Christus Paradox

Sometimes sermon preparation is a lot like hunting for Easter eggs- you never know where you will find the prize! Last week's study helped me find a gift that is still "working on me." We read it as the call to worship and I referenced it in my sermon but these words by Sylvia Dunstan (1955-1993) are worth a careful encounter. Read it silently. Read it again quietly. Read it a third time worshipfully.

You, Lord, are both Lamb and Shepherd.
You, Lord, are both prince and slave.
You, peacemaker and swordbringer.
Of the way you took and gave,
You, the everlasting instant;
You whom we both scorn and crave.

Clothed in light upon the mountain,
Stripped of might upon the cross,
Shining in eternal glory,
beggar'd by a soldier's toss,
You, the everlasting instant,
You who are both gift and cost.

You, who walk each day beside us,
Sit in power at God's side.
You, who preach a way that's narrow,
have a love that reaches wide.
You, the everlasting instant;
You who are our pilgrim guide.

Worthy is our earthly Jesus!
Worthy is our cosmic Christ!
Worthy your defeat and victory.
Worthy still your peace and strife.
You, the everlasting instant;
You who are our death and life.

Alleluia!
Alleluia!
Alleluia- you who are our death and our life.