When Love Comes to Town

One of the new things I am having to get used to in Hinckley is the trains. Some of the trains are nice. They blow the whistle once maybe twice and rumble through town. But some trains lay on the whistle in the middle of the night all the way through town. As I was listening to the trains early in morning as one after another rumble along the tracks, I started singing one of my favorite songs by U2, When Love Comes to Town

When love come to town, I’m gonna jump that train. 

When love comes to town, I’m gonna catch that flame.

Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down, but I did what I did before love came to town.”

This is on one of the tapes I listened to when I got back from Rome and heard the El rumble by my apartment every seven minutes. As I listened to this song, I remembered the train ride through Ireland on my Eurail Pass where I was sharing a sandwich with a Māori dental student from Australia when the most incredible rainbows I had ever seen was stretched over the rolling green hills. One of those God moments. I remembered rolling through East Germany on my way to Berlin as I argued with British Punks about Springsteen’s music being not a celebration of patriotism but about the loss of a friend to Vietnam. The guards with their submachine guns patrolling the halls were a stark reminder of the need for love to come to town. I remember rolling through the Alps at dawn watching the sun rise over the first mountains. So as the trains continue to rumble through Hinckley, I continue to sing

When love comes to town, I’m gonna catch that flame.

Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down, but I did what I did before love came to town.”

The Gospel story is a story of the Love coming to town. As Jesus moves through Galilee, he transforms villages, people, and power. Jesus turns the darkness into light and provides hope when all seems lost. As Jesus walked by people jumped the train. They came to hear about God and to experience the power of God’s Kingdom to change the world.

U2’s song is about how love can alter a person’s life.

I was a sailor, I was lost at sea I was under the waves Before love rescued me
As the music played I saw my life turn around

That was the day before love came to town

When I woke up I was sleeping on the street

I felt the world was dancing, and I was dirt beneath their feet

I threw the dice when they pierced his side But I've seen love conquer the great divide

And when love, Jesus came to town lives were changed and darkness caught a glimpse of the light. When Love comes to town that love can rebuild those broken places. Love can bring people into wholeness. Love can bring those divided by hate and prejudice together. Love can change hearts, our hearts. There are many people searching for love, many people in need of love. We here at St. Paul’s are to bring love into the lives of the people we encounter. We are to help love come to town. So when you hear the train whistles blowing today and every day: be the love that comes to town.