God’s Limitless Love

Robert E. Hall/Ann Beaty
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

December 24, 2009
Christmas Eve

The story of Jesus’ birth is a new creation story.  In Genesis we learn that “in the beginning, God created all things that are.”  But, the story does not end there.  In the birth of Jesus, we learn that God’s creation is furthered.  God continued creation through the fulfillment of his love in Jesus, and then we are the continuation of Jesus’ work in the world.  God’s creation continues in us.

We human beings get it wrong when we believe that God loves only us human beings. God loves ALL creation – all beings, all things that are becoming, all rocks and trees and skies and seas and animals and flowers and grasses and mountains – not to mention our galaxy, the stars, and all we are peering out into space to see – all of these are God’s handiwork.

And though we do believe that God came in Christ Jesus to bring new life and a deeper understanding of God’s love to you and me, God’s salvation is for the whole cosmos.  God’s salvation is for the redemption, or the wholeness, of all that is held within God’s creation.

I am indebted to Robert for this Madeleine L’Engle insight.  She is a poet and a theologian and she writes this:  She writes of looking up at the heavens and seeing “a sky full of God’s children!  Each galaxy, each star, each living creature, every particle and subatomic particle of creation, we are all children of the Maker.

From a subatomic particle with a life span of a few seconds, to a galaxy with a life span of billions of years, to us human creatures somewhere in the middle in size and age, we are made in God’s image, male and female, and we are, as Christ promised us, God’s children by adoption and grace.”  

Tonight we remember that, in the fullness of time, God created Jesus.  We are told in the first chapter of John’s gospel that in the beginning was the Word (capital W) and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.”  In the right time, God’s fulfillment of love came to us here on earth – Emmanuel – Jesus – God with us. 

If we had been in charge of bringing Jesus into being, I’m pretty sure we would have ordered up a warrior or someone with royal lineage and power and clout… not a peasant-rabbi, son of a carpenter and his young wife.

What the Christmas stories in Luke and Matthew, as well as the prologue to the Gospel of John, are trying to tell us, each in their own way, is that God’s “pure, unbounded love” (Charles Wesley hymn) came to live in a human being.  This is why, against all logic, we insist that Jesus is fully human and fully divine. I know, I know, it is the mixing of categories, and this drives us crazy!  But, if we can let  go our need to know everything and allow the mystery of it all to wash over us as gift, such news can also drive us to humility and wonder and awe and holy amazement.  Could it be that we humans cannot always control that which comes to be?  Can it be true that God’s realm and our realm overlapped in this child, whose birth we celebrate every December 24?

L’Engle goes on to write:
 “Was there a moment, known only to God, when all the stars held their breath, when the galaxies paused in their dance for a fraction of a second, and the Word [capital “W”], who has called it all into being went with all his love into the womb of a young girl, and the universe started to breathe again, and the ancient harmonies resumed their song, and the angels clapped their hands for joy?”

“Christ, the second person of the Trinity, Christ, the Maker of the universe or perhaps many universes, willingly and lovingly leaving all that power and coming to this poor, sin-filled planet to live with us a few years to show us what we ought to be and could be. [The Word] came to us as Jesus of Nazareth…….to show us what it means to be made in God’s image.”

To receive Jesus as Savior and Friend, to learn from him and to follow him, however imperfectly and haltingly, is to be born again, re-created.  The Word, dwelling in our truest self, comes alive. This is a great mystery, and yet a great gift!

We don’t have to look very far past our own lives or the lives of those around us to see that there are many trials and tribulations that come to us in our human and imperfect lives.  It is not difficult for fear to overcome us and we are tempted to give up hope for ourselves and our world.

But tonight we are reminded that we dare to believe that the light still shines in our darkness, and that the promised kingdom of God will come.  In a little while, following the Sacrament of Holy Communion together, we will dim the lights in the sanctuary and move to a time where we are in “almost total darkness”.  Except…we won’t really be in darkness at all.  In fact, we’ll have the only light shining that really matters.  The only light in the room will be the glow of the Christ candle on our Advent Wreath.

It is a visual reminder to us that it is the light of Christ that comes into the world again this year of Christmas and it is the light of Christ that sustains us in every trial and difficulty we will face in our lives and in our world.  We are reminded that in Christ’s light, we are given the great gifts of all.  We are given God’s loving presence.  We are given each other in the body of Christ – in the community of the church.

And, as we sing silent night, and the light is passed back among each row in the congregation, we get to see this fact come alive.  Notice how with each candle lit in each row it gets lighter and brighter and warmer.  In this light we remember that God is continuing the creation story and we hold out hope and anticipation for the healing of our hearts, our community, and our world.  We give thanks for this gift and that we GET to be a part of that creation - birthing that light and love into the world. 

Let us pray,

Lord our God, you are great, exalted and holy above us and all creation.  In your dear son Jesus Christ, you have given us nothing less than yourself and all that is yours.

Tonight, we spread before you all that troubles us---our mistakes, our sins, our sorrows and our cares----and our rebellion and our bitterness---our whole heart, our whole life, better known to you than it is to ourselves.  Take us as we are; strengthen us when we are weak; grant us, the poor in spirit, the bounties of your blessings.  

Let your loving kindness shine upon our loved ones, upon those who suffer and are in distress of any kind. Bestow upon the rulers of the world some measure of your wisdom, that they may strive for lasting peace on earth.

And may we move through our days in loving and peaceful ways that further your creation in the world.

In the name and spirit of Jesus we pray. Amen.

Madeleine L’Engle quotes from “A Sky Full of Children,” the December 4 reading in Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas, Plough Publishing House, 2001.

Concluding prayer adapted from Karl Barth, “Unto You a Child is Born,” a sermon in Deliverance to the Captives.