Sunrise From On High

This last week my wife and I drove to the coast to celebrate our forty-fifth anniversary.  Something seemed to draw us to the beach, to the crashing waves that wash upon the shore, to the endless horizon of the sea.  Perhaps it was because we were married on the coast 45 years ago.

I think it was something more.  There is something mystical about the ocean. Across the years I have felt it on the beaches of Florida, California, Hawaii, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and North Africa. The ocean touches every continent of the globe, sleeping a deep sleep, slumbering an eternal slumber and waking with irresistible power. Its currents control the weather.  By all accounts it is the cradle of life.  It contains the mystery that makes the third planet from the Sun unique in the galaxies of space.

Last week I rose before daylight, loaded my backpack and walked to the beach, about a quarter of a mile from our condo.  As the dawn approached, the eastern sky was ablaze with splashes of crimson and gold. But thick clouds low on the horizon hid the sun as it crept above the earth’s rim.  The crimson and gold colors faded.  Suddenly the rising sun found an opening in the clouds and lit the sky and sea. It reflected off the cresting waves and streaked the sand with shadows.

I was reminded of what Zacharias said when his son, John was born.  Having been told by an angel that his child would be the forerunner for the Messiah, he had been stricken mute for the nine months of his wife’s pregnancy.  But when the baby was born, his tongue was loosed. The miracle and the wonder that he had harbored in silence burst from his breast, and he sang:

“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways;
To give to His people the knowledge of salvation
By the forgiveness of their sins,
Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,
To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.”(Luke 1:76-79).

Christmas is like that, like the sunrise. The Creator chose to enter into His creation in the form of a baby so that we might see His glory. He broke through the clouds of gloom and dispelled the darkness of despair.  He lights the world with His beauty and give us hope. The sunrise from on high has visited us!