O Come Thou Dayspring

“O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer

Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.”

(O Come, O Come Emmanuel)

The summer after my first year of college, I worked as an office assistant for the university’s Conference Services.  It was an easy job—just sitting at a desk in the residence halls and being available to handle questions and concerns from guests staying at the university.  It was easy, but the desks had to be staffed 24/7, which meant that once or twice a week I would pull a graveyard shift from midnight to 6 a.m.  Even if no guests were awake at that hour, I still had to be there in case of an emergency.

I remember those nights, coming in with a large cup of coffee, killing time with reading, journaling, or Facebook, even pacing the floors, hoping an emergency might actually happen to break the tedium. It often felt like an exercise in futility.

As the hours passed, I would keep peeking outside, looking for the first crack of dawn.  Dawn, or what our early English ancestors may have called dayspring, when the world would awaken anew. For me, the weary worker, the dawn signaled the end of fruitless labor and beginning of rest.

My friends, we see a world waiting in the darkness.  Not a day goes by that we don’t hear of some new violence, some broken home, some innocence lost.  We ask why these things happen, and why our own labors against them seem so futile.  The answers elude us, all is dark as night around us.

 “...To give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us.” (Luke 1:77-78, NKJV)

Zechariah’s prophecy in Luke 1 spoke of the coming of dawn for all mankind.  Humanity had lived a futile existence up to that point, living in sin and rebellion against God.  Some tried to make atonement through animal sacrifices, yet endless sacrifices could not repair the broken relationship between men and their Creator.  All was vain, endless toil until this point, when suddenly, the Light dawned.

The coming of the Christ-child heralded a new beginning, the beginning of hope for all men—the hope for a restored relationship with God.  Because Christ was able to repair this relationship through His death and resurrection, He brought us into the light of God’s presence.  We need not toil in vain any longer.  We need not sit in the darkness of confused minds and hearts bent towards evil, for the Dayspring has come! We can have new light in our lives through knowledge of God through His Word, fellowship with His presence through prayer, the wise guidance of His Spirit in us, and meaningful labor on earth that brings Him honor and praise. 

“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.” (Romans 13:11-12, NKJV)

Awake, my friends, and live in the light.