December 21, 2025

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT: LOVE

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“‘For no word from God will ever fail.’ said the angel of the Lord. ‘I am the Lord’s servant,‘ Mary answered. ‘May your word to me be fulfilled.’” (Luke 1.37-38a)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

What price love? In 1885, poet Christina Rossetti wrote “Love Came Down.” Her words spoke to the very reality of what happened when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. In Him came the full reality of “what price love.” The beloved disciple of Jesus who was but a teenager when Jesus called him to “Come, follow me,” would later write down as gospel, the words of Jesus to Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world, He decided to show them the height, depth, breadth and scope of His love by delivering His Son into the world. His hope was that such a gift as this would give the people the strength to accept Him as Lord and Savior and that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish eternally but live eternally.” (refer to John 3.16) While John did not write a birth narrative as Matthew and Luke had, the preamble to his gospel telling of the height, depth, breadth and scope of God’s love made known through Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah of God spoke to that event in theological not literal terms. Reflecting the prophecy of Isaiah, John’s “in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God” places the very truth of the incarnation. “Incarnation” is the concept of an embodiment of truth within a human being. The difference between what God did in Jesus of Nazareth born in Bethlehem and many good people we may meet today is simple to describe. We know of people who embody a truth (good or evil) as they adopt the concept and fashion their lives around it. We can see it in Mother Teresa (as a “good” example) and Adolph Hitler (as a “bad” example). We may have those times and space in our own lives where we live out something we have come to know is true for us. It may be true in one moment and then as circumstances change, another truth may replace it. Charles Dickens included such a dialogue in “A Christmas Carol.” As part of the visit of the Spirit of Christmas Past, Ebenezer Scrooge was reminded of his engagement to Belle. That engagement did not last because Ebenezer started to embody a different truth than the one they shared at the beginning. In time, Ebenezer embodied the truth that money makes the man. His station in life began to determine who he was and what was his true priority. He was consumed by the very thought of it to the point that people didn’t matter. Belle, who was not rich herself except in love, saw a great potential for such love to make a legacy of hope and prosperity for themselves and for others. Instead of what could they do with the money, the vision became “what will money do to you.” Belle saw the tragedy of it and could not abide by it. Ebenezer could not see it for himself. Nor could Ebenezer understand why his life was so empty. The truth was that his emptiness was not recognized by him in his pursuit to have power and riches. His presumed fullness was in fact a real emptiness. Only after the visits of Jacob Marley back from the dead and the Three Spirits who lived on beyond death, did Ebenezer grasp the depth of his despair and depravity. His life had become defined by an adopted truth. Fortunately, visits to the graveyards of life, awakened him to the tragedy and led him to take on the truth of charity, compassion and faith.

This is different from the incarnation John the disciple of Jesus described in his gospel preamble (and mirrored in the preamble of his “First Letter.”) In his story, the truth became flesh. Flesh did not take on nor adopt the truth. The Word of God which was with God from the beginning and was indeed God through all time came to earth in the form of a human being. The truth, that word, was God’s sincere, pure, holy and purposeful love. The very presence of the One who was fully human and completely God was an invitation to all of God’s people (everyone who lives on earth) to become one of “the people of God.” To be one of “the people of God” meant that the truth of God was so evident, convincing and transformative it was rule and guide of faith in our being. In other words, “the people of God” became the truth and lived it out, as Dickens produced the words to come from Ebenezer’s heart “the same yesterday and today and tomorrow; the spirit of all three shall strive within me.” Yes, the word which truly described God is “agape.” It is not just any kind of love such as the Greeks, and other cultures, attempted to describe it in varying words such as “brotherly,” “sexually,” “intimately,” “charitably,” “emotionally,” “philosophically” and “spiritually.” “Agape” was the essence of a deep abiding truth of creative affection for life itself beyond measure. If the “flesh” of those other words could be removed as from a body, “agape” would not yet be visible. If the “sinew and bones” would be similarly removed, “agape” would still not be visible. If the vital organs could be opened to reveal their inner workings, “agape” could not be visible. Even if the depths of the mind could be searched and brought to light, “agape” remained unseeable. Only in the depth of one’s soul can “agape” be found. It is the spark of life from which God created all things. John declared it in his preamble (John 1.3) “Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.” Yes, that Word made flesh in the babe of Bethlehem, was the same word which made all things in creation up to and including the flesh and spirit called “man and woman.” In was into all of that creation that God breathed the very essence of “aliveness” so that the spirit and truth of being could be known and be fully functional.

The problem exists as it existed soon after that creation, that another “truth” was made known. It became an idol, an ideal, an ideology and ultimately “another god.” It became deceiving, deceitful, deconstructive and ultimately a destroyer of what is truly beautiful about life. It shaded and darkened and attempted to hide the truth (as if it really could) so that the “word which made flesh” was thought to be separate from flesh. The “two” were no longer “one.” Nor were the “two” any longer “three” so that the greater “two shall become as one” was even considered to have ever existed. Here, mighty ones of God is where the answer to the question “What price love?” is found. It is found in an humble stall of a family inn found in Bethlehem. Shepherds would bring the hope to see “their joy fulfilled” to that stall. Angels from heaven would desire to break through the veil of Heaven and see this “new thing which God’s love had done for those whom He loved.” Eventually, other men would come to validate the word that was proposed as ultimate truth and find out for themselves. What price love? That is our question, mighty ones, and the celebration of the birth of Christ helps us to understand the answer and adopt it for ourselves. In that truth, we are given the opportunity to become incarnate (the flesh become the word) as it happened in Bethlehem when ultimate incarnation was given (the word became flesh.) Here is the true meaning of Christmas! Regardless of the date (Jesus was not born on December 25th, the 25th of December is the day when we choose to celebrate His birth as the “word made flesh in its appearing), the true Spirit of Christmas is alive and well and bringing authentic love to bear on everything in creation. It is the intention of “so great a love as this” to make all things new and alive and eternally favored. Without this kind of love there is no hope for a life that survives and flourishes. It may glitter like silver and gold but all that glitters is not gold and will not satisfy that deep longing in our heart, mind and soul for God. Only when our flesh becomes that Word because that Word became flesh can we truly known and revel in a word that never ceases to amaze and never can fail. That word is “love,” the love that comes from God alone just as Jesus did in Bethlehem a little more than two thousand years ago.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.