Archives for June 13, 2015

Devotion

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
in light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise!

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
nor wanting, nor wasting, thou rulest in might;
thy justice like mountains high soaring above
thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.

To all, life thou givest, to both great and small;
in all life thou livest, the true life of all;
we blossom and flourish like leaves on the tree,
and wither and perish, but naught changeth thee.

Thou reignest in glory; thou dwellest in light;
thine angels adore thee, all veiling their sight;
all laud we would render; oh, help us to see
'tis only the splendor of light hideth thee!

This week's appointed readings are full of imagery of growth. We know our lives are sustained by food and air which are intimately and inextricably tied to plants. Our own lives are compared to plants as well when Jesus talks about fruit that comes from when we abide in him. Images of soil and seed, watering and harvesting abound in scripture.

In verse 3 of this hymn we sing about how God has given us life. Our lives are pure gift from God. No matter how big or how small our imaginations about the impact of our lives—I am sure we often underestimate: remember George Bailey in "It's a Wonderful Life"—our first response to God's gift of grace of such magnitude should be a breath-catching "Wow!" and "Thank you!"

Our life is redeemed, animated and fulfilled by a God who dwells in God's people. God chooses to live in and through us giving us true and abundant life. We blossom and flourish and provide fruit and sheltering branches and all manner of resources so that others might also live. But to do this, we also, like John the Baptist, must get out of the way. We must decrease so that God may increase. We wither and perish, like John, but God's steadfast love and care for all does not change.