Foretaste (Prophecy)

FORETASTE (PROPHECY)
Sun. November 12th, 2023

 

The hymnwriter Fanny Crosby wrote "O what a foretaste of glory divine."  And that is my favorite part of her hymn Blessed Assurance.

And this is the blessing which I lay upon you: that you will have foretastes of glory divine.

For me: the video of a nave of undivided Methodists singing "And Can It Be That I Should Gain an Interest in the Saviour's Blood?" -- another hymn -- by the founder of Methodism Charles Wesley -- which I heard on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQeIGbKqiw8 .

A nave full of lawyers and librarians singing a hymn of tricky words with flawless articulation -- with the holy gusto of people who feel Solomon's temple around them.

Of all the mansions in Jesus's father's house, that is the mansion where I will be; a mansion of lawyers and librarians.  And I will visit you in your mansion.

I will visit you in the mansion of the dyslexic, the mansion of the grownups who have trouble pronouncing words.

I will visit you in the mansion of the people who do not like themselves.

I will visit you in the mansion of the soldiers who fight for their country and fight all the flawed wars.

I will visit you in the mansion of the people who are given a great bag of money and are unable to keep it within their grasp.

I will visit the mansion of the animals who help other animals; and the mansion of the animals who give their lives fighting to protect their young from predators.

Oh I will visit the mansion of the holy innocents, the holiest mansion, where Jesus spends most of his time!  The mansion of the babies of Jericho; the crack babies; the babies of the Holocaust; the babies of Gaza; the baby birds abandoned by their parents when the lake dries up.  Of all the angels, they sing the profoundest!  They sing not from gusto, not from earthly excitement -- they sing with the immense ball and chain of this soiled world transmuted into majesty.

Your heavenly mansion will find you.  But nevertheless I pray that you will search for it with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength.

Frank Newton