Ephesians 2:19-22
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling-place for God.

The Church’s One Foundation LBW 369

1 The church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord;
she is his new creation by water and the word.
From heav’n he came and sought her to be his holy bride;
with his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died.

2    Elect from ev’ry nation, yet one o’er all the earth;
      her charter of salvation: one Lord, one faith, one birth.
      One holy name she blesses, partakes one holy food,
      and to one hope she presses with ev’ry grace endued.

3    Though with a scornful wonder this world sees her oppressed,
      by schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed,
      yet saints their watch are keeping; their cry goes up: “How long?”
      And soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song.

4    Through toil and tribulation and tumult of her war,
      she waits the consummation of peace forevermore;
      till with the vision glorious her longing eyes are blest,
      and the great church victorious shall be the church at rest.

5    Yet she on earth has union with God, the Three in One,
      and mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won.
      O blessed heav’nly chorus! Lord, save us by your grace,
      that we, like saints before us may see you face to face.

Text: Samuel J. Stone, 1839-1900

Something a little different today, I invite you to watch this YouTube video before reading the devotion below the video (just click on the link)...

This is a scene from “One foot in Heaven” with Frederick March, one of my favorite Hollywood movies of all time. It's about a small town pastor who is called to a mid-sized city to build a church: his struggles to raise funds, convince people of its necessity, install a carillon because, he believed, the church should be a beacon of light shining and a voice of song sounding forth to bring people together. Upon finally completing his task, one he never asked for, and before he can even worship in this new building, the bishop assigns him to a new congregation, and he must leave. So, as a final act, he sits and plays the carillon for his people, and they come, from all walks of life, they hear, they respond, they gather, they are sanctified. And for Hollywood, about as close to right as they ever get it.

Now I know it’s corny. This is post WWII America, its’ white, VERY white; white middle class, white bread and mayonnaise, Hollywood white, and so, SOOO, out of touch with the problems and reality of today’s culture wars. It originated in a time when life seemed simpler, you know, those days when the war was cold and Mutually Assured destruction was all the rage and we “ducked and covered”, and also those days when the war was hot and we sent young men and women off to fight in the winterscape hell of Korea and the steaming jungles of North Viet Nam to die for some abstract notion like ‘freedom’, and those days time when Jim Crow was real and the norm in the South and when voting was neither a privilege nor a right in many of these United States, you know, the good old days? (That, by the way, is sarcasm for those who missed it.)

Even so, this scene, this hymn, still literally rings true.

It was written by Samuel Stone, a person raised in one of London’s poorest, and most violent neighborhoods. He grew up as a fundamentalist and was unafraid of a fight. For much of his adult life, he fought against the Church of England and its “liberal” theology. He wrote a collection of hymns meant to serve as “battle hymns” to rouse the faithful against the bad direction of the Anglican Church. Samuel Stone represented a branch of Christianity that rocked the church to its core, threatening to split the Anglican Communion asunder. He wanted this hymn to serve as one they would sing as they marched into righteous battle.

But as is often the case, God had a different idea, and late in Stone’s life, the bishops of the Anglican Communion called a conference and gathered people and pastors from around the world to reconnect, reconsider and reconcile. From every land, people of good faith and deep conviction came not to do battle, but to heal the wounds of division., And the committee tasked with planning the opening worship, agreed that one hymn needed to be the one sung for the procession. and that hymn was “The Church’s One Foundation”.

It is said that by the time the procession got to singing the third verse, there was not a dry eye in the house;

“Though with a scornful wonder this world sees her oppressed, by schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed, yet saints their watch are keeping; their cry goes up: “How long?” And soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song!”

Every time we sing this hymn at ACLC, I too get choked up by its prescient, powerful witness: “Through toil and tribulation and tumult of her war, she waits the consummation of peace forevermore; till with the vision glorious her longing eyes are blest, and the great church victorious shall be the church at rest. Yet she on earth has union with God, the Three in One, and mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won. O blessed heav’nly chorus! Lord, save us by your grace, that we, like saints before us, may see you face to face!”

Called, gathered, enlightened, sanctified; in spite of our brokenness, in spite of our division; in spite of our fractured voice…we, resting on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ our Lord, we are the church! And we process together!

Prayer: YOU are the prayer for the day. Go out, be a witness, and may the world seeing you, respond. Amen.

One Foot in Heaven