From the Pastor |
1 John 4: 7-21
One of the things I love this time of year are all the wonderful Christmas movies and TV Specials. I enjoy relaxing to the classics like Miracle of 34th Street and It’s a Wonderful Life. I enjoy laughing at Scrooged and a Christmas Vacation… Or just being nostalgic with Charlie Brown and How the Grinch Stole Christmas… the original 1966 version… not the remakes. Heck sometimes I even sit down to watch those sappy Hallmark Christmas movies. But while these are all great stories, they are not THE Christmas story. You know… the one that is the reason we celebrate Christmas to begin with. The story of how God came into the world in the form of a baby born in Bethlehem… the Messiah… Emmanuel… Our Lord and Savior. The child who would grow up to be the one to reveal the true and extensive love of God to us. It is that love that we remember on this 4th Sunday of Advent. It is the love that the gospels reveal to us as they open our hearts, souls and minds to the story of Jesus. It is the true love of God that puts the lives and needs of others before oneself… love that is willing to pay the price of being a humble servant… It is a forgiving, healing love that reaches out to help those who are hurting whether they are loved ones, strangers or even enemies. It is the love that gives everything… sacrificing one’s own life for the sake of others. That is the love we read about in 1 John: “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” It is a love that brings transformation… it changes everything! This kind of love is the very essence of THE Christmas story. Christmas is about God’s love bringing hope, peace, and joy into the hearts and minds of people all around the world… transforming them… recreating them to be more and more like the image of Christ. But we need to be ready… open and receptive to God’s love and the changes it brings. That is why we have the Advent season. Advent is all about preparing… getting our hearts and minds ready. Advent is about our own transformation… about preparing our heart for the love that is coming into the world, and about opening it up to new ways of being. In fact… when we look at those beloved Christmas movies I mentioned before… they really could be considered Advent movies. In most of them… the main character undergoes a transformation that comes from the love found at Christmas. Scrooge is confronted with the truth of how he lives his life and is transformed from a cold-hearted miser to a generous and loving man who vows to “honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” George Bailey finds hope again when he realizes that the love he has shared has made a difference over the years. Clark Griswald changes as he realizes that he is surrounded by love even though just about everything has gone wrong. The Grinch’s heart triples in size when he realized that the Christmas love that the Whos were celebrating was couldn’t be taken away; the reality of what Christmas was all about, changed him too. The list goes on… Love. Changes. Everything. If we’re really serious about preparing our hearts for the coming of Christ, there is no way that we won’t be changed by the love Christ brings. Because God’s love enters in and changes us from the inside out. But just as the lead characters in the Christmas movies did not stop with their transformation… neither can we. Scrooge shared generosity and love with the Cratchet family… with others he met on the street, as well as his own… The Grinch returned the Christmas items and joined in the Whoville celebration. And we… as followers of Christ… we need to be the ones to make the Grinches of this world see the truth. We are called to prepare our hearts not only receive the love of God, to welcome Christ into the world… but also to share that same love with the world. As John writes: “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear… We love because he first loved us… and he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.” We have experienced God’s love through other people we have encountered throughout our lives. I imagine it is what brought us together today… Think about it… there was someone… someone who introduced you to the love of God and helped open your heart so that God’s love could enter in… remolding and remaking you into a disciple of Christ. They shared that love with us creating a bond so we can work together to continue the work of Christ in the world. Now it is your turn…. When God’s love fills us… there is no doubt that God is with us… God’s love is powerful… so powerful because it brings forgiveness which “drives out fear” … it calms us… alleviates anxiety… strengthens and guides us… God’s love is so powerful that it changes everything… but the truth is… it is even more powerful when we share it. What a difference we could make in the world if we all let God’s love drive out our fears and change us into beings capable of sharing that love with the world… and then we all showed the world what God’s transforming love was truly like. If we were to reveal the power of God’s transforming love? … What a wonderful world this would be! The story of Christmas that we read each year may center on Mary and Joseph… Angels and shepherds and wise men… It may focus on a baby in a manger who came to reveal God’s love to the world, but it does not end there. The Christmas story continues on throughout the world… throughout history and right to this very day and beyond. You and I are the lead characters now… we are the ones called to reveal God’s love to the world today through our attitudes… our words… and our actions each and every day. Christmas comes every year because Christ, God’s love, still comes into the world. His coming was not a once and done scenario… God’s Love has come… God’s love is here and God’s love continue to come in the future. God’s love is unending. Christmas is a season when our own love for God and for our fellow human beings should fill us… wiping out fear… pushing aside our doubts and anxieties… spilling out to bring compassion and healing to a world in pain in whatever way we are able. The real challenge is to continue feeling and sharing that love once Christmas is over. So this year… open your heart… let the love of the Lord in… fully and deeply… let that love change everything… be like the Grinch and allow your heart to grow 3 sizes… join Scrooge in saying “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year!” Amen
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Yeon Shin
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