Rev’d Jonathan Gale
The chorus in an old and popular Patsy Cline hymn called “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” goes like this:
Just a closer walk with Thee
Grant it, Jesus, this my plea
Daily walking close to Thee
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be
There’s nothing wrong with the touch of sentimentality in this hymn, but I wonder if those who have sung it time and time again realise just what it is they are asking for? Yes they’re asking for a good thing; even a wonderful thing, but all those worshippers, did they really know what they would get if their prayer was answered?
There’s a rhetorical question in Amos 3: 3 that asks, Can two walk together, except they be agreed?
Adam and Eve, we read, used to walk with God in the cool of the evening. Well, they found out (after they had disobeyed God) that they were no longer on the same page as God.
They discovered a critical thing: that wonderful walking with God in the cool of the evening had a context, and that context was harmony with God.
Walking close to God has a cost – we are changed, and in the end it brings great joy!
Do you want a closer walk with God? James gives us some advice on this in the 8th verse of our reading from his letter.
8Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
God always takes the initiative but there are two things he never does:
- Firstly, He will never allow us to have him on our own terms, only on His. The reason for this is quite simple. Having the benefits of God on our terms will destroy us because “our terms” by definition seldom coincide with God’s terms. He doesn’t empower our idolatry or our selfishness because it is ultimately destructive.
- Secondly, He will never force Himself upon us. While his initiative is to open loving arms to us it is ours to take a step into those arms. That’s why James says 8Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
Our reading from James was headed Two Kinds of Wisdom. One is God’s kind and the other is our kind. It’s so easy to think that we are wise. In one sense we are because, being made in God’s image, we have the potential to be wise.
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom, James tells us. God looks for practical steps on our part. He’s not terribly theological is James, but he’s very practical. He’s a Nike man. Just do it!
At the heart of Christianity is an acknowledgement that we don’t always have our own best interests at heart. We sometimes ask for things that will harm us. The disciples are a case in point. They argue about who is the greatest. Jesus rebuffs that idea and 35He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’
This is the counter-intuitive wisdom of God. It not our wisdom and it sometimes doesn’t make sense to us.
Be practical, says James, Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom
I know it’s counter-intuitive. But demonstrate that you trust God enough to put yourself last. In that way you’ll find yourself first. Perhaps not the kind of first you had envisaged, but it will be a far more satisfying first. Just do it!
7Submit yourselves therefore to God, James tells us. As modern people, overwhelmingly influenced by secularism, we are defensive when it comes to the thought of submission. No wonder too when this godless culture has abused so many people. The idea of submitting in order to achieve what is best for us is counter-intuitive. To do so – to take a practical step towards God – involves trust.
Just a closer walk with Thee
Grant it, Jesus, this my plea
Daily walking close to Thee
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be
Jesus is more than willing to draw close to us, but he wants us to take practical step towards him, and it involves doing so on His terms – understanding that we put him first. When we take that step of faith – we find ourselves in a much better place than we would have been had we tried to do so on our own terms
May God grant us the wisdom to recognise his wisdom, and the faith to act upon it.
AMEN.
Readings for today:
- Jeremiah 11: 18-20
- James 3: 13 – 4: 3, 7 – 8a
- Mark 9: 30 – 37