When Nathaniel Hawthorne came home in utter despair and failure after losing his job in the Customs House, his wife responded, “Now you can write that book you have always wanted to write.” Under that kind of uplifting support, Hawthorne wrote The Scarlet Letter, one of the greatest pieces of literature the world has ever known. The truth is there is someone there, for each of us, who will perform that saving work in our life—if we will get beyond our self sufficient pride and share with another who is willing to listen and to care. 

But there is a level of need far more common. It has become vividly obvious to me over the last few years. My wife and I have been living in a life care community for seven years. It is a Christian community, though it does not advertise as such. One universal truth is abundantly clear in our community, the way to get the help we need is to ask for it. 

I wish I had claimed that truth early in life. The way to get the help we need is to ask for it—at least let someone know we need it. 

There is something basic to being human: We belong to each other. Asking for help when we need it gives you and the one who responds the privilege of being truly human.

And don’t miss an additional truth. If you are asked for help, responding meets that particular need, but it is also a source of encouragement for others to take their turn when a request comes to them.

How will you respond the next time you hear, ‘Can you help me?’

God has his eye on you. That’s what the psalmist says. Some may cower back from the question, “what is man that you are mindful of him?”(Psalm 8:4). Frightened even, thinking of God as a judge who is not going to let us get away with even the least wrong-doing. 

Let’s look more broadly and attentively, “what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you visit him” (NKJV). Visit here means “to attend to, to observe,” so the NRSV has it “mortals that you care for them.” 

Come on! Rise from any cowering back in self-disdain or self-depreciation. God has his eye on you. Even when we forget, he remembers. Even when we get lost and wander away, he keeps us in mind. He knows who we are. 

The prophet Isaiah kept reminding Israel that God would not forget the nation he had chosen to be an instrument of his redemption. He was confident that there is no way for us to get beyond the scope of God’s love. This commentary on Isaiah 12-13 tells us more:

God always acts to redeem and rescue us. We can’t out-run, out-give, out-last, or out-grow God’s love. Out of the depth of that love, God delivered the people of God out of Egypt, moved an army to deliver the people of God from exile, and later would send the son to rescue the world. The whole of scripture captures God’s great love affair with humanity. We may try to run and hide, but the arm of God’s love for us is always long enough to reach and rescue us.  (Wesley Study Bible, “Love of God,” p. 830)

The final answer to the question “what is man?” is answered in Jesus. In all sorts of ways, he answers the question, but in one particular way he gives us the answer of who we are by telling us who God is. Jesus called God, “abba, father” (Mark 14:36). He taught us to pray, “our father…” (Matt. 6:9). Don’t forget: we are God’s children. God knows who we are.

“What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you visit him?” Lift up your heart. God has his eye on you. Even when we forget, he remembers. Even when we get lost and wander away, he keeps us in mind. Ponder that. God knows who you are. He has his eye on you.

Psalms is probably the most read book in the Bible. Though not my most read book, I’m with it a lot, and Psalms 8 is one of my favorites.

Two of the best-known verses of Scripture are in this psalm. “O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth” (v. 1), “What is man that You are mindful of him” (v. 4). 

Praise Comes Before Self-Reflection

Reflect with me. The first verse is where it belongs…at the beginning. While that is a good general practice, it has special meaning in our Christian life. It is only in the context of praising God, certainly only after praising him, that we can rightfully consider who we are. The psalmist wants us to see God’s immense care and concern for us, so he marvels, “What are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?”

The Vastness of the Universe and the Greatness of God

Today our marveling at the heavens might well be beyond that of the psalmists. We have far more data than was available to them or perceived by their naked eye. We now know that in one second a beam of light travels 186,000 miles, which is seven times greater than the distance around the earth. It takes eight minutes for that beam to go from the sun to the earth. That beam from sun to earth travels almost six trillion miles in a year. Scientists call this a light-year. It boggles the mind. Eight billion light-years from the earth is halfway to the edge of the known universe. There are a hundred billion galaxies, each with a hundred billion stars, on average, within the universe. There are perhaps as many planets as stars within all the galaxies – ten billion trillion!

Remembered by God: Our True Identity

With our heads spinning, we ask with the psalmist, “What is man?” The psalmist doesn’t give us all the answers, but he gives us enough to go on. Why do we have such reservation in accepting it? He says we are made a little less than God, and crowned with glory and honor. No matter who or where you are, that means you. It means this 90-year old man who seeks to communicate the amazing glory of it.

The psalmist is deliberate in his language. What is man that you are mindful of him? The word mindful derives from the verb zakur (remember). Plant that truth deeply in your mind and heart: we are remembered by God. God knows who we are.

There are many connections and complementary images in Scripture. When I reflect on the meaning of following Christ and being his disciple, Jesus’s word comes clear, “If any wants to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Matt. 16:24). I wonder if this word was not clear in Paul’s mind when he appealed to the Romans “by the mercies of God” that Christians present themselves as living sacrifices? (Rom. 12:1) 

The Call of Jesus: Take Up Your Cross and Follow Me

The image is prominent in the biblical message because it leads us to the Cross, the heart of God’s redemptive plan. In the O.T. story of Abraham offering his son as a sacrifice, God provides a substitute for Isaac, but there is no substitute for God’s Isaac, his “only begotten Son.” Jesus knows the Cross is inevitable, and he describes the meaning of discipleship by reference to the cross, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Matt. 16:24).

Living Sacrifice vs. Casual Faith

In the second act of the play Gideon, by Paddy Chayefsky, there is a word that challenges us in relation to this call of Jesus. An angel of the Lord recognizes that Gideon has rejected him. Gideon vacillates between love and disenchantment, between a desire to serve and a longing to be served. Finally, he turns away from the Lord’s representative, and the angel speaking for the Lord says, “I meant for you to love me, but you were only curious.” Could that be a personal indictment against us? 

We have been curious but hardly consecrated. We have been flabby in our commitment. The Christian faith and way has been a matter that caught us at the top of our heads but not at the bottom of our hearts. We have time for everything for which those who are not dedicated to the cause of Jesus have time. We surround ourselves with the same luxuries with which those who make no Christian claims surround themselves. What can be said of our Christian faith and commitment when we seek to serve the Kingdom of God with spare money in spare time?

From Curiosity to Consecration: A Challenge for Today’s Christians

With these reflections, the word from the playwright probes to the depth of our being: “I meant for you to love me, but you were only curious.”

Last year, the headlines again pulled our attention to a way too common tragedy. Five policemen were involved in the beating and death of Tyre Nichols and were subsequently fired. Much of the story is told in the cameras of the policemen and the public camera at the scene of the arrest and beating. Even so, the legal battle which grew from this raises the question, who is responsible?

The Question of Responsibility Beyond Racism

It’s difficult for most of us to even imagine something like that happening. When similar things like this have happened, most of it has been stories of whites killing blacks. The too-easy response has been “another expression of racism.” That response is not too easily made in Tyre’s death because the five policemen involved were all black.

Apart from the courts deciding individual responsibility in the case, we need to be giving serious thought to culture and our corporate life. Racism does exist and significantly shapes social decisions and action, but that does not answer the troubling question of responsibility.

Learning from G.K. Chesterton’s Simple but Profound Answer

As the news reported and during the discussion which ensued, I remembered reading a story from a century ago. The London Times posed a question to the public, and anyone could submit a response. The question was, “What is wrong with the world?” You can only imagine the plethora of responses from people giving their answer and pointing to their various qualms with the world, politics, and people groups. But GK Chesterton, the famous English writer, philosopher, and Christian apologist, wrote back, Dear Sirs, I AM.  Yours, GKC.

We may not go as far as Chesterton in claiming responsibility for “What’s wrong with the world.” But we can be honest, admit, and take responsibility for “what’s wrong” with the part of the world in which we live.

Christian Freedom: Not a License, but a Call to Love

But more – the freedom provided by Jesus is the freedom to be responsible. The Christian’s freedom is not license. We are not free from the law in order to sin; we are free not to sin.

Paul sounded this note of responsible freedom when he wrote to the Galatians, “You my friends, were called to be freemen; only do not turn your freedom into license for your lower nature; but be servants to one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in a single commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Gal.5:13-14)

In throwing off the bonds of legalism and rigid moralism, we are sometimes tempted to accept our human imperfection as an excuse for irresponsible behavior. “I am only human,” we mutter. It’s one thing to acknowledge that we are weak sinners; it’s quite another to do so with a shrug of the shoulders and a nonchalant attitude that makes us content with lesser values and a below par performance.

Living by the Power of Christ in Daily Decisions

Paul talked about it in these terms, “... it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20 RSV). Whatever else this means, it certainly calls me to act in my relationship to others in the way Christ has acted in relation to me. My life of faith is Christ living in me, and my actions should be re-enactments of the life of Christ. Do you see how dynamic this would make our discipleship? The freedom to be responsible.

Our situational decisions are made not according to the whim of the moment, nor by the rule of passion, nor by the pressure of prevailing patterns, nor by whether we get away with it or not, but according to who we are by the power of Christ. The liberty he gives is responsible liberty that draws us out of ourselves with the transforming power to serve others. 

Hopefully, the more we receive and share this, the better the news that will be shared in days to come.

Why the Psalms Still Matter in Modern Worship

The Psalms is probably the most popular part of the Bible. Numerous religious and secular documents quote from it. It has been a significant part of literature and movies in our Western culture. It is a huge resource in Christian-Jewish worship.

Know that the Lord is God indeed, without our aid he did us make. What kind of sentence is that? Though strange to our modern ear, the way the sentence that continues makes the religious aspect certain. We are his folk, he does us feed, and for his sheep he does us take. That’s not on-the-street language.

How Hymns and Liturgical Language Deepen Spiritual Experience

I worship often and am not a worship critic. One season of my life that vividly shaped my experience and understanding of worship are the years I spent as a member of The Ecumenical Institute of Spirituality, led by Douglas Steere. Having been an official observer of Pope John XXIII’s Second Vatican Council, Douglas was inspired to establish the Institute. Its mission was to bring together an equal number of Protestant and Roman Catholic scholars to talk about the horizons of spirituality as it impinges on all aspects of life.

Though we met together only once yearly, each of those meetings included multiple worship experiences. Those experiences transformed my understanding and appreciation of worship, which calls me back to the sentence that started this reflection.

Know that the Lord is God indeed, without our aid he did us make;

We are his folk, he does us feed, and for his sheep he doth us take.

We sang it as our opening worship hymn this past Sunday. To-day I found and read all the words in my hymnal. I remembered a hymn we sang a lot in the past. I found it in my hymnal and sang joyfully the same thoughts of last Sunday,

Praise Him? Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!

Sing O earth-His wonderful love proclaim!

Hail Him! Hail Him! highest arch-angels in glory;

Strength and honor give to his holy name!

Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard his children

In his arms He carries them all day long.

Praise Him! Praise Him! Tell of His excellent greatness.

Praise Him! Praise Him! Ever in joyful song!

The Role of Listening and Language in Christian Worship

Words are important and are a large part not only of our worship, but the whole of our Christian life. In worship we need to listen to what is spoken. In our relationships we need to honor whomever is speaking and seek to honestly hear and respond to what is said.

In my last article, celebrating Father’s Day, I began boldly. Let’s keep it clear. As Chrstians we are to be like our Father. I can’t leave that claim without at least a bit more reflection on who God is. The story of Abraham’s sacrifice of his son Isaac is one of the most powerful, profound, and disturbing stories in the Bible. It is a story of promise…promise made, promise fulfilled.

God promises Abraham and Sarah that they would have a child and that their descendants from this child would be as numerous as the stars.  The story is filled with drama. Abraham is seventy-five years old and Sarah is sixty-five years old when the angel first visits them and tells them they are going to have a baby (Gen. 12:4-8). They trust and follow God’s lead, though it is twenty-five years later when the angel returns to tell them, “Get ready: the baby is coming.” Abraham is now almost one hundred years old. Sarah is ninety. Abraham and Sarah could not possibly, through biological processes, produce this child.

It would be wonderful, as stories go, for the story to end there – an old couple having a baby! The promise is fulfilled. But it doesn’t end there. Now God’s word is not a promise but a command that must have taken Abraham’s breath away: “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you” (22:2).

Perhaps more surprising than that horrific command is Abraham’s response. He does what the Lord tells him to do. In an almost matter-of-fact way, Abraham follows through to the point of being poised with the knife over the altar where he has bound his child of promise, ready to take the life of his only son.

But the Lord intervenes. Abraham has proven his faith and trust, and God provides a substitute offering.

That’s our ultimate test. Are we able to let go of everything trusting that the Lord will deliver on his promise? This must be a recurring dynamic of praying and reflecting: God always honors His promises. Do we trust God? Do we trust the One who gives the gift in the first place?

When I was the pastor of a congregation, preparing sermons every Sunday, I paid close attention to culture and timing… what was going on in the world, and particularly in my city and community. The Gospel is relevant not only to a religious calendar… Christmas, Lent, Easter but also, the civic one… civic holidays.

That awareness and practice came strongly to mind as I checked my writing schedule… and there it was… July ”the Fourth”? It is probably the most popular civic holiday in the US. Dare I miss the opportunity to address it in my sharing. It’s all about freedom and freedom is a core principle in Christian living.

The Apostle Paul made that clear in his directions to the early Christian communities. In his Letter to the Galatians he wrote, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Gal. 5:1 NIV) 

I could write pages about it, but feel led to simply register some fundamental convictions. The first is: Freedom requires discipline.

Actually, the freedom Christ gives us, is a freedom to be responsible. The Apostle Paul made that clear: “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom opportunity for the flesh, but through love, be servants of one another.” (Gal. 5:13) He knew that if freedom was interpreted merely as the removal of restraint, sin would seize the opportunity, and use the weakness of human nature to launch attack against the spirit.

The freedom of Christ is a freedom to be responsible. Then this fundamental truth: Christian freedom requires love. 

Paul says that the criterion to guide our Christian freedom is love. “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”’ Interestingly, this is the love that was defined in the law by God to Moses in Leviticus 19:18; and reiterated by Jesus in Mark 12: 29—31. Paul simply restates it. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

This is what Jesus meant when he said we would save our lives by losing them. If we give our life in love to others, we will find it. But as Paul warned us, “If you keep on biting and devouring each other…you will be destroyed by each other.” (Gal 5:15) Christian freedom requires love. 

If we give our life in love to others, we will find it. 

The clanking chains of slavery, loosed by Christ as we are forgiven and accepted, announce we are then free from the sins that burden us down – free from meaninglessness, guilt, and the threat of death. In Christ’s redeeming love, we are set loose to become the unique sons and daughters God created us to be. 

When we realize that our freedom requires discipline and is practiced in loving through love in action, then that freedom will set the stage and provide the power for us to be all that God intends us to be, and live as he calls us to live.

Let’s keep it clear. As Christians we are to be like our Father. 

Some religions say to their devotees, “Follow me, and the things you fear will not happen to you.” By contrast, Christianity says, “Follow Christ, and some or all of the things that you fear may happen to you; but you do not have to fear them anyway.” Such confidence and courage are born from faith in God the Father Almighty who – even though we face the final enemy, death – will deliver us from the grave. 

Woodie White served United Methodists as a bishop. Some time ago he experienced one of the most difficult things he had ever faced in his life. It is one of my favorite stories and I may have shared it in a prior article. He was sitting at home relaxing, watching his favorite team, the Washington Redskins. The phone rang and a relative exclaimed hysterically, “Woodie! Woodie! You had better come quick. Something terrible has happened to your mother. She has been raped!”

He immediately left Washington, D.C., for New York City. When he walked into his mother’s house and saw her, she was frying chicken. Someone had broken into her home and robbed and raped her. Woodie stood immobile in a state of shock, but then he moved to his mother, took her tenderly in his arms, fighting back tears and anger.

As he was holding his mother, she said, “I’m frying chicken. I thought you might be hungry.” He was so overcome with the beauty of her spirit in the face of tragedy that he broke into tears.

Then his mother looked at him, and in her face was a wonderful light as she told him, “Son, I want to tell you something, and I don’t want you to ever forget it. God is still good! God is good! God is good!”

God’s almighty power is precisely this kind of love, this power of goodness and hope that this mother knew in her own soul and reflected even in the midst of her suffering and pain. This is the power and glory of the Father that Jesus portrayed in his story of the prodigal, and in all of his other stories and prayers. This is the power that Paul described in his praise of God’s love in Christ from which nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate us (Romans 8). It is a power and a relationship that Christians have known throughout the ages. It is not a vengeful power or arbitrary force. It does not leave us alone in our suffering. It travels with us through our pain, and it enables us to stand with courage exposing evil even when our own lives are at stake. It is the power of God’s creative and redemptive love as shown to us in Jesus the Son – the power of the Father Almighty.

We call God Father because we follow Jesus’ example. There is a sense in which we can assess how well one understands Christianity by how much one makes of the thought of being God’s child, having God as Father.

The designation of God as Father has nothing to do with gender: God is not a sexual being. It describes a relationship of shared love and fellowship in which God pours out God’s blessings on all God’s children. God is our Creator and Liberator. Our relationship to God rescues us from sin and alienation and helps us remember who we are created to be. As God liberated the Jews from Egyptian bondage, so God rescues and redeems us from whatever bondage may enslave us.

God is all-powerful, almighty; but God’s power is always defined, perhaps even limited, by God’s love. Though we may not be delivered from pain and suffering, God is with us in our pain and suffering, sustaining us with almighty love. Even though we face the final enemy, death, God will deliver us from the grave, giving us eternal life.

And it is by His strength and through His grace, that we too can be like our Father.