Owe to no one anything

Owe to no one anything, 

But to love each other well.

One who loves fulfills the law - 

All commandments one might tell; 

To a neighbor does no wrong, 

But such harm will love dispel.

 

New we know what time it is,

Time for us to wake from sleep.

Our salvation draws so near;

Night is gone and day we keep. 

Let us take up shielding light,

Put away the darkness deep.

 

Let us live with honor dear,

Not caught up in worldly care:

Vain indulgence, quarrelling rage,

Deeds that tangle and ensnare.

Put on Jesus Christ instead;

Wear his love to show and share.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, August 2023, after Romans 13:8-14.

MUSIC: Tune REDHEAD 76, Richard Redhead, 1853.

 

 

I suspect some will feel that this scripture reading needs a more exuberant or celebratory tune; for me, the weight of this passage - in many ways the very culmination of what Paul is trying to say here - bears some space for reflection and sober judgment, to borrow from earlier in the letter.