We started Advent with hope. That first candle we lit back on November 28th symbolizes the hope that this season brings for the world...
Then we moved to preparation. The 2nd candle we lit symbolizes Preparation. Prepare, get ready, make straight those paths in our lives that are leading us away from the Lord...
Last week, we proceeded to joy, we heard the joy of the blind regaining their sight, the lame walking, lepers being cleansed, the deaf hearing, the dead being raised...
Now, finally, here we are...the countdown's almost over, and we light the most important candle of all...The candle symbolizing love...
Today, we hear about Joseph's dream...and God's love for us...How he promised that a virgin would bear a son named "Emmanuel", meaning God with us... and Emmanuel's going to save us...
God's promise will come true through a teenaged girl named Mary...Joseph out of his love for God and his obedience to God's word will take Mary for his wife and follow the angel's instructions...
Through Joseph's love for God and Mary the ONE the world awaited for centuries... the savior of the world will have a home and family. God's promise in Joseph's dream is Christmas...
God's gift of love to us, God coming from heaven... to give us heaven. The baby, Jesus, conceived in heaven, born in Bethlehem, placed in a manger...
But we all know the rest of the story, that beautiful new life lying in that manger had a shadow...the shadow of a cross...A life that would be snuffed out on a cross for all of us and ultimately a life restored on that glorious resurrection morning...
That's the love of Christmas symbolized by our candle today...God laying aside his throne in heaven to lie on a bed of straw in a manger in Bethlehem and then humbling himself further dying for us in the most humbling way on a cross...
In the face of this incredible, beautiful, yet sobering news...can there be any other response from us this Advent...than to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength...and then to love one another - in the way that he loves us...
That's the most important part of the Christmas story. The thing that makes celebrating Christmas worthwhile...
As we finish our preparations for Christmas, I invite you to listen to the words of Paul concerning love in 1st Corinthians 13 in a new, fresh way. This revised version was written by an unknown author for Advent...It goes like this...
If I decorate my house perfectly...with plaid bows...strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls...but do not show love to my family...I'm just another decorator...
If I slave away in the kitchen...baking dozens of Christmas cookies...preparing gourmet meals...arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime...but do not show love to my family...I'm just another cook...
If I work at the soup kitchen...carol at the nursing home...and give all that I have to charity...but do not show love to my family...it profits me nothing...
If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes...attend a myriad of holiday parties...but do not focus on the reason for the season, I've missed the point.
Love stops the cooking to hug a child.
Love sets aside the decorating to kiss a spouse.
Love is kind, though harried and tired.
Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.
Love doesn't yell at the drivers in front of us at the Mall to get out of the way.
Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return...but rejoices in giving to those who can't.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things...Love never fails...
Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust...
But giving the gift of love will endure...
That's what's important at Christmas...The gift of love brought into a world of strength and pride...a weak and humble child's born, having no power - except that power which alone can conquer all things...Love.
That's what was and is the story of Christmas.
Deacon Gerry
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