Hymn: “To Worship, Work and Witness” – Henry Lyle Lambdin (1892-?)
Common Tune: WIE LIEBLICH IST DER MAIEN
Opening ourselves up is not easy for many of us… probably most of us. Opening ourselves up in light of who we say we are as followers of Christ – that’s even more difficult. However, this hymnline from an American writer calls us to be that open expression of who Christ is.
Over time, we slowly take on more and more of the attributes of Christ. Those did not suddenly take hold in us the day we stepped into the kingdom… nor did God require we clothe ourselves in righteousness before we entered.
As we mature – or grow into Christ – we reflect in our daily lives more and more of who he is by acting on the impulses to imitate his nature and not our own. As we write our own history, we are at the same time writing that open letter to those around us… showing by our best actions his motives.
The ‘your life is an open letter’ is probably an over-worked analogy, but now and then we need to be reminded that when we lower ourselves to un-Christ-like behavior and attitudes, we drag Christ down with us in the eyes of those who are reading our signals. On the other hand, Christ is raised up – glorified – when we follow through on being who we say we are… when we stand in the integrity of our professed faith.
“Dear Jesus: to quote Stevie Wonder: ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours’! Amen.”
An organ partita (several variations) on this tune
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