“Come, You Faithful, Raise the Strain,” stanzas 4 & 5 (ELW 363)
4 For today among the twelve
Christ appeared, bestowing
His deep peace, which ever more
Passes human knowing.
Neither could the gates of death,
Nor the tomb's dark portal,
Nor the watchers, nor the seal,
Hold him as a mortal.
5 Christ is alive!
Ascended Lord-
He rules the world his Father made,
Till, in the end, his love adored
Shall be to all on earth displayed
Devotion
Christ is risen! Sin and death no longer have the last word. Through Jesus’ resurrection we have been delivered from their grasp. This is a gift, not something we can earn. How can we respond?
With song. “Alleluia! Now we cry to our Lord immortal.” A gift as immense and profound as this one can have no other response than deep and abiding joy. And as a friend of mine has been known to remark, joy leads inevitably to song. The Easter season lasts for fifty days—fifty days of rejoicing—yet even that length of time is not enough to contain our joy. It goes on and on, echoing through all times and places, as our voices join with other saints on earth and the hosts of heaven. Christ himself leads the song, as the final verses of this hymn remind us: “Alleluia! with the Son, God the Father praising; Alleluia! yet again to the Spirit raising.”
Prayer
Risen Jesus, join our voices together with yours as we praise God and sing the story of your love. Let our gladness have no end. Alleluia! Amen.