Hymn #255 in Celebrating Grace Hymnal — “We Are God’s People”
[pullquote_center width=”98%”]We are God’s people, the chosen of the Lord,
Born of His Spirit, established by His Word;
Our cornerstone is Christ alone, and strong in Him we stand:
O let us live transparently, and walk heart to heart and hand in hand.[/pullquote_center]
Bryan Jeffrey Leech presents in this text a beautiful vision of what the family of God can be. The ideal presented to us in this text is one worth aiming for, a glimpse of what heaven might be like. So much truth is bound up in the last line of this first verse: “Let us live transparently, and walk heart to heart and hand in hand.” The combination of these three aspirations would invigorate any church, and are worthy goals.
To walk heart to heart is to act with unity of motivation, to be guided by a similar vision of Christ’s call to love the world for his sake. To walk hand in hand is to meet others where they are and journey with them as we all grow in faith.
How would one live transparently? This would require the courage to believe that others were capable of dealing with knowing your life—your failures, your fears, your hopes and dreams—and accepting you with love.
Can we dare to bare that much of ourselves? Can we care for others who do the same? Are we God’s people?