The Greatest Thing Of All
Just a few hours after posting my Blog on Blog blog, where I mentioned that I probably won’t be blogging quite as much for the mentioned reason, here I am posting a…blog. Well, it’s like this, I was working on some thoughts for our staff chapel service tomorrow and I thought I might as well blog it. Might as well.
Question: What’s the greatest thing of all?
I’ll give you a moment to think about it.
(Scroll down)
Here’s what the aged Apostle John said toward the end of his life:
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.” (1 John 4:7-9, ESV)
What’s the greatest thing of all? Love.
“These three go on and on: Faith, Hope and Love. But the big dog is Love.”
(1 Cor. 13:13 BZV)
I’m thinking of Larry Norman’s “Righteous Rocker.”
Righteous Rocker
Larry Norman
You can be a righteous rocker or a holy roller
You could be most anything
You could be a Leon Russell or a super muscle
You could be a corporate king
You could be a wealthy man from Texas
Or a witch with heavy hexes
But without love, you ain’t nothing without love
Without love you ain’t nothing, without love.
You could be a brilliant surgeon or a sweet young virgin
Or a harlot out to sell
You could learn to play the blues or be Howard Hughes
Or the scarlot pimpernel
Or you could be a French provincial midwife
Or go from door to door with a death-knife
But without love you ain’t nothing, without love
Without love you ain’t nothing, without love.
You could be a woman feeler or a baby stealer
You could drink your life away
Or you could be a holy prophet, get a blessing off it
Or you could fast for fifty days
You could shake hands with the devil
Or give your life to God on the level
But without love you ain’t nothing, without love
Without love you ain’t nothing, without love.
(Little known fact: Dylan’s “Gotta Serve Somebody” was inspired by Norman’s “Righteous Rocker.” Check it out.)
Love. If it doesn’t end there, you’re on the wrong road.
Religion may take you to morality or normality or conformity or superiority but it won’t take you to love. It’s the wrong road.
“Whoever loves…knows.”
“Anyone who does not love does not know.”
Love is kind of intelligence. Love is highest of all intelligences. The greatest way to know a thing is to love it.
Those who choose the ultimate self-exile from the love of God (hell) will ultimately not be known by God. This is profound and true. And terrifying. To be unknown by God…this is hell.
“If anyone loves God, he is known by God.” (1 Cor. 8:3)
“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.”
Love. Live.
Jesus came to give us the new way to be human.
The central aspect of the new way to be human is to love.
To love is to live. To live is to love.
L-V-E
Put a vowel in the second slot. I or O
I Live, O Love. O Love, I Live
As I type this I’m listening to Larry Norman and I just this moment heard this line:
To live is a privilege, to love is such an art.
That’s right, Larry.
Here’s the entire song. A beautiful song that more than once has moved me to tears.
I Am A Servant
Larry Norman
I am a servant, I’ve been listening for my name
I’ve been unfaithful, I’ve been looking at the game
That I’ve been playing, and I’ve been staying much the same
When you are lonely, you’re the only one to blame
I am a servant, I’ve been waiting for your call
I’ve been unfaithful, so I sit here in the hall
How can you use me, when I’ve never given all
How can you choose me, when you know I quickly fall
Yet you feed my soul, and you make me grow
And you let me know that you love me
And I’m worthless now, but I’ve made a vow
I will humbly bow before thee
Oh please use me, I am lonely
I am a servant, getting ready for my part
There’s been a change, a rearrangement in my heart
At last I’m learning, there’s no returning once I start
To live is a privilege, to love is such an art
But I need your help to start
Oh please purify my heart
I am your servant
*****************
Beautiful.
You know Larry Norman, right? The father of Jesus Music?
Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and U2 are Larry Norman fans. Me too.
Love,
BZ
PS
Here’s a picture suitable for your desktop. I call it “Big Love.” Peri took this picture. It’s part of a mosaic in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
