I have already learned in this preaching series that I am going to love singing or hearing the hymn "Take, O Take Me As I Am" each week. I thought the music would be powerful, but I am already overwhelmed by the hymn and the way it has been shared in worship. I can't wait to see who the hymn sounds in the coming weeks!
"Take" is the first verb in the hymn. The sermon sort of did what I hoped, but the first illustration was probably a bit long. I was trying to tie the Lenten hymn to the old evangelical concept of surrendering to God, but not sure that was achieved.
“Take” Genesis 12:1-4; Romans 4:13-25; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church; March 1, 2026
Genesis 12: 1-4a
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”[a]
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
Introduction: When I was in high school at Denton High School (I’m so old, they only had one high school in Denton then), I dated a young woman who attended First Baptist Church, which now goes by the name First Denton.
I was active here St. Andrew - came to worship on most Sunday morning and did youth group on Sunday afternoons, but for about a year while I dated this young woman, I went to church with her and her family on Sunday nights, and often on Wednesday nights. I was getting a lot of church back then.
After a few months, I think many of the adults just thought I was one of their youth.
It was a stormy spring night with tornado warnings flashing across the news when First Baptist kicked off their spring revival.
I was there,
in fact, I was part of a small group of guys who stood under the covered portico so people Coming to the revival could get out dry, and we would go park there cars for them.
there was not a lot of business for the parkers because almost no one was there to kick off the revival.
the sanctuary was as close to empty as I’d ever seen it.
but the revival happened anyway.
the preacher was from Southwestern seminary in ft. Worth, and he preached a powerful sermon calling for us to commit our lives to Christ.
I suppose it was a typical revival sermon, but it the first one I’d ever heard.
and then we arrived at the last hymn,
“just as I am, without one plea”
and the accompanying altar call for anyone who wanted to commit their life to Christ to come forward.
we sang a few verses, but no one came came down the aisles.
I quickly understood the problem - the only people who showed up in this stormy night were the stalwarts who had already committed and recommitted their lives many times and had no need of coming forward for an altar call.
But, the preacher wanted some commitments, so we kept singing.
just as I am, without one plea
Then, the minister invited anyone who wanted to recommit their lives to come forward
no one did,
but we kept singing. “ just as I am without one plea”
then, minister invited anyone who was a member of another church but wanted to be Baptist in their heart to come forward.
I did get a look from my girlfriend at that moment, but I was just fine being Presbyterian in my heart,
so we kept on singing just as I am without one plea,
no one came forward.
Finally, probably after a dozen or more verses,
the minister stands up and says, “I guess only the ones who are already really committed to Jesus would come out on a night like this.”
we sang one more verse, “just as I am, without one plea”
and then went out into the stormy night.
Move 1: “take, o take me as I am”
a. you may have noticed that our Lenten hymn, “Take, O Take me As I Am” is described in the hymnal as offering a more reflective approach but a similar theme as the hymn, “Just as I am, without one plea.”
1. "Just As I Am, Without One Plea" was written by Charlotte Elliott in 1835, inspired by her struggles with illness and feelings of unworthiness, she became seriously ill at the age of 32, which left her disabled and dealing with pain. During this challenging period, she struggled with feelings of worthlessness and despair, questioning her faith and purpose.
In her time of distress, she was encouraged to come to Christ just as she was, without pretense or plea.
She penned the lyrics to the hymn while confined to her home due to her illness,
lyrics which emphasize the message we can dare to approach God without any conditions, relying solely on God’s grace.
Billy Graham, who often finished his evangelistic gatherings with this hymn, famously stated that he was converted while this hymn was sung. (https://hymncharts.com/the-story-behind-just-as-i-am/)
2. We do not typically finish our worship services at St. Andrew with altar calls.
in fact, I bet when we sang it as the first hymn this morning those of you with evangelical roots were thinking, “why are we singing that hymn first, it should be at the end of the service.
3. We sang it this morning as a way of exploring “take,” the first verb in our Lenten hymn.
b. “take” brings to mind an old evangelical term, “Surrender.”
a. We do not use that word much in our worshiop or preaching, but one way of understanding what we mean when we sing “take, o take me as I am” is this idea of surrender.
1. Turning ourselves over completely to God.
2. Giving up the notion that we can earn or achieve God’s love and care by doing certain things,
or saying just the right words,
and instead, asking God to take us as we are,
and trusting that God will.
3. But, as we sing our Lenten hymn each week and ask God to take us,
we are asking God take us as we are,
we are confirming our belief in the God whose grace is sufficient for all the ways our lives are insufficient.
We humbly give ourselves over to God.
Move 2: Of course, the story from Genesis reminds us that when God takes you, you better be ready to go.
a. The story we read in Genesis acts as a bridge between the first eleven chapters of Genesis that tell the stories of God’s impact on all the earth and all of humanity
and the stories of particularity where Abram,
and then the patriarchs and matriarchs who follow him
live out their calling as a particular people,
who were called by God,
and sent by God to be witnesses to the rest of the world.
in other words, the with this story, Genesis moves from the broad, all encompassing creating of the world and humanity
to the particular.
1. when we sing the word “Take,” it can have a commuNal aspect to it,
but we also sing it in the particular.
speaking to how we understand God’s call in the particular context of our own lives.
2. God’s receives us in the particular,
and God calls us in the particular.
b. We sing out “take,”
and God responds with go.
1. “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
2. Abram will soon have his name changed;
he will have to pack up and leave the place he knows;
he and his family will head to an unknown land that God will show him.
3. Turning to God brings with it the risk,
the challenge,
the opportunity to do a new thing.
c. I am not really much of a musician.
I love to sing and love listening to all the wonderful music we have hear at St. Andrew,
but I am not trained musically.
I miss stuff musically that maybe some of you notice.
1. In researching our Lenten hymn, I read John Bell’s, the composer of our Lenten hymn, description “Take, O Take Me as I am” describes the repetition of the music in the hymn and its suble shift at the end of the verse is designed to create momentum and then compel worshipers to act.
Rather than encouraging stasis, this song’s repetition creates momentum and compels worshipers to act. In Bell’s words, they “enable new things to happen” (Bell, 1998, 4). https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/articles/history-of-hymns-take-o-take-me-as-i-am
2. Sing it
and feel the call to go.
Conclusion: you surrender to God, and then God sends you.
“Take, o take Me As I am”. Amen.
