John 15:9-17
As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (as in the wise who are friends of God, not slaves of God.) You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants (also translated as “slaves”) any longer, because the servant (also translated as “slave”) does not know what the master is doing, but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another. John 15:9-17 (NRSVUE)
Captain and Tennille popularized the song, “Love, Love will keep us together,” hitting the top of the charts in 1975. A year later they released a separate single in Spanish. (Pretty cool since the Spanish version was usually put on the B side of the single.) But like most things, there’s always more to the story. Written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield it was first recorded by Sedaka in 1973. It went nowhere. The brother-sister duo Mac and Katie Kissoon recorded their version in 1973. And still nothing. Then Captain and Tennille added a chord progression from the Beach Boys and an augmentation (triad with a sharpened fifth) inspired by Al Green, it then rose to number one. There seems to be a synergy, or some call it a formula, that music must have to become popular.
All of this to say, the history of God’s love is rooted in Jesus who trusted the God of reality. Jesus gave us the spirit of giving one’s life for the life of others even his enemies. We celebrate Easter which is that same synergistic love of God. God strikes a chord with us and we reverberate that music. As we live into that love written by Jesus long ago, we rise to the top of the charts with meaning and purpose, filling us with melodic joy.
Questions for Reflection:
- Where do you see yourself being instrumental in the transforming joy in another? What little things do we do that can make a person’s day?
- How has the church been there for you with a synergy that brought you into God’s joy? Is it in giving, volunteering, or your community caring about you?
Prayer
God of good fruits, increase your love within us so that we can love others as you love us. Amen.
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