What is Love?

We are into week three of Advent. Can you believe it?

I still find it hard to believe that the Christmas season is here again?

I love the anticipation that this time of year brings. I love that we are reminded of things that matter most in this world.

Faith, Family, Friends

This morning’s focus is certainly something that I am thankful for.

I love LOVE! I love giving love, I love receiving love, I love to be loved. I am a person who is full of love. I hope and pray if you feel nothing more from my time here with you that you will feel my genuine love for you all.

We may not always see eye to eye but I will certainly not stop loving you and I pray for the same back.

Luke 2:1–7 NIV

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

The Greening Family read to us the story of Christmas. Thankful for this message, thankful for His love, and for His plan.

As we begin unpacking the text this morning, I want you to notice that in the scheme of the universe God is in charge.  He rules the world. 

Next, notice that God also rules over the lives of individuals and finally, I want you to notice that in writing this account the way he does, Luke highlights the supreme power and authority of Jesus Christ.

So as we begin our time together:

What are you giving others this Christmas?

What are some things to give people that cost nothing financially and come from the heart?

Sometimes we think we have to go in debt to show love. Now with our social distance regulations we feelthat we have to work a little harder to be creative in gifting love.

We would normally give a hug, a handshake, a kiss, but these days kindness and love looks like holding a door, letting someone go ahead in a line up, wearing a mask...

Who would have thought?

How does it make you feel knowing tht God loves you so much?

How can we show God’s love to others?

You see, God had a plan to show His love. God loves us. That plan is seen in such detail through the message of Christmas. Love is vital to the Christmas story. It was completely motivated by love.

Love Came Down

Love came down from God in the form of a tiny babe in a manger as a gift to humanity.

When Mary received the news that she was to be the mother of Jesus. It was due to love to serve her God and so she concented to be His servant (as we saw last week).

Then when her fiance found out that she was withchild and the unique circumstances behind it all it was the love that he had in his heart for Mary and for His Lord that he stayed dispite the confusing and controversial circumstances. He could have left but he stayed.

Matthew 1:18–19 NIV

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. 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.

Love is the greatest virtue and it was the prompting for Jesus’ coming to earth.

John 3:16–17 NIV

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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

God gave love to humanity and the manger was the beginning of this love story.

There are two great commands - Love God and Love your neighbour.

Matthew 22:36–40 NIV

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

God places deep importance on love ,so my friends we are reminded that the challenge is real that we need to pass on this love and share it with great passion.

Not surprisingly, the Bible has a lot to say about love.

Depending on your translation, the word appears 100-300 times throughout Scripture. It makes sense. God is love (1 John 4).

They know we are Christians by our love (1 Corinthians 13:1).

1 Corinthians 13:1 NIV

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

Love sacrificed Jesus’ son for our sins. 

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 alone tallies off a number of characteristics of love: it’s patient, kind, it does not envy, etc. 

1 Corinthians 13:4–7 NIV

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

We cannot walk with Christ without it, and we cannot have the Christmas story without it. As Linus states in A Charlie Brown Christmas, “That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.” 

It was a well known fact in Jewish tradition that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem.  The problem is that Mary and Joseph don’t live in Bethlehem but in Nazareth of Galilee. 

How will Jesus be born in Bethlehem when we live down here in Nazareth?

I am sure Mary wondered that being the good Bible student that she was. She probably thought to herself, how will God pull this off? What’s the plan here? Wouldn’t you?

Then one day, Joseph comes home from work and tells her of a new census put together by the emperor in which everyone must go to their city of origin to be counted and to pay a tax.  Then it hit her, God is at work

So, how is God going to get the family to Bethlehem at just the right time for Mary to give birth to Jesus while they are there fulfilling OT prophecy?  God shows His power over a pagan ruler. 

God rules over and uses evil men to do His will.  They do His bidding.  The decree comes from Caesar Augustus, better known as Octavian, who ruled alone from 27 B.C. to A.D. 14. The administrator of the census was Quirinius governor of Syria, however, God’s hand was at work guiding these rulers.  God controls all events at all times to bring about His will.

Love made a way amist chaos

If there ever was a time for God to show His majesty and glory around an event it was the birth of His only Son, Jesus. 

John the Baptist was born with a grand announcement at the temple in Jerusalem.  He was born to a righteous priest.  Jesus was different.

His birth was more secluded and quiet at least from an earthly perspective. 

Joseph and Mary are both descendants of King David.  Both go to their homeland in Bethlehem.  By this time, most theologians believe Joseph and Mary have been married and are now husband and wife. 

Luke uses the term “betrothed” to indicate that they had still not had intimate relations and wouldn’t until the baby was born.

Some believe Mary could have remained at home and that Joseph could have registered her for the census.  However, I believe it was It’s important to understand that God’s power over events is big enough to affect nations and even the world and also powerful enough to affect the acts of individuals as well. 

Joseph and Mary went up to Bethlehem because there was a census, indirectly.  They went up to Bethlehem because God wanted them in Bethlehem, King David’s city.

Micah’s prophecy coupled with the cencus that caused Mary to make the hard 90 mile journey.  Perhaps it was also the fact that she was very far along and Joseph knew she was about to give birth. 

Perhaps another factor was the gossiping people back in Nazareth who saw her pregnancy as a scandal that made Joseph bring her along.  Or maybe it was all of the above?

This should reinforce the truth to us that appearances are very deceiving.  What seems to everyone around Joseph and Mary is that this is just another ordinary couple expecting an ordinary baby who live in an ordinary little town in Judah.  But what seems ordinary from a human perspective is actually very extraordinary. 

Appearances are deceiving.  What seemed mundane from an earthly perspective caused all of heaven to turn out and sing.

God intentionally had Jesus to be born into a humble family with humble surroundings in a nowhere place. 

Why He did this, we can only speculate.  Some say, Well, it’s to show us that Jesus is not only for the upper class but also for the lower class.

Others believe that it was Joseph and Mary’s piety that was behind God’s selection. 

Regardless what your opinion is, you have to say that this humble birth and the gaudiness of 21st century Christmas don’t go together.

Most folks today don’t even think about Jesus Christ at Christmas.  Most are more concerned with Black Friday and getting just the right gift.  Most are concerned with wrapping paper and price tags. 

My challenge for us this year is to remember what we’re doing when we celebrate Christmas.  We are celebrating the birth of King Jesus, the One who would give us the greatest gift which is the gift of salvation.

Love makes the difference

Where would you be today if it were not for love?

I am thankful today for the love of my mom, dad and sister which grounded me and encouraged me through my life. It gave me a strong foundation.

I am thankful (despite all the times I torture him in my sermon illustrations and how he torments me) for the love of my husband Travis. Whom I would not want to be without and it has made my life complete. I am thankful for the love of my girls and being able to love them has been the greatest honor in my life.

I am thankful for my calling and my church. I am so thankful for the love that brought us together and the plan that He has put in place for us all. Without God all of these things would not have come to pass. God brought us together and He has made the difference.

Romans 6:23 NIV

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God Himself has given His people a free gift through His Son, this is the real meaning behind Christmas.

It wasn’t enough to just receive the birth announcement. Somewhere deep within those who hear the message wanted to be a part of this thing that had taken place.

The angel’s good news wasn’t just an announcement, it was a calling. They had to go and see. They left their fields and went to the manger and in so doing they moved from the event of Jesus’ birth to the experience of his birth. They made the Christmas story their own. That’s what I hope we will do.

I want us to be like the shepherds. I don’t want us to just talk about Bethlehem, I want us to go there.

I don’t want us to figure out the meaning of “this thing that has taken place.” I want us to find meaning in “this thing that has taken place.”

I want us to move from the event of Christmas to the experience of Christmas.

So what is your Christmas story?

What do you want to pass on to your friends and family?

When have you, like the shepherds, gone “to Bethlehem [to] see this thing that has taken place?”

I want to hear about a time when you knew your life to be the manger of Christ’s birth. Tell me about a day when your life cradled new life, new hope, new possibilities.

We always name Mary, Joseph, Jesus, angels, shepherds, wise men. But what about you and me? Do we name ourselves as essential characters and participants in the story?

I ask this question this morning to remind you that this all came to pass because of God’s love for you and I. We are a part of the Christmas story.

The Christmas story is not just another event in history. It is a time where God shows the depth of His love for all of us.

Let’s not limit the beauty and breadth of the Christmas story to the historical series of events of Jesus’ birth. It’s bigger than that. It’s more than that.

That Jesus’ birth happened within a particular set of circumstances – a specific place, a specific time, a specific woman – doesn’t mean his birth is limited to, defined by, or contained only within those circumstances.

That night the shepherds went to Bethlehem to see this thing that had taken place and they found “the child lying in the manger” but they had no idea how much more that manger held.

It held the peace with which Jesus calmed the storms

It held the bread and fish that fed the 5000

It held the new eyes by which the blind man saw

It held the new legs with which the lame man walked

It held the living water given to the Samaritan woman at the well

It held the freedom given to the woman caught in adultery

It held the beatitudes

It held the tears Jesus wept over Jerusalem

It held Lazarus’ new life

It held the cross that destroyed death

It held the “Father forgive them” that Jesus uttered from the cross

It held the open tomb of resurrection

It held the bread of life and the cup of salvation

It held the shepherds before God and God before the shepherds. And it still does today.

Conclusion:

This morning as we take a minute to think about all these things let us remember this:

Christ’s manger, our manger, holds all this and more. It did for the shepherds and it does for us today.

The manger has never been emptied of its power and meaning, and never will be.

It’s the place where God’s life and our life meet and intersect.

It’s the place where our lives are fed and sustained in the midst of and sometimes in spite of our life’s circumstances.

How could it be anything less than that?

The manger is a feeding trough. And here in this message it holds the bread of life that came for humanity.

So this morning as you think about all that you have going on clear your mind and receive the love that He has openly poured out to you. Receive it. Walk in it! Bask in it. Do not reject it. It is avialable to you right now.

Sing: I’m hungry Lord or Oh What a Change what a difference.