Jesus is a Rock in a Weary Land,” ELW 333
Devotion
Refrain
Jesus is a rock in a weary land,
a weary land, a weary land;
my Jesus is a rock in a weary land,
a shelter in a time of storm.
No one can do like Jesus,
not a mumbling word he said;
he went walking down to Lazarus' grave,
and he raised him from the dead. Refrain
When Jesus was on earth,
the flesh was very weak;
he took a towel and girded himself
and he washed his disciples' feet. Refrain
Yonder comes my Savior,
him whom I love so well;
he has the palm of victory
and the keys of death and hell. Refrain
The verses of this spiritual testify to Jesus' actions—restoring Lazarus to life; washing the feet of his disciples; and unlocking the chains of death and hell. Many other deeds could have been recited, of course, but these, perhaps, spoke most meaningfully to plantation slaves whose hope for a better life existed mainly in the afterlife. Jesus stands up to the powers of sin and the devil. He breaks the shackles of death. He turns the conventional understanding of greatness upside down. To serve, not to be served, is the better path. And when they and we come to die, whether later or sooner, Jesus will be there to welcome us all into a new, and anything but weary, land.
Prayer
Dear Lord, in this season of Lent, and indeed throughout the year, give us the strength and courage to follow more faithfully Jesus' example of servanthood for the sake of the world. Amen.