Hymn:
"Jesus Is All the World to Me" - Will L. Thompson (1847-1909)
Tune:
ELIZABETH (also by Will L. Thompson)
My
friendships are of great value to me. I have garnered a throng of friends all
the way from elementary school, college and seminary days to all the
congregations I served during my forty-plus years in the music ministry around
the country. Like you, I have groups into which I assign people as
acquaintances... then buddies... then friends... then dear friends. It's not
actually a ranking system: it's just the way relationships develop.
In
the hymn-line we're considering, THIS friend is Jesus; it is to him we hymn*
these words!
The
dependability of God in Christ Jesus is another one of those attributes I like
best. The earthly friends I cherish most are those who have been true to me -
consistent in their love and support of the real me... 'warts and
all.'
With
Christ, I feel that I've never been depreciated. Seriously: how could I deny
one who has never denied me? I know, I know: I deny him way too often -- it's
the REAL "Peter Principle!" Hymn-texts and creeds are designed for us
to voice our honest intentions, whether or not we are as true to our
commitments as God is. And here, I think we are actually saying, "How is
it that I can so often deny the one who is so true to me? I don't want to do
that anymore. So help me, God."
I
like Robert Ray's get-down anthem "He Never Failed Me Yet" and have
used it over the years with choirs. But the word "yet" really doesn't
belong in that phrase; I don't anticipate that Christ will ever fail me
because he has become a true friend -- I can at all points depend on him to be
my ally.
Jesus
Christ: undeniably my truest friend.
* - "Hymn" is also a transitive verb, so don't think I
made that up!!!
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