The Soul Felt its Worth
by Pastor Steve Peich
John 1:1,14,16–– “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and lived among us. We have seen His glory, the glory that belongs to the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth… From His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”
In my favorite Christmas hymn are contained these lyrics, “Long lay the world in sin and error pining, till He appeared and the soul felt its worth” (From “O, Holy Night”). Have you ever been on that journey of struggling to experience the worth of your soul?
I’m not sure where it dropped out for me, but somewhere in my youth my sense of worth took a severe blow. I’m not sure if it was that loss of worth that flung me headlong into delinquent behaviors, or the delinquent behaviors fueled my lack of worth. All I know was, my life experienced a precipitous decline on all fronts – morally, relationally, spiritually, and academically (it is difficult to feel worthy and feel stupid at the same time).
The word we use in psychology to describe that sense of a lack of worth is shame. Shame is that gnawing feeling that we are defective, deficient, hopelessly flawed, rejectable, and ultimately unlovable. We have this deep seeded belief that people, and perhaps even God, Himself, does not want to give us grace.
As a result, to protect our hearts from being crushed under this graceless story, we do all kinds of things to keep shame at bay. We become perfectionists so no one can criticize us. We become people-pleasers to stave off rejection. Or we may reach for booze, or prescription drugs, or buy the next shiny thing that we cannot really afford, all to numb and keep at bay, at least for a little while, the feelings of worthlessness. And you can be sure that as we use these coping mechanisms, our inner world does indeed become “weary,” as the hymn says.
This is why the words of John chapter one, John’s rendition of Christmas meaning, are so powerful. When John writes that Jesus came to us ‘full of grace and truth,’ he is not simply trying to sound spiritual about Jesus. He is highlighting two of the aspects of Jesus’ life that powerfully heal the soul.
Let me share how powerful the grace and truth of Jesus can be for a soul from a situation that happened here at our church. One day a person in our church, burdened by anxiety borne out of what she perceived as a deeply embarrassing situation, called the church looking for me. I was out of the office, but one of our admin staff asked how she could help. The caller shared about the incident that caused paralyzing embarrassment. Our admin person talked with her a bit and then prayed for her.
Later that day I finally had a chance to talk to the caller, and she told me this: “I’m so thankful for that woman whom I talked to. Her prayers were so powerful. She prayed the ugly away.”
Isn’t that such a great expression? “She prayed the ugly away.” I love it because it captures what so many Christians often and tragically feel about themselves––ugly inside. Yet it also captures what can happen when the grace and truth of Christ become flesh (yet again) through the prayers and words of His people. For so many of us, this is exactly how “the soul feels its worth.”
The divine grace and truth that arrived in human form in that manger, rewrote human history and infused this weary world with the power to break the chains of one of the most crippling experiences of the human soul.
So as you wade through all the gifts and parties and flashing lights this holiday season, I ask, how is your soul? Beneath all the adrenalin of Christmas, do you know God’s grace and truth about you? Do you need your story to be rewritten because you are exhausted by the one you have been living?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, this Christmas Eve I am so grateful for how You continue to pour out grace upon grace on my life. Please use me this season to be Your words of grace and truth to a weary world so I can help other souls find their worth in You. To You be all the glory. Amen.
BTW, here is a great rendition of that classic Christmas hymn, O Holy Night:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1kXGXwT1fU
