Sermon for Sunday, December 18, 2011 at First UMC of West Newton
Scripture: Matthew 22:34-40
These past four weeks really have been a lot of fun. As a congregation, we’ve taken up the challenges of the Advent Conspiracy. We are worshiping fully, spending less, and giving more this Advent season in preparation for Christmas. The point of it all is to focus on how we can change the way we celebrate Christmas so that it can once again be the world-changing and life-changing event it originally was, when God broke into this world to restore our relationship with Him, as well as shine his light into the darkness of this world. We have been considering how we can change our own thoughts and actions, wondering how we can serve God and display God’s glory with all we say and do – not just this holiday season, but all year round.
But as I read the nativity stories, I just can’t get over one thing – the amazing, incredible, unconditional, abundant, passionate love that God has for us. More than anything else, the story of Christmas is a love story between God and his people. We see evidence of this in many places in scripture:
- “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son.”
- “In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.”
- “Greetings, favored one,” the angel tells Mary. “The Lord is with you…you have found favor with God.” God loves Mary so much that God has chosen to dwell inside of her, for the sake of all people.
- GOD IS LOVE.
Yes, God is love. And God loves us so much that he chose to give us this wonderful gift of presence through the Messiah. At its heart, Christmas is all about God giving us this amazing gift of love, the gift of Emmanuel, which means “God with us.”
And really, what greater gift is there? I would say that most of the time, the gift we wish for most is to be able to spend time with the ones we love. And so the greatest gift, especially these days with the busyness of life, is to be together, to give presence rather than presents. What’s more, God loves us so much that he doesn’t ask us to come to him. God loves us so much that God comes to where we are, dwells with us and in us, and restores the relationship not in some distant, removed way, but in the most intimate way possible. Emmanuel, God is with us.
In fact, I believe that one of the most appealing aspects of Christianity as opposed to other religions is that there is no other world religion I know of that has a more personal, intimate God. With other religions, there seems to be more intentional keeping of distance between God and people. But as Christians, we believe in a deeply personal, intimate God who loved us so much that he came here to be with us, through the incarnation which we celebrate next weekend.
That’s not to say there should be no distance at all between us and God. Sometimes God feels distant, and sometimes God is distant. That reminds us that God is far more powerful and amazing than we could ever imagine, and that our conception of God is woefully inadequate. Even so, there is a deep intimacy present in the Christian understanding of God that I have yet to find anywhere else.
Furthermore, the love that God has for us is so incredible, so amazing, so passionate, so intimate, that it compels a response. And when a person or being loves us, we typically respond in two ways: either with reciprocating love, or fear and trembling.
Yes, I believe the opposite of love is not hatred, but fear. In fact, our hatred for things and people usually comes from our fear – fear of what we don’t know about them, or fear that their displeasing aspects will only reveal the things we hate most about ourselves. We hate because we fear, and fear is the opposite of love.
God so loved the world that he broke into it in the person of Jesus. And the reaction by King Herod was fear. The word of a new king, a king of kings and a prince of peace, worried him. When Herod was told that a new king had been born, he wasn’t angry, as we may picture him. He wasn’t upset. He wasn’t even arrogant. No, he was frightened. He was very fearful that his authority would be usurped, that the kingdom would no longer be his. God loved through the incarnation, and King Herod responded in fear.
In a much different way, I think the Advent and Christmas season often garners fear in us. We have small, trivial fears this time of year:
- I’m afraid he won’t like the gift I give him
- I fear the new recipe isn’t good enough.
- I’m afraid grandma will get run over by a reindeer.
- I’m afraid I won’t be able to pay the credit card bills come January.
- I fear that the family gathering will end in conflict and fighting.
- I’m afraid to face this Christmas without a loved one for the first time
- In Herod’s case, “I fear that I’ll lose my throne.”
Yet, the wonder of Christmas is that God loves us. And God comes to Mary with a message of love and favor rather than fear. Do not be afraid, Mary, for God is with you. God comes to the shepherds in the fields with a message of good news and great joy. So you see, shepherds? Do not be afraid!
Do not be afraid, dear children, shepherds, mothers. Do not be afraid, kings and rulers and wise men. Love is on its way, coming to dwell with us. This truth is proclaimed no more beautifully than by Charles Wesley in the first verse of one of my favorite hymns:
Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of heaven to earth come down,
Fix in us thy humble dwelling,
All thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesus, thou art all compassion,
Pure, unbounded love thou art;
Visit us with thy salvation,
Enter every trembling heart.
Our God is a God of incredible, passionate, intimate, amazing love. And in compels us to love in return, to invite this love into our hearts. When we do so, the two great commandments become the mission statement for all we say and do – to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves.
My mother-in-law has a decoration hanging in her front hallway. It is the outline of a heart, and inside the heart is the word JOY. Written out next to the word “joy” is three words: Jesus, Others, You. This simple, kitschy decoration reminds me, first of all, who we are to love, and second of all, the order in which that love should be prioritized. How often do we flip that order, first taking care of ourselves, and only then loving neighbors, and if we get around to it, loving God? Every time I am at my in-laws, I see that and remember the greatest commandment: Love God, love others, love self, and you will find joy.
And if you really think about it, that’s what the Advent Conspiracy is all about: love. We love God by worshiping him fully, not the things or ideologies of this world. We serve God rather than consumerism or other cultural messages or icons. And we love others when we become like God, practicing the gift of presence rather than presents, and when we consider what we can give God for Christmas as we give generously to those in need. Here in this congregation, we have loved both God and others this Advent season by baking cookies for our neighbors, by gathering for worship, by practicing alternative ways of celebration. And there are still other ways we will practice love: tonight, a wonderful combined choir will love by singing praise to God and sharing that good news with those who wish to hear it. Next weekend, we’ll love each other by exchanging gifts. And together, we’ll give to Living Water International, so that our Christmas gift to God and our brothers and sisters around the world will be life-giving water for all.
I’ve been saying all month that Christmas is world-changing, revolutionary, and scandalous – and it is very much so. But it is also, more than anything, the first chapter in the greatest love story ever told. It is the story of God loving all people so passionately and intimately that God came to be with us. It is a love that comes without price, without condition, without any qualification or requirement on our behalf. It is a love that displays the Wesleyan notion of prevenient grace – that this is love: not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son. We are only able to love God because God first loved us.
I hope and pray that you will discover the depth of God’s love on display at Christmas. And I hope that rather than being afraid, you will respond in love of God and neighbor: loving all with every fiber of your being. Go therefore, and love all – love all you meet, in every way that you can, with all that you have. Love all because that’s what God does, and we are called to imitate God. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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