The password is love

I John 4:9-11

In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

In the name of the Christchild, our most precious Christmas gift, Dear Fellow-Redeemed,

During the past few weeks our worship theme has been "Advent Passwords". We've seen that the special words "Watch" and "Trust" can open many new doors for us in understanding Christmas. Tonight we want to add one more password to that list, perhaps the most important one of all:

"THE PASSWORD IS: LOVE"

One word that the Bible uses a lot that doesn't mean much to us today is the word "manifest". It means "to show clearly." I guess about the only time we hear that word outside of church is in the freight business. Every cargo ship, or train, or semitruck carrying freight in this country is also required to carry a list of its cargo. The list is called a "manifest," because it shows clearly what's inside the vehicle.

That first Christmas, 2000 years ago, was an wonderful moment in the history of the world. It was wonderful because, in that moment, God manifested His love for you and me. In other words, He showed clearly exactly what His love was all about. "In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him."

It's an amazing love. A love we have trouble understanding, because it's not like any "love" that we feel. A young man once tried to describe it to an old friend of his who was dying. The old man was afraid to die, because he didn't feel that he loved God as much as he should. "When I go home from here," the young man said, "I'm going to take my baby daughter on my knee, look into her sweet eyes, and listen to her prattle. And no matter how tired I am, her presence will rest me, because I love her with unutterable tenderness. She doesn't love me much, though. If my heart were breaking, she wouldn't mind. If I were sick, it wouldn't disturb her sleep. If I died, she might not even notice. How is it? Does she love me, or do I love her? Do I withhold my love until I know she loves me? Do I wait for her to do something worthy of my love before extending my love to her?" The tears rolled down the old man's face, because he finally began to understand the way God loves His children. Our text says, "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us..."

Actually, even that story doesn't give us the real picture of God's love. Because little babies are naturally "loveable." And one thing's for sure: God didn't love us humans because we were loveable. Just the opposite! Paul says, "The carnal mind is enmity against God." By nature we were God's enemies, not His friends. Humans don't love God by nature - they hate Him, they turn away from Him, they do everything in their power to disobey His will. If left to themselves, all people would cover themselves in sin and shame, spit in God's face, and do their best to get to hell as quickly as possible. No, man isn't a very lovable creature. And yet God loved us.

When we think of love, we tend to imagine the way a handsome young prince would fall in love with and marry a beautiful young princess. God's love isn't like that at all. C. S. Lewis, the famous Christian scholar, rather pictured it like this: the handsome young prince goes walking among the grimy back alleys of a city slum, and finds a dirty old hag sitting in the gutter. She has wasted her life in sin and filth, and she's so ugly that no one wants her anymore. To this disgusting creature the prince says, "It is you that I love. Come and be my wife, and share the joys of my kingdom!"

God's love for us is no less amazing than that! Paul tells us, "God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved, and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." -- Eph 2:4-7. That's the definition of "grace" - "undeserved love". And that's why it's hard for us to understand, because when you love someone, there's generally a good reason for it. You're related to them, or they've done something kind for you. In His grace God loves us, although what we deserve is the opposite of love! He decided to lift us out of the gutter of our sin, and make us His own, and give us the riches of His kingdom!

What an amazing love this is! And Christmas is the time when that God manifests that love for us. Now is when that love really comes into focus and becomes perfectly clear to us. "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." This is the greatest gift - the most beautiful present - any of us will receive this year. It is the gift of God's Son. And it's not just that little Baby in the manger in Bethlehem, either... Because after all, as Pastor Schmutzler said in this month's Lutheran Spokesman, we can't just look at the infant Christ. We must look as well at the Savior as a grown man, suffering on the cross, bearing our sins in agony and shame. He became the "propitiation" for our sins - the payment, the ransom price. That is how God's love is truly manifested toward us poor sinners - not as much in the cradle as in the cross! "For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." -- Rom 5:6-8. Here is our real reason to rejoice this Christmas... Rejoice! Be merry! God loves you with such an amazing love!

It's like a wonderful Christmas gift, all wrapped up with ribbons, just for you. After describing this gift, John adds a happy footnote: "Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." We should love one another. This is different than the mushy sentimentality that we see so much of on TV at this season. Our love for one another isn't just drummed up affection that lasts for a few weeks around Christmas. It's true love that flows from our love for God. A man and his small boy were once stopped at a railroad crossing, waiting for a long train to pass. The engine sped by, then the cars, and finally the red caboose at the end. The boy asked his father why the engine was always in front, and the caboose at the end. "The engine has the power, and draws the rest of the train," the man said, "and the caboose just naturally follows behind." That's just the way that love works in our lives. God's love for us is the mighty engine that draws our lives along in His service. Our love for one another is the natural result that always follows.

The password is: LOVE. Let us rejoice this Christmas season is that amazing love of God. Let us rejoice in that love, and be merry in it! Let us celebrate God's gift of love by sharing that love with others, and by fulfilling the requirement of love that our Savior Himself gave us: "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." In Jesus' name, AMEN.