“My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less,” ELW 597
Devotion
My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
no merit of my own I claim,
but wholly lean on Jesus' name.
Refrain
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness veils his lovely face,
I rest on his unchanging grace;
in ev'ry high and stormy gale
my anchor holds within the veil. Refrain
His oath, his covenant, his blood
sustain me in the raging flood;
when all supports are washed away,
he then is all my hope and stay. Refrain
When he shall come with trumpet sound,
oh, may I then in him be found,
clothed in his righteousness alone,
redeemed to stand before the throne! Refrain
What do you hope for? I talk a lot about hope with church councils, call committees and other people who are trying to figure out what is in store for their congregation or ministry. In the midst of pressing concerns and uncertain directions, it seems that the hardest thing for so many of us is to build our hope on the promises of God through Jesus Christ. Perhaps, part of the reason is that it is so difficult to see that budgets and other administrative issues that belong to institutions are also issues of God's concern for how we live into the future with hope. If we let God into all our decision-making processes, our focus would be clearer and our work tuned to the working out of God's purposes.
Prayer
God, who brings hope to the hopeless, help us to value our neighbors more than electric bills or lawn mowing. Help us balance our budgets with care for the stranger and love for all creation. Amen.