Christmas + Love came down + 12-25-16

M. Campbell-Langdell

All Saints, Oxnard

(Isaiah 62:6–12; Ps. 97; Titus 3:4–7; Luke 2:(1–7), 8–20)

Love came down at Christmas

Love all lovely, love divine

Love was born at Christmas

Star and angels gave the sign. (Christina Rossetti)

Love came down at Christmas. Let us remember that it was love that was born on this day, so many years ago.
So in that spirit, I am going to tell you about a shirt I saw this week. The shirt said, “Is it too late to be nice?” J

And of course it was a joke. But I think it spoke of a real truth that many of us feel, this time of year and all year. Is it too late to be nice? We feel that even when we are adults and are no longer worried if we were good enough to get a gift this year.
Love came down at Christmas, but do we deserve that love, that salvation? Have we been good enough?
But Jesus says: it is not too late, it is never too late to receive my love. And besides, it is not about what we do. We cannot earn God’s love. It is freely given. But because of that love, we are called to act in loving ways.

Love came down at Christmas to share the good news of God’s love, God’s love that bursts all bounds, with all of us. And no, it is not too late.

We are “a city not forsaken (Isaiah 62:12).” In fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy, Jesus came. Love came and showed us that it is never too late to receive God’s love.

But I will add something to this. Baby Jesus needs you!
Why, you might ask. He has his mother and his heavenly father and his adoptive father. They have found a warm spot to stay for the moment, albeit with some interesting neighbors who moo and low. But who am I to judge? What does he need from us?
Well in Jesus God came not as an idea, not as a theory or an ideal, but as flesh and blood.[1] The Word came down and smashed all words and theories by showing the reality of God’s love in daily life. He came and showed us the way and the truth; he came and showed us God’s love in his person. And he worked with flesh and blood, with other humans, imperfect souls who just wanted to love and follow but sometimes stumbled, to share the good news of God’s undying love for all of creation.

And those people worked with other people. And those other people, eventually, spread the Good News of God’s Love to us. And that is why we are here today. On Christmas Day. And yes, the Holy Spirit came and helped, but mostly God relies on each and every one of us to do God’s work of sharing love with the world.

So, Baby Jesus needs you.

Baby Jesus needs you to share that love in the world. Because we are Christ’s hands and feet, as St. Teresa (of Avila) said.

But to do that, we need Baby Jesus.

That is why it is more than fitting that today of all days we take in the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in Bread and Wine. We literally take Jesus into our lives so that we can be strengthened to serve others. So that we have love to share. Because this world is hard. And it can feel dark at times And sometimes we feel the love from our family and friends, from our coworkers and others in our lives. But sometimes we need to feel God’s love for ourselves and share it with others. To kindle the embers of hope in a world that often seems bleak. To remind us that we are a city not forsaken. To remind us that Love came down at Christmas.

That love came down in a lovable, frustrating, inspiring person who opened up new understandings for each of us about who and what God really is. And we, too, are lovable, (and, speaking for myself), way more imperfect vessels than Jesus, but he can and will use us, if we let him. To be his vessels of love.
Because love, not judgement, came down at Christmas. Even our collect today mentions that Jesus will come again to judge, but I get the feeling it will look very different than the judgment we fear. It is not too late to feel the love. It is never too late to feel God’s love.

But one thing is certain. Baby Jesus needs you. And you and you. Each of us. As we welcome him today, as we receive him into our lives today, let us also pledge to share the love. With this world, let us not turn away from those who are hurting but reach out to help. With our families and friends who may be hurting. With our local community, that needs us in so many ways. With the littlest and the biggest among us, let us share the love.

Because Baby Jesus needs you! Amen.

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[1] Fr. Thomas Rosica, “Emmanuel: God with Us,” http://saltandlighttv.org/blogfeed/getpost.php?id=60351&language=en (December 26, 2014).