Advent with Love
December 11th, 2022 – Advent with Love
Hello beautiful church family, and hello to each of you tuning in on Zoom or online! We are on a journey called Advent, the four-week period leading up to Christmas. Today we are looking at “Advent with Love.”
What is love?
In the few minutes we have today, we are not going to suddenly be able to comprehensively know, understand, experience, and practice everything about love. But my hope is that we will each move from where we are to having a greater knowledge, understanding, experience, and practice of love and to being more loving persons, which is God’s desire for us. Holy Spirit, we welcome you and ask you to speak to us today, to soften our hearts, and to change us from the inside out!
Love is not just a commandment; it’s the very purpose for which we were created. God is capital L love. As bearers of God’s image, the Lord invites each and every one of us into the eternal dance, the eternal community of love that we call The Trinity, to be loved and to love. Oh God, would You please give us the grace to know capital L love more, understand capital L love more, experience capital L love more, and practice capital L love more?
What is love? We all know the lyrics that follow the song’s question (“What is love? . . . baby, don’t hurt me!”) Even though the question isn’t answered in that song, the point is well made – love and hurt are inseparable. To love is to open one’s heart to another. And an open heart is a heart that can be wounded.
What is love? Dictionary.com offers 22 definitions, fourteen when “love” is used as a noun and eight when “love” is used as a verb. There are many words offered as synonyms.
What is love? Let’s consider those 14 nouns. There’s a tennis reference, an L is for love communication shortcut, and two terms of endearment. That leaves ten. There are two that can refer to any object at all and two that require no one but yourself. That leaves six. A further four restrict the definition to only certain intimate relationships. That leaves two definitions – “affectionate concern for the well-being of others: the love of one’s neighbor” and “the benevolent affection of God for His creatures, or the reverent affection due from them to God.” Those are definitions number nine and twelve. Are all these what love is?
What is love? How about those eight verbs? We could read that short list and come away with the idea that love has to do with anyone or anything for which we have affection, pleasure, passion, or even hugs. It seems from these that love is whatever you want it to be. Is that what love is?
What is love? How about the top-listed synonyms: affection, appreciation, devotion, emotion, fondness, friendship, infatuation, lust, passion, respect, tenderness, yearning. Is that what love is?
There is much confusion in our world today when it comes to love. Let’s see what God has to say about love as we turn to the New Testament in the Bible and read three key passages that focus on love. I want to invite you to repeat the word “love” after me, every time it’s mentioned. There are a total of 20 total mentions of LOVE, LOVES, or LOVED in these three passages – are you ready?
Let’s listen to Jesus in Matthew 22:35-40 (NRSVUE) – “one of them [the Pharisees], an expert in the law, asked him a question to test him. ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ He said to him, ‘“You shall love [LOVE] the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love [LOVE] your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.’”
Let’s listen to the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:12-13 (NRSVUE) – “For now we see only a reflection, as in a mirror, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love [LOVE] remain, these three, and the greatest of these is love [LOVE].”
Let’s listen to the Apostle John in 1 John 4:7-16 (NRSVUE) – “Beloved, let us love [LOVE] one another, because love [LOVE] is from God; everyone who loves [LOVES] is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love [LOVE] does not know God, for God is love [LOVE]. God’s love [LOVE] was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love [LOVE], not that we loved [LOVED] God but that he loved [LOVED] us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved [LOVED] us so much, we also ought to love [LOVE] one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love [LOVE] one another, God abides in us, and his love [LOVE] is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love [LOVE] that God has for us. God is love [LOVE], and those who abide in love [LOVE] abide in God, and God abides in them.”
So, what is love? Love is more than a warm feeling, more than a theoretical idea, more than a tight embrace, more than a rich relationship, and more than even a selfless action. It can and does include all of these at times. What is love? Is that even the right question? Of all the things we could say about love, the most important is that love is . . . a person! Who is love? It’s God, and God has come to us. When Jesus Christ was born, which is what Advent and Christmas are all about, Love came! The thing about Jesus Christ that is unique is that Jesus is fully God AND fully human. We call that the immaculate conception and the virgin birth. It’s not just unique, it’s a miracle! Jesus came to show us what love looks like, because God is love.
When we open our hearts to love others, we are choosing a pathway that includes the possibility, even the likelihood, of getting hurt. Love and suffering are inseparable. Sometimes people do things in the name of love that are very far from loving. Many times people do things unknowingly that are less than loving. We have all been wounded by those we love. We have all wounded those we love. I want to invite us today to recognize those wounds and hurts in our hearts today, and in recognizing them, decide whether we want to hold onto them or give them over to God. God invites us to cast our burdens on Him because He cares for us.
Psalm 55:22 (NRSV) – “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you”
1 Peter 5:6-7 (NRSV) – “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.”
Let’s think of a couple of ways in which choosing to love has or could result in wounds. In each of these six areas, we are invited to cast all of our burdens and anxieties on the Lord who cares for us, sustains us, and is in our suffering and troubles with us.
We may have experienced misunderstandings. Jesus was misunderstood. John 10:20 (NLT) – “Some said, ‘He [Jesus] is demon possessed and out of his mind. Why listen to a man like that?’” Misunderstandings can be deep wounds, but Love has come.
We may have experienced rejection. Jesus was rejected. 1 Peter 2:4 (NLT) – “You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor.” Rejection can be a deep wound, but Love has come.
We may have experienced humiliation. Jesus was humiliated. Acts 8:32-33 (NLT) – “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. He was humiliated and received no justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” Humiliation can be a deep wound, but Love has come.
We may have experienced betrayal. Jesus was betrayed. Luke 22:21 (NLT) – “here at this table, sitting among us as a friend, is the man who will betray me.” Betrayal can be a deep wound, but Love has come.
We may have experienced false accusations. Jesus was accused falsely. Matthew 26:59-60 (The Message) – “[They] tried to cook up charges against Jesus . . . many stepped up, making up one false accusation after another . . .” False accusations can be deep wounds, but Love has come.
We may have experienced abandonment. Jesus was abandoned and felt abandoned. John 16:32 (The Message) – “Jesus answered them, “you’re about to make a run for it—saving your own skins and abandoning me. But I’m not abandoned. The Father is with me.” Mark 15:34 (NLT) – “Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ which means ‘My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?’.” Abandonment and the feeling of abandonment can be deep wounds, but Love has come.
Advent with Love is about the Arrival of Love. The Kingdom of God is already-but-not-yet-fully-here. Love has already come. But we are still waiting for the fullness of love because we are broken people living in a broken world. In the week ahead, give some attention as you pray and as you ponder to these questions – where does love still need to arrive? In which conversations is a more generous love needed? In which situations is a more generous allocation of time needed? In which crisis is a more generous contribution of material goods needed? In which division is a more generous gesture of understanding needed? In which misunderstanding is a more focused level of listening needed? How can I better live out my love for God? How can I better live out my love of neighbors and nations?
We are going to close today by reading six Christmas poems – I’d like to invite those reading to join me here now. I’ve chosen several poems penned by Christ-followers through the centuries that focus on Advent with Love: Love that has come, Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God with us.
“Of the Father’s Love Begotten” (Aurelius Prudentius Clemens, 348–413)
Of the Father’s love begotten, ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega, He the source, the ending He,
Of the things that are, that have been,
And that future years shall see, evermore and evermore!
At His Word the worlds were framèd; He commanded; it was done:
Heaven and earth and depths of ocean in their threefold order one;
All that grows beneath the shining
Of the moon and burning sun, evermore and evermore!
He is found in human fashion, death and sorrow here to know,
That the race of Adam’s children doomed by law to endless woe,
May not henceforth die and perish
In the dreadful gulf below, evermore and evermore!
O that birth forever blessèd, when the virgin, full of grace,
By the Holy Ghost conceiving, bare the Savior of our race;
And the Babe, the world’s Redeemer,
First revealed His sacred face, evermore and evermore!
This is He Whom seers in old time chanted of with one accord;
Whom the voices of the prophets promised in their faithful word;
Now He shines, the long expected,
Let creation praise its Lord, evermore and evermore!
O ye heights of heaven adore Him; angel hosts, His praises sing;
Powers, dominions, bow before Him, and extol our God and King!
Let no tongue on earth be silent,
Every voice in concert sing, evermore and evermore!
Righteous judge of souls departed, righteous King of them that live,
On the Father’s throne exalted none in might with Thee may strive;
Who at last in vengeance coming
Sinners from Thy face shalt drive, evermore and evermore!
Thee let old men, thee let young men, thee let boys in chorus sing;
Matrons, virgins, little maidens, with glad voices answering:
Let their guileless songs re-echo,
And the heart its music bring, evermore and evermore!
Christ, to Thee with God the Father, and, O Holy Ghost, to Thee,
Hymn and chant with high thanksgiving, and unwearied praises be:
Honor, glory, and dominion,
And eternal victory, evermore and evermore!
“Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” (anonymous, 15th century)
Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming
From tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse’s lineage coming
As seers of old have sung.
It came, a blossom bright,
Amid the cold of winter,
When half spent was the night.
Isaiah ‘twas foretold it,
The Rose I have in mind,
With Mary we behold it,
The Virgin Mother kind.
To show God’s love aright,
She bore to us a Savior,
When half spent was the night.
O Flower, whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air,
Dispel in glorious splendor
The darkness everywhere;
True man, yet very God,
From sin and death now save us,
And share our every load.
“Silent Night” (Joseph Mohr, 1792-1848)
Silent night, holy night,
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and child.
Holy infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace.
Sleep in heavenly peace.
Silent night, holy night,
Shepherds quake at the sight,
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heavenly hosts sing alleluia;
Christ, the Savior, is born!
Christ, the Savior, is born!
Silent night, holy night,
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.
“Shepherd’s Song at Christmas” (Langston Hughes, 1901-1967)
Look there at the star!
I, among the least,
Will arise and take
A journey to the East.
But what shall I bring
As a present for the King?
What shall I bring to the Manger?
I will bring a song,
A song that I will sing,
A song for the King
In the Manger.
Watch out for my flocks,
Do not let them stray.
I am going on a journey
Far, far away.
But what shall I bring
As a present for the Child?
What shall I bring to the Manger?
I will bring a lamb,
Gentle, meek, and mild,
A lamb for the Child
In the Manger.
I’m just a shepherd boy,
Very poor am I –
But I know there is
A King in Bethlehem.
What shall I bring
As a present just for Him?
What shall I bring to the Manger?
I will bring my heart
And give my heart to Him.
I will bring my heart
To the Manger.
“Angel’s Song” (Charles Causley, 1917-2003)
Fear not, shepherds, for I bring
Tidings of a new-born King –
Not in castle, not in keep,
Nor in tower tall and steep;
Not in manor-house or hall,
But a humble ox’s stall.
Underneath a standing star
And where sheep and cattle are,
In a bed of straw and hay
God’s own Son is born this day.
If to Bethlehem you go,
This the truth you soon shall know.
And as signal and as sign,
Sure as all the stars that shine,
You shall find him, shepherds all,
Swaddled in a baby-shawl;
And the joyful news will share
With good people everywhere.
Therefore, listen as we cry:
Glory be to God on high,
And his gifts of love and peace
To his people never cease.
“Advent Credo,” from “Walking on Thorns” (Allan Boesak, 2004)
It is not true that creation and the human family are doomed to destruction and loss—This is true: For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life;
It is not true that we must accept inhumanity and discrimination, hunger and poverty, death and destruction—This is true: I have come that they may have life, and that abundantly.
It is not true that violence and hatred should have the last word, and that war and destruction rule forever—This is true: Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, his name shall be called wonderful councilor, mighty God, the Everlasting, the Prince of peace.
It is not true that we are simply victims of the powers of evil who seek to rule the world—This is true: To me is given authority in heaven and on earth, and lo I am with you, even until the end of the world.
It is not true that we have to wait for those who are specially gifted, who are the prophets of the Church before we can be peacemakers—This is true: I will pour out my spirit on all flesh and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions and your old men shall have dreams.
It is not true that our hopes for liberation of humankind, of justice, of human dignity of peace are not meant for this earth and for this history—This is true: The hour comes, and it is now, that the true worshipers shall worship God in spirit and in truth.
So let us enter Advent in hope, even hope against hope. Let us see visions of love and peace and justice. Let us affirm with humility, with joy, with faith, with courage: Jesus Christ—the life of the world.
