"Be to the helpless a helper indeed."

"Be to the helpless a helper indeed."

Hymn: “Make Me a Blessing” – Ira B. Wilson (1880-1950)
Tune: SCHULER

Gospel songs like this one which sound a little more like a skating rink or an amusement park carousel than Sunday morning worship must have been quite popular in the 1950’s because we sang this one a lot. It was sort of a ‘go-to’ song… maybe like “Shine, Jesus, Shine” has been for the past few years.

For me, this song takes me back to Pigeon Forge First Baptist Church and the carefree singing of a text about people who are “weary and sad.” Fortunately, there wasn’t a disconnect there when I was a child; but the words stuck in my mind… and hopefully in my actions!

A lot is said about churches that spend more time on the social gospel than they spend on the evangelistic gospel. Anyone who knows me will have heard me say that the church should reach up (in worship), reach in (through fellowship/discipleship) and reach out (with missions and ministry). I compare it to a three-legged stool like Ma Huff used to sit on to milk the cows; the three legs kept her stable and flexible. The healthiest churches are those who cover all three of those areas fairly equally… neglecting none of them.

A part of the third ‘leg’ is helping those in need. This hymnline is succinct in its call to us: “Be to the helpless a helper indeed.” It may remind you of an oath made by a Boy Scout, but it is definitely a call to those of us who have decided to follow Jesus.

Quite honestly, it is easier to help those who have not yet totally reached rock bottom. Helping the truly helpless – that requires our humbling ourselves and arriving at the servant-place to which Christ was willing to stoop in order to conquer.

Want to really minister? We probably need to be on the lookout for the truly helpless… and they are legion! When we discover these types, let’s not just refer some local ministry to follow up on them with food, shelter or counseling. Let’s take time out to share our life with them – not in order to report our adventure to our Christian compadres, but to BE Christ to those who have no one else to go to bat for them.

We won’t have to look far.

This hymn beautifully sung by a young girl… without this stanza, however!