“A Hymn Story of Jesus: Our Redeemer”
Come, dear children, see the baby resting on his papa’s knee;
see the stable, see the shepherds, see this child who sets us free.
He’s our Redeemer, he’s God’s chosen one. He’s our Redeemer, he’s our King.
See his mama, how she loves him; join me now, her song we’ll sing.
Hear his voice there on the hillside, telling stories to the crowd,
speaking wonder, speaking mercy to the least and to the proud.
There’s our Redeemer and our gracious Lord. There’s our Redeemer and our King,
raising up the poor and humble, like a bird upon the wing.
Gaze upon the ruined tree, friend, feel the wood against your hands;
touch his wounds and touch his tears now, touch the pain that sin demands.
That’s our Redeemer and the Lamb of God. That’s our Redeemer, that’s our King.
At this tree we touch God’s mercy, saving all from sin’s last sting.
Come, you women, in your silence, bowing down into the cave.
Smell the fragrance of a new life at the terror of a grave.
He’s our Redeemer, tell the world he lives. He’s our Redeemer, he’s our King.
We will join you in your witness; into darkness faith we bring.
Come, all people, to Christ’s table, join the laughter in this place.
Eat this bread and drink this wine now, taste the sweetness of God’s grace.
Sing our Redeemer, sing of God’s own Son. Sing our Redeemer, praises sing!
As we are, we come, God’s children, to the table of our King.
Text: Gary A. Westgard (used by permission)
Tune: “Come Thou, Fount of Every Blessing” (ELW 807)
Author’s Note: I wrote the words above for an anniversary celebration of the congregation we joined after I retired: Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer, in Watertown, South Dakota.
Devotion
Vivian had baked some wonderful cookies. It happened that a few stuck to the baking sheet and, therefore, broke while being moved from sheet to rack.
I asked if I could eat a couple. She said, “Yes, but eat the broken ones.” Then she added, “You can have as many of those as you want.” I thought, “Praise God for broken cookies!”
In the Old Testament are these words that Christians believe describe Jesus: “He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2).
But on the inside—as Psalm 34 sings, “O taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8).
When Jesus is described in the Gospels, it is not by his physical appearance. People were attracted to him by his words and his deeds.
Our Redeemer, our Lord, is good. So, just as we are, we come.
Prayer
Just as I am, thou wilt receive, wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve; because thy promise I believe, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. Amen. (ELW 592)