“Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory.” (Ps. 115:1)
Expanded Passage: Psalm 115:1-6
In a church service a few months ago, our worship pastor invited the congregation to raise their hands if they remembered the names of their grandparents. Most hands shot up. She then invited us to raise our hands if we remembered the names of our great-grandparents. Half the hands came down. Then the great-great-grandparents. Only two or three hands remained raised in the room.
That Sunday has stood out to me as a monument of my smallness: a stark (almost chilling) reminder that in all my rushing around, striving, building, and working, I’m building a life that’ll only be remembered by a few folks down the line. Seems depressing at first blush, doesn’t it? I left that day kind of bummed, thinking about how few years I am away from being obsolete.
And yet when I recall that Sunday, I’ve found good news in it, too. I discovered God’s expectations are fitting for our limitations. The reminder of the “easy yoke” and “light burden” of Christ (Matt. 11:30) and the injunction not to dwell on things that are too lofty for us (Ps. 131:1) blazes a trail through Scripture, reminding us that God’s invitation is not to be notable, but to be loving.
I wonder what it might mean for our communities if we thought that our most lasting contribution was to love like Jesus.
Make an eternal deposit by loving as Jesus loved.
Ethan Linder is the pastor of discipleship at College Wesleyan Church (IN) and contributing editor for Education and Clergy Development of The Wesleyan Church.
© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
