Lord of Glory, You Have Bought Us (ELW 707)
1 Lord of glory, you have bought us
with your life-blood as the price,
never grudging for the lost ones
that tremendous sacrifice;
and with that hast freely given
blessings countless as the sand
to the unthankful and the evil
with your own unsparing hand.
2 Grant us hearts, dear Lord, to give you
gladly, freely, of your own.
With the sunshine of your goodness
melt our thankless hearts of stone
till our cold and selfish natures,
warmed by you, at length believe
that more happy and more blessed
’tis to give than to receive.
3 Wondrous honor you have given
to our humblest charity
in your own mysterious sentence,
“You have done it all to me.”
Naked, sick, in prison, hungry —
in the least, your face we view,
saying by your poor and needy,
“Give as I have giv’n to you.”
4 Lord of glory, you have bought us
with your life-blood as the price,
never grudging for the lost ones
that tremendous sacrifice.
Give us faith to trust you boldly,
hope, to stay our souls on you:
but, oh, best of all your graces,
with your love our love renew.
Devotion
Inspiration comes to us in many ways. For author Eliza S. Alderson, “It was the very strong feeling that a tithe of our income was a solemn debt to God and His poor, which inspired it.” We’ve spent years trying to help people understand that we give, not because we must, but out of a sense of gratitude for all that has been given to us. However, my mother was big on duty. Whether it was visiting people who were grieving over the death of a loved one or giving to worthy causes, including the church, she was very clear that this was a duty that needed doing—but never done grudgingly or with resentment but with a glad and generous heart. Social justice, our overall theme for this week, can indeed be done with resentment or even hardness of heart. Or it can be done with an openness to the Spirit who can flood us with grace and mercy so that we live as ones blessed to be a blessing.
Prayer
Fill our hearts, O God, with a spirit of grace that we may touch the lives of those in need in new and creative ways. Through Christ our Lord, we pray. Amen.