Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Holy, holy, holy,
the Lord God the Almighty,
who was and is and is to come.”
NL Daily Devotion for Friday, August 8, 2025
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
“Holy” means “set apart.” So as Metzer puts it, this hymn “celebrates the otherness of God, that is the distinction between the Infinite and all finite beings.” (p. 51) Personally, I’m not a huge fan of this separation or “otherness” of God. Yes, I get that I am not God, but I don’t think God separates God’s self from us in this “us and them” way. We are all in God and God is in us, therefore we are holy as God is holy. So much of our Christian theology has historically been about holding God up as distant, unapproachable, and punishing. This is not the God of my understanding. Even so, I can openly and joyfully sing these words about God being holy and infinite—it is true! It doesn’t need to be “either/or.” It can be “both/and.” God is both “other” and intimate.
What does this idea mean to you: that God is both other and intimate?
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Metzger, Bruce M. Breaking the Code: Understanding the Book of Revelation. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1993.
