Walking in the light of Jesus, the morning star

So, do you fellow Alaskans roll out of bed as easily in January as you do in June? Maybe I’m getting older. Maybe I’m getting lazier. (I hope not!) But, I think that this year especially I have found it a little easier to open my eyes in the morning, and to see the dark, and to then stay in bed “just for a few more minutes.” That is not my normal reaction to morning. I have often fled sleeping so that I would not miss some opportunity to work or play. My mother used to say that I “fought sleep.” My wife, Kathy, says that I get along on much less sleep than she does, and she sometimes worries that I don’t get enough sleep to be healthy. But, this year I’ve just found it a little easier to “hibernate.”

I am convinced that light plays a big difference in our energy level and activity level. Alaskans know that light also affects our mood. In the summer, when the sunlight hits my closed eyelids very early in the morning, I often get up before any alarm. But, in the winter, when it’s time to get up, but there are still stars in the dark sky, it always seems easier to sleep. This year just more so.

Actually, the effect of light and darkness has been one of the reasons I like to get outdoors in the winter. If you can rise and go to work in the dark, and if you can then leave work and come home in the dark, those hours of light can be a precious, energy-giving time. So, on my days off I make sure I go fishing, or skiing, or simply get outside. Light gives energy and life, perhaps even more so when the world around us is dark.

Do you know that one of the names given to Jesus is “Morning Star?” The light of that star which shines in darkness has perhaps more meaning to Alaskans who understand times of physical darkness.

In Peters second epistle, as Peter is sharing his experience at the Transfiguration and re-affirming that Jesus is indeed the long-awaited Messiah, promised in the Old Testament, he writes to his congregation, “And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” (2 Peter 1:19) Jesus is The Morning Star.

In the last chapter of the Bible, as Jesus appears to John in a Revelation, promising that He is indeed coming again, Jesus assures John, "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star." Jesus calls himself, “The Morning Star.”

But, it is not just a lack of sunlight that brings darkness to our world. The sinful nature which lurks within each of us brings disappointment, sorrow, pain and death. The inability of our elected officials to be able to act in a way that is good for all people brings darkness. The scourge of substance abuse that ruins lives and families, and which often causes death, brings darkness. The forces within that tear apart families and households, bring darkness. The emptiness and grief of missing a loved one who has died, bring darkness.

But, in the dark sky of a sinful world we have the “Morning Star.” We have the promise of God’s love and favor, even when our world is full of hatred and fighting. We have the assurance of God’s forgiveness, even when we have failed to live in obedience and love. We have the sure hope of eternal life for all who believe in Jesus, because the Morning Star died and rose. Jesus is that Morning Star whose light even shines through the darkness of deepest night.

There are many hymns which offer prayers, and praise God, because Jesus brings the light of the righteousness and love of God into our dark world. Perhaps you know the traditional hymn “O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright,” (Lutheran Service Book 395) or the Epiphany hymn, “Brightest and Best of the Stars of the Morning” (Lutheran Service Book 400) But, I believe that a new hymn best speaks a prayer that is on my heart. Perhaps your heart echos the words of the hymn, “I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light.” (Lutheran Service Book 411)

I want to walk as a child of the light, I want to follow Jesus.

God set the stars to give light to the world. The star of my life is Jesus.

Refrain

In Him there is no darkness at all. The night and the day are both alike.

The Lamb is the Light of the city of God. I want to follow Jesus.

Yes, in our dark world of sin, this hymn speaks well the prayer of my heart. “I want to walk as a child of the light, I want to follow Jesus.”