Sanctuary light

If you grew up in (or still worship in) a sacramental church, you may remember the sanctuary light, a candle lit to represent God’s Presence in the church. This morning I was reading from my Tozer devotional a reminder that we are God’s sanctuary,  and as such our hearts should be a pure and holy place for Him to dwell:   Build that invisible altar from within. Let the spirit of God produce the living, cleansing flame that marks your devotion to Christ, our Lord.

A wisp of a prayer from the recesses of my memory surfaced from the evening service called Vespers,  a sunset service of evening prayer. In fact, long ago bells in towns used to ring six times per day to call people to pray throughout the day. (You can read more about the Book of Hours or Prayers of the Hours, if you’re interested.  Or you might enjoy Davis Bunn’s fiction book, The Book of Hours, which includes some of this history.) Perhaps we might all benefit from reminders throughout the day to stop for a few moments and connect with our Heavenly Father. To put our current activities, responsibilities, and concerns into perspective. To stop, look up from our work, give Him a smile and let Him know how grateful we are. To affirm that our hearts are still devoted to Him.

Vespers is still practiced by many throughout the world. O Gracious Light is an ancient prayer from that service: O Gracious Light, pure brightness of the everliving Father in Heaven, O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed! Now, as we come to the setting of the sun, and our eyes behold the vesper light, we sing Your praises, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices, O Son of God, O Giver of Life, and to be glorified through all the worlds.


Remember the phrase, she’s carrying a torch for him (or vice versa)? The image evoked a flame in one’s heart which has continued to burn, despite the circumstances which might have easily snuffed it out. ADONAI’s flame of love for us never goes out, and neither should ours for Him. Is our heart cleansed so that His Presence can burn a sanctuary light within us? Do we carry His torch, which burns faithfully and ceaselessly throughout our days on this earth?

Some of us are in our sunset years. Do we carry the Vesper light? Or have we allowed it to dim through the challenges, disappointments, or weariness of life?  Have we become weary of fighting the good fight of the faith? If so, we need to devote more time to the One Who first lit that flame and can cause it to burn brightly. It should emit such a deep glow from within that it warms the cold hearts of others around us.  They should be drawn to its warmth and light. And we, ourselves, should be acolytes dedicated to its tending.