Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

“If I have denied the desires of the poor
    or let the eyes of the widow grow weary,
if I have kept my bread to myself,
    not sharing it with the fatherless—
but from my youth I reared them as a father would,
    and from my birth I guided the widow—
if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing,
    or the needy without garments,
and their hearts did not bless me
    for warming them with the fleece from my sheep,
if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
    knowing that I had influence in court,
then let my arm fall from the shoulder,
    let it be broken off at the joint.
For I dreaded destruction from God,
    and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things.

• Job 31:16-23

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

• Acts 4:32-35

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

• Matthew 6:1-4

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

• John 15:13

“I’d work for you, I’d slave for you
I’d be a beggar or knave for you
If that isn’t love, it’ll have to do
Until the real things comes along
I’d gladly move the earth for you
To prove my love dear and it’s worth to you
If that isn’t love, it’ll have to do
Until the real things comes along
With all the words dear at my command
I just can’t make you understand
I’ll always love you darlin’, come what may
My heart is yours what more can I say
I’d sigh for you oh I’ll cry for you
I’d tear the stars down from the sky for you
If that isn’t love, it’ll have to do
Until the real thing comes along
With all the words dear at my command
I just can’t make you understand
I’ll always love you darlin’, come what may
My heart is yours what more can I say
I’d sigh for you and I’ll cry for you
I’d tear the stars down from the sky for you
If that ain’t love, it’ll have to do
Until the real thing comes along
Until the real thing comes along
Until the real thing comes along.”

• Mann Holiner and Sammy Cahn, Until the Real Thing Comes Along

Mann Holiner wrote the original words.  Sammy Cahn rewrote the lyrics.  And artists and writers have added lines here and there to make it more current, like “Punching Mike Tyson for you” in the Sinatra version.

This song can be listened to with two different mindsets, maybe three.  It works well as a romantic song.  The feats that the lover will do for the loved one are not realistic, but in some ways, that is the point.  The lover, meaning the one loving the loved one, is willing to try the impossible.  In some way, this exaggeration shows that their love is beyond a natural yearning to an infinite love for that loved one.

But if we were to sing this song as a show of our love for God, it becomes a bit silly.  After all, we are talking to the One who put the stars in the sky, and here we are saying we would tear the stars from the sky.  Why?  Because our love for God is that great?  That works for a loved one who knows that we are just saying some words to show that our love has no boundaries.  But God made those boundaries.

But then, what if the song is talking about God’s love for us?  That is the real thing. Until the real thing comes along, we do not fully know love. But God placed the stars in the sky for us.  He promises to wipe the stars from the sky as His wrath is kindled in the last days.  He will create a massive reset of the world to give us a new world where there is no death, no pain, no suffering, and no sin.

But back to us loving God, rather than promise the impossible to impress a God who has heard it all before and is not impressed, let us obey God.  Let us help the needy.  In Job’s final defense, he dares his so-called-friends if they can find where he ever neglected the needy.

The early Christians shared everything so that everyone had enough.  They loved each other that much.  But these days, the big money givers in the church wait until they get their Christmas bonus as an executive of their company, and then give God some of the excess.  Meanwhile, the poor in the church rely on the food bank and budgeting what they get so that they will not starve by the time the next allotment is made.

Giving large sums to the church is good, it balances the budget.  Giving to the food bank is good, it gives some money for subsistence, but it falls short of the first century church.  And the first century church is not the earliest form of communism.  Karl Marx is clear in that God has no place in his system.  But the first century church gave their entire savings to God to trust God that no one went without.  Without God, the system collapses.

And without giving without bragging about it, we save no blessings for when we get to Heaven.

But read the lyrics carefully.  There is one thing that the one doing the loving will not do for his/her loved one.  The one doing the loving will not die for the loved one.

Christ Jesus died for us, and He rose from the dead.  If that isn’t love …

Here is Dean Martin singing Until the Real Thing Comes Along.

But the full line is “If that isn’t love, it will have to do until the real thing comes along.  But if you search for “If that isn’t love” you get a Gospel Song.

Here are the Isaacs singing If that Isn’t Love.

I think there are stars in the sky and the sparrow can fly.  God has shown us the greatest love.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.