indeed! Hail, the Sun of Righteousness! Jubilate! Fling wide the gates for the Savior.

Light of the world,
You stepped down into darkness …
Humbly You came
To the earth You created
All for our sake …
So here I am to worship …
Tim Hughes, 2000

Let’s take time in the next two weeks to attend especially to worshipping God for having brought us out of the kingdom of darkness into His marvelous light. For opening our eyes and letting us see ….

Sun of my soul, thou Savior dear,
It is not night if thou be near;
O may no earth-born cloud arise
To hide thee from thy servant's eyes.
John Keble, 1820