We have made our way this Advent from prophesy and promise to stand now on the cusp of fulfillment. This very night we will celebrate again the birth of love incarnate in the form of a helpless infant. Like that baby, love is vulnerable. Both require careful nurture and handling. Love is a gift entrusted to common people like Mary and Joseph, like you and me. Of all the gifts we may give or receive this week, none is more precious than the simple gift of love. That is what inspired St. Paul to write: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
God’s love is a spirit that requires embodiment to become real. God’s love must become flesh to dwell among us. At Bethlehem that love came to life in the infant Jesus. Today, if we are open to the mystery, it can come to life in you and me as the church, the body of Christ. We can be the light of the world because of Christmas. So today we live between the warm feeling of God’s love and the choice to put that sentiment into concrete action. We humbly receive God’s most precious gift as we light the 4th candle of Advent, the Candle of Love.
[Light the 4th Candle]
Please pray with me as I share this Advent prayer from Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie from their book, “The Lives We Actually Have:”
God, we are waiting for love,
not the simple kind or the sweep-you-off-your-feet kind,
but the absurd kind.
The kind wrapped in rags, resting in a bucket of animal feed.
Love enough to save us all.
Blessed are we who look for Love,
deeper, fuller, truer—than we have ever known,
than we could have ever hoped for.
Blessed are we who seek you,
the light that dawned so long ago in that dark stable.
Love given.
Love received.
Dear God, Hold us in that love these last few hours of Advent till that love is born again in our hearts this very night. Amen
Northwest UMC, Columbus, OH; December 24, 2023
Peacefully Harsh 