Understanding Advent Unites Us at Christmas - Part 2 - Love

In 1982, I had been serving for two years as the church planter and founding pastor of a church in a small but growing suburb in Texas. The members and attenders had moved to the area from several different states. Their cultures and religious backgrounds were varied but their desire for community had brought them to our church.

We had just moved into our first permanent building and Christmas was only a few weeks away. Was there a way that through understanding the true significance and meaning of Christmas unite us and put us on the same page in our pilgrimage of being true believers and followers of Jesus and enhance our commitment to maturing in Him? Our answer became to celebrate Christmas as a congregation by emphasizing the different aspects of Advent that many other churches and denominations were using to focus upon Christmas.

I sent the church a letter outlining the plan we would follow for December and explaining a little about the aspects of Advent. The following is a brief excerpt from that letter:

"For the four Sundays that precede Christmas Day, we will emphasize four aspects of Advent that together help us to understand the true significance of Christmas. Advent means coming or arrival. We are celebrating the first arrival or coming of Jesus into our world as God's promised Messiah and it reminds us of the Second Advent when Jesus will return as the reigning King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Each Sunday will focus on one of these four connected elements of the First Advent: Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace." 

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LOVE

The second Sunday of Advent has traditionally been associated with Bethlehem. The modern connection has varied from the emphasis on Peace or Love. This year I am focusing on the Love emphasis. A baby's birth almost always carries a focus of love. Certainly the birth of Jesus demonstrates a love that exceeds the love that we typically visualize within our own lives. For the baby whose birth we celebrate at Christmas is the birth of Jesus, the Son of God, the promised Messiah. The hope that the prophets had proclaimed was fulfilled in the birth of Jesus. In the Gospel of John perhaps the most familiar words in all the Bible are recorded and proclaimed, not only the hope mentioned by the Old Testament prophets but also revealing the extent and greatness of God's Love.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that

whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'

John 3:16

God's love is overwhelming and causes us to pause, to marvel, and prayerfully to accept this gift that offers to us eternal life through our faith and trust when placed in Jesus Christ alone. Recognizing God's love should cause us to also recognize love's actions when observed in the lives of others and create a desire in our lives to allow such love to flow through us.

In the small town of Bethlehem, the home of David (King of the United Kingdom of Israel 14 generations earlier), a census has been called for, probably to serve as a tax roll in the future. A young couple who are betrothed have made a tiring journey to arrive in Bethlehem one evening. Joseph has cared for Mary with great concern on this journey. Mary is pregnant and will give birth soon. Both Mary and Joseph have had visits from an angel explaining to them that Mary, a virgin, is pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit that she might become the mother of Jesus, the Son of God, the promised Messiah.

Arriving in Bethlehem. they have discovered that the inn is full, there are no more rooms and the time of the delivering of her baby is near. Some people have looked with disfavor upon the innkeeper believing that maybe he should have kicked out some other guests to make room for Mary and Joseph. We need to be reminded of two things here. First, he saw two more strangers looking for a room during a great influx of people for the taking of the census. His entire inn was already filled with strangers. Second, he had no idea that Mary was carrying the promised Messiah within her womb.

When I look past this moment of "Sorry, but the inn is full. I have no more rooms," I don't see a heartless innkeeper as some have. Rather, I see an innkeeper whose mind is swirling hoping to come up with a solution for shelter for the young couple before him and the soon to be born baby. For a moment, I believe that he looked past them and saw the cave that served as the stable for the inn. The scriptures don't give us the details of the next period of time, but I think that the innkeeper went to the stable and began working in earnest. I can almost see him clearing the soiled straw from the stable and replacing it with fresh straw in abundance. Maybe he even piled some extra deep to serve as a comfortable place of rest. Maybe he moved a manger that was often used as a place to put hay and grain to feed the animals to the warmest place in the cave and covered it with the freshest and softest straw.

And then, when it all looked in order, I think he returned to Mary and Joseph and lead them to the stable. His words were probably simple - "Would this work for you?"

When I picture them in the stable with baby Jesus sleeping in the manger, I cannot help but think that the innkeeper is the one who took time in the midst of a busy, hectic, overrun day to consider what could be done. I believe God led Mary and Joseph to a full inn that had a stable; He provided a place. Then an innkeeper's heart was moved with love and he made ready what God had provided.

God so loved the world that He gave His Son. The innkeeper so loved that he cleaned up a stable for a young couple, tired from the travel, with a baby on the way. The shepherds came later to the stable to worship baby Jesus. I think that the innkeeper was there also.

This season of Advent gives us many opportunities to express and demonstrate the love of God in our day. An innkeeper found a way and we still picture baby Jesus in that manger in a stable in a little town called Bethlehem. May our eyes be opened to see the opportunities that God places before us that we might share His love in word and in actions in our cities, villages, neighborhoods, and to the nations this Christmas season.