December 20, 2009 – Love
In my search for some stories and thoughts for today’s message, I came across these thoughts from a former pastor in Texas…thoughts about Christmas, and what it means to people in different situations and in different places. Maybe this will remind us all, as it did me, what Christmas is all about…
(Melvin Newland, Minister Central Christian, Brownsville, TX)
I wonder what Christmas means to a mother who has lost her husband, who must take care of 3 or 4 children, working every day, never quite getting everything done, never making ends meet? What does Christmas mean to her?
I wonder what Christmas means to the little man in Zimbabwe, 80 years old, living in a hut, who knows nothing of shopping malls or Christmas trees? What does Christmas mean to him?
I wonder what it means to little Korean children with smudges on their cheeks, & sparkling eyes that look up in wonder as you walk past? What does Christmas mean to them?
I wonder what it means to missionaries who are half a world away from families & friends, who are sacrificing so much to take the precious gospel message to others who have never heard it before? What does it mean to them?
I’m sure that it means different things to different people.
To merchants it is the busiest time of the year. Stores stay open longer, & hire extra people to accommodate all the shoppers. It means more profit, hopefully enough profit to see them through lean times ahead.
For some it means a Christmas bonus, a little more money in their pockets to do things that they want to do.
For many teens and adults it is a time of fun & parties. For children it is a time of impatience, with time seeming to pass so slowly, as they wait for Christmas morning.
But sometimes I get the feeling that we are like the folks who decided to throw a party to honour a very special friend. They sent out invitations, decorated the hall, & had the food catered. All the people came together at the designated time, but to their surprise, the guest of honour was not there.
Finally, they made the embarrassing discovery that no one had ever invited the guest of honour.
I wonder if that happens at Christmastime? Do we go through all the decorating, & buying presents, & preparing elaborate meals, but somehow forget whose birthday it really is?
One family tried to overcome that by putting an extra place at their Christmas table for Jesus, & calling Christmas, "His birthday party." When one of their daughters was asked if she got everything she wanted for Christmas, she answered by saying, "No, but then it’s not my birthday."
It isn’t our birthday, is it? It’s the Lord’s birthday & it’s a time to remember His birth & what it is supposed to mean to us. (end quote)
Christmas is not about presents or turkey or parking lot battles or line-ups or 24-hour shopping or re-gifting or going into debt or sending cards to people we never talk to or spoiling our kids and ourselves or watching cartoon movie re-runs from the 60’s or re-makes of all the same ones or buying batteries for toys that will be broken in an hour after opening them or anything else like that.
Christmas is about one simple thing that made the biggest difference in the lives of people all over the world from one moment in time until now and forever into the future…love. Love for you, me, our kids, our families, our neighbours, our boss, and our employees, the people who live across town and the people who live half-way around the world. Whose love? God’s love!
God’s love for the world of people HE created and His longing to have us love Him in return. Love that brought Jesus Christ, God, down to this earth as a little baby in what we now celebrate this time of year as Christmas. Love.
I’d like to read little something for you from a book I read last year and continue to look back on over and over. This is Max Lucado’s book, ‘3:16 The Numbers of Hope’ in which he goes into beautiful detail on perhaps the most well-known verse from the scriptures. Listen to this:
(read pgs 141-142)
Love is a word that is used in so many ways that perhaps we have lost sight of the depth of it’s meaning. In the last few hours or days many of us may have said something like, ‘I love my spouse. I love my morning cup of coffee. I love my dog. I love hockey. I love it when someone else messes up more than I do…’ So does it mean the same thing when I say, ‘I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or I love my wife Stephanie?’
Today, I simply want to read a few passages about what the Bible says about love and have us really consider what WE believe love to be, and how we should show love to others, in light of how God shows His love for us.
In 1 Chronicles 16:34 we read this song of King David, written nearly 1000 years before Christ was born, we learn something about God’s love…David writes ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His love endures forever.’
The ark of the covenant was back in Jerusalem. It was a great time of celebration. Battles were won, wars were, for the time being, over, and their was great cause for a big party, and it was. But the centre of it all, was the Lord, his faithfulness, his glory, his wisdom, his promises, and most of all, his love. His enduring love.
How enduring is our love for God and for others? Does it last as long and the gifts keep coming to us? Does it last as long as we ‘feel’ in love with someone? Does our love stand strong in the good times AND the bad times, or does it lessen with the tide of change?
God’s love is the same for us yesterday, as it is today, and as it will be forever and forever. Do we realize that? Do we KNOW that we are loved by the One who created us, this world, this universe with His words? Do we love Him in return, or do we turn a deaf ear, a blind eye, and a hard heart to the One who calls us to be part of His family, one of His children, not just slaves to His every whim.
God’s enduring love cares for us, treats us all as equals, and is always there no matter what we do, what we have done, or what we will do; God will always love us.
What is love anyway, how can we define it? How does the Bible define it? 1 Corinthians 13 is a great place to start. Let’s read verses 1-8.
We can say great things, learn almost everything, put all our faith in God, even do great things in His name to the point of giving our lives…but if we don’t have love…it’s all for NOTHING.
All these things we could do, we could do for ourselves and for our benefit. Look at what I DID!
We can set ourselves so high up on a pedestal that no one could ever reach us, or our ego.
No, what we must do is humble ourselves, and do anything and everything with the simple motivation of love. It’s because of God’s love that we reach out and help someone in need. It’s because of love that we prefer others before ourselves. It’s because of love that we give of our time and our talent and our resources to God’s kingdom. It’s because of love that we do anything in the Name of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, the Saviour of this city, the Saviour of the person sitting beside you today, your neighbour, your spouse, your siblings, your friends, your co-workers. Jesus loves them, why shouldn’t we?
Romans 5 says 9"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command. 15I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17This is my command: Love each other. (NIV)
A simple command; love each other. Why does this world not get it? If we would simply put aside our pride, and simply love each other instead of looking out for ourselves all the time, I think we would finally see what God intended this world to be; a place where HE could love us, and WE could love HIM and each other.
And what a better time to consider HOW we are going to do that than at Christmas? A time where we celebrate the birth of the One who would save us from our sin, our pride, our selfishness, our hopelessness, our envy and strife. The One who gave the gift IS the gift, it is God, in the form of man, a baby, Jesus Christ. It is His birthday, not ours. The gifts we give that should mean the most are the ones we give to Him. We can give our talent by using them to serve others. We can give our time, by spending it with people rather than with the computer and tv screens. We give ourselves, mind, body and soul to the One who laid His life down for you and for me, first by coming to a cradle, then by dying on the cross. Will you receive the gift of His love for you this Christmas? Will you open it, read the instruction manual, follow His teachings, learn His will, and treasure the most precious gift you could ever receive, eternal life? If you are ready to really live, then this is the gift you need to receive this year, this very day. Jesus is here, and He’s waiting for you, all because He loves you. He really does.
