Snowy greetings, LUMC.
I hope that you are all staying safe and warm on this fourth Sunday of Advent. As we were unable to gather in church today, I wanted to share my thoughts with you.
Love – the “theme” for today’s worship.
Do you remember the story of Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father? After being told by an angel that he would have a son, which he didn’t believe because he and his wife were getting along in years, he was unable to speak until John was born. On the day of John’s naming his tongue was loosened and he prophesied that his son, John, would bring many of the people of Israel back to God through prayer and repentance. John would be the one to “prepare the way” for the Messiah. Zechariah’s son, John, dedicated his life to God and to the love that God has for all people. He demonstrated the dual nature of love: it is dynamic and it is relational.
God loves us, each and every one of us. But how can this love be realized and shared if we have turned from God and gone our own way? Repentance, John’s message, literally means “turn around.” John invited people to turn toward God and in so doing open themselves to what God was doing. And what was God doing at the time? Oh, yea, something about the “Son of God,” the “Messiah.” John’s love was dynamic in that he was DOING something, he was inviting people to seek God. His love was relational in that it was focused on the relationship (or lack thereof) of people with God.
We can look at God to see the same two nature’s of love. God actively reaches out to us in this story by sending John the Baptist and Jesus into the world so that we can establish or renew our relationship with God and each other. Jesus displayed these same characteristics, and so should we. When we examine how we experience Christmas we see these same characteristics displayed. Isn’t the quest for the perfect gift an active way to show the intended recipient that we care about them and doesn’t this strengthen the relational bonds we share?
Christmas is about love. It originated with God’s love for us (“for God so loved the world . . .”), was celebrated in the event of Jesus birth, and has been shared by all who celebrate this birth from that time to today. May your Christmas celebrations bring love and renewed relationships to you as you share your love with others.
Shalom,
Jerry
