“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.
"Make our Love, O God, more Faithful."
An Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) congregation nearby created a mission statement that commits it to "sharing Christ's love with the greatest number of people." As those who have experienced a mercy "like the wideness of the sea," can we pledge ourselves to anything less? Think of just some of what happens when people come to know Jesus' way of life and love. Those who thought they didn’t matter much to anyone discover a God who really does care what happens to them. People who thought they were unworthy before God, come to know a Christ who forgives and makes them acceptable. Lonely persons who thought their aloneness was incurable realize that God is always there for them. Saddened ones recover their joy. Confused ones find a sense of purpose. People who have given up on hope determine that there is absolutely nothing that they and God can't somehow handle together.
Prayer
Lord God, help us hold on to the conviction that all will be well. All. And forever. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.