LOVE DIVINE

How and when 18^th century hymn-writing “phenom” Charles Wesley wrote “Love Divine, All Loves, Excelling”--we'll never know. But the odds are that he was saddled up on his old, reliable horse, traveling between towns. That's how he reportedly wrote most of his thousands of hymn texts. Nobody knows the real number, but the best guess is 3,000-6,000. He kept a little card on his pocket to jot lyrics as they came to him along the road. When he didn't have a “jotting card” along, he'd slide off his horse at a home or inn at the next town and ask for pencil and paper--as soon as possible!

We don't know if “Love Divine” was actually  written on horseback. But we do know that Charles and his famous preaching brother John (together they rewrote spiritual history with the founding of “Methodism”) had life-changing conversions that altered the trajectory of their lives.

The men's father, Rev. Samuel Wesley, also wrote devotional poetry used for hymns like “Behold the Savior of Mankind.” (1) Reportedly, that manuscript was saved by a gust of wind that blew it out of the family home which had caught on fire. But father Samuel's fame didn't go far from the parishes he pastored. Besides, with nineteen children under his roof, life was busy. (His wife, Susanna, found a way to pray with so many little ones around. She'd sit down, throw her generous apron over her head, and that was the children's clue to leave mama alone for a while.)

Charles Wesley, despite his prodigious output, was not history's most prolific hymn-writer. The title has been given blind American lyricist Fanny Crosby (1920-1915), said to have written more than 9,000 hymn lyrics. But that number has been questioned as “low” as she often used one of her 200-plus pseudonyms.

Still, he had a remarkable gift for linking poetry to music—a gift many say was released in abundance when he and brother John (who became founder of Methodism), had a transforming spiritual experience through the influence of Moravian missionaries. Among his thousands of hymns, these are among the better known: “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”(2) (3), “And Can It Be That I Should Gain?”, “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing,” “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus,” “Christ the Lord Is Ris'n Today,” “Soldiers of Christ, Arise,” “Rejoice, the Lord is King,” and “Jesus, Lover of My Soul.”

It's worth noting that “love” and “lover” appear in the titles/opening words of some of these well-known hymns. Our culture may have commercialized “love” with the hearts, candy, and flowers associated with “Valentine's Day.” But the love of God goes way and beyond all that. The apostle John, who in late life wrote the epistle that couldn't give enough praise to the love of God, exclaimed:

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (1 John 3:1)

What can I possibly add to that statement? Amen, and amen.

1. Hymns of the Faith: Behold the Savior of Mankind - Holy Sojourners

2. Bing Videos

3. This You-tube records “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” at Westminster Abbey, with the late Queen Elizabeth and her son now-King Charles singing in the congregation: Bing Videos

 

REAL LOVE

This décor plaque at a local store reminded me of

Ephesians 3:18 and our relationship with God

Oh, the stories associated with Valentine’s Day. Nobody knows for sure who was the original St. Valentine, though the name (from words for bravery or “valor”) connects well with one ancient priest’s bold decision to marry couples to help the bridegroom escape military service. Some histories mention fertility festivals of old. No record exists of romantic celebrations on Valentine’s Day until a 1375 poem by Chaucer which linked courtly love with St. Valentine’s feast day. In that poem, Feb. 14 is the day birds and humans find mates.

Today the holiday seems to have overrated human (and passion-oriented) love. Oh, that instead of “Roses are red-etc.” we’d focus on this as a theme verse:

 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1)

Being truly related to the God of all creation is knowing true love. Seeing the cross on which Jesus died as a personal payment for my sinful condition is embracing true love.  Living for Jesus “in all that I do” (to quote an old hymn) is living out true love. Waiting for true love—a God-fearing spouse, not a flimsy substitute because nobody else came along—is trusting the God who loves us more than we can realize.

Several years ago my church was pastored by a man (and wife) whose three daughters and son set the bar high for “good kids.” After they left, we kept in touch via mail, pleased to hear of their social skills, academics, implicit trust in Jesus, servant hearts, and, most of all, a God-focused present and future. His kids are awesome! With two older daughters now  in college, the third one finishing high school, they're approaching the years when young men take notice of them. I am thinking, “Are there men out there worthy of these outstanding young women?”

Recently the dad wrote a book about the seven letters to ancient churches that open the book of Revelation. Those churches had a common problem: failing to live 100% for Christ. Many were okay with compromising their values so they’d fit in better with their community. We’re not any different if our pastors compromise the Gospel to a “Jesus can be your Best Friend” message, sidestepping Scripture’s command to “take up your cross and die” (Mark 8:34).

This book is titled Seven Words: How the Seven Letters of Revelation Speak to Us Today (XulonPress), and in it Pastor Joshua Brooks (dad of those awesome kids!) shared another author’s hypothetical illustration of a dad looking for a husband for his daughter. Would he “make it happen” by advertising her in newspapers (or even a love site on the internet), putting up a billboard, or passing out tee-shirts begging someone to choose her?  Absolutely not. This would cheapen his precious daughter. The man worthy of his daughter would have to be prepared to offer her his absolute best.

And so it is for us. First and foremost must come our love relationship with God. John wrote in the same passage: “Everyone who has this hope [of someday seeing the risen Christ, v. 2] purifies himself, just as he is pure” (1 John 3:3). That connects right into the idea of being “rooted” in Christ, and growing in love and devotion to Him:

I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” (Ephesians 3:18).

That’s real love, far greater than the “valentine” clichés.

STRUNG OUT

Years ago, when our now-adult children were, well, children, part of the fun at Christmas was the nighttime drive to see homes and yards where people went all-out decorating. Oh, the excesses we saw. Santa and his reindeer-driven sleigh (yes, Rudolph had a blinking red nose) next to the Holy Family in a shed. Then Frosty the Snowman close to the green Grinch. Sparkling angels! Sound tracks! We wondered if some homes could be seen from space!

Then we came home to our simpler decorating: a string of lights across the front, a modest tree with a hodgepodge of ornaments, a kid-friendly crèche with plastic figures, and a few other family knickknacks. Oh yes, the traditional poinsettia from the hardware store’s Thanksgiving early-bird sale. By January it had lost most of its leaves. Blame my black thumb.

I don’t think my kids were irreparably damaged because we didn’t go “all out.” The best part was that after New Year’s, there wasn’t as much a hassle for the stuff to go all-in, as “back in” storage boxes.

For that, blame their mother’s leaning toward simplicity. This photo depicting simpler living, which I cut from a magazine years ago, is framed and hangs in a bedroom. The lyrics around the edge are from a 19^th century Shaker song:

‘Tis a gift to be simple, ‘tis a gift to be free,

‘Tis a gift to come down where we ought to be.

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

It will be in the valley of love and delight.

I see this framed saying as I come into that bedroom to change a grandbaby's diaper. I spot it as I come around the corner with a basket of laundry to fold on the same bed. Constantly it reminds me that “love” and “delight” last lots longer than “stuff” (and certainly that holiday poinsettia!).

Sometimes when I hear someone say they bought “themselves” a Christmas gift, I have to smile inside. Maybe they indulged themselves by self-giving, but only God can provide the true “Christmas gift”--and it was a lavish one:

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! (1 John 3:1 NIV).

Nothing can compare.