Our Need for Him: Chlese Henderson
The following homily was shared at our Sunday Evening Eucharist Service 2/16/25.
Scripture Readings: Jeremiah 17:5-8, Psalm 1, Luke 6:17-26
The through line between our three passages today stands out pretty clearly: those who rely on God are blessed and those who do not are cursed.
A lot of people struggle with the idea of being a Christian because they don’t believe we should have to live an existence where we are fully tethered to or dependent on someone or something else. Because of course, when you are dependent, you are not free. I find that both Christians and non-Christians alike resent the idea that God would make man in a way where we need him.
“Isn’t it a little manipulative and narcissistic to create a race of people who need you?”
But it’s not so much that God decided to program us all with a wire in our brain labeled “needs God”, as it is just the reality of our existence. As creations of Him, we need him.
Is it not right that a child needs their parent? Is it not right that a plant needs water & sunlight?
In fact, these analogies don’t fully illustrate the depth of our need for God. We need God in the way that a work of art “needs” its artist - we need him in the sense that without him, we would not even exist.
To resent that we need God is to resent our very nature. He is the creator. And we are his creations. Of course we need him.
I think that it’s okay to sometimes balk at our dependence on God - we struggle, we hurt, we experience confusion, our lives are largely out of our control in ways that can be very scary. I think that that is the lot of being a creature. To groan in our creature-hood is not what makes us cursed, but rather it is the attempt to deny our need for our creator and to pretend instead that we are our own gods.
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. Cursed are those who are rich now, who are well fed now, who laugh now, who everyone speaks well of in the same way as the false prophets.”
Do you know that you are a creature?
There are so many instances in the Bible that remind us as much, but it can be really easy to forget that it is not the “good people” (as man defines good) who are blessed and the “bad people” (as man defines bad) who are cursed. We are not considered good because of our own merit, or social standing or works, and then blessed as a reward. More like the opposite: receiving God’s blessing is what makes us good. What it means to be blessed is that God chooses us. And God chooses anyone who chooses him.
“Blessed are those whose delight is in the law of the lord, who meditates on his law day & night, blessed is the one who trusts in the lord, whose confidence is in Him, who are poor, who hunger, who weep, blessed are you when people hate you, exclude you, and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man.”
He chooses those who know that they are creatures, those who rely on him, those who understand that the natural flow of our lives is that in him we live & move & have our being.
Like I said before, because of the brokenness of our world, it can be frustrating to depend on God. But though our lives are largely out of our control, they are in the hands of a God who wants us to prosper. And a God who mourns and hurts with us. And a God who we can talk to and have a relationship with. And a God who was willing to give of himself, who was willing to die in order for us to share in his power. We don’t have to rely on God - we get to!
Jeremiah 17:7-8: “…blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
I pray that as we come to this table and as we enter this week, we would trust in the Lord and remember that He is our source, so that we may have no fear, but experience his fruit.
Amen.
Chlese Henderson is a former Wesley intern and current Wesley board member. She graduated from Louisiana Tech in 2019 with a BFA in Studio Art. She is currently working as a seamstress and local artist, and is also pursuing a teaching certificate in order to teach middle school art. She has been married to her husband Jon for two years, and their favorite things to do together include flea market shopping, visiting bookstores, eating spicy food, and laughing together. Chlese is a faithful exemplar and a beloved member of the Wesley community. We think of her as a saint.