I Love to Tell the Story (Evangelical Lutheran Worship 661)
1 I love to tell the story
of unseen things above,
of Jesus and his glory,
of Jesus and his love.
I love to tell the story,
because I know it’s true;
it satisfies my longings
as nothing else would do.
Refrain:
I love to tell the story;
’twill be my theme in glory
to tell the old, old story
of Jesus and his love.
2 I love to tell the story:
how pleasant to repeat
what seems, each time I tell it,
more wonderfully sweet!
I love to tell the story,
for some have never heard
the message of salvation
from God’s own holy word. [Refrain]
3 I love to tell the story,
for those who know it best
seem hungering and thirsting
to hear it like the rest.
And when, in scenes of glory,
I sing the new, new song,
I’ll sing the old, old story
that I have loved so long. [Refrain]
Text: Katherine Hankey; Music: William E. Fischer; Public Domain
Devotion
In January, 2023, as part of a class at Luther Seminary, I was fortunate to travel to Iringa, Tanzania, where we learned from several communities of faith and pastors in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania. On our final evening in Iringa, we climbed to the top of Gangilonga Rock, an enormous, monolithic granite boulder, for a worship service. Now, we hadn’t planned to worship; it just happened. As the setting sun bathed us and the surrounding hills in golds and pinks and oranges, our hosts were moved to sing and dance, and we followed. Most of us could only speak English—or Swahili—not both. But there we were, followers of Christ, normally separated by an ocean and most of a continent, living out and telling the story for and with “those who know it best,” as God’s good creation, too, proclaimed God’s glory. We hunger and thirst to tell this story—and when we do, it fills, renews, sustains, and unites us.
Prayer
God of unity, thank you for giving us a common language—your love for us made known in Jesus Christ—and thank you for the gifts of learning and partnership across faiths and cultures that bring us and your creation more fully into one with and through you. Amen.