Sunday, March 9, 2014

Devotion

Beneath the cross of Jesus
I long to take my stand;
the shadow of a mighty rock
within a weary land,
a home within a wilderness,
a rest upon the way,
from the burning of the noontide heat
and burdens of the day.

Upon the cross of Jesus,
my eye at times can see
the very dying form of one
who suffered there for me.
And from my contrite heart, with tears,
two wonders I confess:
the wonder of his glorious love
and my unworthiness.

I take, O cross, your shadow
for my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than
the sunshine of his face;
content to let the world go by,
to know no gain nor loss,
my sinful self my only shame,
my glory all, the cross.

"Beneath the Cross of Jesus I long to take my stand ..."

Of all the places in the world why stand here? What is it about the foot of the cross that matters so much?

The hymn writer offers theological evidence tested in the crucible of her own experience. Because the foot of the cross is "the shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land" and "a home within the wilderness, a rest upon the way, from the burning of the noontide heat and the burdens of the day." Protection, belonging and refreshment all in one place, how extraordinarily good is that!

"Upon the cross of Jesus my eye at times can see ..." In her poetry, Elizabeth Clephone reaches across time and geography, inviting us to turn our eyes from our screens and the blur of our overstimulated visual culture to look into the form and face of the "one for others," Jesus, whose glorious love for us centers, fills and resets our lives and all creation. Here is a visual compass for life, how extraordinarily good is that!