1. O Zion, haste, your mission high fulfilling,
to tell to all the world that God is light;
that he who made all nations is not willing
one soul should perish, lost in shades of night.
Refrain: Publish glad tidings, tidings of peace,
tidings of Jesus, redemption, and release.
2. Publish to ev'ry people, tongue, and nation
that God, in whom they live and move, is love;
tell how he stooped to save his lost creation
and died on earth that we might live above.
Refrain: Publish glad tidings, tidings of peace,
tidings of Jesus, redemption, and release.
3. He comes again! O Zion, ere you meet him,
make known to ev'ry heart his saving grace;
let none whom he has ransomed fail to greet him,
through your neglect, unfit to see his face.
tidings of Jesus, redemption, and release.
3. He comes again! O Zion, ere you meet him,
make known to ev'ry heart his saving grace;
let none whom he has ransomed fail to greet him,
through your neglect, unfit to see his face.
Refrain: Publish glad tidings, tidings of peace,
tidings of Jesus, redemption, and release.
***Our church newsletter, The Faith Herald, takes its name from Isaiah 40: "Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength... Do not fear; say to the cities of Judah "Here is your God!" Zion was a shabby herald. Deported and scattered across Persia, Israel doubted God still cared. Yet God called Zion to stand tall and publish glad tidings: Our good God is coming to lead all nations home.
Most congregations in my Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) denomination are smaller, older and less able than they used to be. We may feel shabby and ill-equipped as heralds. Yet God still enlists us to publish good news: God is light and wills that not one soul should perish in the dark.
God, fill us with such gratitude for your light and compassion for those in darkness so that we simply shine, unconscious of our own condition and heralding your presence with joy. Amen.
Brenda Satrum, '93
Pastor of Faith Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Mont.
***
The Luther Seminary
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