Fourth Sunday of Advent: Love 12/26/2025

Podcast

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord, join us here today

You came once to us
Long years ago
In a most unlikely place
In most unlikely circumstances
To offer us a path to be made whole

You will come again
One day
With us unknowing
In circumstances unimaginable
To finish the work you began in us

You reside with us now
Abide with us
In this place
At this time
Unseen but still somehow known
Whispering to us
Speaking softly
To help us along the path
you have set before us

You Lord
Your very essence is our path
Our hope
Our peace
Our joy.
Our path, your essence, is loving
And it is our great gift
And the great gift for the whole earth

We may feel unloved today
Or inadequately love
Or unlovable
Or we may feel unable to love another
To hold them up
To reach out
And we are discouraged
Let down
Like nothing will ever change

But we start this path
Each day new
Where we are
As we are
Just like this.
And you meet us here
Each day new
Just like this
And the transformation
of the world begins
In the most unlikely and humble ways
And the changes begin
Little at first
But change is cumulative and living
And you are near
Encouraging us
Strengthening us
Teaching us
Making the promise of Christmas
come alive
The promise of salvation
Of becoming whole
Is given substance
Becomes tangible
Lived.

Thank you Lord
Coming to us
And the promise to come again
And for you presence just now
For the path of loving
For the healing it brings
And the lives it improves
Ours
And our neighbors.
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.
And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
Luke 10:25-37

Intro: The Advent theme for today is LOVE

I’ve never heard anyone argue whether that theme is appropriate
– the words of the previous themes–hope, peace, and joy–are all found in the biblical text
• but love doesn’t appear in the details of the Christmas story
◦ it feels right that love should be another theme, but is it right?
• does love add a sentimental tone that wasn’t there?
◦ our culture is certainly attached to an “ideal” Christmas
◦ a “Hallmark special” with smooth edges and a soft glow
– the initial reaction to the early announcements of Christ’s birth,
• given to Zechariah, Mary, Joseph, shepherds, generated confusion and fear
◦ but love isn’t right there on the surface of the page
• love only comes in after much theological reflection
◦ the gospels tell the story, theology identifies its meaning–which is:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (Jn. 3:167-17)

There are several places we can find Jesus’ teaching on love

I’ve chosen one that fits the context of our own time
– in this instance, a lawyer approached Jesus with a question
• we know well that lawyers love to use trick questions
◦ they develop skills for trapping people in their own words
◦ Luke tells us right off, this lawyer’s intention was to trap (“test”) Jesus
• when the Lord answered his question, it seems he’s playing into his hand
◦ Jesus turns the question around, as if to say,
“This is your area of expertise. You’re the lawyer, what does the Law say? How do you read it?”
◦ my take on what happens next, is this is what the lawyer was hoping for
– the answer he gives is an exact quote of what Jesus says elsewhere
• so I wonder if he knew these were Jesus’ lines, and that what he was using to draw him in
◦ because when Jesus said, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live”
◦ the lawyer was instantly ready to spring his trap: “And who is my ‘neighbor’?”
• was it his intention to embarrass Jesus in front of the crowd? had he created this logical problem to discredit Jesus?
◦ what I hear him saying is something like this:
“Okay, Jesus, that is all well and good. But to make this instruction perfectly clear, you will have to define your terms. Who, precisely, is my neighbor? Is it the family that lives next door? Is it a fellow Judean? Would “neighbor” include the low brow Galileans up north? You see, don’t you, that this is a very complicated issue. You can’t treat it so lightly, as you have until now.”

The lawyer has accomplished two things with his objection:
– first, he has put Jesus to the test by challenging his credibility
• how can Jesus be taken seriously regarding loving one’s neighbor if he’s never thought it through?
– secondly, he’s dodged the challenge of loving his neighbor
• he’s turned the commandment into a puzzle
• he’s removed it from the category of practical application,
◦ and placed in realm of intellectual or philosophical debate;
◦ where it dies the death of a thousand qualifications

Can we admit that Christians frequently play this game?

For instance, we’ll come to a place in scripture that says,
“If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”
– but then a Christian friend will say,
“The ‘brother’ or ‘sister’ refers only to fellow believers”
• we create those exclusive categories
• we become the lawyer, we equivocate
◦ we find ways of distancing ourselves from people in need
– many years ago, I was visiting a friend in Napa
• he was very involved in a church there
◦ his pastor was also a professor at a Bible college in San Francisco
◦ he invited me to go with him and attend one of his lectures
• on our way back to Napa, we drove one of those long, crowded bridges
◦ we passed this poor guy, carrying a gas can, with at least a mile before he’d reach a station
◦ I wanted to pull over and offer him a ride,
▫ but before I could say anything, the pastor shook his head and said,
“There but for the grace of God, go I”
– I remembered hearing other Christians use that phrase
• in fact, it’s been around for three hundred years
◦ I’m sure it can be an honest way to express gratitude
but it can also be a way of distancing ourselves from people in need

Jesus, gifted story teller that he is, answered the lawyer with a sad tale

The priest and Levite are stock characters – we immediately recognize the type
– Jesus’ intention for using them is obvious;
• if anyone in Israel knew the law and would follow it, if anyone was righteous, it would be either the devoted priest or Levite
• however, it is possible they had a valid reason for avoiding the injured man
◦ if he were dead or dying, and they had touched him, they would have become unclean and unable to perform their duties in the temple
– knowing Jesus, I’m convinced he would have told either one of them, “The wounded man is your true priority”
• on more than one occasion, Jesus himself violated the Sabbath by healing a broken person
• in this case, a life was at stake–even if he were one of those disgusting Samaritans

After the story, Jesus asks the lawyer to answer his own question (“Who is my neighbor?”)
Which of the three fulfilled the role of a neighbor?
– we need to look closely at the way Jesus worded the question
• he wasn’t asking, “Was the Samaritan a neighbor to the three men passing by?”
◦ but what he asked was which of the three proved to be a neighbor to him?
“Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”
• the lawyer’s answer is quite lovely “The one who showed him mercy”
– a couple of weeks ago, Esther shared with us that 2025 began with rough start
• as she prayed for God to give her guidance, she found herself in the Book of Micah
“He has shown you – O People- what is good,
and what the Lord requires of you.
To Act Justly, and to love Mercy,
and walk humbly with your God”
• on two occasions, Jesus quoted Hosea 6:6,
◦ where God told Israel, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice”
– Jesus was not telling the lawyer, “The Samaritan is your neighbor”
• he was saying,
“You have asked, ‘Who is the neighbor?’ The answer is, “You are! Go now, and be a neighbor to everyone in need. Then you will have the eternal life that you want”
◦ this, then, is the message – anyone can be the neighbor to anyone else!

Conclusion: So Christmas brings Jesus into our world,

And Jesus brings God’s love to us
Everyone needs love
Almost everyone wants to be loved
Don’t you feel that need deep within?
I once heard a psychiatrist say, “Love is a powerful drug”
He was referring to the feelings of falling in love
And it’s true.
falling in love amplifies the brain’s natural pleasure chemistry
Sometimes, for some of us, the longing to be loved is so great,
that only God can meet it

Can you allow yourself to hear God tell you,
“I have loved you, with an everlasting love,
therefore with loving kindness I have drawn you”
Open you heart to the love that will not let you go,
And have a Merry Christmas