LBW #365, "Built on a Rock," stanza 3
Devotion
The hymn writer, N.F.S. Grundtvig, employed the language of John’s gospel, chapter 14.
We are God’s house of living stones,
Built for his habitation;
He fills our hearts,
his humble thrones,
Granting us life and salvation.
Other lines reinforce the image of God dwelling in us:
Yet he who dwells in heav’n above
Deigns to abide with us in love,
Making our bodies his temple.
The church’s foundation is “a rock” to be sure, but—once again—the “rock”-like qualities are most assuredly not those of lifeless, inert, unmovable, unfeeling, unchanging and dead matter—as if, after Einstein, there were such a thing as “dead matter.” Scripture makes plain that the “rock” who is Christ is dependable, trustworthy, and steadfast. Like a devoted, loving spouse, God in Christ will undergo painful change in order to save our relationship with God. Suffering love is what “granting us life and salvation” means.
Prayer
Thank you, God, for your steadfast love revealed to the prophets of old and made present in the unsurpassable event of Jesus. Amen.
Text: Nikolai Grundtvig, 1783-1872; tr. Carl Doving, 1867-1937, adapt. © 1958 Service Book & Hymnal, admin. Augsburg Fortress Publishing.
Reprinted under OneLicense #A-703924.