This hymn is a rich exposition of what it means to believe "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself" and "He has given to us the ministry of reconciliation".
Honesty about our own sinfulness and propensity to excuse ourselves; honesty too about structural as well as personal sin; then to hear our true name called in the welcome of Christ who serves us before we ever get to serving Him.
The last two verses weave around themes of love, justice, hope-building, peace-making, in the multiform practices of those called to embody and enact God's love for God's word.
Lord God, Your love has called us here,
As we, by love, for love were made.
Your living likeness still we bear
Tho’ marred, dishonoured, disobeyed.
We come, with all our heart and mind
Your call to hear, Your love to find.
We come with self inflicted pains
Of broken trust and chosen wrong,
Half free, half bound by inner chains,
By social forces swept along,
By powers and systems close confined,
Yet seeking hope for human kind.
Lord God, in Christ You call our name,
And then receive us as Your own,
Not thro’ some merit, right, or claim,
But by Your gracious love alone.
We strain to glimpse Your mercy seat,
And find You kneeling at our feet.
Then take the towel, and break the bread,
And humble us, and call us friends.
Suffer and serve till all are fed
And show how grandly love intends
To work till all creation sings,
To fill all worlds, to crown all things.
Lord God, in Christ You set us free
Your life to live, Your joy to share.
Give us Your Spirit’s liberty
To turn from guilt and dull despair
And offer all that faith can do,
While love is making all things new.
(Brian Wren is a prolific hymn writer, some of whose hymns are amongst the best in the modern tradition. He has a particular concern and interest in seeking language and metaphors for God that are inclusive and less freighted with ideas of power, dominance and the legitimation of oppressive ideologies. His book What Language Shall I Borrow remains a powerful challenge to the use and imposition of language more suited to Constantinian power politics than a Gospel of love, justice and reconciliation.)
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