My grandmother could remember that as a very young child she had gone with her mother to the post office where she saw some old men setting on benches talking together. They were amputees from the Civil War, and they were talking about having seen Abraham Lincoln in their youth. My grandmother knew people who at one time had owned slaves. Nana, my grandmother, called Jesus her “Master.” Her only Bible was the King James, and she read there, “Jesus said unto Mary Magdalene, ‘Mary.’ She turned herself and saith unto him, ‘Rabboni’, which is to say, ‘Master’. (John 20:16)

In 1868 John Bode, a clergyman in the Church of England, wrote a hymn to celebrate the confirmations of his three children. It’s title and first lines are ,O Jesus I have Promised to serve thee to the end. Be Though forever near me, my master and my friend. The song is still in the hymnbooks of many churches. It was popular when first published and is still sung today.

The combination of both master and friend had universal appeal, and Nana was raised in a church that found nothing offensive in a friend who is also our “master.” In some ways the hymn combines opposites:I shall not fear the battle if thou art by my side, nor wander from the pathway if thou wilt be my guide.” That Jesus should be both comforting friend, guide, and master is an old fashioned concept today, but it is an intimate and benevolent relationship that St. Paul recognized: Thanks to God that though you used to be slaves of sin, you have come to obey from your heart the teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become the slaves of God; the benefit you receive leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord, (Romans 6:22)

I think that St. Paul would readily agree with John Bode that the master who is a friend would in truth be Jesus. In Nana’s relationship, having “freedom” had a lower priority than having the son of God as her master and her friend . In having him, she knew that she had everything.

Love in Him,

Prue