1. Good
Morning! Let’s pray.
O Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be
pleasing to You O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
2. Opening
Comment: It’s the Sunday before Christmas Sunday –
that means there are, in children’s terms, six “sleeps” before we get our
Christmas presents! But for us parents
it’s six frenetic anxious shopping days before Christmas!!!
I had my hair cut this last week and I was
able to eavesdrop on what was going on all around me in the shop. The driving theme behind almost all of those
conversations was the “emotional tension” that this happy season brings in its
train. There’s going to be a great deal
of “Phewing” going on in about 7 sleeps from now! Ha!
So what does Immanuel – the God who is with
us, who comes to us – want to say to us on this fourth Sunday of Advent
otherwise known as the “Love” Sunday?
Let’s briefly review our readings for today. As I do this keep the following words in mind
– “loving kindness”
and “covenant:”
In the First Reading from 2
Samuel chapter 7 verses 9 and 10 we hear the LORD asserting His covenant –
that’s “Berith” in Hebrew – with
David.
“And
I will make you famous like the great ones of the earth. I will fix a place for my people Israel.”
This same reading
concluded with these prophetic words:
“I, the LORD, will be a father to David
and he shall be a son to me. Your house
and your kingdom David shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand
firm forever.”
With
these words the LORD established David’s dynasty for a thousand years! (between 990 and 1010 years).
In our Psalm Reading we read,
Psa.
89:28 I
will maintain my love – my chesed - to him forever, and my covenant – my berith
- with him will never fail –will stand absolutely firm!
Have you picked up on any theme
yet?
Yes, it’s the idea of God’s
loving kindness and of his covenant – His faithful - love!
In our Second Reading from the New Testament Book of
Romans we heard St. Paul affirming in his classic doxological way the magnificent wisdom of God
who has confirmed His promises to David in the advent – the coming - of Jesus
Christ!
And finally in our Gospel Reading we witnessed
the Archangel Gabriel’s visit with Mary and Mary’s humble response to his
request of her: “Yes, be it unto me as You have said.”
Let me read that once again:
Luke 1:26 ¶ In the sixth month the angel Gabriel
was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin
betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 He went in and said to her,
‘Rejoice, you who enjoy God’s favor! The Lord is with you.’
That word “favor”
in Greeks is carito/w and
it means:
“to show kindness to someone,
with the implication of graciousness on the part of the one showing such
kindness — to manifest graciousness toward someone.”
So
the sense here is that God’s gracious kindness – his “chesed” – His loving
Kindness - is upon Mary! Reading on:
Luke 1:29 Mary was deeply disturbed by these
words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, 30 but the angel
said to her, ‘Mary, don’t be afraid; you have won God’s favor – God’s “makarios!” His loving-kindness. Reading on:
Luke 1:31 Look! You are to conceive in your womb
and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and
will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne
of his ancestor David;
Here we see God’s
fulfillment of the promise He made to David!
Reading on:
Luke 1:33 he will rule over the House of Jacob
for ever and his reign will have no end.’
Luke 1:34 Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can
this come about, since I have no knowledge of man?’ 35 The angel
answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High
will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be
called Son of God.
Luke 1:36 And I tell you this too: your cousin
Elizabeth also, in her old age, has conceived a son, and she whom people called
barren is now in her sixth month, 37
for nothing is impossible to God.’
Luke 1:38 Mary said, ‘You see before you the
Lord’s servant, let it happen to me as you have said.’ And the angel left her.
“Let
it be to me as you have said” – “fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.” "Be it done unto me
according to Your rhema - your word."
These words inaugurated
salvation history on earth! For with
Mary’s “Yes” God’s plan of redeeming the world was set in place!
May’s “yes” was no casual
affirmation!
This was not a frightened little
Jewish peasant overwhelmed by the visitation of an archangel! No it was the affirmation of one prepared
from eternity for this charge.
Just as the Arch of the Old Covenant was designed
and ordered to be made by divine intention so too was the Arch of the New Covenant – Mary – designed
and ordered by divine intention!
Like the Old Testament Arch that
carried the symbols of God’s covenant love for the Israelites so too now Mary –
the Arch of the New Testament - will carry the incarnated love of almighty God
– Jesus Christ!
No longer signs and symbols but
substantial flesh and blood – God’s incarnated Hesed – His incarnated loving
kindness!
Application.
So let’s look a bit closer at
God’s Loving Kindness – His chesed - revealed so faithfully throughout the eons
to us!
According
to Nelson Glueck, a renowned Biblical and Archeological scholar, the Hebrew
word “hesed,”
translated here as “loving kindness,” doesn’t refer to a spontaneous,
ultimately unmotivated kindness, but rather to a mode of behavior that arises
from a relationship defined by rights and obligations. Like those between a husband and wife or a
parent to a child. It’s the sort of love
that isn’t casual but “earthed” in the understanding of the needs of those who
are being loved. It’s the mother’s ever
ready nurturing of her child. It’s the
father’s impulse to the protection of his family. It’s the friends willingness to take a bullet
for his or her beloved friend. It’s in
the young lovers gift giving to one another.
Ultimately it’s attentive responsiveness to the needs of the beloved.
It’s not about “What can you do for me.” But rather “What can I do for you!”
So
“Hesed” is the very intentional loving kindness that’s birthed out of an inviolate
or pure divine commitment to serve and bless the other. It’s an infinitely faithful loving kindness
that will never be withdrawn!
It’s
not an “if you do this then I’ll do that” sort of love but rather a one sided
commitment to love regardless of the behavior of the beloved.
God’s
love – God’s “hesed” love isn’t fickle – offered today but withdrawn
tomorrow. It’s based on the character of
God and is infinitely pure – uncontaminated with conflicting affections. It won’t be withdrawn because it’s offered
without obligation! The obligation is
never mandated but freely given!
This is the love that Jesus came
into earthly existence to bring to us!
It’s the love that the Persons of the Trinity have for one another!
He
– Jesus Christ - is the gift of Christmas!
He is the incarnate “Hesed” – living flesh and blood - covenant loving
kindness!
So
when Mary said “Yes” she was recognizing her place in bringing such love to
earth!
Now
hear this – it’s as we say “Yes” to God’s love for us that we begin a “halting”
yet inexorable saying of “Yes” to love everyone else.
Truly
St. John was right when he said,
“1John 4:19 We love because he first loved
us. 20. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he’s a
liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love
God, whom he has not seen.” 1Jn 4:20.
Now
I know how hard this is to actually do.
Whether we like it or not those of us who have felt God’s indescribable
love for us are compelled by a holy compulsion to overcome every obstacle in
our fallen selves and even every obstacle that other’s throw in our faces – to
love them with his unconditional love.
Now
there is probably no better place to discover how strong this compulsion to
holy love is than in a marriage!
As
one of my dear dear friends said just a few days ago –
“What an exquisite institution in which
to work out this holy calling!”
To
love faithfully another for 20, 30, 40, 50 or even 60 years is a journey towards
this “hesed” love.
Even
if we’re not married we are all called to this covenantal sort of love in our
friendships.
The
challenge is not to stop at pragmatic accommodation which sounds like this:
“He will never change so I’d better
work at tolerating him. I must work at
finding a way to remain functional in this relationship.”
This is the most natural but the worst kind of accommodation
to something less that what God gives to us and thereby calls us to!
Whether
we like it or not God is calling each and every one of us to His “Hesed” type
of love!
It’s
this kind of love that gives us the baby Jesus!
It’s
this kind of love that died on the cross for us!
It’s
this kind of love that echoes down through the millennia and reveals any other
type of love counterfeit in it’s presence.
You
and I know when we’ve compromised on this love.
We know it and it haunts us until we have surrendered and found it again
or when we have deafened ourselves to it with our laborious efforts at
self-deception.
Where do you find yourself today?
Are
you, like Mary, saying “Yes” to his call to live in and live out His sublime
Hesed or are you loudly or even secretly uttering a surly “No” and wrapping
yourself up in the cold comfort of your hurts and self-deceptions?
It’s
always our choice. You see “Hesed” love
never compels but rather woos! It
entices, encourages, never gives up.
This
love is described by St Paul in his first letter to the wayward Corinthian
Church:
1Cor. 13:1 ¶ If I speak in the tongues of men and of
angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
1Cor. 13:2 If I have the gift of
prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith
that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
1Cor. 13:3 If I give all I
possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I
gain nothing.
1Cor. 13:4 ¶ Love
is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
1Cor. 13:5 It is not rude, it is
not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
1Cor. 13:6 Love does not delight
in evil but rejoices with the truth.
1Cor. 13:7 It always protects,
always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1Cor. 13:8 ¶ Love
never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are
tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
1Cor. 13:9 For we know in part
and we prophesy in part,
1Cor. 13:10 but when perfection
comes, the imperfect disappears.
1Cor. 13:11 When I was a child, I
talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I
became a man, I put childish ways behind me.
1Cor. 13:12 Now we see but a poor
reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part;
then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
1Cor. 13:13 ¶ And
now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is
love.
Will
you today say “Yes” to God’s call to once again step up and into His love?
Let
us Pray . . .
