Where
sound the cries of race and clan,
Above
the noise of selfish strife
We
hear your voice, O Son of Man!
In
haunts of wretchedness and need,
On
shadowed thresholds dark with fears,
From
paths where hide the lures of greed
We
catch the vision of your tears.
The
cup of water given for you
Still
holds the freshness of your grace;
Yet
long these multitudes to view
The
strong compassion of your face.
O Master,
from the mountainside,
Make
haste to heal these hearts of pain;
Among
these restless throngs abide,
O
tread the city’s streets again;
Till
all the world shall learn your love
And
follow where your feet have trod:
Till
glorious from your heaven above
Shall
come the city of our God.
---Frank Mason North, 1903
What a privilege we have today, to experience this hymn,
just over a century old. It presents a great contrast between two cities ---
one earthly, one the city of God. In this verse, I can almost feel the dank
walls of the city closing in on me: narrow alleys with doorways leading to
shadowy rooms; streets crowded with strangers passing, eyes down; threat of
danger holding in the stale air like a threadbare blanket. Wretchedness, greed,
fear, the noise of selfish strife, lurk around each corner and haunt each
boulevard.
And Christ himself visits these streets, never shrinking
from the pain and need. Weeping while he walks, aching for the hurting world he
loves, but fully giving himself to its brokenness. And while we are Christ’s
people in this brokedown city, we walk and weep like our brother Savior.
But there is another city, another city than the one we
manage to create when left to our own devices. This city is inhabited with
love, and these streets, too, are paved with the footfalls of Jesus; walking in
them, living in the rare air of compassion, we put our hands to the wheel to
co-create the Kingdom with our Savior. The cup of cold water still holds the
freshness of grace; we tread the streets together, Christ among us, on his face
“strong compassion.”
Seeking the City…
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