A few weeks ago, at the Lutheran service Tom and I attend on Wednesday evenings, the bulletin didn’t have the last line of the hymn.  The hymn was “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” and the last line just didn’t appear.  Pastor Tim wasn’t sure why it had gotten lost, but, instead of four lines, there were only three, although all four verses were printed.

“Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” is a wonderful Charles Wesley hymn that I know very well.  The Lutherans also seem to know it pretty well and sang out on the first three lines of each verse.  But when it comes to the last line, how well do you really know a hymn?  Try it yourself.  Here are the first three lines of each verse, which might be very familiar to you.  Do you know the missing last line?

1 Love divine, all loves excelling, joy of heav’n, to earth come down,
Fix in us thy humble dwelling, all thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesus, thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love thou art.
…..

2 Breathe, O breathe thy loving Spirit into ev’ry troubled breast.
Let us all in thee inherit, let us find the promised rest.
Take away the love of sinning; Alpha and Omega be.
…..

3 Come, Almighty, to deliver, let us all thy life receive.
Suddenly return, and never, nevermore thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing, serve thee as thy hosts above,
…..

4 Finish, then, thy new creation; true and spotless let us be.
Let us see thy great salvation perfectly restored in thee.
Changed from glory into glory, till in heav’n we take our place,
…..

How did you do?  The response to the missing line was funny.  Pastor Tim encouraged us to make up our own last line.  Most of the congregation just sang “da da da” but a few made up something.  Tom tried to think of a line that rhymed and did a good job.  I actually knew three out of the four last lines for the verses, which shows that something rubbed off in all those years of singing that hymn.

Make up your own last line.  I’ve been thinking about how funny – and hard – it was to figure out the last line of a familiar hymn.  And I started thinking about how we are making up our own last lines every day.  We are always trying to figure out the lyrics to our lives.  It may be familiar but the words are ever changing and we are often surprised how the song ends.

Has your life gone in any unexpected directions lately?  Do you ever feel like you are trying to make up your own last line?  When I retired, I wasn’t planning on working in the National Parks for the next eight years.  I wasn’t planning on picking up new hobbies like spinning and weaving.  But God constantly surprises us with new directions, new choices, and even new lines.  We may worry and fret because we don’t know how the song ends, but when God leads, he helps us write the lines of our lives.

Don’t be afraid to make up your own last lines.

Verse 4 (the whole thing)

Finish, then, thy new creation; true and spotless let us be.
Let us see thy great salvation perfectly restored in thee.
Changed from glory into glory, till in heav’n we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before thee, lost in wonder, love and praise.