Christ Comes To Us In Love

– Ponderings:

This morning I was still reading Rachel Held Evans’ book, Inspired, but I kept mentally getting sidetracked by one of my favorite hymns, Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, written by Charles Wesley. The hymn opens and closes with these words (although the middle parts are great also!):

Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of Heav’n to earth come down;
Fix in us thy humble dwelling;
All thy faithful mercies crown!
Jesus, Thou art all compassion,
Pure unbounded love Thou art;
Visit us with Thy salvation,
Enter every trembling heart.

Finish, then, Thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be;
Let us see Thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in Thee;
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in Heav’n we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise.

The words remind us that Christ comes to us in love and our response is grounded in love. At its core, the Christian faith is grounded in – and grows in – love. There’s more to it than that of course but if we lose our love for God, one another, and even ourselves, we’ve lost the heart of it all. Love is divine (of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit), making even the mundane excellent and pure.

But Wesley doesn’t stop there. In his hymn, he encourages Jesus to finish the new creation that has begun in his life. Faith leads us – or should lead us – into lives of transition. More than anything else, our prayer should be that the love, mercy, and grace that Jesus offers us be perfectly reflected in our lives. It’s encouraging that Wesley acknowledges this perfection likely won’t happen until we’re in heaven and in the presence of Jesus.

Still, when we open ourselves to God’s divine love, we invite the Holy Spirit to work within us, changing us in ways we could never achieve on our own. It’s a mystery how God can work within our lives, including a life like mine, to change our priorities and renew us entirely. Our faith keeps us moving from grace to grace, faith to faith, and glory to glory.

Whenever I need a reminder of the most important thing in life, God seems to find a way to send me this hymn. Is there a hymn that does that for you?

Prayer: God of grace and glory, let your love live in my heart today. Help me comprehend the vastness of your mercy and grace so that I can share your transforming love with others. Continue to work to finish in me your new creation, so that I may be holy, as you are holy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.