The Love Of Advent
The fourth and final theme of Advent (which means “coming” or “arrival”), covering the week of December 18 through 25, is LOVE.
Love is a gift from God, manifested in the greatest gift of all, the gift of Jesus Christ. The fourth candle of Advent is known as the Angel Candle, representing the angels who proclaimed the Good News of Jesus’ birth to the shepherds. The fifth candle, the Jesus Candle, which is the White Candle in the center, is to be lit on Christmas Day.
Our English language has one word for “love,” and we use it in many ways:
“I love ice cream.”
“I love presents.”
“I love it when you take out the trash without being told.”
“I love you.”
Yet somehow, I doubt we have the same kind of love for ice cream as we do for that special person in our life. Or, at least I hope it is not the same.
The Greek language, which is the original language of the New Testament of the Bible, contains four different words for love:
Storge – familial love, like the love you have for a parent or sibling.
Phileo – brotherly love, like the love you have for a close friend. It is where we get our word “Philadelphia,” the city of brotherly love.
Eros – physical or romantic love, like the love you have for your spouse or significant other. And it is the root for our word “erotic.”
Agape – selfless, unconditional love. This is the love of God, a love we can only know through God. As we read in 1 John 4:19,
“We love because he first loved us.”
- 1 John 4:19
In Matthew 22, Jesus tells us that the Greatest Commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul and mind, and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39).
As Christ-followers, we are called to love God and to share His love (Agape love) with all those around us.
We are to love selflessly, unconditionally, putting the needs of others before ourselves. This is the love God showed to us when He sent His Only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, and it is the love we are to have for those around us, including family, co-workers, neighbors and even those we do not know.
John goes on to say in 1 John 4:20-21,
Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
- 1 John 4:20-21
When we share the love of Jesus with those around us, we are expressing God’s love, which is love of another kind. It is a love that says, “You matter to me because you matter to God.”
May we show this type of love this Christmas and throughout the year, where every person in our path is viewed as a new opportunity to share the love of Jesus.
Pastor Ken
