{"id":14675,"date":"2017-04-23T16:30:37","date_gmt":"2017-04-23T20:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=14675"},"modified":"2017-04-23T16:30:37","modified_gmt":"2017-04-23T20:30:37","slug":"pastors-ponderings-a-divine-love-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=14675","title":{"rendered":"Pastors Ponderings: A Divine Love Song"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pastor Jim submitted the following on April 5, 2017…<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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Greetings Friends:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

PLEASE READ: 1 John 4:7<\/p>\n

\n

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God”<\/span> (NASB).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

PLEASE READ: Hebrews 6:1-2<\/p>\n

\n

“Let us stop going over the same old ground again and again, always teaching those first lessons about Christ. Let us go on instead to other things and become mature in our understanding, as strong Christians ought to be”<\/span> (TLB).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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In reflecting upon the cross in our sermon series and Bible studies through Lent, we have come across the term “sanctification.” We’ve looked at this word and discussed it’s meaning for our lives as Christians. One of the things we’ve discussed is that it involves “growing” in our faith. We’ve noted that Lent is the perfect time to participate in spiritual disciplines which invite us to grow deeper in our faith.<\/p>\n

One of the hymns we often sing is called “Love Divine, All Love’s Excelling<\/a>.<\/span>” It is a great hymn written by Charles Wesley which sums up beautifully the idea of growing in our faith.<\/p>\n

Below is a nice article written by Joe Iovino from United Methodist Communications about this great hymn. Note how the author refers to this hymn as “a prayer.” That is amazing. Maybe we could actually use this hymn as a prayer during one of devotional moments with God.<\/p>\n

I pray that we all will be blessed and continue to grow in our faith in God through Jesus.<\/p>\n

Shalom,<\/span><\/p>\n

Pastor Jim<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n Lost in Love: A Wesley Hymn Devotion for Lent\u00a0 by Joe Iovino*<\/span><\/h3>\n

What does it mean to live as a Christian? How can we continue to grow in our faith? Charles Wesley\u2019s \u201c<\/span>Love Divine, All Loves Excelling<\/span><\/strong>\u201d is a prayer for God to guide us in our spiritual journey throughout our lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

Means of Grace<\/span><\/h4>\n

Lent is a time when many Christians focus intentionally on spiritual growth. Some attend Lenten soup suppers and Bible studies at their church. Others volunteer at the local food bank, join a spring break mission trip, or visit the lonely. Many others choose to donate to ministries near and far that work for justice and support those affected by unjust systems.<\/span><\/p>\n

John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement and Charles\u2019 big brother, called these activities “means of grace.” They are things we do to put ourselves in a posture to receive God\u2019s grace in our lives (see John Wesley’s sermon The Means of Grace, II 1).<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of these means of grace are worship and our devotional lives. They also include times of serving our neighbors and standing up for justice. Those who participate in these practices experience a deepening of their faith and understanding.<\/span><\/p>\n

John Wesley called this process sanctification, or becoming \u201cperfected in love.\u201d He writes in a sermon, \u201cIf thou wilt be perfect\u2026 add love\u2026 It is not only the first and great command, but it is all the commandments in one\u201d (The Circumcision of the Heart, I 11).<\/span><\/p>\n

He is echoing Jesus\u2019 answer when asked what the greatest commandment is: \u201c<\/span>You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind… [and] You must love your neighbor as you love yourself<\/span><\/em>\u201d (Matthew 22:37-40 CEB, cf. Mark 12:28-31 & Luke 10:25-28).<\/span><\/p>\n

For the Wesleys growing as a Christian is all about being filled with love, which happens by the grace of God.<\/span>\n \u201cLove Divine All Loves Excelling\u201d is a prayer for God to pull us deeper into love.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Because He First Loved Us<\/span><\/h4>\n

The hymn begins by acknowledging that love originates in God (1 John 4:7), and comes to us in the person of Jesus, \"\"<\/a>\u201cJoy of heaven to earth come down.\u201d As we sing with Charles, we ask Jesus to make his home in our lives,<\/span>\n Fix in us thy humble dwelling\u2026 Visit us with thy salvation, Enter every trembling heart.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because of God\u2019s great love for us, we are invited into new life in Christ, are given the ability to accept that invitation by faith, and receive God\u2019s forgiveness for our sin. In these beautiful lines of the first verse, Charles expresses the beginning of our life of faith.<\/span><\/p>\n

With verse two, \u201cLove Divine, Loves All Excelling\u201d begins to focus on our journey toward \u201chaving the love of God shed abroad in our hearts\u201d so that it guides every action of our lives. As we have found peace in first receiving Christ, Wesley prays to receive \u201csecond rest,\u201d a new level of peace.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our United Methodist Hymnal says, \u201cTake away our bent to sinning,\u201d but Charles\u2019 original lyric is a bit stronger:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n Take away our power of sinning, Alpha and Omega be, End of faith as its beginning,<\/span><\/em>\n Set our hearts at liberty.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Wesley’s prayer is to be so filled with the love of God that there is not room enough for any other motive. This removes our ability to sin, granting us a freedom fuller than that of our forgiveness, which Charles writes of in \u201cAnd Can It Be that I Should Gain.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Life as Worship<\/span><\/h4>\n

Verse three continues the theme introduced in the very beginning of the hymn. We pray for Christ, the love divine, to make his home in us. Clearly though, this is not a one-time event. It is a way of life. When Wesley writes,<\/span>\n Suddenly return, and never, Never more thy temples leave.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n He is not advocating spending all our time in church. He is instead praying for the transformation of every aspect of \"\"<\/a>life into an act of worship. By participating in means of grace, we grow in God\u2019s love until it permeates every aspect of our lives, every moment of every day.<\/span>\n Thee we would be always blessing, Serve thee as thy hosts above, Pray, and praise thee without ceasing, Glory in thy perfect love.<\/span><\/p>\n

All of this is a process in which we grow daily.<\/span><\/p>\n

Charles reminds us in verse four that sanctification is not something we achieve, but something God accomplishes in us by grace.<\/span>\n Finish then thy new creation, Pure and sinless let us be<\/span><\/p>\n

Our role is to put ourselves in a position to receive the love God already has for us. We do this by practicing the means of grace throughout our lives, or as Charles Wesley writes,<\/span>\n Till we cast our crowns before thee, Lost in wonder, love, and praise!<\/span><\/p>\n

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\n \u00a0In his devotional “The Song Forever New: Lent and Easter with Charles Wesley,” author Paul Chilcote writes, \u201cWe live in that time between what has been (what is no longer) and what will be (but is not yet). In this meantime, God continues to change us from one degree of glory to another, conforming us to the image of Christ, and sinking us deeper and deeper into love.<\/span><\/em>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n These weeks of preparation for Easter are a wonderful time to focus on this \u201ctime between.\u201d As we practice our Lenten disciplines, these means of grace, we seek to grow deeper and deeper into love.<\/span><\/p>\n

The United Methodist Church is committed to assisting each of us find our unique giftedness, and equipping us to live into it.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

Sources
\n Chilcote, Paul Wesley. The Song Forever New: Lent and Easter with Charles Wesley. New York: Morehouse, 2009.<\/p>\n

Wesley, Charles. \u201cHymn IX.\u201d Hymns for Those that Seek and Those that have Redemption in the Blood of Jesus Christ. London: Strahan, 1739. p. 11-12. Accessed through The Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition, Duke Divinity School.<\/p>\n

*Joe Iovino works for UMC.org at United Methodist Communications.<\/p>\n

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If you click this button, you’ll be able to see more Pastor’s Ponderings:\u00a0 Pastors Ponderings<\/span><\/a> \u00a0<\/p>\n

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Pastor Jim submitted the following on April 5, 2017…   Greetings Friends: PLEASE READ: 1 John 4:7 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God” (NASB). PLEASE READ: Hebrews 6:1-2 “Let us stop going over the same old ground again and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[148],"class_list":["post-14675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pastors-ponderings","tag-godslove"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14675"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14675\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14790,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14675\/revisions\/14790"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}