The traditional theme for this third Sunday of Advent is love.
When we talk about love, we are talking about God – about who God is (God’s character, God’s nature), about how God relates to us.
The Hebrew scriptures use the term chesed to speak of how God relates to us. Chesed is the defining characteristic of God’s nature. It governs how God relates to us. Chesed carries the idea of steadfast love – a love that never wavers or falters. It carries the idea of faithful love – a love that never gives up on us or abandons us. This kind of love is unconditional. It is not dependent on who we are or what we do. It is an expression of the heart (nature/character) of God. The apostle Paul used the term grace to refer to this love. The Johannian community used the term agape. Relating to us out of this love, God accepts us unconditionally, freely forgiving us. The Hebrew scriptures say God abounds in such love and gives freely and lavishly out of it.
The incarnation – the Word made flesh in Jesus - was the logical expression of this love. Jesus, in turn, was the embodiment of this love. We see it in how Jesus accepted every person unconditionally, valuing each as a beloved child of God, freely forgiving without condition.
To talk about love is to talk about how power is used. Love always uses power on behalf of the other, at great cost to the one who is loving. That’s why the incarnation is the logical expression of this love. Jesus used the term servant to speak of this love.
To say that God loves us is to say that God accepts us unconditionally, just as we are, as a beloved child. It is to say that God freely forgives us, refusing to give up on us or abandon us. It is to say that God, through the Spirit, addresses our need in order to move us beyond it. The Spirit teaches us the ways of God, moving us beyond old ways of thinking and living. The Spirit addresses old emotional wounds, healing us and setting us free from old, life-depleting patterns. The Spirit matures us, moving us beyond spiritual immaturity and stagnation. Ultimately, God’s love transforms us so that we love as God loves.
The theme of this fourth
Sunday of Advent is love – the love that is the very nature of God, the love
out of which God relates to us, the love that is expressed in the incarnation –
the Word made flesh, the love that accepts us unconditionally and freely forgives
us, the love that addresses our every need, the love that transforms us so that
we love as God loves.
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