“Lord of Glory, You Have Bought Us,” ELW 707
1 Lord of glory, you have bought us with your life-blood as the price, never grudging for the lost ones that tremendous sacrifice; and with that have freely given blessings countless as the sand to the unthankful and the evil with your own unsparing hand.
2 Grant us hearts, dear Lord, to give you gladly, freely, of your own.
With the sunshine of your goodness melt our thankless hearts of stone till our cold and selfish natures, warmed by you, at length believe that more happy and more blessed 'tis to give than to receive.
3 Wondrous honor you have given to our humblest charity in your own mysterious sentence, "You have done it all to me."
Naked, sick, in prison, hungry in the least, your face we view, saying by your poor and needy, "Give as I have giv'n to you."
4 Lord of glory, you have brought us with your life-blood as the price, never grudging for the lost ones that tremendous sacrifice.
Give us faith to trust you boldly, hope, to stay our souls on you: but, oh, best of all your graces, with your love our love renew.
Devotion
This hymn summarizes the week's lectionary texts. By grace, Christ paid in full for us and God continues to give us countless blessings. Trusting boldly, we have hope. Grace, blessings, trust and hope give us freedom to give, which brings joy.
Grace + Blessings + Trust + Hope [yields] Freedom [yields] Giving [yields] Joy
Is it this simple? Certainly, we cannot reduce our relationship with God and our neighbors to a simple formula! However, is it true that if we fully trust God, we can fully give to our neighbors?
I am part of a group considering what it means to have "enough for all" and how we can reach this goal. It seems there are some steps to achieving our goal: trust God, have hope, claim our freedom and give generously. Is seeking "enough for all" a path for living from the kingdom now into the kingdom to come?
Prayer
Lord of Glory, grow our trust and help us recognize your abundant blessings. Give us hope and help us claim our freedom so that we boldly share all you give us. Strengthen us to live fully in the kingdom now and with generosity into the kingdom yet to come. Amen.