I’m So Glad Jesus Lifted Me (ELW 860)
1 I’m so glad Jesus lifted me.
I’m so glad Jesus lifted me.
I’m so glad Jesus lifted me.
singing glory, hallelujah!
Jesus lifted me.
2 Satan had me bound, Jesus lifted me.
Satan had me bound, Jesus lifted me.
Satan had me bound, Jesus lifted me.
singing glory, hallelujah!
Jesus lifted me.
3 When I was in trouble, Jesus lifted me.
When I was in trouble, Jesus lifted me.
When I was in trouble, Jesus lifted me.
singing glory, hallelujah!
Jesus lifted me.
Devotion
To borrow a popular social media phrase, I was “This-years-old” when I found out about the amazing civil rights work of the National Association of Colored Women (NACW). Their motto was “lifting as we climb”. Co-founder Mary Church Terrell as well as her fellow members Ida B. Wells and Harriet Tubman understood that they were called, not only to climb for their own freedom, but also to lift others in their quest for liberation. When we are lifted up by Jesus, in the midst of our trouble, our hearts are filled with gladness. But this is not a private gladness to be privately enjoyed. This gladness is a stream flowing throughout the earth, carrying the waters of justice and joy to others. As we are lifted up by the power of Christs’ resurrection on our earthly climb toward freedom, may we also never forget to lift others along the way.
Prayer
God of sustaining joy lift us up from depression.
God of abiding presence lift us up from loneliness.
God of everlasting peace lift us up from violence.
God of welcoming justice lift us up from oppression.
God of redeeming mercy remind us that in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus that you have lifted us up out of death and into abundant life. Amen.