Hearalding

In the Office of Compline (prayer at the close of the day) the office begins with a prayer:  “The Lord almighty grant us a quiet night and peace at the last.”  Then follow two versicles—“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praise to your name, O Most High; to herald your love in the morning; your truth at the close of the day.”

Right before we close our eyes in anticipation of blessed rest for the night we call upon our loving and heavenly father to bless us with a good night of pleasant dreams and good rest.  And in the same vein as the children’s prayer that we were taught (and if I die before I wake I pray the Lord my soul to take) we call upon the Lord to bless us with his peace should he call us home to glory while we sleep.

We look forward, not only to good and peaceful sleep, but to the day that will come upon us when we wake.  We look forward to it because it is another day of God’s good and gracious will in our lives and the opportunity for us to serve him in his kingdom.  That being the case we acknowledge how good it is for us when we give hearty thanks to the Lord for all blessings and gifts to us; how good it is to sing praise to his name for his grace and mercy toward us in Christ Jesus.

As Christians who have been brought from death to life we are eager to herald his love and the truth of his word.  Now there is a word—herald.  About the only time we hear that world is in conjunction with Christmas and the carol, “Hark!  The Herald Angels Sing!”  Herald is one of those words that has sort of fallen out of use, so you may not be quite sure what it means.  A herald is one who proclaims a message to the public; passes on exciting and important news.  A herald is one who actively promotes or advocates for something or someone.  That the angels sure did on the night when Jesus was born.  They came to the shepherds in the field that night and not only told the shepherds what had happened but highly nudged them to go into town and find Jesus and see for themselves!

One can’t help but think of the Samaritan woman at the well who went and told her family, friends, and neighbors all that Jesus had said to her.  John 4:39 is their response:  “Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I ever did.’  So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days.  And because of his words many more became believers.  They said to the woman, ‘We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

The Samaritan woman was a herald!  She proclaimed and passed on a very important message!  She enthusiastically encouraged those around her to go and see Jesus for themselves.  Heralding isn’t just for Christmas, it isn’t just for Easter.  We should be heralds every day.  With the same great love and compassion that our Lord showed for us, let us herald his love in the morning and His truth at the close of the day!

AE