Fields United Methodist Church

Side by Side with Jesus.                                                           Pastor Tom Joyce

December 16, 2020

“So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.”

I John 4:16

“Love came down at Christmas, love all lovely, Love divine; Love was born at Christmas; star and angels gave the sign.” (“Love Came Down at Christmas,” by Christina Rossetti) The words of the beloved Christmas carol speak volumes of the gift of God’s love received at Christmas. Imagine, if you will, the creator of the universe and of all creation came to us to show us the “way, truth and life,” (John 14:6) but not as an authoritarian ruler but as one of us humbling himself. In other words, God became “flesh and dwelled among us.” (John 1:14) Why did God do this? The answer is simple yet profound; love. The love that “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (I Corinthians 13:7) The Bible is a love story not to build up God but to offer us a witness of what it is to truly “abide in love.”  God came to us in Jesus, incarnate of the Holy Spirit, to lift us up, to offer hope, joy, peace, and what it is to truly love our neighbor as ourselves. Accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior is accepting the “love that came down at Christmas” as a way of life, not as campaign slogan or a fad that comes and goes.  Jesus was born into a world that was violent, judgmental, self-serving yet he witnessed a lifestyle that offered grace rather than hate, mercy rather than condemnation, and peace rather than violence. Some would say that Jesus could do that because he is the Son of God, which is true. The gift of Christmas, though, is that God is now with us, with us in our doubts, our tears, our pain, our frustrations, leading us through these realities of life, not keeping us imprisoned by them. This is our faith; the One who could not be contained in the tomb will not be contained in any way from offering you another way not only to look at life but to live life. Christmas is the love of God abiding in your heart not only for a brief moment of celebrating but for the rest of your life.  Yes, love came down at Christmas for you, especially for you.

Rev. Tom Joyce