The Sun (Parish Magazine Item for July)

 

From The Rectory

 

Over recent weeks we have become reacquainted with that strange firey-yellow ball in the sky, which we might have been forgiven for forgetting. As I write it’s a glorious sunny day and I’ve been able to keep my sunburn more than adequately topped up of late, despite the silly hat and the factor 50. We even experienced that rarest of events: a hot bank holiday.

 

Sunshine is an amazing free gift, available to us all, and one for which we often fail to be thankful.

 

It’s possible to understand something of why some cultures have worshiped the sun, I think, though the Bible puts it firmly in its place as something God has made and rules. The Bible tells us that the creation displays the invisible qualities of its Creator: his eternal power and divine nature (Romans 1:16). And in particular it waxes lyrical about the heavens and skies, and especially the sun:

         

The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands….
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
    like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It rises at one end of the heavens
    and makes its circuit to the other;
    nothing is deprived of its warmth.        (Psalm 19) 

 

If we reflect on sun, it can shed light on its Maker and our relationship to him. The Psalmist can also say: “The LORD God is a sun and a shield;” (84:2).

 

The sun is unimaginably great and we are relatively small and insignificant. The vastness and power of the sun are hard for us to conceive. It contains 99.7% of the total mass of our solar system and 1.3 million earths could fit inside it. We literally revolve around it! How much more, then, the One who created and sustains the sun, and countless other stars and planets.

 

At night we can’t see the sun and in Britain the clouds very often hide it. But of course it’s always there, as is God. And we always depend on the sun. Without its heat and light, there could be no life on earth. And, whether we realise it or not, we are equally dependant on God who gives light and life to all people (cf. John 1:1-5).

 

The prophet Malachi anticipates the judgement of God on wickedness, but he also says that for God’s people who revere his name, “the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays.” (4:2). This final chapter of our Old Testaments has often been taken as a prophecy of Jesus the Messiah, not least in the Christmas carol, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing:

 

Hail the Heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Risen with healing in His wings;

 

Maybe next time we enjoy the sunshine, we might pause to remember the Light of the World who has risen from the grave. May his light dawn afresh in our hearts and scatter our darkness.

 

For further reflections biblical reflections on the sun, the stars and many other aspects of creation, I’d recommend Andrew Wilson’s book, God of All Things: Rediscovering the Sacred in an Everyday World (Zondervan, 2021), on which I’ve drawn above.

 

The Revd Marc Lloyd