THE Love Song
THE Love Song Phil 2: 1-11 & Isa. 50: 4-9 (Palm Sunday)
March 16, 2008
Scott L. Stearman
It wasn`t until fairly late in my High School career that I came to understand that there were legitimate forms of music… which were not country. In fact I thought much of contemporary country was just adulterated rhythms and hyped up tunes. It had more in common with rock music than the heart and soul of real music.
Real heart and soul music was sung by the likes of Patsy Cline… “I’m crazy…” with her mournful and weighty alto twang that spoke to every lost love you’ve ever had. Or Hank Sr… who would sing about tear in his beer because he’s crying for his dear.
It doesn’t get better than that.
About.com has a list of top Country love songs of all time. They are mostly ones I know, although I was a bit surprised by the order.
The first all time country love song:
Ronnie Milsaps “A woman in Love”
No matter what you do or say
She's always got to have her way
She'll bring you down… just to cheer you up
You never know with a woman in love
The minute you start holding on
You'll turn around and she'll be gone
This is very unpredictable stuff
You never know with a woman in love
You never know… unpredictable stuff… sounds like love. Doesn’t sound very nice to women, but there are other songs. For example number 8 always sounded like a typical male excusing his typical maleness:
Willie Nelson Always on my Mind:
Maybe I didn't love you… Quite as often as I could have
Maybe I didn't treat you… Quite as good as I should have
If I made you feel second best …Girl I'm sorry I was blind
You were always on my mind… You were always on my mind
I don’t recommend trying this at home. “Sorry about the trash, and forgetting the dishes in the sink, but dear you were always on my mind.” It hasn’t worked so well for me.
The text I read in Phil, is a song. Not the first few verses, but after Paul has his ethical instructions (which boil down to: love one another), he tells them HOW to do what he’s asking:
Have this attitude… this mind… the key word is a verb… “you should be thinking as Christ… who… The verb he uses is Phroneo… to think, consider, and adopt a mindset. “Thinking, feeling, moving, in this way… that’s how you will love one another.”
The noun form is what Jesus used in Matthew and Mark when he turns to Peter who was announcing that he would never let him suffer any indignities… And Jesus turns to Peter and says: “get behind me Satan, you do not have in mind (phroneis) the things of God.
Writing a prescription for how to treat others, then Paul quotes a song. It is a hymn, one that most scholars assume was sung in the early church. The tune has long been lost, but the words are in verse.
Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
This is Palm Sunday. It is a day when we remember that the crowds welcomed Jesus in the city with great anticipation… throngs of folks anticipating his salvation. Hosanna. Hosanna. And then in a few days, crucify, crucify. Crowds will turn, when things don’t go the way they think they should.
But that’s not the ultimate point of Palm Sunday or Holy Week which follows it. The real point is the heart of this… of The love song. Christ emptied himself, and became what we are, that we might have a hope to reaching who God is.
The heart of this love song is not cheating hearts or lying eyes, or feet that wander, or hearts which break, or tears that fall, or what happens behind closed doors. This love is about empting. It is about Kenosis. The self-emptying act of Christ on the cross.
There is no way to improve on those three words: eros, philia, agape. Eros is the domain of the country love song. It’s about desire, longing, yearning, having, holding. None of that is wrong. Human love is beautiful, fun, a part of what real life is about. Sometimes our puritan past has led us to discount this beautiful gift God has given. But eros is not the mindset, the thinking, Paul has in mind. Eros is about getting. He’s talking about giving.
Neither is it Philia. This is friendship love, based on common interests. We have lots of these in life… at work, school, neighborhoods… this too is a beautiful part of life. But its not the heart of this love song.
This is a kind of love which isn’t out for what it gains. Not what it gets in response. There are no conditions. There is no quid pro quo. This is about a love which isn’t looking out for self, nor worried about the future.
Isa 50: 6 I offered my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;
I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.
The logical question is…. Why?
Not to gain a lover. Not to win a friend. Because love, true love, knew no other way. Because it is better to give…
To empty yourself of selfish concerns…
(Dorothy Hassler): Dr. Walter Wilson visiting a home, and a little girl wanted to impress him by quoting John 3:16: “God so loved… that who believes would have internal life.”
At the heart of the gospel, at the foundation of what this week is about, we find a Divine love that trumps human justice. This gospel has to change our mindset, our thinking about justice, as Anne Lamont says: “heaven is partly a new pair of glasses.” Our typical mindset about justice, which seems innate but may be learned, is this: things ought to equal out. Famously it was the lex talionis: you take my eye, I take your eye… and maybe your little finger because you started it.
The reason I think this may be innate is that it seems so much a part of childhood. Counting gifts under the Christmas tree, ensuring your sister didn’t get more… One of the first phrases we learn: “it’s not fair…” Our since of injustice, of being done wrong, as the poor look at the middle class, as the middle class look at the rich, and as the rich look at the super rich… we all have a tendency to look up (eco, speaking) and covet.
This equalizing tendency, this fairness meter, this metaphysical vision of balance, stays with us AND it isn’t all bad. It is the source of our pleasure when the underdog wins… either on screen or in real life. It is the source of our righteous indignation at things like blatant racism. We don’t like to see the powerless treated poorly by the powerful because we sense it ought not be this way.
But… this sense of fairness and justice is human and not complete. It isn’t all wrong (a good parent will do their darnest to equal out those gifts), but it will never be the whole story. Jesus told the rest of the story. Once sin entered the picture, once imperfection came, lex talionis will only end in mutual self-destruction. Once Jesus showed another way…
The heart of Paul’s claim is that God so loved the world, he gave… Not out of abundance, but from his essence.
Death is the finitude of human life. Death on a cross is that death in extremis.
Linda Lipscomb, an International Mission Board worker known for her ability to bridge cultural divides, died Feb. 14 in Bangkok, Thailand, from complications following a bus accident. She was 63. After 45 years together raising two children, enjoying two grandchildren and serving God overseas in two countries, J.P. Lipscomb said goodbye to his wife Linda on Feb. 14. The former nurse and her husband J.P. Lipscomb were spending their retirement years serving God overseas.
Four weeks before her death, in another part of Asia, Linda stood just inside the door of a bus, preparing to step off and walk to a coffee shop. Without warning, the brakes released and the bus rolled forward, throwing the 115-pound, 4-foot-11-inch woman to the ground. The fall broke her left femur and wrist.
Hours later in a clinic, the red-faced bus driver hunched over in his seat and squeezed his hands as he and a bus company representative waited to see her. "He needs to lose his job," the supervisor said to the Lipscombs. "How much money does he need to pay?"
"Nothing. We forgive you," the Lipscombs said. "We forgive you because God forgave us. Please do not take his job away from him." In tears, the driver could not believe they did not want revenge. The police report noted: "Victim forgave bus driver."
One of the ironies about many singers of love songs is how poorly they love. Or maybe it’s not ironic, if you realize their only singing about temporal eros.
George Jones was one of the greatest. His love songs were as powerful as his marriages were numerous. He had a tortured relationship with Tammy Wynette, and they sang one of the greatest duets of all time:
Tammy Wynette and George Jones
(T.W.)
In a pawn shop in Chicago On a sunny summer day
A couple gazes at the wedding rings
There on display
(G.J)
She smiles n' nods her head As he says, "Honey that's for you,
It's not much, but it's the best That I can do."
Chorus-both
Golden rings (golden ring) with one tiny little stone
Waiting there (waiting there) for someone to take you home
By itself (by itself) it's just a cold metallic thing
Only love can make a golden wedding ring
(T.W.)
In a small two room apartment As they fought their final round
He says, "You won't admit it, But I know you're leavin' town."
(G.J.)
She says, "One thing's for certain, I don't love you any more."
And throws down the ring As she walks out the door
Chorus- both
Golden ring (golden ring) with one tiny little stone
Cast aside (cast aside) like the love that's dead and gone
By itself (by itself) it's just a cold metallic thing
Only love can make a golden wedding ring
Indeed. And the cross is in reality a rustic instrument of capital punishment or a metallic piece of jewelry worn around the neck. Only God can turn a cross into a display of ultimate love. Only your acceptance of sacrificial love will empower that love to take over your life.
March 16, 2008
Scott L. Stearman
It wasn`t until fairly late in my High School career that I came to understand that there were legitimate forms of music… which were not country. In fact I thought much of contemporary country was just adulterated rhythms and hyped up tunes. It had more in common with rock music than the heart and soul of real music.
Real heart and soul music was sung by the likes of Patsy Cline… “I’m crazy…” with her mournful and weighty alto twang that spoke to every lost love you’ve ever had. Or Hank Sr… who would sing about tear in his beer because he’s crying for his dear.
It doesn’t get better than that.
About.com has a list of top Country love songs of all time. They are mostly ones I know, although I was a bit surprised by the order.
The first all time country love song:
Ronnie Milsaps “A woman in Love”
No matter what you do or say
She's always got to have her way
She'll bring you down… just to cheer you up
You never know with a woman in love
The minute you start holding on
You'll turn around and she'll be gone
This is very unpredictable stuff
You never know with a woman in love
You never know… unpredictable stuff… sounds like love. Doesn’t sound very nice to women, but there are other songs. For example number 8 always sounded like a typical male excusing his typical maleness:
Willie Nelson Always on my Mind:
Maybe I didn't love you… Quite as often as I could have
Maybe I didn't treat you… Quite as good as I should have
If I made you feel second best …Girl I'm sorry I was blind
You were always on my mind… You were always on my mind
I don’t recommend trying this at home. “Sorry about the trash, and forgetting the dishes in the sink, but dear you were always on my mind.” It hasn’t worked so well for me.
The text I read in Phil, is a song. Not the first few verses, but after Paul has his ethical instructions (which boil down to: love one another), he tells them HOW to do what he’s asking:
Have this attitude… this mind… the key word is a verb… “you should be thinking as Christ… who… The verb he uses is Phroneo… to think, consider, and adopt a mindset. “Thinking, feeling, moving, in this way… that’s how you will love one another.”
The noun form is what Jesus used in Matthew and Mark when he turns to Peter who was announcing that he would never let him suffer any indignities… And Jesus turns to Peter and says: “get behind me Satan, you do not have in mind (phroneis) the things of God.
Writing a prescription for how to treat others, then Paul quotes a song. It is a hymn, one that most scholars assume was sung in the early church. The tune has long been lost, but the words are in verse.
Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
This is Palm Sunday. It is a day when we remember that the crowds welcomed Jesus in the city with great anticipation… throngs of folks anticipating his salvation. Hosanna. Hosanna. And then in a few days, crucify, crucify. Crowds will turn, when things don’t go the way they think they should.
But that’s not the ultimate point of Palm Sunday or Holy Week which follows it. The real point is the heart of this… of The love song. Christ emptied himself, and became what we are, that we might have a hope to reaching who God is.
The heart of this love song is not cheating hearts or lying eyes, or feet that wander, or hearts which break, or tears that fall, or what happens behind closed doors. This love is about empting. It is about Kenosis. The self-emptying act of Christ on the cross.
There is no way to improve on those three words: eros, philia, agape. Eros is the domain of the country love song. It’s about desire, longing, yearning, having, holding. None of that is wrong. Human love is beautiful, fun, a part of what real life is about. Sometimes our puritan past has led us to discount this beautiful gift God has given. But eros is not the mindset, the thinking, Paul has in mind. Eros is about getting. He’s talking about giving.
Neither is it Philia. This is friendship love, based on common interests. We have lots of these in life… at work, school, neighborhoods… this too is a beautiful part of life. But its not the heart of this love song.
This is a kind of love which isn’t out for what it gains. Not what it gets in response. There are no conditions. There is no quid pro quo. This is about a love which isn’t looking out for self, nor worried about the future.
Isa 50: 6 I offered my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;
I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.
The logical question is…. Why?
Not to gain a lover. Not to win a friend. Because love, true love, knew no other way. Because it is better to give…
To empty yourself of selfish concerns…
(Dorothy Hassler): Dr. Walter Wilson visiting a home, and a little girl wanted to impress him by quoting John 3:16: “God so loved… that who believes would have internal life.”
At the heart of the gospel, at the foundation of what this week is about, we find a Divine love that trumps human justice. This gospel has to change our mindset, our thinking about justice, as Anne Lamont says: “heaven is partly a new pair of glasses.” Our typical mindset about justice, which seems innate but may be learned, is this: things ought to equal out. Famously it was the lex talionis: you take my eye, I take your eye… and maybe your little finger because you started it.
The reason I think this may be innate is that it seems so much a part of childhood. Counting gifts under the Christmas tree, ensuring your sister didn’t get more… One of the first phrases we learn: “it’s not fair…” Our since of injustice, of being done wrong, as the poor look at the middle class, as the middle class look at the rich, and as the rich look at the super rich… we all have a tendency to look up (eco, speaking) and covet.
This equalizing tendency, this fairness meter, this metaphysical vision of balance, stays with us AND it isn’t all bad. It is the source of our pleasure when the underdog wins… either on screen or in real life. It is the source of our righteous indignation at things like blatant racism. We don’t like to see the powerless treated poorly by the powerful because we sense it ought not be this way.
But… this sense of fairness and justice is human and not complete. It isn’t all wrong (a good parent will do their darnest to equal out those gifts), but it will never be the whole story. Jesus told the rest of the story. Once sin entered the picture, once imperfection came, lex talionis will only end in mutual self-destruction. Once Jesus showed another way…
The heart of Paul’s claim is that God so loved the world, he gave… Not out of abundance, but from his essence.
Death is the finitude of human life. Death on a cross is that death in extremis.
Linda Lipscomb, an International Mission Board worker known for her ability to bridge cultural divides, died Feb. 14 in Bangkok, Thailand, from complications following a bus accident. She was 63. After 45 years together raising two children, enjoying two grandchildren and serving God overseas in two countries, J.P. Lipscomb said goodbye to his wife Linda on Feb. 14. The former nurse and her husband J.P. Lipscomb were spending their retirement years serving God overseas.
Four weeks before her death, in another part of Asia, Linda stood just inside the door of a bus, preparing to step off and walk to a coffee shop. Without warning, the brakes released and the bus rolled forward, throwing the 115-pound, 4-foot-11-inch woman to the ground. The fall broke her left femur and wrist.
Hours later in a clinic, the red-faced bus driver hunched over in his seat and squeezed his hands as he and a bus company representative waited to see her. "He needs to lose his job," the supervisor said to the Lipscombs. "How much money does he need to pay?"
"Nothing. We forgive you," the Lipscombs said. "We forgive you because God forgave us. Please do not take his job away from him." In tears, the driver could not believe they did not want revenge. The police report noted: "Victim forgave bus driver."
One of the ironies about many singers of love songs is how poorly they love. Or maybe it’s not ironic, if you realize their only singing about temporal eros.
George Jones was one of the greatest. His love songs were as powerful as his marriages were numerous. He had a tortured relationship with Tammy Wynette, and they sang one of the greatest duets of all time:
Tammy Wynette and George Jones
(T.W.)
In a pawn shop in Chicago On a sunny summer day
A couple gazes at the wedding rings
There on display
(G.J)
She smiles n' nods her head As he says, "Honey that's for you,
It's not much, but it's the best That I can do."
Chorus-both
Golden rings (golden ring) with one tiny little stone
Waiting there (waiting there) for someone to take you home
By itself (by itself) it's just a cold metallic thing
Only love can make a golden wedding ring
(T.W.)
In a small two room apartment As they fought their final round
He says, "You won't admit it, But I know you're leavin' town."
(G.J.)
She says, "One thing's for certain, I don't love you any more."
And throws down the ring As she walks out the door
Chorus- both
Golden ring (golden ring) with one tiny little stone
Cast aside (cast aside) like the love that's dead and gone
By itself (by itself) it's just a cold metallic thing
Only love can make a golden wedding ring
Indeed. And the cross is in reality a rustic instrument of capital punishment or a metallic piece of jewelry worn around the neck. Only God can turn a cross into a display of ultimate love. Only your acceptance of sacrificial love will empower that love to take over your life.
posted by Kirkwood Baptist at Monday, April 28, 2008
<< Home