LOVE REVEALED: IS HERE

Sermon Notes

December 20, 2015

Rev. Garry McGlinchy

Rev. McGlinchy preached the fourth sermon in his third sermon series based on 1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love.  But the greatest of these is love.”  He has spoken of Faith Redefined: Obedient; Miraculous; and Tested, and Hope Restored: Rest; Submit; and Acknowledge, and Love Revealed:  To Bring Justice; To Give Life; To Forgive Sins. This fourth sermon is titled Love Revealed: Is Here.

Many things in our lives are place markers. Where do you sense God?  Physically marking the presence of God was important in the Old Testament.  Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Moses and others all built altars to mark the space where they had met with good.  Altars helped remind them of the experience of God’s presence when memory might begin to fade.  They were places where the veil between God and our world is thinned.  However, we must not get stuck thinking that we can only encounter God in a specific space.  No space is off limits to God.  Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth, in Luke 2:8-20 shows us that the love of God has come near in Christ, has come here in Christ—and that here can be a variety of spaces.

Love is revealed in our workplaces. (vv.8-15, 20)  The amazing news of the birth of a Savior is not reserved for the palace, or the temple, but in a field, to shepherds in their workplace.  After going to Bethlehem to check out the news, the shepherds returned to the field where they had heard the news announced.

Love is revealed in the home.  (vv.4-6, 12)  More than likely Mary and Joseph sought lodging at a family member’s house, but there was no more room.  The word translated “inn” here is elsewhere translated as “guest room.”  Conditions were crowded, and the guest room was filled up.  In those days, the family was separated from the animals by being on a different level. The point is not that there was a heartless innkeeper or an insensitive family member: it is that the home was overcrowded.  This was not a conventional birth; it was an overcrowded house that became the birthplace of the King.  The unconventional King is still coming to unconventional homes.  Its location, atmosphere, debt, stress and brokenness do not exclude any home from being the home of a King: in fact, that’s where the King is needed most!

Love is revealed in the world. (vv.13-14)  The shepherds left from seeing the newly born child and proclaimed it to anyone who would listen.  They proclaimed peace on earth, not just in the hearts and minds of people.  They proclaimed peace that was earlier tied to a universal and eternal reign. (Luke 1:33)  It was not Caesar who would bring peace everywhere; it was God in the birth of Jesus!  The angels’ words expand the truth that the presence of God’s love in this world knows no bounds.  In Romans 8:19-21 Paul captures the longing for the presence of God across the world.  Creation itself longs for redemption.  The message of peace knows no bounds.  We can affirm, anywhere, that love is now here.

Love is revealed in our hearts. (v.19)  In the midst of all the activity, Mary was quiet and pondered these things in her heart.  Only God showed Mary the true meaning of these events.  While those who heard the shepherds were amazed, Mary was growing toward discipleship; her heart was changing.  Jesus, (Matthew 5:43-48), Paul (1 Corinthians 13), and John (1 John 3) all note the centrality of love to the Christian life and being like God.  God’s love in the human heart is what made it possible for love to be central to Mary’s life.  God’s love can be revealed through us, in our workplace, in our home, in our world, and in our hearts.