Love at all costs

Like many at church this Sunday we will be celebrating the gift of love. It’s tempting in the midst of all the challenges and dreadful things happening around us to want to binge-watch the Hallmark channel snuggled under a blanket. The people are always realizing important things and kind, and they love Christmas, and the main characters find each other and know they are meant to be together. Perfect stories with nothing too taxing or violent, just feel good celebrating of all things Christmasy.

But the story of love in Matthew 1 is far more gritty and with much more depth than the perfect tree or cookies or festival which will quickly fade. Jesus’ ancestors are a mixed bag of less than fantastic people who were still chosen by God. There was epic yearning for the Messiah for thousands of years and a sometimes waning commitment and belief in their God making it all happen. God would gently woo them again and again through different messengers and speak love (and sometimes tough love) over them when they turned their backs.

There was a man, possibly already widowed, engaged to a probably much younger woman who ended up being pregnant and not by him. Joseph could have made her pay for it, spreading that dirty laundry throughout the village for revenge from very real hurt. But he decided to break it off quietly to protect her and the child. He knew she could have been stoned for breaking a clear Jewish law. Even though he was heartbroken, he was ready to give her a chance to survive this awful situation.

An angel letting him know that Mary was telling the truth and that she was carrying the Messiah, a miracle of God, didn’t drive him away. He took her and her unborn child as his own. He protected them along the arduous journey to Bethlehem and was there as she brought Jesus into the world. He gave all that he had to keep his family safe, taking on the responsibility of dad to the Son of God without any kind of instruction manual. His early life revolved around keeping Jesus and His mother safe, including fleeing to Egypt to escape Herod and leaving behind all that he he knew and had dreamed about and prepared for his family.

I remember talking to girls at youth group around Christmas one year about the kinds of boys they were interested in. We talked about Joseph and the personal sacrifices he made. We talked about how he did all that he could to love God and his family with no prizes at the end or congratulations. He just did what was needed, and likely died before Jesus’ ministry began as he isn’t mentioned much after His childhood. Joseph was swoon-worthy for those teens and a wonderful example of a loving, kind and Godly man.

I’m excited to talk about Joseph this Sunday and what love looks like. It’s not just teens who have a warped view of what it really means to love someone. We have probably the best examples of it in the Christmas journey - a mother who said yes to carrying and raising a baby she didn’t ask for in order to bring about God’s plans; a man who upheld the honour of the woman he thought had shamed him and who stepped up to protect and provide for her and her child; a baby whose earthly father showed Him how to love and be a hard worker and to worship God and Who would be love itself for the world.

Who has shown you the love of God in an undeniable way? My dad is on my list, and I’m forever grateful for that. He made countless sacrifices so that we had opportunities and always provided for us. My mom still shows God’s love, along with countless others in the church and other areas of my life who have lifted me in tough times and reminded me of my value in God’s eyes.

May you be able to easily think of those who have loved you well, or who in doing their best showed love through trying to love well. May you be given many experiences where the love of God has come close to you and can’t be denied. And may you be one who willingly loves, protects and serves, even if the outcome is unsure, all because God asked it of you.