****A CHRISTIAN HOME

I have been bringing these hymn commentaries for about three years, now, and I have tried to present interesting and edifying illustrations, stories about the faith and struggles of the authors, or the importance of the hymns in church history.  Today's hymn does none of that.  This is the most difficult hymn commentary I have ever written.

Barbara Hart was born in 1916 and she wrote A CHRISTIAN HOME in 1965.  And that's all there is; I’ve searched dozens of printed and Internet resources.  I’ve found no biographical information about the author, no history, no illustrations, and no backstory.

It is published in very few hymnals and I was inclined to just pass over it, but the subject is too important and has a strong message that is appropriate for today’s sermon.  We sang it last week and a few of you mentioned, then, how much you appreciated it.

  

The hymn is a prayer that asks God to work in our families.  It reminds us that He is the Head of our

homes.  It challenges us to the same kind of determined commitment that Joshua had when he said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Most of our songs and hymns build up and strengthen our faith, they bring joy to our souls, they inspire us, they encourage us to good works, they teach us great truths, they comfort us in difficulties, they cause us to be thankful, and they help us in our praise and worship to our Savior.

This hymn didn’t do any of those things for me.   In fact, I found it to be uncomfortable and convicting because the lyrics revealed my own disobedience and failures as a son, a brother, a husband, and a father.  And it reminded me of a phrase in Psalm 119:6, “Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.”

I looked up the meaning of the word, shame, in a Bible dictionary.  Shame is a consequence of sin. Feelings of guilt and shame are subjective acknowledgments of objective spiritual reality.  Guilt is judicial in character; shame is relational. It emphasizes sin's effect on our self-identity.  Sinful humans are traumatized, before a holy God, when we are exposed for our failures to live up to God's laws.

And, if we had the time to read through the entire 176 verses of Psalm 119, we would all be driven to the trauma of guilty shame.  So, what is the remedy for this shame?  It is in keeping ALL God’s laws. 

None of us can do that but praise God that His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, kept every jot and tittle of the law perfectly and God the Father has imputed His Son’s righteousness to us. 

So, as I think about the prayer of this hymn, I am thankful that even though I have failed in my goals and good intentions; and I break His commandments every day, I can rejoice in knowing that God is merciful, gracious, and forgiving. 

(Listen, here, to the hymn recorded by Evie)
https://youtu.be/JLPvLlFDkQw