The Church's One Foundation, ELW 654
1 The Church's one foundation
Is Jesus Christ, her Lord;
She is his new creation
By water and the Word.
From heav'n he came and sought her
To be his holy bride;
With his own blood he bought her,
And for her life he died.
2 Elect from ev'ry nation,
Yet one o'er all the earth;
Her charter of salvation:
One Lord, one faith, one birth.
One holy name she blesses,
Partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses
With ev'ry grace endued.
3 Though with a scornful wonder
This world sees her oppressed,
By schisms rent asunder,
By heresies distressed,
Yet saints their watch are keeping;
Their cry goes up:
"How long?"
And soon the night of weeping
Shall be the mourn of song.
4 Through toil and tribulation
And tumult of her war,
She waits the consummation
Of peace forevermore;
Till with the vision glorious
Her longing eyes are blest,
And the great Church victorious
Shall be the Church at rest.
5 Yet she on earth has union
With God, the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion
With those whose rest is won.
O blessed heav'nly chorus!
Lord, save us by your grace,
That we, like saints before us,
May see you face to face.
Devotion
We are approaching the conclusion of a week when our focus has included several references to the Gospel of John and the first letter of John. We might well consider one of the great hymns of the church as something of a summary: "The Church's One Foundation."
The lyrics of the hymn were written by Samuel John Stone (1839-1900). Stone was a pastor in England whose ministry had its setting in poverty-stricken sectors of London. He is sometimes known as "the pastor of the poor." The spirit of the words are set already in the first two stanzas: "one foundation," "new creation by water and the word one o'er all the earth" and "one Lord, one faith, one birth, one holy name she blesses, partakes one holy food, one hope."
The majestic music to which these words are set was composed by Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810-1876), the grandson of Charles W. Wesley. We are richly blessed by the heritage of faith that reaches across the centuries!
Prayer
O Lord, inspire us, we pray, by your Spirit for the ministry to which you call your church. Amen.