That in Peace I May Return--Jan. 3, 2013

 O God, you have redeemed us from trouble;

from all directions you have gathered us in.

We have every reason to say you are good. 

You have given us Christ to be our gate;

that we may enter by him and be saved,

to come in and go out and find pasture.

From afar I have seen your promises,

from a distance I have greeted them;

yet I am a stranger seeking a home.

O keep me in the way I should go;

be with me and feed me, my God,

that in peace I may return to you.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 111; 147:12-20; 107; 15

Gen. 28:10-22

Heb. 11:13-22

John 10:7-17

Selected Verses

Ps. 107:2-3a

Let the redeemed of the LORD say [that he is good],
          those he redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands…

Gen. 28:20-21a

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace…"

Heb. 11:13-14

All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.

John 10:9

"…I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.  …"  [Jesus to some Pharisees]