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Message: The Root of All Love Slept in a Manger!

       For today’s Message Title I thought briefly of using, “The World’s Idea of Love, is Sloppy Agape”. Since Love is such a misused term, with a history of abuse by a fallen world often consumed with chasing self-gain instead of service to God through caring for others. 

But, hey it’s Christmas time. Advent, and we should be looking at edifying the mood of the season, and not being consumed with the challenges of the times. There’s no doubt that many feel overloaded and overwhelmed by the times we are now experiencing and living through. It can certainly make it hard for one to experience the; Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love at this time of the Year.

Well, I think that is what today’s message is supposed to be all about. That is in spite of, or maybe because of our hectic world that we are living in, and all of the pain and hardship that seems to pervade our lives, God gives you and me access to Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. That those are actually more than just gifts of the season of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. These are gifts from God’s Holy Spirit, that are intended to last all year long.

That in reality, perhaps Christmas is an old invention intended by the Church Fathers of old, to remind all of us that it is important to set aside time each year for reflections on just what’s important in our faithwalk with our God, and what the Lord has done for all who believe.

Hopefully somewhere along the way our designating a time to get closer to the Lord, turns into a way of life that spans the whole year. This is the real cure for what ails many of us. So, instead of just a money making, crystal glisten, tinsel infused, glitz, and a shiny holiday that only inspires getting and buying, and spending, to show love… We can be investing ourselves into other people which reflects our love of the Lord, and that really is what living this moment of; Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love, is supposed to inspire.

If this Sacred Holliday season is not feeling so sacred, and you are searching for something bigger than life. If you are feeling empty inside, join us this Advent season, for the search of and effort for Love is worth the finding.

This is the time every year during Advent, that Christians reflect, celebrate, praise, and observe that God proclaimed what he was going to do. He would send the Messiah (His Son) into the world. That there would be a messenger sent ahead to announce Christs coming, and that is spoken of by the Prophet Malachi hundreds of years before it’s happening. Reading from Malachi 3:1,

¹ “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

And what do you know? The root of all love itself came to save you and I, Jesus Christ. This is the real and only reason Christmas is Christmas. This is our reminder that we need to be about the business of becoming more like our Lord. Or at least working on it. Trust me on this, if you will work at giving your love to others in healthy ways, this time of year, and in your life generally, your life will change for the better. Perhaps because it ceases to be all about you and more about our Lord.

 This is the Christmas time of year. Our service of love for God, by loving other people in need of grace becomes a way of life that begins to restore all of us in ever greater returns. In fact, when I’m looking for a reason to love other people, maybe I should be reflecting on the source of all love as indicated on today’s sign out front of the Church and in your bulletins. That; “The Root of All Love, Slept in a Manger!”

The most basic of all Christian passages in our Bible comes from   John 3:16

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 

And the deal is sealed, we are anointed for a higher purpose of ourselves loving others, because of this incredible fact of grace from our God.

This Gift of love, which spawns our; hope, peace, and joy, powered with love this Christmas season, must be for all year long, all of our lives, all of our existence in eternity. For they are the gifts from a God who loves you in spite of you, and can last and power your soul forever!

So, on this fourth Sunday of Advent, we observe a solemn event of all of our exitance, and our primary focus in on this concept of Love. If the whole concept of love is eluding you, or it makes you squeamish thinking of how often the word is abused by those just using the word or the perception to get ahead in life, or to just get by, hence the term Sloppy Agape… Help is on the way.

Your God has a better way. It’s called a life in and with Him, in a real relationship full of ups and downs reflecting your own outlook on life, because your own mental and spiritual health are full of ups and downs. Welcome to the fallen humanity that all of us share.

But you may be asking yourselves right now today; “well, I have been asking, looking, and searching for something healthier, a better way to live. What’s up?” My answer is that you are not alone. People have been looking for signs even from God for a better way to live this life of ours. Let’s return for a moment to today’s Call to Worship readings from, Isaiah 7:10-14 and Psalm 80:1-3. Starting with Isaiah 7:10;

¹⁰ Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, ¹¹ “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.”

¹² But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.”

*Please let me interrupt Isaiah to say; Was Ahaz really asking God for guidance or was he like so many of us just complaining and not really looking for solutions more than just excuses to bemoan the state of the world. Because God just told Ahaz what to do, but Ahaz like you and me at times, want God on our terms, and we’re not listening. Continuing now at verse 13;

¹³ Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

** And we know that this did indeed happen; Our Lord came in a humble way to fight the war against evil, because God so loves you and me. God actually responds to prayer and our heartache in God’s loving way, and in God’s time.

       I think it important to remember that when God undeniably did send His only begotten Son, the world was busy looking for it’s version of who the Messiah was going to be. A warrior king, a fighting Priest. Instead, the creation received; Love Incarnate with guidance how to actually love, by giving love in a world that doesn’t usually get it.

 Well, the calls by people for God’s salvation populate all of scripture, and scripture is full of God’s response. We will find confirmation of God’s responses, if we will look into, and study God’s word. Here is another call for redemption and deliverance by the Psalmist’s call for the Lord’s salvation in Psalm 80:1-3;

¹ Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,
    you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,
    shine forth ² before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Awaken your might;
    come and save us.

³ Restore us, O God;
    make your face shine on us,
    that we may be saved.

There is something typical in this Psalm that I think important to look at closer. The Psalmist is indeed asking for God’s help and salvation, but also Manasseh, Benjamin, and Ephraim are a part of the action. Here’s the point, … so often it seems like we just call for deliverance, asking for God’s love along with hope, peace, and joy. But we often forget that we need to get about the business of living and doing our part in the equation of this life.

It’s like the person who shows up at the Church and is asking to be filled up, because they weren’t getting filled at their old church. Well, were they given opportunities to serve? That’s what I want to know. The idea is this, if you come here to serve at this Church, your cup will overflow. But if you are coming just to receive, I don’t think I or even the Lord can help you, until you open yourself up to walking, giving, and serving as your Lord did, in His earthly Ministry. A Ministry you all share in! And it begins with giving Love. That’s how it’s found. Since you have already been given Love from the source, from birth.

For those of you searching for a more loving way to live this Christmas Season, I have some ideas, and an example out of Scripture to validate my comments.

1.  First if you are feeling unloved, right now, take heed. As mentioned earlier in John 3:16, God loves the world and you so much, He gave us a part of Himself to save us in spite of us. This is more than just lip-service and talk, your God wants to be in relationship with each and every one of us.
2. If you want to be loved, start loving the unloved… in the mirror… It’s not a long search to find someone out there lonelier, more alone than you. Your ministry includes looking for those people and loving in healthy ways.
   1. Don’t give to get, that’s gaming God & bad form.
   1. Not by giving people stuff that will make them sicker than they may already be.
      1. No beer for the alcoholic
      1. No juicy news for the gossip
      1. No siding in with the judgmental among us
   1. By giving your love freely, no strings attached
3. Start a process of asking for and actually forgiving as you want God to forgive you.
   1. Fix the bridges of the torched relationships of your life. We all have them, and forgiveness is key.
   1. Let go of the stuff you can’t fix, and work with what you can, to help make life better for others and you.
4. Find a hero out of the Bible and start to be more like them. Jesus is an obvious role model, but there are plenty of regular people like you in the Bible, that sore with the Eagles in their love, service, and character.
5. Have a plan for praying for and blessing others, not just people who are like you or who you like.
   1. Today begins Hannukah for our Jewish brothers and sisters. The lights on a Menorah in remembrance of the rededication of the Temple, are much more reverent to God than the average Christmas tree.
      1. Especially if there is no remembrance of what God has done for all of us at Christmas. What makes a tree Holy, is what we bring to it with our Chrismons and remembrances of Christ. Not garland & tinsel!
   1. In other words, we make things better when we edify and honestly care and love others. Praying for them is a way for us to love unconditionally in healthy ways.
   1. People do not have to believe like us, have the same dogma, pray the same prayers, or even believe in our God,… for us to be praying for them… & us,… to hear God’s word, and then respond accordingly.

That is what Hope, peace, joy, and love, are really all about! And real Love (not empty words), but God focused Love, is the fuel that elevates all of us! Use it or loose it.

To validate my thoughts, we see this grace in action throughout our Bible. For an easily indefinable person, I choose Joseph. Returning now to Today’s Message Reading from Matthew 1:18-25;

¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

*Interrupting the narrative to say; Joseph is looking at giving mercy more than receiving justice. Perhaps because Joseph wants God to give Him mercy before justice. You see when we seek justice instead of mercy, we often reap (get) what we sow (give), and that is often death. For all of our earthly works are a work of death when they are done on our own without our Lord guiding. But only God’s love overcomes all. So, at the end of the day, I am not able to love others purely, wholesomely, without input from my Lord, and living in His Holy Spirit.

       Because Joseph is available to hear God, The Lord’s Holy Spirit is able to guide Joseph in His Faithwalk with the Lord. Continuing at verse 20;

²⁰ But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵ But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

When God is with us, we are able to rise with angels and soar with eagles, and rejoice in the creation. We learn self-discipline, and begin to think about others before self. And like Joseph, when we are seeking to walk humble with God, we will be shown a better way to love those around us, and find love in the process.

Amen!