Joel and I just returned from the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology held in Grand Rapids - "These Last Days: A Christian View of History." Over the next several days I plan to reflect on what we learned. During Dr. D. A. Carson's session, he recited the following poem without referencing its author. Afterward, I asked him about the poem, and he told me he authored it would email it to me. It was in our "inbox" when we arrived home. I hope it encourages you in your walk with the Lord.
Poem by Dr. D. A. Carson
I told the folk I cherished
how my sins had been forgiven,
How Jesus changed my outlook,
took my guilt, and gave me heaven.
They thought I'd lost my senses,
turned fanatic, lost my reason.
They charged me with betrayal,
with a vicious kind of treason.
And I wondered why salvation
should cause me so much pain.
If they persecuted me,
they will persecute you --
For the slave is not above the Lord he serves.
My assignment was the cross;
you my slave will bear some loss:
My disciple takes his cross and daily nerves
his heart and mind to follow me.
Then soon I learned my brothers
and my sisters in the Savior
So often shine in suffering
with astonishing behavior,
Adorn the blessed gospel
with forbearing perseverance,
Forgive their cruel tormentors
with a graceful, firm endurance.
Still I wondered why salvation
should cause them so much pain.
If they persecuted me,
they will persecute you --
For the slave is not above the Lord he serves.
My assignment was the cross;
you my slave will bear some loss:
My disciple takes his cross and daily nerves
his heart and mind to follow me.
What alien perspectives
I've pursued with willful blindness.
For apostolic servants
would rejoice at God's great kindness
In reckoning them worthy
to take on a little battering;
They longed to know Christ's power
and the fellowship of suffering.
For they understood their calling
to trust and suffer pain.
If they persecuted me,
they will persecute you --
For the slave is not above the Lord he serves.
My assignment was the cross;
you my slave will bear some loss:
My disciple takes his cross and daily nerves
his heart and mind to follow me.
Thanks for sharing this poem, Jeannette - Don Carson has to be one of the neatest guys God put on the face of this earth. I was so privileged to study under him at Trinity. And thanks for the book recommendations - anxious to read, "Jesus, Keep me near the Cross."
ReplyDeleteYou were privileged, Anne! I can't help but be envious! He is an amazing Bible teacher.
ReplyDeleteWow, & it reads so much like a lyric to a song. Did he happen to mention whether anyone had tried to set it to music, or whether he would be open to such an attempt?
ReplyDeleteJanet, all I know is that it has never been published. I know Don Carson has had some of his poetry set to music by others, so I suppose he would be open to the idea.
ReplyDelete