“I Love to Tell the Story,” ELW 661, LBW 390 and TFBF 228
1 I love to tell the story of unseen things above,
of Jesus and his glory, of Jesus and his love.
I love to tell the story, because I know it’s true;
it satisfies my longings as nothing else would do.
Refrain:
I love to tell the story;
I’ll sing this theme in glory
and tell the old, old story
of Jesus and his love.
2 I love to tell the story: how pleasant to repeat
what seems, each time I tell it, more wonderfully sweet!
I love to tell the story, for some have never heard
the message of salvation from God’s own holy word.
Refrain
3 I love to tell the story, for those who know it best
seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest.
And when, in scenes of glory, I sing the new, new song,
how Christ, the gift from heaven, is God’s great gift of grace.
Refrain
Devotion
I love this hymn, which is often sung only on mission Sundays. Katherine Hankey (1834-1911) brings us back to the theme of witnessing Christ in a world that is broken and perhaps weary of his gospel. Born and raised in a Christian home in London, Katherine is said to have taken pleasure in leading Sunday school Bible studies in the city’s slums. At age 30 she was bedridden for months. Unable to move, she wrote poems about Jesus that eventually gave the church this inspiring hymn, published in 1868.
The last verse is for me most thrilling. The story is not only for those “out there,” but also within for those within the church. They “seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest”! Oh, how wonderful it is for us to tell the story of Christ’s love! Oh, how wonderful it is when we hunger and thirst to hear it more!
Prayer
Lord Jesus, how wonderful it is to tell your story! We thank you for those who told it before. Help us by your Spirit that it becomes our song, so that others may see your glory. Amen.