Richard Massie: the role of love

Monday, May 24, 2010
    Feast of John and Charles Wesley, Priests, Poets, Teachers, 1791 & 1788
Meditation:
    And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
    —2 John 1:5-6; (NIV)
Quotation:
LORD, who hast taught to us on earth
    This lesson from above,
That all our works are nothing worth,
    Unless they spring from love;
Send down thy Spirit from on high,
    And pour in all our hearts
That precious gift of charity,
    Which peace and joy imparts:

The healing balm, the holy oil
    Which calms the waves of strife,
The drop which sweetens every toil,
    The breath of our new life.
Without this blessed bond of peace
    God counts the living dead:
O heavenly Father, grant us this,
    Through Christ, the living Head.

Let all who love the Lord join hands
    To aid the common good,
And knit more close the sacred bands
    Of Christian brotherhood.
Make all thy pastors one, O Lord,
    In heart, in mind, in speech,
That they may set forth thy pure word,
    And live the life they preach.

Let all hold fast the truths whereby
    A church must stand or fall;
In doubtful things grant liberty,
    Show charity in all.
Thus shall we to our sacred name
    Our title clearly prove,
While even our enemies exclaim,
    ”See how these Christians love.”
    ... Richard Massie (1800-1887), A Collection of Hymns, for the use of the people called Methodists, John Wesley, London: Wesleyan Conference Office, 1876, #822, p. 744-745 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, implant in me a heart that expresses Your love for the world.

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