Truly he taught us to love one another;
His law is love and his gospel is peace.
Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother,
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
This week in our Advent reflections, we turn to Love.
We all know someone, or maybe are that someone, who cannot wait for Christmas. No waiting until after Thanksgiving, all decorations and warm fuzzies are out the moment the temperature begins to drop. There are many things to love about the Christmas season. Maybe its spending time with the people you care about most, or it’s the trappings of Christmas you love—decorating, gift selecting, creating a feast—that set your hospitality-gifted heart on fire. Maybe you just love a good, easily predictable Hallmark Christmas movie.
Or maybe this time of year conjures up images of that green Grinch. Someone you’re in line behind at the store (or you, yourself) acts more like Scrooge as Christmas nears than Buddy the Elf. The past two years have been heavy. You’re dealing with struggle and hardship—this is not where you wanted to be. You’re wondering where God is in the midst of whatever it is you’re facing. Within your heart, everything about Christmas feels so very far from love.
I take comfort in knowing that God knew these days from before time. He knew the broken world He was sending His perfect Son into to be born of a virgin. He knew this decision would eventually lead to Jesus’ atoning death on the cross for our sins. He also knew that we would be sitting here at the end of 2021, after 21 months of a global pandemic, years of political vitriol, and decades of racial injustice, among other weighty matters.
I love how simply, but profoundly, Russ Ramsey puts it in his book, The Advent of the Lamb of God: “Only divine love makes sense of the world.” Think about this. There is absolutely nothing we can do in this world, no love we can find, no love we can give apart from Christ that could ever make sense of this world.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” John 3:16
So loved. Not “liked,” not merely “tolerated,” not “thought was pretty okay.” Take a minute this Christmas Eve to reflect that God sent Jesus to this Earth because He loves us more than we could ever hope to grasp. God loves me. God loves you. And He sent His one and only perfect Son on a rescue mission fueled by love to save us.
And it is through that love poured out in our own lives, we can in turn, as we abide in and are filled by Christ, pour out on a world desperately in need of divine love. This love was not meant to be kept to ourselves.
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.” John 15: 12-14
Do you need to be reminded this Christmas that you are dearly loved by the Savior of the world? If so, spend some time reflecting on His love for you.
Recognizing that divine, perfect love you’ve received, how can you show love to this world?
Dear Jesus, may we remember your arrival as a baby is not just a feel-good story; it signifies the start of the greatest love story this world has ever known. May we live with that Truth deep in our souls and share it with a world deeply in need of True Love. Amen