Creator of the Stars of Night (ELW 245, focus on verse 2)
1 Creator of the stars of night,
your people’s everlasting light,
O Christ, redeemer of us all,
we pray you hear us when we call.
2 When this old world drew on toward night,
you came; but not in splendor bright,
not as a monarch, but the child
of Mary, blessed mother mild.
3 At your great name, O Jesus, now
all knees must bend, all hearts must bow:
all things on earth with one accord,
like those in heav’n, shall call you Lord.
4 Come in your holy might, we pray,
redeem us for eternal day;
defend us while we dwell below
from all assaults of our dread foe.
5 To God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Spirit, Three in One,
praise, honor, might, and glory be
from age to age eternally. Amen.
Text: Latin hymn, 9th cent.; tr. Hymnal 1940, alt.
Text © 1940 Church Pension Fund, admin. Church Publishing Incorporated. All rights reserved.
Reprinted under OneLicense.net #A730924
Devotion
The text of our theme hymn for this Advent devotional series was written in the ninth century C.E. It was arranged into the form we know it in the 1940s, but originated nearly 1,000 years before that, at the turn of the first millennium after the time when Jesus was born. Both then and now, I suspect that the line “when this old world drew on toward night” could have felt so true to the moment. In every age, I bet things have felt weary, tired, dark, and difficult. But in every age, God can and does bring light, renewal, and a way to go on. Advent is a season in the church when we slow down and pay special attention to the darkness and the waiting, but the waiting is always there. Hearing the story anew reminds us that we may need to look for hope in places we never expected to find it.
Prayer
Lord, you know we get weary, especially when we feel we have been waiting too long for something to change. Let us remember that we are not alone in this waiting, and that newness of life is always possible. Even if not in splendor bright, we trust hope will come, because the story of Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection is true in every age. We are wrapped in holy mystery. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.