My long-suffering wife has had to sit through almost twenty-five years of my sermons. Pray for her! Amy will point out that when it comes to wedding sermons, I have a very small repertoire of illustrations. In fact, Amy can pretty much match me word-for-word when it comes to my favorite illustration, the “signs from God.” This refers to a time, some years ago, when billboards on the roadside contained tongue-in-cheek messages from God, such as, “What part of ‘thou shalt not’ do you not understand?” The best
message, and the reason for including it in a wedding homily, is this: “You invited me to the wedding, now invite me to the marriage.” But the middle of the three signs is the one that, while funny, actually quite bothers me: “Don’t make me come down there again!” As I said, it is funny, and reminds me of many a threat made by my parents when I was a boy. But it is at odds with the relationship we have with God as described in Scripture – and certainly it is at odds with the message of Christmas.
It is tempting to fall into the trap of imagining God as angry and vengeful, and with human beings as the prime target of God’s wrath. Yet we are told that “… God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). And
“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17). This is as far removed from anger and wrath as one could possibly imagine. Indeed, this sounds more like mercy and
love. Could this be the message of the Christmas story?
One of my favorite poems is also a Christmas carol, Love Came Down at Christmas, by Christina Rossetti (1830-1894):
Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine,
Love was born at Christmas,
Star and Angels gave the sign.
Worship we the Godhead,
Love Incarnate, Love Divine,
Worship we our Jesus,
But wherewith for sacred sign?
Love shall be our token,
Love be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and all men,
Love for plea and gift and sign.
Can it really be that simple? If true, it would explain a lot! A wrathful God would come accompanied by noise and fire, and not by a star. An angry God would appear in all the finery that one could imagine, not in messy swaddling clothes. A God bent on destruction would appear powerful, and not as a helpless baby. A God thirsty for vengeance would not be found lying in a feed trough. A God intent in instilling fear would sit surrounded by the powerful rulers of the world, not surrounded by suspicious- looking shepherds. A God bent on instilling religious purity would not first be worshipped by pagan, Persian astrologers. A God out to impress, would not begin an incarnate life practically homeless, and literally a refugee fleeing to the safety of Egypt to avoid persecution in his homeland. Only a God of love would do all that!
Love came down at Christmas, love all lovely, love divine. Don’t make me come down there again? Oh, heck no! Our cry should instead be “Come Lord Jesus!” A world that can seem so unlovable, needs your love. A world that can seem very dark at times,
needs your light. Perhaps now we may begin to truly understand the words of John’s great prologue:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him,
and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him
was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness did not overtake it… And the Word became flesh and lived
among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of
grace and truth (John 1:1-5,14).
