July 10, 2015

“Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise,” ELW 834

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
in light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise!

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
nor wanting, nor wasting, thou rulest in might;
thy justice like mountains high soaring above
thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.

To all, life thou givest, to both great and small;
in all life thou livest, the true life of all;
we blossom and flourish like leaves on the tree,
and wither and perish, but naught changeth thee.”

“In verse 3 of this hymn we sing about how God has given us life. Our lives are pure gift from God. No matter how big or how small our imaginations about the impact of our lives—I am sure we often underestimate: remember George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life”—our first response to God’s gift of grace of such magnitude should be a breath-catching “Wow!” and “Thank you!” “G*d Pause” Luther Seminary

If you remember the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”, poor George Bailey finds himself in a bit of a pickle. His business has lost some money, and he is running out of options to find a loan from someone in the small community, someone other than “Mr. Potter”. He finds himself at a local drinking establishment when he offers up a short prayer. And the first response George Bailey “thinks” he gets from G*d when he offers a prayer is “a punch in the mouth.” It is after realizing that his life is worth more than just “money”, and that his life is about the abundance that G*d has showered upon him and how he has shared that abundance with others, then and only then is George able to experience the generosity of his community which leads him to a “Wow” moment and a “Thank you” prayer to G*d.

Since the beginning of time, so many lives have come and gone on this earth it would be staggering to calculate how many. And even so many have withered and perished, G*d is still G*d — G*d is still the “Alpha and the Omega” — the beginning and the end. And still, G*d considered each one of us so important that G*d gave us all life. And that fact alone, today, should make you say “Wow” — and lead you to say “Thank You Lord”.

Pastor Dave