O Master, Let Me Walk with You

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“O Master, Let Me Walk with You,” ELW 818

O Master, let me walk with you
in lowly paths of service true;
tell me your secret; help me bear
the strain of toil, the fret of care.

Help me the slow of heart to move
by some clear, winning word of love;
teach me the wayward feet to stay,
and guide them in the homeward way.

Teach me your patience; share with me
a closer, dearer company,
in work that keeps faith sweet and strong,
in trust that triumphs over wrong,

In hope that sends a shining ray
far down the future's broad'ning way,
in peace that only you can give;
with you, O Master, let me live.

I return to my earlier theme (from Friday) of leadership, in the gospel sense: what does it mean to follow Jesus? (For this is what, as a leader in the church, one does.) The path of following Jesus in leadership is not an easy one. We indeed need Jesus' help to "bear the strain of toil, the fret of care" (v. 1). The ultimate word of gospel, which this hymn gives, and which I leave you with on my last installment, is that we do not go alone. Jesus walks with us on this journey--upholding us, teaching us, helping us, sharing with us (all of the imperatives that we see in this hymn). There is no way that this could happen if Jesus weren't there beside us in what we do, and it is only through His enduring presence that we can find the strength to face the world each day. "With you, O Master, let me live" (v. 4).

Journeying God, as we move on the journeys of life and of mission, be with us, guide us, and lead us. We know that we can do nothing without your presence holding us up from the inside and from the outside. Continue to walk with your church. Continue to uphold all of those in ministry and mission. Continue to move those who are seeking. Journey with us, O God, that we may find "the homeward way" (v. 2), following in the path laid before us by Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Jacob Burkman