Neither Death Nor Life

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39 NIV)

Marty Haugen is a liturgical composer from Minnesota. We sing many songs written by Marty in worship, including “Now the Feast and Celebration”, “Gather Us In”, “Shepherd Me O God” and “All Are Welcome”. We will sing another song written by Marty this Sunday called “Neither Death Nor Life” which is based on this text from Romans. This text is a powerful one, that can speak to us in a very meaningful way especially during difficult times.

“St. Paul hasn’t left out many of the calamities and difficulties that can cause us trouble. He experienced many of these trials. St. Paul was beaten and flogged several times.  He was shipwrecked and spent hours in the water. He was confronted by robbers. He had trouble in the cities, in the countryside, in the wilderness.

“Besides physical problems, the apostle had to bear many spiritual burdens. He had all the concerns and cares that faithful pastors feel for their congregations. While all these experiences of body, mind, and spirit caused him hours of heartache, he nevertheless declared that they could not separate him from the love of God.

“We can say the same with St. Paul. The afflictions in the Bible verse above may be a checklist of adversities bothering us. But we do not succumb to them. We can say instead: God’s grace is sufficient for us, for His power is made perfect in our weakness. “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities” (2 Cor. 12:10 ESV)1

1. Rottmann, Erik. Guide Me, Lord. (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing, 2007.) August 17

Neither death, nor life, nor angels nor rulers,
nor trials in the present, nor any trial to come,
neither height, nor depth,
nor all of creation can ever separate us
from the love of God poured out in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Dwell in the one who raised Christ from the dead;
though your body shall die, in Christ you shall rise
through the Spirit who brings you to life

Who can separate us from the love of Christ?
Will hardship or distress, persecution or famine,
Or nakedness or peril or sword?

(text by Marty Haugen, based on Romans 8, © 2001 GIA Publications.)

Comments

[Blog BrandonHarris]

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