Love All

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.

But, we also have more serious fears, things that keep us up at night and cast a dark shadow over our Christmas spirit:

• 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.

Give More

Sermon for Sunday, December 11, 2011 at First UMC of West Newton
Scripture: Isaiah 64:1-4, 8-11


My father comes from a Dutch family. In fact, he was born in the Netherlands, and the majority of his relatives still live there. As such, there are ways in which my father loves to celebrate his Dutch heritage, and as a child he would share certain traditions with us.

One such tradition was that of Sinterklaas Day, also known as the feast of Saint Nicholas, on December 6. Sinterklaas is the patron saint of children, and originally a Greek Bishop of the 3rd and 4th centuries. As legend has it, Sinterklaas would travel around and put money in the shoes of poor children. It was an act of charity meant to take care of those who could not afford life’s basic necessities. This eventually evolved into leaving gifts in the children’s shoes, and is something Sinterklaas still reportedly does on the eve before his feast day.


And so, every year growing up, on Dec. 5 my sister and I would be instructed by my father to leave our shoes out on the front porch for Sinterklaas. You were also supposed to fill the shoes with hay for the horse Sinterklaas rode in on, but being suburban kids we didn’t quite have easy access to hay. So we’d fill our shoes with grass. The following morning, we would wake up and discover that Sinterklaas had come and left us a small gift – one that could fit inside a shoe, of course.

Sinterklaas, you might say, is the ancestor to Santa Claus. And like many traditions and cultural celebrations, Sinterklaas has evolved from being a tall, thin, charitable patron saint of children, to being a pudgy, red-cheeked glutton and provider of toys and amusement to those who already have everything. Do we need any more evidence that sometimes our traditions lose their true meaning as time goes on?

What’s interesting about the story of Sinterklaas, or Santa Claus in the USA, is that it has taken on the same fate as the celebration of Christmas. What used to be a tradition of giving to those in need has become a tradition of indulgence, consumerism, and debt as people spend more than they can afford in futile efforts to acquire the latest, greatest things – things that will likely be not so great by this time next year. Throw in just enough charitable giving to relieve us of our consumer guilt and to give us year-end tax breaks, and you have Christmas, 21st century style.

But Christmas is not about getting stuff. It's not about shopping malls, traffic jams, and overeating at holiday parties and family gatherings. That's something we've been reminding each other this month around First UMC, as we participate in the Advent Conspiracy. We’re considering how Christmas can once again be the world changing and life changing revolution it is meant to be, rather than just another reason for Hallmark to make greeting cards.

And this week, we ask ourselves, "Now that we have committed to worshiping fully, and now that we have cut back and committed to spending less, what might it look like if we celebrated Christmas by giving more? What if, instead of being roly poly Santa Clauses, we acted more like saints, giving hope, peace, joy, and love from our hearts?

After all, “Jesus is the reason for the season,” we say, but as I like to add, "Jesus is not the reason you’re at the mall.” Rather, the fundamental meaning of Christmas is that God has already given us a gift, and it is the greatest gift of all. Beginning with the birth of Jesus, God offers us a new covenant, a new life, a new relationship. And what do we do for people who have given us gifts in love? Usually, we give them gifts in return. But no one is harder to shop for at Christmas than God – what do you give the one who created and creates everything, the one who’s already got the whole world in His hands? What on earth could be on God’s wish list?

The answer, I believe, lies in chapter 61 of Isaiah. Here, the prophet might as well be reading God’s wish list. And if those words sound familiar, particularly the first two lines, it’s because this is the scripture Jesus read at the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth. In Luke chapter 4, Jesus stood up, and in his first public teaching as an adult, said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And with these words, Jesus gives his mission statement. Jesus gives us all kinds of salvation, both individual and collective, both from sin and death as well as the evil powers and structures of this world. And in doing so, Jesus “displays God’s glory,” as the prophet Isaiah so eloquently states.

But these words in Isaiah are not only prophetic language of what God will do in the form of a Messiah, the savior to come. No, these words are also prophetic language about the people of God. Yes, God brings good news to the poor, the oppressed, the enslaved, the victimized, the grieving, and those with broken hearts. But additionally, God sends out his people to declare his good news as well. The people of God are here in Isaiah commissioned to bring good news, to liberate, to comfort, and to display the glory of God. Through God’s people, the glory of the Lord shall be revealed. And that is the best gift we could ever give God in return this Christmas: to display his glory.

At Christmas, God gives us a relationship, and in return we are called to give ourselves in relationship to God and others. First, we are called to spend this Advent season similar to the way we spend Lent in preparation for Easter. As we prepare for the coming Messiah, we seek to love God more deeply. And we also give more in our relationships with others.

The invitation to give more, in regards to Advent Conspiracy, is two-fold. First, it is an invitation to give relationally to friends and family. It means considering what is a better use of our time and money – spending an entire day at the mall, hunting for the perfect gift for our spouse, or spending the day enjoying being WITH our spouse? Which will have a more lasting impact on your relationship with your child – as well as your child’s development: spending all of Advent buying gifts for them, or spending all of Advent baking cookies, watching Christmas movies, and developing a closer relationship with them?

Second, the invitation to give more is a call to return to the Sinterklaas (or, St. Nicholas) way of giving gifts – to give not to those who have everything, but to give to those who have nothing. The amount of money it would take to address problems of poverty, disease, lack of clean water, and injustice in this world is miniscule in proportion to the amount of money we Americans spend on Christmas shopping every year. So this Advent and Christmas, as a congregation we are giving to Living Water International, and in doing so are giving the gift of clean water and improved health to people all around the world. Giving more, both relationally to friends and family as well as generously to those in need, is how we celebrate Christmas God’s way, and how we display God’s glory.

Last week, I talked about “spending less.” I mentioned the obvious: that in our culture, exchanging gifts around Christmas has gotten out of hand. Every year it’s bigger and better gifts, bigger and worse debt, and bigger and more useless piles of “stuff” that we never use. Black Friday brings out the worst in humanity. Malls and big box stores are not in the business of religion. And even though their signs proclaim it, the retailers cannot give you “real joy guaranteed.”

For many, gift giving has become more trouble than it’s worth. For these and other reasons, both my family and my wife Lisa’s family have cut back in gift giving in recent years. We’re practicing more alternative or charitable gift giving. But that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with giving and receiving gifts with others. Even though we’ve cut back and we now spend less, we are still spending money and we are still giving some gifts.

You see, it’s still okay to exchange gifts and be a Christian. Every holiday season, I spend considerable time shopping for people I care about. I admit, I put more thought into some gifts than others, but with all my gifts I think about the receiver. Who are they? What are their interests? Will they really use this? Will they appreciate it?

Gift giving offers us a chance to think about people around us. We smile just thinking about how much she’ll love it, or how his eyes will light up when he unwraps it. Or, when we struggle to find a good gift because we don’t know the person very well, we recognize the room for growth in a neglected relationship. Gift giving can be a meaningful way to reflect and express our love for each other as spouses, siblings, children, parents, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, co-workers, or friends. In fact, for some people gift giving is the most comfortable way to express love for another.

And we may practice alternative gift giving. I already know there are large families in which the adults only give gifts to the children, or do some variation of a secret santa gift exchange. I know there are others who make homemade gifts out of love. I know that’s how some people in this congregation celebrate Christmas and gift giving, because you’re a talented bunch. I know there are talented artists, sewers, musicians, writers, woodworkers, cooks and bakers in our congregation. You all have many talents you could use to make gifts of love for friends and family. And when you use your gifts and talents to make gifts or give gifts of love to others, you "display God's glory," because it is God who created you with those special talents and abilities. And those gifts express love greater than anything bought in a store.

I also know that Christmas is the celebration of Jesus’ birthday, not ours, and so the change in gift-giving must reach further than our own families and friends. What God wants for Christmas is the world to change. God wants us to use Christmas as an opportunity to transform this world. And so we return to that second invitation of giving more. Because we are committing to spending less and giving relationally on the home-front – giving our time and our talents rather than going into debt – we are now free to give more this Christmas to those who are truly in need.

So we thought we’d offer you a way to do that. Of course, we all have our favorite non-profits and charitable organizations we like to support, and that’s great. We want you to continue doing that – supporting the organizations you care deeply about. But we also want to give you an opportunity to learn about Living Water International, which is the primary charitable organization that Advent Conspiracy explicitly partners with. We have a video that will show you a little bit about the work that Living Water International does:

I believe that God is always challenging me to give more – not just during the Advent and Christmas season, but all the time, all year long. And you know, growing in terms of giving is a tremendous challenge. Do you know why? Because giving more means I get to keep less for myself. That's why I'm being called always to give more – God is using the call to give to mold me into someone less selfish, as someone who doesn’t think only of my own needs. Giving more is not a one-time call, but is an invitation into a life-time process. And it is the first step toward having the mind that was in Christ, who gave all he had, even his life, in a self-emptying way for our sake.

That’s the story of Christmas, folks. God had everything, and GAVE it all up for our sake. God GAVE up all power, authority, glory, and grandeur, entered our world in a smelly stable in a forgotten small town, through the faithfulness of a pregnant unwed teenager. God GAVE everything for us. So maybe, just maybe, as we celebrate the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ, we can strive to do the same. Give more this Christmas, and you’ll find that your life and this world will be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. God gave everything He had for the sake of others. Go and do likewise. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.