Lord of All
Sunday 1st October 2023
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory
and the exact representation of his being,
sustaining all things by his powerful word.
Hebrews 1:3 (NIV)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Lord of All
I do not recall when or where I first heard it, but I do remember someone saying that, “Either Jesus is Lord of all, or he is not Lord at all.” It’s a snappy way of making the point that we can’t let Jesus into some parts of our lives, but not into others, however much we may want to keep him out of some areas. Either he is Lord of every part, or he is not really Lord. He is Lord of my money, my time, my ambitions, my sexuality, my marriage, my friends, my relationships, my work, my leisure… everything.
I was reminded of that saying when I began reading Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation by Collin Hansen, as he traces the influences on the American preacher and author. One person who had a huge influence on Keller in his early days as a Christian was Barbara Boyd, a staff worker with InterVarsity (the US equivalent of UCCF in the UK). During a month-long camp in Colorado, he heard her give her ‘Lordship Talk’:
“If you want to invite me into your house, and you say, ‘Come in, Barbara. Stay out, Boyd.’ I wouldn’t know what to do because I’m Barbara Boyd … you either get me all or you get neither of me.” She went on to make her point: “If you say, ‘I would like the loving Jesus. I would like the helping Jesus. I would like the Jesus I can ask to help me through the hard times, but I don’t want the holy Jesus. I don’t want the powerful Jesus. I don’t want the Jesus who is great,’ you get no Jesus at all.”
She went on to say, “The Bible says in Hebrews 1, ‘Jesus Christ holds the universe together with the word of his power.'” Or, as she put it, “Jesus Christ holds the universe together with his [little finger].” I love the way she pushed her point home: “Do you ask somebody like that into your life to be your assistant?” And yet that is exactly what we are tempted to do – even as Christians – asking Jesus to help us get what we want in our lives, rather than seeking to do what he wants us to do with our lives.
Father, help me to close the gap between what I know about Jesus, that he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and the way I usually live from day to day. Amen.
Yours warmly, in Christ,
Chris Hobbs (Senior Minister)