I have heard some dullard preachers in my day, hopefully more times than I have been accused of being one. A real low point in ministerial skill came when I heard a preacher adamantly refuse to allow the hymn “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior” be sung in his church.
He thought that the idea of a Savior “passing us by” was physically impossible. My initial reaction was that this man most likely called in sick the day in seminary they covered the passage on the relentless woman in Matthew 15:21-28. Jesus all but kicked her out of the house! (we can assume that even the Almighty can have a bad day.)
In this story, the woman came with a particular need on her mind/in her heart, yet all she expressed to Jesus in the passage was:
Lord, help me!
And yet through whatever “bad day” He was having then, or what lesson he was about to give (and it was a good one!) Jesus in the end relented to her simple prayer of “Lord, help me!” and said that her problem would be taken care of: her daughter would be healed.
That brings us back to the slow-thinking preacher.
Ministers – the good ones – walk thought this world in full assurance of the everlasting-undying promise of God’s love whenever, whatever, whomever. God won’t let us down if we do our own tiny little bit to open our hearts and minds to the promise of a love that “passes all understanding.”
The great ministers are the ones who have that same knowledge and who at the same time see the rest of us are mere humans – a bunch of “guys.” They see us as insecure people who like to think that we could be so very awful that Jesus would look at us – even if He bothered to look our way – and say “it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”Great preachers know that they are teaching to a room full of fallible humans, some of whom might not have every tool they need to walk constantly in Blessed Assurance.
Fanny Crosby (who was born blind) wrote the hymn “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior” in 1868 and it was one of over 8,000 lyrics she wrote during her lifetime, often as many as two or three a day. My favorite story of the genesis of this song is that Crosby once had a dream that she was in church, and Jesus was there! And she saw that he was going among the congregation, touching those in the room who would be blessed and go on to heaven with him. And in the dream, she sat and fervently prayed that He would also touch her – giving her that promise of eveylasting life.
Miss Crosby wrote 8,000 hymns during her life yet in this dream she had the pause to wonder if Jesus was going to come and bless her, or if he would step by her to another person.
It is also said to be the only dream in which Miss Crosby said that she could see.
Yes, the minister who ruffled my preaching tabs by proclaiming he would never have this song in his church, he’s a good minister. He says good things. Oh, but if he could just open his eyes from the blindness of being “Good”, and see the human frailty sitting in front of him in every pew – he would be a great man of God!
I have to add exclamation points when I sing the refrain of this song. Like the woman in the Matthew story, I have to reach out from my human-ness and add to her voice, Lord! Help me! I have to sing, “Savior! Savior! Hear my humble cry….”
Would that we now could sit in our prayerful silence and hear the words: “You have faith. Your request is done.”
Keep the faith!
- Amen
Pass Me Not, I Gentle Savior (1868)
Lyrics by Fanny Crosby Hymn Tune: Pass Me Not by William H. Doane (1868)
Pass me not, O gentle Savior, Hear my humble cry; While on others Thou art calling, Do not pass me by.
Refrain: Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry, While on others Thou art calling, Do not pass me by.
Let me at Thy throne of mercy Find a sweet relief; Kneeling there in deep contrition, Help my unbelief.
Refrain
Trusting only in Thy merit, Would I seek Thy face; Heal my wounded, broken spirit, Save me by Thy grace.
Refrain
Thou the spring of all my comfort, More than life to me; Whom have I on earth beside Thee? Whom in heaven but Thee?
Refrain
Tags: Faith, forgiveness, healing, Jesus, simplicity
Let nothing trouble you;
Let nothing affright you;
All things are passing,
God never changes;
Patience obtains everything,
Nothing is wanting to one who possesses God.
God alone suffices.
- Mother Teresa
Tags: God, hope, Meditation
Today is the annual Day of Silence, a day when we stop, in silence, to support our kids and protect them from bullying, abuse, name-calling and harrassment in schools. Not only our children in College, but all the way down into the grades. As long as these children have to face this abuse, we must take one day each year to show our support through our resounding acts of Silence.
Our quiet should not be taken as a sign of our acquiescence. Nor as a sign that we take one day a year to (sometimes literally) tape our mouths shut, and feel good at the end of the day for doing a “good thing.” It is our promise to those who need us – to the Dry Bones mentioned in Ezekiel 37:
I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life.
In silence, let us remember those who we are obliged, through love, to support.
For those who strive to protect us day after day. For those who choose to give themselves to you, we pray to you, O God.
– Lord, hear our prayer.For those who are in despair and looking for light in their lives, we pray to you, O God.
- Lord, hear our prayer.For those who have been turned away at the doors of the church, the mosque, the temple. For those removed from schools, colleges, and universities. For those forced to move from their neighborhoods or wrongly imprisoned or hospitalized. For those who must pray to you only in the secret places of their hearts, we pray to you, O God.
- Lord, hear our prayer.For those who are bullied by others who appear to be falsely-stronger, for those who are neglected or abused, beaten in mind, body, and spirit, we pray to you O God.
- Lord, hear our prayer.For our children: for our natural children, our adoptive families, and those placed in our care, that we may lead each life toward its own direction, protect and defend their rights as human beings, and work together as a community to help each child reach their full potential. We pray to you, O, God.
- Lord, hear our prayer.For our families: for those of our blood relation and those who migrate in and out of our extended families, that all will be welcome and nurtured in whatever way you see fit by our radical hospitality, reminding us always that we are not meant to live alone. We pray to you O God.
- Lord, hear our prayer.For families going through difficult times, for parents, and their children. We pray to you O God.
- Lord, hear our prayer
Almighty God to whom our needs are known before we ask, help us to seek only what accords with your will; and those good things which we dare not, or in our blindness cannot ask, grant us, for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
- Amen
God gives heed to me in his love
whenever I implore him.
- Alleluia!
Christ Jesus,
We wish to welcome the message of Joy
which is your gospel.
You invite us to continue always
going forward,
toward the simplicity of heart,
which leads us to the simplicity of life.
- Amen
Tags: gospel, joy, prayer, simplicity
Remembering the leadership of the country of Poland, as they struggle this week with the tragic loss of so many leaders and patriots.
Peacemakers, sow the seeds that will bear fruit in justice. (James 3:18)
Lord, hear us:
For integrity in political life,
for justice and honesty.
Lord we pray.
Lord, hear us:
For those who are oppressed or maligned,
For those who suffer for conscience’s sake,
For political prisoners, for captives, for those who have vanished from our presence.
Lord we pray.
Lord hear us:
For the people of China, and the Christians in that country.
Lord we pray.
Lord hear us:
for the government and legislators of Poland.
For families, friends and loves lost this week.
Lord we pray.
Lord hear us.
- Amen
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called Sons of God. (Matthew 5:9)
Tags: Christians, healing, Political Life, prayer
