The Extraordinary Beauty of The Same

Brutally honest confession:  Sundays have become, lately, a source of angst in my soul.  This Monday morning, for the second Monday in a row, I awoke with a raging headache.  Totally uncharacteristic for me.

In yesterday's church service one of the hymns sung was "Great Is Thy Faithfulness".  I got to thinking....if I were a preacher (I can hear you chortling out there....)....and I were preaching to a congregation for the first time....what would I preach?

(You can tell I'm between Bible books now, can't you?  "She finished Colossians and now she is in that crazy, wandering state she goes to before she starts another book...")

Call me what you will, but for anyone who digs into the Bible after asking the Holy Spirit for guidance and leading, a scriptural smorgasbord is found.  So many tasty delights!  Which one to select?  How to fill my plate?  The leading of the Holy Spirit is key.  He governs what I share here; and, in the case of every Bible-believing, Christ-honoring believer, He speaks to each one's spirits similarly.

So, in worshipping through the hymn "Great is Thy Faithfulness" yesterday, I thought of Hebrews 13:8.  The next letter that Paul wrote, after Colossians, was the short letter called Philemon.  It will be a brief sojourn in Philemon we together take next.  But ...
The book Paul wrote after Philemon was the mighty Hebrews, one of the crown jewels of the New Testament.  I am very eager to dive into that book.

For the moment, though, let's consider Hebrews 13:8, shall we?

Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday and today and forever!

This verse occurs in the last chapter of this great book, in the middle of the final exhortations.  The writer of the hymn put it like this:

"Thou changest not, thy compassions they fail not.  As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be."

The hymnwriter, Thomas Chisholm, was just an ordinary Christian who loved the Word of God.  The phrase above was taken almost word-for-word from Lamentations 3:23 (KJV).

22It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

23They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

24The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

Chisholm was not famous in his day, or particularly healthy, or wealthy.  He did not become a Christian until he was 27, or become a preacher until he was 36.  Even so, he only worked as a minister for one year, due to poor health.  For most of his vocational life, he sold insurance...an honest but quite mundane job.   He was just an ordinary Believer, day in and day out. In his spare time, he wrote nearly 1200 poems.  Several were published as hymns.

The changelessness of Father, Son and Holy Spirit make the unbeliever highly uncomfortable.  My Twitter friend, Steve Berman, wrote about this beautifully in his essay today, which you can read here:

http://theresurgent.com/the-true-progressive/

But, for the Believer....oh!  The immutability of our God and Savior is of supreme comfort!  William Runyan wrote the music, "the tune", to the great hymn we're considering today.  And, the music IS beautiful! But, it is the hymn's message which has caused it to endure for nearly 100 years.

"Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth...Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide..."

No matter the headaches of this life, His peace endures in the heart of the Christian.
I'm so thankful for the changelessness of my Savior!  Yep, that "will preach"!

Sing it, CeCe!!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60o3UP4Kjwg

Dear Father, Savior, Lord and King...all my praise is to You, alone!  For You alone are worthy.  You are my anchor in the storms of life.  No "headaches" of this life are greater than Your peace.  You are incomparable.  I am so grateful that You call me Your own.  In Jesus' name, amen.


Sources:

http://gaither.com/news/%E2%80%9Cgreat-thy-faithfulness%E2%80%9D-story-behind-hymn

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Is_Thy_Faithfulness

http://theresurgent.com/the-true-progressive/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60o3UP4Kjwg