For the last four weeks I’ve been leading the congregations in an exercise of preparation to make them ready to accept God’s love in their lives. We have been exploring how to understand the themes of Advent in scripture and then apply those themes to our lives. The Bible and our hymnal provide clues to help us be prepared to discover God’s hope, peace, joy and love in Advent. This past Sunday we reflected on how to find the love of Jesus and live that out into a world sorely in need of unconditional love. We considered biblical characters like King Ahaz who was not prepared to accept God’s love - and two others, the Apostle Paul and Jesus’ father Joseph, who were prepared and readily said “yes” to God’s love when it was offered. This begs the question, did any of these three, or any other biblical characters (like Mary for instance) actually “find” God’s love or were some just ready to recognize it?
That’s a thought-provoking question, isn’t it?! For when I study the Bible I find over and over again that God’s love comes to all people unbidden, unearned, a freely given gift that we call grace. We read from the first words of the Bible that God spoke love into the world and all that is and will ever be came into being. No other entity asked or compelled God to speak God’s creative word of love – God gave it as a gift. The Gospel according to John opens with the truth that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He (the Word aka Jesus) was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all humankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it….” God became human to fulfill God’s promises to our spiritual ancestors that one day there would be a Messiah who came to earth to set things right with God. God ultimately became human to prepare us to be ready to find our way to loving God and neighbor with all that we have and all that we are.
Thus, we who follow the God of our understanding, should be prepared to accept that God’s love is an ever-present reality in our world and throughout our universe. A present reality that has been with all of creation since the beginning; a love which will never end. A love that was embodied in the form of a human baby, born of a woman in a far-away land in the back of a cave, surrounded by farm animals. This we believe, this we profess, this impossible reality draws us back each year on Christmas Eve to hear again the narrative of the miracle of God’s love made flesh. God’s unconditional love for all creation made this happen, and yet, few are fully prepared to receive it.
That’s why the Prophets spoke God’s word to the people – to try to get them to prepare themselves for the One from the line of David who would come to fulfill God’s promise. The earthly powers were not fully prepared and denied God’s love by killing the prophets. Jesus came to bring God’s love to earth, and the earthly powers were not fully prepared and denied God’s love by killing him. Countless people over the course of the last 2000 years have taken vows of baptism to follow Jesus and to “accept the freedom and power God gives them [you] to resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves” and yet few are fully prepared to strive against those issues – and so today they seem stronger than ever!
On this Christmas Eve I have a question for you…are you fully prepared to accept the life transforming reality that God’s love came down 2000 years ago AND recognize that it continues to come into our lives today? In order to do that, you have to be prepared to use the Almighty love of God to peacefully confront what the world teaches and what the false prophets of our day say on television and through social media. When you are fully prepared to welcome the Messiah into your life, then you will realize that the love of God has already found you and has always been with you. Writers James Patterson and Maxine Paetro observe that, “It's been said that love finds you when you're ready.” The truth is that when you are prepared and ready, then you will recognize and embody the love of God made flesh in Jesus who became the Christ.
Preparation is what the season of Advent is all about. That’s what the scripture lessons and hymns in tonight’s service are all about – reminding you of the great truth of an ever-present and loving God who wants nothing more than to be part of your life. All of the Bible and Christian religious teaching exist to help you prepare your heart, mind and life to welcome the love that came down at Christmas – and continues to manifest itself in our lives and world. To prepare you to be like the teenager Mary, her betrothed Joseph, the Apostle Paul and so many others who were ready to recognize and say “yes” to God’s abiding love. Mary’s cousin Elizabeth said it best when reflecting on this great “yes”: “Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” Blessed are we when we realize that God’s love always finds us when we are prepared and ready. Thanks be to our God who provides unconditional love to all people, whether we’re ready or not. Amen!