Text and tune: Philip P. Bliss (1838-1876)
Sing them over again to me
Wonderful words of life
Let me more of their beauty see
Wonderful words of life
Words of life and beauty
Teach me faith and duty
Beautiful words, wonderful words
Wonderful words of life
Beautiful words, wonderful words
Wonderful words of life
Christ, the blessed One, gives to all
Wonderful words of life
Sinner, list to the loving call
Wonderful words of life
All so freely given
Wooing us to heaven
Beautiful words, wonderful words
Wonderful words of life
Beautiful words, wonderful words
Wonderful words of life
Words of life and beauty
Teach me faith and duty
Beautiful words, wonderful words
Wonderful words of life
Beautiful words, wonderful words
Wonderful words of life
REFLECTION
Once again our texts focus on the bread of life. By this time even the disciples are troubled by Jesus’ continual reference to eating his flesh. As I was "chewing" on this text for next Sunday, a few connections rose up out of the mists of history for me. For the Hebrews and the Greeks, word is substance. God tells Moses (Deuteronomy 30:14) that his word is very near to Moses, "it is in his mouth and heart." Nothing is as real or near as God who lives in his word which inhabits our beings. We speak of chewing on words and ideas, of digesting them and making them our own. We confess in our creeds and in our life of faith that Jesus is the Word made flesh. So hearing, tasting, speaking, digesting, all bodily functions having to do with concrete stuff available to the senses are also the organs that take in the spiritual and sacred so what is spiritual is also what is physical. They really can’t be separated. So, as Jesus has said, without his flesh in us, through his word and sacrament, we are without life. They come through the same vehicles and become incarnate also in us as we consume them.
Christ’s mission is, through the spirit, to make us holy. He doesn’t do this with the touch of a magic wand, made to transform us into something new. He does it through the cells in our bodies. Most people today may think hearing is abstract, and only what they see is real, but actually, upon further thinking, hearing is believing, and seeing, even if the old saw says it is believing, is often misleading to us, something we learn as we are flooded with images, many of which have been altered so we will be fooled. The doubter Thomas wants to see, but if we read that account closely it is more the voice of Jesus that enters his being and he worships Jesus as his Lord and God.
What we have taken inside of us, heard, tasted, eaten, becomes part of who we are, what our flesh is. When we look at something, we see it as separate from us. We cannot do that to what we hear and eat. People of course can lie to us and we may believe their lies, but ultimately that will be sorted out because one cannot live on what is not true, or what is false.
Philip P. Bliss’ repetitive hymn helps us meditate on these wonderful words. Chew on them, speak with a friend about Christ, share him, go to church and hear of Jesus, go to the altar and consume his words into your flesh. Give praise and thanksgiving for his life in you. Jesus had to die of course and be raised so he could make us holy, and it takes a miracle to do so. But it is his promise and he keeps it. Wonderful words, indeed. Sing them over and over again.
HYMN INFO
Bliss story is very sad—he was a promising young Gospel composer who was working with Dwight L. Moody and the revivals of the day. He wrote the music for When Peace Like a River and many other beloved hymns. He and his wife were on their way to Chicago when the train crashed new Ashtabula, Ohio. It was one of the worst accidents of its kind. Bliss survived the accident but died while trying to save his wife in the burning train. For a more detailed report on that see this link
LINKS
Wonderful Words of Life
Islington Baptist Church
The Gaithers
Comments