Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is “Sing the Gospel of salvation” by Michael Forster. The theme is evangelism, but he recognises that what was once seen as a tension between evangelism and tackling injustice is now more widely regarded as two complimentary ways of participating in God’s mission. The ‘gospel of salvation’ is the explanation of how Jesus came to reconcile the world to God, with an invitation to individuals to align their lives with him. ‘Social action’ by the Church (the phrase is not used here but that is what it is about) is the practical ways in which that reconciliation is worked out in individual lives – mostly outside the church building.
The three verses therefore explore different ways in which people are excluded from their full potential as human beings, and the ways in which by the proclamation of the Gospel and their turning to Christ those exclusions can be addressed. As the first verse puts it “all the darkness of injustice cannot dim salvation’s light, for the outcast and exploited count as worthy in God’s sight”.
The second and third verses both refer to Jesus as the Shepherd, a name he used for himself as the one who leads people back to God as well as protecting us from danger – “Those who recognize the saviour take their place within the fold”. The last verse celebrates the new creation, begun on earth but to be fulfilled in heaven, as “the victims of injustice [are] now redeemed and glorified”, and as “fear and weeping are ended, hunger and oppression cease”. We know that in practice the injustices of human society will never be completely done away with until Christ’s reign is fully established, but it is the Church’s call to share that hope and faith for the future, while doing what we can to alleviate suffering here and now in the name of the one whose gospel we proclaim.