12/21/2024
John 15:17 This is my command: Love each other.
Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent, on which we consider the aspect of love. We have considered Hope, the expectancy of the rebirthing of the Christ Spirit within us. We have talked about the Peace that we achieve when we balance the world, God, and ourselves. We have considered the Joy of the season as we become aware of our connection with other souls and with Spirit. Today, we do the same with Love. We look at opening our hearts, minds, lives, and souls so that we can partake in the divine nature that Christ Jesus exemplifies.
Love is well studied by researchers. In 1986, psychologist Robert Sternberg gave us his Triangular theory of love. He differentiates eight types of love, based upon the components of intimacy, passion, and commitment. The Bible mentions three: the consummate love of God, also known as Agape love in some theories, Romantic love, known as Eros love, and “Liking,” the close love of family and friends, also known as Phileo love.
God loves us with consummate love, or Agape love: it is impartial and unconditional and involves all three components of Sternberg’s theory: intimacy, passion, and commitment. The passion of God’s loves is seen not through worldly passion, but spiritual passion, through God’s Grace, and desire to see us grow in our spiritual natures.
The Bible also refers to ‘brotherly love’ or ‘phileo’ love. Sternberg calls this intimacy or liking. This is the love that we show in the physical world as kindness, care, respect, and tolerance to one another. God wants us to express both types of love, and Jesus was the perfect example. Eros love involves worldly attraction, perhaps more important to us human beings than to God.
God shares His Grace with us; that is part of His Love. We understand Grace to mean the unmerited favor of God, which includes, forgiveness, salvation, kindness, the power to live godly lives, and all good things. Grace is God’s Goodness and love given to us, not because we deserve it, but because of His passion for us, His desire to be close to us, and His commitment to us. It is a gift that we cannot earn through our actions. It is part of His consummate love for us.
is Grace with us,
Love and Grace are why Christ came to earth. At the time and place he arrived there was ignorance, war, and lost people disconnected from God. Christ came to share God’s Grace with humanity and to teach us to do the same. Love and Grace are why we are here today, amidst the same sort of circumstances where there is such a prevalence of conflict, hunger, hatred, turmoil, judgment, and ego-centeredness. We are here to extend God’s Grace to others, to spread the love of Christ throughout this world.
Whatever the question about human desires, goals, wants, and needs, the answer almost always involves love of some kind, whether it is through service, caring, patience, non-judgment, empathy … whatever we are looking for, it seems it is always related to Love in some manner. That is why Christ was born, so that we can ‘partake of the divine nature.’
In Luke 10:25-28 a legal expert asks Jesus, which commandment was the most important. 26"What is written in the Law?" Jesus asked. "How do you read it?" The expert answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" 28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
Do this and you will live – love, and you will live. Love God, people, and yourself…and you will inherit eternal life. For me this is the single most important message that Jesus was born to give: Love God, love others, love yourself. A simple message: easy to understand, not a lot of interpretation necessary, and yet it so difficult to practice.
If we want to love Christ, and demonstrate our love for Christ, then doesn’t it make sense to live the life of Christ, to follow his example? That life is one of forgiveness, acceptance, appreciation, and love. It is difficult for me to hear people say that they love God and then treat other people with disdain and disrespect. As Christians, how can we claim to love God and then ignore the principles that Christ modeled for us? Christ would not berate someone for what they believed. He was not mean-spirited or a religious predator. Christ’s presence within directs us to appreciate others for who they are, where they are. They may be different from us, yet we are commanded to love them.
Part of God’s love is learning to love the diversity of this creation and not seek uniformity in all things. Christ guides us towards love, inclusiveness, and acceptance, not towards exclusivity. Christ wanted to build his church based upon love, not fear. He did not intend his church to be a small band of believers, quick to attack those who think differently than themselves, or who look different, or sound different. He did not want his followers to defend their position in outspoken tirades of “I’m right and you are wrong” and one-sided arguments of accusation and belittlement. That is the religion of fear and ignorance, not of Christ. Christ builds his church from love.
“Love your neighbor,” is the commandment, not love your neighbor only if they like you, only if they act like you, only if they agree with you. Those are the easy ones to love – they are like family. It is easier to love family.
Rather, Christ instructs us to love our neighbor – someone “outside the family.” Those are the hard ones to love - those neighbors. Many of them are different; some are weird … and we are commanded to love them anyway.
When we can look at a terrorist and see them for who they truly are – a child of God in need of Spirit’s guidance because their behavior is destructive – then we are seeing them through the eyes of love. We do not hate them or wish them ill. When we can send them prayers for the light and love of God, asking that God fill their hearts, then we love our neighbor. Christ does not ask us to agree with our neighbor, change our neighbor, condone or judge our neighbor, only to love them – to see them for who they really are – naughty or nice, they are a Child of God and loved by God.
When we can look without judgment upon ourselves, and acknowledge that our past thoughts, words, and deeds perhaps have not met God’s standards, yet still hold ourselves in esteem because of who we are – a Child of God – and not berate ourselves but encourage ourselves on the next attempt, and speak positively about ourselves to others and in our own minds, and treat our bodies with respect, then we love ourselves. When we can love our neighbor and our self with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength, and all our mind then it becomes easier to love God in the same way.
When we can love God, ourselves, and each other, we change; we no longer live in fear. We see situations neutrally because we are not judging the people who are causing the situation. We see that they are behaving based upon their spiritual awareness. We have our awareness and are doing the best we can with what we have and know, and who we are. So is everyone else. Love allows us to look past behaviors, attitudes, and fears and see into their hearts.
It is through God’s love that we can then extend God’s grace to others. We are told to do so in Colossians 3:13 – “Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others." That is sharing God’s Grace. In Ephesians 4:32 we are told to, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." That is extending God’s Grace to others.
We pass on God’s Grace in several ways. Through using kind and gentle words. Proverbs 15:1 teaches, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.” We can look for needs and opportunities through which we can serve others with simple acts of kindness. Volunteer, walk someone’s dog for them, write a thank you note. Bring a friend a latte. Romans 12:10 tells us to “Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.”
We extend Grace by letting go of our negative emotions. Sometimes people are going to be rude. Instead of responding harshly, keep a calm spirit. Proverbs 20:3 says, “A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult.”
Sometimes our presence is all that’s needed to show someone they’re loved and share God’s Grace. Romans 12:15 says, “Be happy with those who are happy. Be sad with those who are sad.”
God’s love flows visibly through Grace, unmerited favor. This is why Christ came to earth; this is why we celebrate Christmas, to share the Love of God with the world. It took a baby to claim our minds and hearts; it took Christ to claim our souls and bring us back to a path of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. It took Spirit to help us realize who we truly are - a Child of God, another blessed baby, safe in the manger of God’s loving arms, swaddled in God’s Grace.
Advent concludes on Christmas Eve, and it is my prayer that each of us finds it within our hearts to honor what Christ came to offer: Life, Light, direction, abundance, forgiveness, strength, courage, tolerance, compassion, Hope, Peace, Joy, and above all else, Love. It’s all about Love. I wish each of you a wonder-filled, spirit-filled, love-filled, Christ-filled Christmas Day.
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