Simple Christmas: A Loveless Christmas

I John 4:7-12 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. We deal with our emotions in many different ways.  Some of us meet our emotions head on and we let them out.  Sometimes they come out in appropriate ways, but other times they come out in inappropriate ways.  Other of us are less comfortable with our emotions.  We ignore them, we stuff them, we try to mask them.  But during this hectic Christmas season as our anxiety rises we become more of what we are, and our internal issues come out, often in inappropriate ways.  We are frustrated our spending on Christmas gifts is more than we had expected so we drink a bit more at the office Christmas party.  Although we are surrounded by a constant barrage of people we still feel lonely so we shut people off even more.  We are so busy at work trying to finish up the year that when we get home we ignore our children and spouse.  Arguments, family squabbles, substance abuse, overboard Christmas celebrations.  These are all the results of many of us experiencing a “loveless Christmas.” But that’s obviously not what Christmas is all about.  At that first Christmas God brought Love into this world.  Love was born at Christmas and this season is a reminder that in spite of the loss, despair, busyness, and distractions of this season we are called to continue to bring love into the world.  I hope you will join us this Sunday in worship at 10:45 at Oklahoma City First Church as we recommit ourselves to ensuring that love is born anew into our world on this Christmas. Pastor Lesly