“There's a Wideness in God's Mercy," ELW 588
Devotion
There's a wideness in God's mercy,
like the wideness of the sea;
there's a kindness in God's justice
which is more than liberty.
There is no place where earth's sorrows
are more felt than up in heav'n.
There is no place where earth's failings
have such kindly judgment giv'n.
There is welcome for the sinner,
and a promised grace made good;
there is mercy with the Savior;
there is healing in his blood.
There is grace enough for thousands
of new worlds as great as this;
there is room for fresh creations
in that upper home of bliss.
For the love of God is broader
than the measures of our mind;
and the heart of the Eternal
is most wonderfully kind.
But we make this love too narrow
by false limits of our own;
and we magnify its strictness
with a zeal God will not own.
'Tis not all we owe to Jesus;
it is something more than all:
greater good because of evil,
larger mercy through the fall.
Make our love, O God, more faithful;
let us take you at your word,
and our lives will be thanksgiving
for the goodness of the Lord.
This past week our readings have led us on a journey. We have been surprised by God's Spirit and delighted as we meditated on the Lord’s Torah. Along our journey we have been shown a new kind of community where we are invited to join in one another's joys and sorrows, praying and singing together. We've seen the dangers of putting up barriers in the way of the weak and been surprised again as we keep stumbling over Jesus—the one who then lifts us all up into God’s loving arms.
A common theme on this journey has been vision (or lack thereof). Our human vision is often much too narrow. Along this life's journey our eyes are too often focused downward on the trivial and mundane. We need a more expansive vision. Have you ever climbed up a hill or mountain and been blown away with the scenery when you’ve reached the top? It takes your breath away!
God is concerned about the wideness of mercy, the expansiveness of justice, the broadness of love. Try as we might to limit the wideness of God’s Spirit, along comes Jesus who keeps tripping us up with his perfect love. Yet truth be told, day by day we need to trip and fall so that we can be raised to new life again. In that moment the Spirit is let loose in us as we open our eyes wide and catch a surprising vision of God’s shalom.
Prayer
Open our eyes gracious God and expand our vision. Help us to behold your glory reflected in the faces of all your children. As we behold a vision of your shalom, take our breath away and fill our lungs with the breath of your Holy Spirit. Amen.