Follow Me: “Contribute a Verse”

Regular readers of this column may recall that I focused last year on a piece of personal contemplation from the American poet and essayist Walt Whitman. Over 150 years ago, shortly before the American Civil War, it hit the nail on the head about the human struggle for meaningful existence. It was written amid a time of great change and upheaval as the industrial revolution was rapidly changing everyday life. Rail transportation was taking hold, eastern U.S. cities were exploding in population, and factories were pulsating with production.

Whitman wrote “O Me, O Life” to confront and explore the quiet desperation and earnest struggle that lay within him as to what purpose life might have for not only him, but also others in time to come.

Consider again his inner plea, abbreviated here, in our own frenetic world today:

O me! O life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish . . .
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—
What good amid these, O me, O life?

Answer.

That you are here—that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.

King David had similar thoughts almost 2,800 years beforehand. Overwhelmed by the immensity of the radiant tapestry of celestial light above him, he wrote, “What is man that you take notice of him, or the son of man that you pay attention to him?” (Psalm 8:4, International Standard Version).

His descendant, our Savior, entering a world full of frustration and devoid of hope, would supply the answer, stating, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). And He bids those who would heed His stated mission, “Follow Me”—as His disciples (Matthew 4:19, emphasis added throughout). This so that they in turn might “contribute a verse,” as the powerful play of the gospel message unfolds over the ages.

Where do I fit in?

But at times even with the light of God’s purpose working in our hearts, we might ask ourselves: Where do I fit in? Does anyone know I exist? Does anyone know my name, much less what impact I might possibly make on others? Glancing at the big names of Scripture—like Moses, David, Ruth, Esther, Peter and Paul—we could find ourselves whimpering: “Who am I? Who even knows my name? How can I even begin to ‘contribute a verse.’” Such questions and self-doubt need to be addressed, here and now, that we all might move forward.

All of us have a role to fill. As I noted in a column earlier this year, Shakespeare in his play As You Like It penned, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women mere players; they have their exits and their entrances.” We should enter life each day realizing that God imprints His name on each of His covenant people. As I also pointed out previously, God told Moses concerning His priests blessing the people: “So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them” (Numbers 6:27).

Moreover, the Gospel of John refreshes us with the reality that Jesus, as the Great Shepherd, calls “his own sheep by name and leads them out” (John 10:3). In His last human moments, Jesus prayed: “Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world [whether then or today], and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are” (John 17:11). And, might I add, that we would all contribute a verse!

The bottom line is that God knows who we are, where we are, what we are about in His service as we engage with and embrace the people, tasks and opportunities that come our way every day. The reality is that at times disciples of Christ may lose their way (just ask Peter!), but God never loses His focus or His love for us. Jesus made it plain and clear when He said that not a single sparrow “falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will” and that we are far more valuable than sparrows (Matthew 10:29, 31). Cling tightly to that reality as we delve further into Jesus’ invitation of “Follow Me” (John 21:19).

Roll call of the incredible nameless

While we may stand in awe of some of those “big names” used of God in the past, have you ever thought of the many people not named in Scripture who “contributed a verse” towards God’s glory as they met the moment and walked through the door to serve God’s purpose?

Do we know the name of the little boy in John 6:9 who gave his lunch of bread and fish to Jesus that set up the miracle of feeding the 5,000? Do we know the name of the woman with the issue of blood who faithfully touched Jesus’ robe from behind to be healed in Luke 8:43-48? Do we know the name of the one individual leper, out of the 10 healed, who returned to give thanks to Jesus in Luke 17:11-19? Do we know the name of the faith-filled gentile centurion concerned for his servant’s well-being, of whom Jesus proclaimed in Luke 7:9, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!”

Let us for a moment continue the roll call of the so-called nameless. Do we know the name of the remorseful thief on the cross who in Luke 23:39-43 validated Jesus’ innocence as they were dying together? Do we know the name of the Christians in Italy who perhaps at great risk to themselves came out to greet and encourage the apostle Paul on the road towards his trial in Rome in Acts 28:12-15?

My point is this: All these nameless people met their moment as it came to them and contributed an encouraging verse as the powerful and expanding story of God’s Kingdom continued to develop. What was their common denominator? Their collective yet individual identity would become anchored in Christ.

We meet such moments every day in imploring our Heavenly Father in prayer to come into our life to firmly anchor us into the living “heart steps” of Jesus, seeking to emulate how He would approach the challenges before us. While the challenge that awaits us may not be played out at a mountain in Sinai (Exodus 3) or walking down into “the valley of the shadow of death” with a sling and five stones (1 Samuel 17), or speaking at the Areopagus to the intelligentsia of Athens (Acts 17), it is your time to meet the moment and contribute a verse that is authored in heaven, but granted to you to deliver in person by exercising Christlike love and wisdom towards others.

Be overwhelmed by the grace of God!

Allow me to conclude by imploring you to “get off the bench” of lamenting in frustration “O me, O my” in watching life go by—and instead grab hold of the reality that God is desiring to do something in you and all of us as we step out each day on the stage of life set before us. Never be overwhelmed by the challenges that lie before you. But rather be overwhelmed by the grace of God to open the eyes of your heart to the opportunities that lie right before you to contribute a verse in His time, in His way and to His glory.

Let Ephesians 2:8-10 serve as a reminder that God has chosen to journey inside of you and is doing His loving work in you that it might spill over to others. Let us read and walk through it together: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” That’s what we’re here to do—through God’s direction and empowerment through Christ.

Until next time, never underestimate God and how He might use you. Remember it is never the size of the job or opportunity, but the size of our hearts to embrace His existence with and in us to meet the moment!