Love Came Down at Christmas
Having had a chance to see the Lessons and Carols service in advance and plan our 5:00 Christmas Eve “Carols and Communion” service with Stephen, I believe this year’s Christmas Eve will be as wonderful as anything can be during this pandemic. I have been so impressed and overjoyed by the creativity and can-do attitude of our staff and parishioners. In some ways, without this period we may never have had the chance to enjoy events like the Nativity Pageant and Lessons and Carols in so unique a way.
Further, in the same vein, our own personal loss in my family has brought an awareness of how beautiful the blessing of community and friends can be in the midst of difficulty. There is always a risk of seemingly denying the hard parts of any experience when naming bright points of light in such times as these. On the other hand, we run very low risk of losing sight of our collective struggle in this pandemic time or personal struggle at the loss of Sarah’s parents.
This brings me back to Christmas. God has always been aware of our struggle. God has always desired for us to be free from pain and suffering. At the same time, it is our belief that God has always known that ultimately, through the divine love and grace, we will be made whole in joy and light. I have been reflecting on the passage from the 11th chapter of John’s Gospel when Jesus reaches the house of his friend Lazarus who had died. I believe that Jesus knew he was going to bring him back to life and yet he still wept at the experience of loss. The sting of suffering and death is at the heart of why our infinitely loving God came to live amongst us. God came into the world to bring hope and to promise fulfillment. There is no greater Christmas gift than this.
One of my favorite hymns of this season is “Love came down at Christmas.” It is a short hymn that we will get to hear sung beautifully in our Lessons and Carols service. I offer the stanzas in closing:
Love came down at Christmas, love all lovely, love divine;
love was born at Christmas: star and angles gave the sign.
Worship we the Godhead, love incarnate, love divine;
worship we our Jesus, but wherewith for sacred sign?
Love shall be our token; love be yours and love be mine,
love to God and neighbor, love for plea and gift and sign.
- Christina Rosseti
We love you and God loves you.