Devotional Thought of the Day:

²² All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. ²³  These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. ²⁴  That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. ²⁵  But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy. ²⁶  Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. ²⁷  He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. ²⁸  That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.
Romans 8:22-28 (MSG)

But I pressed towards Thee, and was thrust from Thee, that I might taste of death: for thou resistest the proud. But what prouder, than for me with a strange madness to maintain myself to be that by nature which Thou art? For whereas I was subject to change (so much being manifest to me, my very desire to become wise, being the wish, of worse to become better), yet chose I rather to imagine Thee subject to change, and myself not to be that which Thou art.  (1)

139 Nothing less than Christ’s power is needed for our conflict with the devil. We know that for Christ’s sake we have a gracious God and his promise. And therefore, we pray that the Holy Spirit may govern and defend us, so that we may not be deceived and err, nor be driven to do anything against God’s will.  (2)

The congregation gathered around, absolutely devasted by the events they had endured.  They humbly gathered, downcast, not know what to do or say.  Heartbroken, unaware of how they will continue on, a simple, profound, wondrous hymn breaks out among them…

A hymn maligned, denigrated, and used as an example of poor hymnody, poor theology, poor worship by countless experts.  I will contend that if we learn this hymn if we sing it as it was meant to be sung, there are few that express the theological depth it does.

It doesn’t matter to those singing it, for it is a lament that expresses the only hope they have… the gentle words pleading for that which is promised.  A prayer expressed in words so significant that they must resonate in the church today.

“Kumbaya my Lord, Kumbaya, Kumbaya my Lord, Kumbaya, Kumbaya my Lord, Kumbaya, O Lord, Kumbaya;”

O Lord, be with us…” 

These words express the same sentiment that Augustine reveals he needed.  The attitude that is found in brokenness, the attitude of facing death, and dying to self.  St. Paul’s  words echo this, comparing this life’s brokenness to labor pains, as we await the recreation, the rebirth of all things.  It speaks of those moments when our hearts are too broken to know what to pray, and the Holy Spirit must be our intercessor, the translator of the groans too deep for words.

This song speaks of the eschatological hope we have in Christ, which St Peter begs us to be ready to do.

This song is an expression of the Theology of the Cross, the simple hope found in our brokenness and the healing promised and delivered in word and sacrament.

This song speaks of the incarnation, as we count on Christ’s presence in our lives

This song speaks of vocation, as it asks God to be there in every situation we encounter.

This song talks of the Omnipresence of God, who incarnates Himself into our lives, who draws us into Himself.

It speaks of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, our comforter-paraclete, who teaches us of God’s love.

Amazingly, this song speaks of the sacraments, as we know He has come to us as we are united to Him in the waters of baptism, as we hear His words, you are forgiven, as we are fed with His body and Blood.

It does all this in a humble way, not with glorious melodies, not with perfect 4 part harmony, not with a worship that seeks to impress both  God and those who are spectators. Rather, it is sung by voices barely able to create an audible noise.  It resonates with the depth of the hearts aid open.  It can capture the heart of all, growing in fervor, moving us from darkness to the glory found in His presence.

It is sung with hearts who realize their only hope, the only way to find peace, to receive mercy, is to encounter Almighty God in all His glory and plead for mercy, to cry the Kyrie Eleison, to plead, O Lord, be with us…

This must become again the cry of a church, in a broken world, for it points us to what is necessary, what we need to desire more than all, the presence of God.  Here, now, in our lives. 

May we be able to cry such words in faith, together, knowing that He who has promised is faithful….

Amen!

(1)   Augustine, S., Bishop of Hippo. (1996). The Confessions of St. Augustine. (E. B. Pusey, Trans.). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

(2)  Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (p. 126). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press.