How Good, Lord, to Be Here! (ELW 315)
1 How good, Lord, to be here!
Your glory fills the night;
your face and garments, like the sun,
shine with unborrowed light.
2 How good, Lord, to be here,
your beauty to behold
where Moses and Elijah stand,
your messengers of old.
3 Fulfiller of the past
and hope of things to be,
we hail your body glorified
and our redemption see.
4 Before we taste of death,
we see your kingdom come;
we long to hold the vision bright
and make this hill our home.
5 How good, Lord, to be here!
Yet we may not remain;
but since you bid us leave the mount,
come with us to the plain.
Devotion
Today’s hymn tells the gospel account of the transfiguration in music and words. What a joy to see the glorified Christ along with Moses and Elijah and hearing the voice of God. As we are led into the season of Lent, we prepare to follow the story of the fulfillment of our redemption about to take place in Jerusalem. As we prepare to follow Jesus on the way to the cross, we well remember these words from Martin Luther’s explanation to the Second Article of the Apostles’ Creed in his Small Catechism: “At great cost he has saved and redeemed me …. not with silver or gold but with his holy and precious blood and his innocent suffering and death.” The Festival of the Transfiguration is about seeing the glorified Christ, but it is also about our transformation as followers of Jesus. Trusting what Jesus has done for us, we are freed and empowered to be faithful witnesses to the gospel.
Prayer
Dear Jesus, we give thanks to see you in your glory on the Mount of the Transfiguration, “but since you bid us leave the mount, come with us to the plain.” Amen