Love is coming for you

 "Love came down at Christmas

Love all lovely, Love divine;

Love was born at Christmas;

star and angels gave the sign"

Christine Rossetti's poem is a lovely one.

And the hymn is wonderful too.

A lovely Christmas song for Advent.

Christmas is actually not the first manifestation of divine love.

Christmas is not even the first manifestation of divine love in a person.

Adam was.

However, divine love did come into being at Christmas

as the baby Jesus.

This is the love waited for

something understandable and relatable and able to be proved,

well, as long as you believe Jesus...

God exists and is present.

And yet.

This is definitely not how we approach Christmas.

My husband knows how difficult I am to watch Christmas movies with

because any time a movie starts going into 'the true meaning of Christmas'

and they don't talk about the salvation of the cosmos from sin and death through love manifest...

which never happens,

I will say, you're wrong! to the television.

Priestly duty and all.

It is a little disruptive to the Christmas movie watching feel.

But I still enjoy them anyway.

Just as much as I enjoy Nativity sets

and the wide variety of representation and artistry that goes into them.

Of course, there are versions that have nothing to do with the Biblical account,

but sometimes the artistry of a set will draw the eye and mind to something poignant about the story.

Such as the Peruvian nativity set, seen at our Parish Christmas Party last week.

The Holy Family are seen perched on top of a refugee bus, among the bags of goods.

The statement it makes about where God shows up in the world

where Jesus was born in love

is particularly telling.

Recently, the news publisher, Al-Jerzeera, shared pictures of a nativity set put up in a Lutheran church in Bethlehem, Palestine.

They created their nativity scene in the church in the midst of rubble saying that if Jesus was born today he would be born in the midst of rubble and shelling.

And the reality of that is so painful, so true, so indicative of our world today.

There is nothing about children being born in the midst of rubble and shelling that is happy,

but this reality is Awe Inspiring because God, the perfect part of existence, is still willing to come into this world at all.

If God was going to come to earth as a baby right now,

it might be again in Palestine, in Bethlehem or Gaza City

certainly we know babies have been born in the last three months

in the hospital there and in hostage situations.

God is in the midst of those moments.

God is still coming into the world in the midst of rubble

in the midst of ongoing climate crisis

in the midst of traumatic tragedy.

God comes to tell us we are so loved, so so loved

that even when we are destroying ourselves

physically, mentally, emotionally, economically

God is still willing to show up and take us by the hand.

The theme for the fourth week of Advent is love.

Tomorrow the theme is light.

Today, the fourth Sunday of Advent,

is all about love.

And while love is never mentioned in the Bible passages today,

it is definitely there.

What love it is to show up in the crowded smelly places of this world to be with certain people

If you have a choice between a party at a big fancy house with the rich and powerful

or the crowded tenement housing apartment with questionable plumbing

most people wouldn't choose the cheap uncle smoking bad cigars all night long

what love it is to show up in the messiest places

And yet,

this is what God does

first, God comes into a woman's uterus, Mary's.

Mary says yes to all of it

knowing it could take her life, her standing, her relationships, her community.

An extremely brave woman.

All for the sake of love of her people and her God.

Then God shows up in a screaming baby, breathing air for the first time

throwing up, burping, pooping,

having to be cared for in the most intimate of ways

This is divine love coming into the world.

An embarrassing and encompassing love.

Personal love is always a little embarrassing.

We love our spouses and children, our families,

but we don't share the most detailed aspects of that love with the public on a regular basis.

It makes us feel vulnerable and weak,

knowing that love is a place we are all unable to help ourselves.

And that is why sometimes the message of God, the good news of God's love

and Jesus' personal mission on this earth can be so embarrassing.

We need God's love. We want God's love. We cannot fully live without it.

And it is so hard to admit it.

Which is why we never talk about the true meaning of Christmas.

Who wants to be reminded that we desperately need the Love which comes down at Christmas?

We celebrate the divine love coming to us

and forget the reason it comes in the first place.

If you're going to still be watching Christmas movies during the twelve days of Christmas

when they mention the true meaning of Christmas

take a moment to remember God's love for you.

Because God's love is coming into the world every day

just for you.