Shall we Hearken to the Kin-dom

Shall we hearken to the kin-dom, we who have in darkness trod?
There is light so brightly shining, leading to the home of God. / Refrain

See the lame and leper leaping, hear the mute and deaf rejoice,
See the dead are merely sleeping, waking to his gospel voice. / Refrain

See the blind regain their eyesight, see the outcast sit to feast,
Now the demons take to their flight, Jesus came to save the least. / Refrain

Still the Kin-dom longs to widen, longs to welcome others home,
Holy Winds have yet to heighten, Spirit free to rush, to roam. / Final Refrain

Refrain:
Yes, we’ll hearken to the Kin-dom, the widening, the welcoming Kin-dom
Hearken with our lives to the Kin-dom that leads to the home of God.

Final refrain:
Yes, we’ll hearken to the Kin-dom, the widening, the welcoming Kin-dom
Hearken with our lives to the Kin-dom that leads to the home of God.
As we hearken to the Kin-dom, the widening, the welcoming Kin-dom
Bearing in our very lives the Kin-dom, we become the home of God.

Text: David R. Weiss, b. 1959 (text, 2004, © 2008 David R. Weiss)
Tune: Robert Lowry, 1826-1899, HANSON PLACE, (Shall We Gather at the River, With One Voice 690 – public domain)

Permission is given to photocopy Shall we Hearken to the Kin-dom for use in worship.

Author’s Note: Shall we Hearken to the Kin-dom reminds us that the kingdom was less the “message” than the very activity of Jesus’ ministry—and that the heart of this activity sought to embody the welcome of God. So I shift “kingdom” to a non-patriarchal and non-hierarchical (and just plain more truthful) “kin-dom.” My words hold up Jesus’ healing miracles as instances of welcome because they restore outcasts to community. As always there are words that make us participants in the work of welcome.