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Every Day Is A Day of Love
John 1: 1-14
When does Christmas come? And what is it, really?
Yesterday in the Stoddard-Kinsey-Wilson house, that beautiful parsonage you provide for us, we celebrated the coming of Christmas….we opened presents, had a great feast and remembered how we came to learn when the baby was born….maybe in the middle of the night….under star lit skies….complete with cattle lowing….sheep bleating….stars shining. Was that Christmas?
Or is tomorrowmorning Christmas? When you wake up and everything is fresh. When you stumble to the tree, turn on the lights, maybe hear the pitter patter of little feet….or at least you remembered what that was like….maybe they were your own feet. Bright paper packages tied up with string quickly become a pile of discarded paper. Gifts you may have spent hours deciding on and carefully wrapping in an instant will be revealed, maybe quick thank you’s are exchanged and then it’s on to the next thing.
So much goes into it in advance, and then is there a letdown soon after that hour of frantically unwrapping those carefully selected and wrapped gifts ….will that be when it’sbasically all over?
Will try things on? Will they fit? Or do you just know you’ll face the long lines of returning items come Tuesday or the next day? When that toy is first used will it end up getting broken?
This year we’ve been focused on the unbreakable gifts, haven’t we? Those gifts of hope, of peace, of joy and of love…..unbreakable gifts God the Father gives us through Jesus the Son, come to life through the blessing of the Holy Spirit in our lives day by day. Hope, Peace, Joy, Love…..unbreakable gifts….gifts that always fit.
Tomorrow will we remember that Christmas is more than a date on a calendar? Will it be all over before noon? Has Christmas been more than someone saying “Merry Christmas” to you, or worse, yet, of course, “Happy Holidays?”
Yes,Christmas has to be even more than a vague annual nod in the direction of Bethlehem. Surely Christmas is more than poinsettias and presents and parades and pageants, as nice as those were. What puts the meaning of Christmas deep into our souls? What writes Christmas spirit using indelible ink on our hearts for the next 364 days?
Well, I pray along the way we’ve discovered that the essence of Christmas is that final everlasting gift…in the gifts of hope, peace and joy…….the unbreakable gift of love, God’s incredible love for us, expressed when God sent Christ into the world…that’s the essence of Christmas for us this morning and every morning.
Love began for us in the story of Mary’s love of God in the moment she learned she had been selected to be the mother of Jesus, God in the flesh. Her recorded words were “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”Powerful words. Powerful words about the one who is to be THE WORD come alive in our hearts. Let’s read how The Word, Jesus the Christ, comes alive for us every day.
JOHN 1: 1-14 page 1009
Jesus the Christ was expressed in our scripture reading today as THE WORD…..the ultimate word of God…..spoken to us not only in words we read and hear…but the word…..wonderfully given to us in human flesh. The word, Christ Jesus himself, God has come. God has sent Christ into the world to save us.We learn that through the power of God the Holy Spirit that “Love Came Down at Christmas” – that’s how the hymn writer puts it.
Love all lovely, love divine. Love was born at Christmas; star and angels gave the sign. That’s the answer to our question of the day….what is Christmas? Christmas is whenever and wherever we receive God’s sacrificial love, whenever and wherever we pass it on to others, whenever and wherever God’s love is accepted and shared…in that Christmas comes again and again!
But how does that happen? Well it’s when the word comes alive as we tell and retell the stories.
Many years ago, there lived in a small village a cobbler by the name of Conrad….. This is about a shoe cobbler by the name of Conrad. That was his first name. And this cobbler worked day by day, early and late, tap, tap, tapping his hammer. People from all around came to his shop so he could repair their shoes.
Yes, there really was a time when shoes got repaired, not just thrown out.
Though alone and poor, this kindly old cobbler always had a warm and friendly word for everyone. As a result, many folks found joy in coming to this cobbler…and they took that joy with them as the left his shop, of course, along with their carefully mended shoes.
Now, Christmas time is a time when families draw close together, but Conrad had no family with whom he could share his Christmas. So one Christmas morning, some neighbors, thinking how lonely Conrad must feel, decided to pay him a visit. They found him sweeping away the dusting snow in front of his home, and to their surprise his face was radiant and happy as he greeted them.
As they entered his house, they gazed in amazement. Instead of a dreary room, which is what they expected, they saw a place that had been made very festive with holly and evergreen. Christmas decorations brightened the walls and hung gracefully from the rafters. And the table was set for two. Obviously, Conrad was expecting a guest. “Who is coming to visit you?” the neighbors asked. Conrad replied, “Well, last night the Lord appeared to me in a dream. He told me that I would not be alone on Christmas Day, for he himself was coming to be my guest. That is why I have prepared so joyfully. Everything is ready now. I am just waiting for him to come.”
After the neighbors left, Conrad sat by the window, quietly watching and waiting for the Lord to come. As he watched, the minutes passed into hours, but he scarcely noticed because he was so excited. While he watched, a beggar passed his window, ragged, weary, almost frozen in the developing harsh winter winds. Conrad called him in. He offered the beggar the warmth of his humble home and gave him some shoes for his frozen feet.
After the beggar left, later an old woman hobbled by, carrying on her back a heavy load of firewood. Conrad ran out, lifted the load from her back, and helped her into his little house. There he gave her some food for her starved body, and after she had rested a bit he helped the woman on her way.
Once again Conrad positioned himself by the window to watch for his Lord. This time he heard the sound of a child sobbing. Conrad opened his front door and found a little girl wandering lost and frightened in the snow. Some warm milk and soothing words brought an end to the frightened cries, and after some investigating, soon afterward Conrad was able to get her back into her mother’s arms. Once more Conrad returned to his vigil. But now the sun was sinking, and the wintry Christmas day was coming to an end.
But where was his promised guest? Anxious and weary and somewhat disappointed, Conrad dropped to his knees and prayed, “Oh, Lord, where were you? I waited and watched for you all day. Why didn’t you come?”
Out of the silence came a voice, “Conrad, Oh, Conrad, don’t be dismayed. This very day, three times I came to your door. Three times my shadow crossed your floor. I was the beggar with the frozen feet. I was the woman that you fed. I was a little girl who was lost.”
The message of this story, friends, is a big part of Christmas. God’s word in Matthew 25 tells us this….”Truly, I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” When we see Christ in other people and love them, then at that precise moment Christmas comes once again.
When we love God, when we love our families, when we love other people….then there’s Christmas. The Christmas gift of love is surely a Christmas gift that always fits…the Christmas gift that will never break! Let’s share it with all we meet….not only today…but all year through.