JAN. 13, 2008 PASTOR SCOTT FULLER
IS 42:1-9; PS 29; ACTS 10:34-43; MT 3:13-17
Prepare our hearts, Lord, to receive your Word. Silence in us any voice but your own that in hearing we may believe and in believing we may obey your will revealed to us in Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dear friends in Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
One particular phrase from today’s O.T. Lesson kept weaving its way into my thoughts this week as I thought about this sermon. In v. 6 of Isaiah 42, God says to the people of the promise, I have taken you by the hand…
I wanted to talk about baptism in general and Jesus’ baptism in particular – I mean, today’s theme is the Baptism of Our Lord, and rare is the time when the Gospel lesson is not central to a Lutheran preacher’s sermon. But try as I might, I couldn’t free my focus from this phrase.
It’s kind of like when part of a song gets stuck in your brain…you find yourself whistling it, humming it, singing it, drumming it. It’s never complete – and yet it’s always there – so much so that you’re hardly even aware of it until someone (let’s say my wife or daughter, for example), says, Don’t you know any other parts of that song?
Well, late on Thursday night, something seemed to click. My mind’s ears and eyes started working together, started making connections between this image of God’s hand holding us close and certain songs and hymns of our faith. A quick look through our worship books revealed 15 such hymns – too many for us to sing today. But I’ve chosen several to help us celebrate this spiritual certainty that we are healed and helped and held close by the hand of the God of love and grace.
My daughter, Rachel, pointed out to me that these four hymns together form sort of a journey-through-life theme. The first, that old favorite, He Leadeth Me, evokes in my mind an image of God as parent firmly grasping the hand of a child through tantrums and tears, foibles and fears, plans and schemes, hopes and dreams. Let’s all join in singing our first song:
He leadeth me, O
blessed thought O words with heavenly comfort fraught
What e'er I do, where e'er I be Still tis God's hand that leadeth me
Chorus:
He leadeth me, He leadeth me By His own hand, He leadeth me
His faithful follower I would be For by His hand He leadeth me
Sometimes 'mid scenes
of deepest gloom Sometimes where Eden's bowers bloom
By waters still, o'er troubled sea Still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me
The next song, On Eagle’s Wings, reminds me of the adventure that life presents to our youth. It is an invitation from God to dare to live by faith, to believe that as we soar through celebrations or charge through challenges, the Rock in whom we trust is holding us secure. Rachel will sing the verses and we’ll all join in on the chorus.
You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord, Who abide in this shadow for life,
Say to the Lord: "My refuge, My rock in whom I trust!"
Chorus:
And I will raise you up on eagle's wings, Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun, And hold you in the palm of my hand.
For to the angels God's given a command To guard you in all of your ways;
Upon their hands they will bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
The third song, Precious Lord, was written by Thomas Dorsey in 1932. His wife died while giving birth to their daughter…and their baby died just a short time later. This tragic episode prompted Mr. Dorsey to pour out his grief and pain in words that now serve as a book-end to this whole experience of God’s loving presence in our lives from birth to death.
Rachel will sing the first verse and we’ll all join in on the second.
Precious Lord, take my hand, Lead me on, let me stand,
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn; Through the storm, through the night,
Lead me on to the light: Take my hand, precious Lord, Lead me home.
When the darkness
appears And the night draws near,
And the day is past and gone, At the river I stand, Guide my feet, hold my hand:
Take my hand, precious Lord, Lead me home.
Our fourth was written by Isaac Watts and has been one of my favorites since I can remember. It lifts up for us the strange truth that God has forever changed a cruel symbol of death into one of the most beautiful symbols of faith and hope and love. It’s a painful puzzle: how a good, loving rabbi came to be nailed, hands and feet, to the cross. It is a magnificent mystery how God still works through Jesus’ open hand to heal the sick, feed the hungry, make the lame to walk and the blind to see.
After we all sing the two verses of When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, Marcie will continue playing the tune while Rachel sings part of the song entitled Goodbye to My Mama written by the prairie humorist and theologian, Garrison Keillor. He’s taken the beautiful melody of our hymn and inscribed upon it a few more verses. In them, he captures the image of a loving mother’s hands and helps us see in them the physical manifestation of God’s great love for us all.
When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died;
my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.
See, from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown.
Whose hands are these so rough and hard, Nails all torn from toil and care?
Who cleaned the house and kept the yard?
Touched my cheek and stroked my hair?
Thank you Mama the lord give you peace.
Bless your voice and the songs you've sung.
Blessed your arms and your hands and your knees.
How you loved us when we were young.
The Lord's my shepherd I'll not want. I have my Mama,
my uncles and aunts.
Waters so still and pastures so green.
Goodness and mercy following me.
Goodness and mercy following me.
The worn nails and scarred hands of our parents remind us of their love that flows down for us even as the nails through Jesus’ hands remind us of God’s sorrow and love that flow mingled down for all people. From Tender Teacher to Suffering Servant to Savior of all people, God is our Mother who creates in love, our Father who leads in love, our Guide who walks with us hand in hand through goodness and mercy all the days of our lives. Amen.