We did it again this morning and it struck me with great force:
Thee will I love my strength, my tower;
Thee will I love, my hope, my joy;
Thee will I love with all my power,
With ardor time shall ne'er destroy.
Thee will I love, O Light divine,
So long as life is mine. (LSB 694:1)
How dare we SAY such a thing? Well, begin by noting that we are not saying that we DO have such love, but that we WILL such love. The German is a tad stronger on that, so it seems to me: Ich will dich lieben. Not Ich werde dich lieben. It's not future tense (which is how the English comes off) but a statement of a plea: "I WANT to love you, my strength, my tower."
But the English does not betray the ultimate sense, because it is precisely in the future that that desire will be fulfilled. In the Age that is coming, where Christ is all, love will triumph and it will triumph totally in us. We are singing our future when we sing this song. It's where we are headed. "Fill all my nature with Thy light, O Radiance strong and bright!"
So very many of the hymns do this: they sing out from our future hope and speak of it as our present reality and yet with a yearning that it would be wholly our life now. For as long as continue "in the flesh" as St. Paul would say, we continue in the battle and struggle to live from the future that is revealed in Christ and fully realized in Him but only partially begun in us.
5 comments:
Oh! Thank you for that explanation. I always felt like a fraud singing in present tense when I knew my life or heart didn't quite line up. I have at times changed a word to "will" or added the word "will". This made me feel less alone in my unworthiness.
p.s. I met Linda today. I tried to IM you but I guess it didn't work. Pastor Loree was really nice. I can now say I've been to Lutheran high church.
Hi, Jenn! I didn't know who that was, and so I declined the messages. SORRY! I am so glad you got to visit Zion. Isn't it a neat place?
It's such a small congregation! I was surprised. I've never been to a Lutheran church where people genuflect, cross themselves or bow at every mention of Jesus or the Trinity. I felt very lost, but I was also somewhat overcome by the demonstrative reverence. Oh, and I've never done common cup before.
What is the title of the guy in the big white shirt? Why does he shave his head like Luther in the movie (what does that mean?)
Can you recommend any good documentaries or biography style shows.
I don't know what you mean by the guy in the big white shirt. :)
Best biography of Luther is by Martin Brecht - all three volumes. It's a fun and great read. Movie wise, all three movies are slightly problematic - as in not getting what Luther's "aha" about the Gospel was all about!!!
I'm planning on being at Zion this Sunday. Now if only mid-quarter break were today instead of Friday, I'd be at Oktoberfest. Oh well. . . .
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