Our God is an awesome God
who reigns from heaven above,
with wisdom, power and love,
our God is an awesome God!

 

Daniel has a vision in our first reading,
a vision of God’s awesome wisdom, power and love.
Daniel sees the day when God will gather
all whose names are written in the book,
people like you and me,
people whose names were written in the Book of Life
when the waters of Baptism were poured over us.

 

It may look like a time of great distress,
but it will result in a time of great joy
because God calls us to be like stars that shine forever.

 

Our God is an awesome God
who reigns from heaven above…

 

The Psalmist today rejoices.
His heart is glad, and his soul rejoices.
His body, too, abides in confidence.

He knows that God will never abandon him,
nor allow God’s faithful ones to undergo corruption.

The Psalmist rejoices because he knows
that God will show him the path of life,
fullness of joy in God’s presence.

…with wisdom, power and love,
our God is an awesome God!

 

The author of the Letter to the Hebrews
also rejoices today
because the high priest to whom he is referring
offered one sacrifice for sins
and sits forever at the right hand of God.
By his one sacrifice

Jesus has made us perfect forever.

 

Our God is an awesome God
who reigns from heaven above…

 

In our Gospel today,
Jesus begins by describing
the days after that tribulation
when the sun will be darkened
and the moon will no longer be bright.
His first words may strike terror in those who listen,
but his first words are not his last words.

He goes on to say,
then you will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds
with great power and glory.
It, too, will be a day you’ll never forget
as angels gather God’s chosen ones together
from one end of the world to the other.

…with wisdom, power and love,
our God is an awesome God!

 

And while we don’t know the day nor the hour,
we do know the One who is in charge.
We do know the One who came among us
and who still comes among us.
We know the One who speaks words
of wisdom, power and love.
We know the One who mercy endures forever.
We know the One who died that we might live.

We know the One who gave Daniel his vision,
who inspired the Psalmist with such confidence,
who bids us rejoice day after day.
We know the One who is our inheritance,
who is our Savor.

 

Our God is an awesome God
who reigns from heaven above…

I don’t know about you,
but I know that when I was young,
I was more afraid of God.
I thought of the punishment that my sins deserved.
I wondered how God could possibly love me.
I wondered why God would choose someone like me
to preach, to teach, to lead others in prayer.

But the more I’ve seen over the years,
the more I’ve come to believe what Daniel believed,
what the Psalmist proclaimed,
what the author of the Letter to the Hebrews announced,
and what Jesus said about the days that a coming.

 

They will be glorious.

 

And what we do here,
when we listen to the Word of the Lord,
when we eat Christ’s Body and drink Christ’s Blood,

when we offer praise and thanks to God,
reminds us of the promise, of the blessings,
of the hope and the mercy
that are ours today
and will be even greater in the days to come.

 

Our God is an awesome God
who reigns from heaven above,
with wisdom, power and love,
our God is an awesome God!