Advent in Love

The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

-Jeremiah 31:3

The Prophet Jeremiah was given prophecies of destruction and exile for the people of Israel.  They hated hearing what Jeremiah had to say.  They beat him, put him in jail and even threw him in a dry cistern!  But Jeremiah also had words of encouragement and a reminder of God’s great love for them.  After the destruction of Jerusalem, Jeremiah wrote that God loved them with an everlasting love.  God would once more redeem his people, Israel.  The Messiah would bring them back to their God.  God would give them a future and a hope.

John’s gospel shares with us the everlasting love of God in Christ.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life,” Jesus told Nicodemus at their secret meeting.  As we celebrate the coming of Christ this Christmas may we experience the hope, peace, joy and love of God in our lives, in our families, in our community and in our world.

Christina Rosetti’s beautiful Christmas poem,
“Love Came Down at Christmas”:

Love came down at Christmas, Love all lovely, Love divine;
Love was born at Christmas, Star and angels gave the sign.

Worship we the Godhead, Love incarnate, Love divine;
Worship we our Jesus: What shall be our sacred sign?

Love shall be our token, Love be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and neighbor, Love for prayer and gift and sign.

Immanuel, God-with-us, Incarnate, taking-on-flesh right here, right now.  Light in the shadows, flickering yet strong, leading us in the way. We light candles of hope, peace, joy and love, that we might better see the way to good relationship with our with-us God who sits down in our midst to share our humanity.  Amen.