Hymn
The closing hymn in Sunday morning worship a few Sundays back was “We Are God’s People”. The first line of this hymn states,
We are God's people, the chosen of the Lord,
Born of His Spirit, established by His Word;
Our cornerstone is Christ alone,
And strong in Him we stand:
O let us live transparently
And walk heart to heart and hand in hand.
In spite of the fact that I have a hard time singing hymns without having to find some funky harmony that allows me to stay in a vocal range that neither screeches nor bottoms out into tenor/baritone territory, I find myself enjoying the lyrics more and more. This one particularly spoke to where God has me at the moment. Establishing the precarious balance between the pressures and heartbreaks of this world and desiring a stronger hold on the promises of God’s kingdom can be wearisome, lonesome, and downright confusing. It seems to me that it’s all in these lines somehow. Bryan Jefferey Leech manages to get the whole of Christian life and calling of the church into six short lines. There are, of course, more lyrics, but I feel he could have effectively stopped there. (It doesn’t hurt that the song is sung to Johannes Brahms’ tune, either. It doesn’t necessarily make it more sing-able for me, but it sure is pretty.) I guess, for me, I want the second half of the verse to be true in my life. To live transparently heart to heart and hand in hand with the world doesn’t sound like such a bad thing to want, but, (there’s always a “but”) in order for that to happen, the first half of the verse must be true. I must be born of His Spirit, established by His Word, and trusting in Christ alone, standing strongly in Him before my relationship to the world can be helpful to me or the world. Brennan Manning says that “Love by its nature seeks union”. In light of reading this hymn, I take that to mean that in order for us to be united in relationships with the world, we must first be united in relationship to the giver of the desire for relationships. I’m a slow learner, but someday I hope to get this one right!
We are God's people, the chosen of the Lord,
Born of His Spirit, established by His Word;
Our cornerstone is Christ alone,
And strong in Him we stand:
O let us live transparently
And walk heart to heart and hand in hand.
In spite of the fact that I have a hard time singing hymns without having to find some funky harmony that allows me to stay in a vocal range that neither screeches nor bottoms out into tenor/baritone territory, I find myself enjoying the lyrics more and more. This one particularly spoke to where God has me at the moment. Establishing the precarious balance between the pressures and heartbreaks of this world and desiring a stronger hold on the promises of God’s kingdom can be wearisome, lonesome, and downright confusing. It seems to me that it’s all in these lines somehow. Bryan Jefferey Leech manages to get the whole of Christian life and calling of the church into six short lines. There are, of course, more lyrics, but I feel he could have effectively stopped there. (It doesn’t hurt that the song is sung to Johannes Brahms’ tune, either. It doesn’t necessarily make it more sing-able for me, but it sure is pretty.) I guess, for me, I want the second half of the verse to be true in my life. To live transparently heart to heart and hand in hand with the world doesn’t sound like such a bad thing to want, but, (there’s always a “but”) in order for that to happen, the first half of the verse must be true. I must be born of His Spirit, established by His Word, and trusting in Christ alone, standing strongly in Him before my relationship to the world can be helpful to me or the world. Brennan Manning says that “Love by its nature seeks union”. In light of reading this hymn, I take that to mean that in order for us to be united in relationships with the world, we must first be united in relationship to the giver of the desire for relationships. I’m a slow learner, but someday I hope to get this one right!
posted by maslyn | 5:55 PM
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