“O hope of every contrite heart! O joy of all the meek!”

Hymn: “Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee” – 12th Century Latin Hymn
    (Translated by Edward Caswall -1814-1878)
Typical Tunes: ST. AGNES

This hymn is all about Jesus; from first to last, he is central. Here, he is the hope of the contrite and joy of the meek. Let’s try to understand those two fairly misunderstood words – contrite and meek – so that we don’t miss out on the hope and joy.

Although the contrite person is one who is sorry for what they’ve done, its use here and other places in Christian writings goes a bit deeper. Although found only four or five times in Scripture, the call to being repentant flows throughout Holy Writ. It goes beyond regretting single sinful actions; it is being truly ashamed that without Christ, we are hopeless because Christ’s mission was/is to save us from our sinful condition. When we recognize our condition in light of his holiness and perfection, we are truly contrite… ashamed… ultimately sorry. Then the sinful void is filled with hope, and Jesus becomes “the hope of every contrite heart.”

Meek is not a synonym for “weak.” You’ve heard that before, but I’m here to remind you! While at its core, the meek person is a humble person, more pertinent to those of us who are about growing in our faith need to aim for the deeper meaning: submission. The meek are those who are compliant to the will of God, whose lives are ultimately shaped by the hand of the Almighty. This submissive posture will likely manifest itself in the gentle, mild-mannered behavior and attitude most commonly associated with meekness because Jesus is in fact “the joy of all the meek.”

Need a little hope and joy today? Recall the sorry state from which you have been redeemed and make yourself mold-able to the movement of Christ within you – be more elastic than static. Have a hope-filled joyful day.

from the Mormon Tabernacle

“(Jesus) threw his loving arms around me, drew me back into his way.”

Philippe de Champaigne (1650's)

Hymn: “I Will Sing the Wondrous Story” – Francis H. Rowley (1854-1952)
Tunes: WONDROUS STORY, HYFRYDOL

This hymnline picks up on the Good Shepherd image:
    “I was lost, but Jesus found me,
    Found the sheep that went astray,
    Threw his loving arms around me,
    Drew me back into his way.”

A stray lamb: that would describe most of us at one time or another… maybe now. We’ve wandered off from the fold and find ourselves lost and alone – maybe wet and cold – for sure, miserable. We may have moseyed off accidentally, made a wrong turn, suddenly realized we were detached from the flock. Others may find ourselves in this condition because we made an attempt to escape; we are like the prodigal. Perhaps we felt forced out because we didn’t fit in anymore. Whatever the reason, we are aware that we are strays. 

The beauty of the Good Shepherd analogy is this: we are find-able.

The Ever-searching One cleans us up, dries us off, throws a blanket around us to be sure we are warm, feeds our hunger, makes sure we are well again and that we find our way “back into his way.”

Even as a young child, this stanza of the hymn caught my attention and seared into my brain the beauty of the picture it painted… long before I knew the John 10 passage or appreciated the great artworks based on the metaphor.

The next time we are estranged, let’s try this hymn/prayer:
    “I am lost. Jesus, find me.
    Find this sheep who’s gone astray.
    Throw your loving arms around me,
    Draw me back into your way.”

“But I long to rise in the arms of faith and be closer drawn to thee.”

Hymn: “I Am Thine, O Lord” – Fanny J. Crosby (1820-1915)
Tune: I AM THINE

There’s a mental picture we all have of a parent reaching down and picking up a waiting child. This hymnline re-paints that picture for us and allows us children of God to request a pick-me-up and a long-lasting embrace.

The child in us longs for some one-on-one time with Christ. “Can I be next,” we secretly say. The grown-up in us is reluctant to speak up, but we know the uplifting is something we desperately want, and the close-drawing is at the heart of our longing.

Like many hymnlines, this one pretty well speaks for itself. And it speaks for each of us.

Celtic Setting

“All folk are your creation and… have dignity.”

Hymn: “Stir Your Church, O God, Our Father” – Milburn Price (1938-   )
Tune: MADILL (A. L. Butler)

Here is the full hymnline for today:
    Give to us a social conscience
    which enables us to see
    That all folk are your creation
    and that they have dignity.

Following on the heels of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, it seems appropriate that we take up this line from Milburn Price’s most-sung hymn.

For me, this is a prayer of reminder – one that prompts me to be unjudgmental in my Christian witness. If we are not careful, we will develop prejudicial opinions about people groups (not just racial) who are different for us, and in that bias we can subconsciously marginalize them before we realize it.

In staged drama, there is usually a prompter whose job it is to keep up with the script and be at the ready offstage to rescue the actor who disremembers a line and risks throwing off the whole production. The actor KNOWS the lines; he/she just momentarily forgets. Those of us who have stood in that frozen on-stage position are grateful for those who whisper what we know but have momentarily forgotten.

Hymnlines like this assist us in our lapses – those times when we are less than Kingdom people… when we forget our lines… when we are at risk of derailing the cause of Christ. We are jarred back into the social consciousness to which we aspire and are set back onto the better path, adhering to the Script as life’s drama unfolds.

“Then shall all bondage cease, all fetters fall.”

“Then shall all bondage cease, all fetters fall.”
Hymn: “Break Thou the Bread of Life” – Mary Lathbury (1841-1913)
Tune: BREAD OF LIFE

It seems appropriate on the day which we celebrate Martin Luther King’s birthday (it’s actually January 15), we should deal with the cessation of tyranny – a VERY biblical principle… one for which I have great concern.

In the context of this hymn text, when the truth of scripture is revealed, “THEN shall all bondage cease (and) all fetters fall.”

It is truly a shame that it has taken the truth of scripture so long to achieve enough comprehension to drive the people of the Author to stand up against enslaved, subjugated individuals and groups… locally and worldwide. How did we miss that consistent freeing theme? Why did the church and her leaders perpetuate the injustice? I am baffled by that.

Three years ago thisweek, the airwaves were inundated by stories of the senseless murders of four journalists/cartoonists in Paris, while little was mentioned of the two thousand slaughtered in Borno, Africa, at the hand of the Boco Haram. Less glamourous, I guess – less likely to draw a crowd to march arm-in-arm down the dusty streets of the small towns in that Nigerian state. I am all for the freedom of the press, but I am more-so for the freedom of individuals and groups who are going about their everyday lives and suffering not for publishing offensive cartoons but for simply being.

I will step off my soapbox now to say that when the layers are peeled back and the Word of God is read and understood without prejudice or agenda, something will be done to end the rampant spread of evil suppression and repression the world around – at least down the street.

The hymnline that follows this one is, “And I shall find my peace.” With Paul McCartney, I have to say, “Let it be! Let it be!” [That’s “amen” in church-speak!]

An Instrumental Medley Beginning with This Hymn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_tFreCeVkk