seated on the floor, is a very familiar group: Martin Luther, Mother
Teresa, Dietrich Bonhoffer. Jesus beckons the theologian to join
them. Nervously, he does.
A small, folded piece of paper is passed to the theologian from the
back of the room.
“What is this?” he asks Jesus.
“Your greatest work,” the Savior responds. The theologian unfolds
the paper and finds inside a poem he once wrote and hid in his
daughter’s lunch box when she was eight years old.
He is furious. He feels as though the Savior is teasing him. But as
he reads aloud the childlike poem he recognizes the delight in the
eyes of his listeners. They applaud as Jesus reads the last verse along
with him.
“I don’t understand,” the theologian says. “All the years of study
and tedium. Twenty-two books. Was it all for nothing?”
“Did you enjoy it?” Jesus asks.
“I loved every minute of it,” the theologian answers.
Jesus pauses. “Did you ever love it more than you loved me?”
Tears fill the theologian’s eyes as he understands his Savior’s ques-
tion.
I’ve probably seen that piece performed half a dozen times, and it
always hits me with a fresh poignancy as I learn again the lesson of
the theologian. Jesus has called me “his glory.” I must let go of try-
ing to love him with my accomplishments rather than letting him
love me with his grace. I must let go of trying to produce some
works for his glory rather than simply becominghis glory through my
faith.
101 MOST POWERFUL PRAYERS IN THE BI BLE 45