Sharing Love

Christmas is almost here! We are in the final week of Advent, the week of love. Last night I did my annual ritual of watching The Nativity Story movie. It’s now 15 years old but still holds up.

Those who have read my blog for a while know that I’m not a fan of the Wise Men showing up at the manger with the shepherds, nor am I a believer that there were three of them with the legendary names from the carol We Three Kings. Apart from that though, I imagine it’s pretty close to what actually happened. We see a small tight-knit community around Mary and her family and Joseph who are quick to judge, loving extended family in Elizabeth and Zechariah, a hard life of manual labour, faith in God, and haunting evidence of the vice-grip of the Roman empire. The need for a Messiah was poignant.

More than this, as I watched again I loved the relationship between Mary and Joseph who had to accept her pregnancy by God’s Spirit. And then they had to make the arduous trip to Bethlehem overcoming not just difficult terrain but avoiding thieves, running low on food and water, and learning to know and love each other in this surreal situation of enormous responsibility. Nothing about this was ideal. They were challenged to understand why God put them together and the gifts they had for each other, even as their first months of marriage placed much strain on them.

There are lots of people who are struggling right now, whether it’s due to the seemingly never-ending pandemic or despair over the climate emergency and other issues of society. There are many shepherds out there not valued for their skills and left on hillsides in the cold impoverished. There are many people who have experienced loss and suffering of all kinds. And yet God has thrown us together. As Christ followers we are asked to bring love into not just our own lives and families but to those we may not know well but who intersect with us in some way.

Joseph and Mary give love to each other and protect their child. They birth love in the form of a helpless infant, Jesus our Messiah, Emmanuel - God with us, but they also birth love because of Him as they care for Him and each other. They bring love into the world through their faithfulness and nurturing, as they trust God’s plan for them.

As Christmas draws closer, may we not just look for love from others to affirm us, but look for the love we can show to remind others that God is with us, even in the mess and stress and unknowns of this time. Even if we can’t gather or travel as we would like, love can be found and shared, gratitude can be offered and grace given and received as we trust in God and celebrate divine love made flesh to live among us..

May God’s love inspire us and move in and through us so that we receive the blessing of sharing it. Merry Christmas!