Love Came Down

Written by Toni Anderson

“Love Came Down at Christmas” is a phrase that I often think of during the Advent season. Many of us might know the phrase from the popular Christmas song with the same title. However, the words to that song actually originate from a poem written by Christina Rossetti in the 19th century. I love this poem and the reminder that the love of God is a gift that we’re given at Christmas. The poem says,

Love came down at Christmas,

Love all lovely, Love Divine,

Love was born at Christmas,

Star and Angels 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 all me,

Love for plea and gift and sign.

Rossetti was a woman who was well-acquainted with hardship and strife. She was born in 1830 to a very artistic family and became deeply involved in the Church of England from a young age. Rossetti struggled throughout her life, facing depression and crises of faith in her later teen years and throughout her 20s. She almost married three different times, but didn’t follow through with it because none of the men shared her deep faith. Later in her life, she was diagnosed with Graves’ disease, an autoimmune disease, and eventually with breast cancer as well, which led to her death in 1894 at the age of 64.

I don’t know about every detail of her internal life or relationship with God, but it seems to me that Christina Rossetti turned to Christ in each challenging moment of her life. By all accounts, her faith was what sustained her through every affliction. Not in an overly simple way, just relying on sentimentality, but in a deep wrestling that is reflected in her poetry. I imagine that some seasons the love of God was so tangible to her and other seasons, it felt more fleeting.

As I reflect on the love of God for us during the Advent season, it’s a comfort to me that God’s consistent love is always present, even if I can’t always feel it or even when circumstances are hard. In her poem, Rossetti says that God’s love is a token, a tangible representation of a fact. Love is what we celebrate at Christmas, as Jesus’ birth is the tangible representation of the fact that God loves his children. Christina Rossetti’s poetry reminds us of the gift of love incarnate that Jesus is to us. I hope this is a season for each of us where God’s love is made tangible and real in our everyday lives.

Contagious Joy

Written by Eric Weiner

My oldest daughter likes to dance. She’s coordinated and silly. When she dances she seems so free; so alive. There’s a joy that radiates from her.

On occasion, she’ll ask if we can have a dance party. I can think of few things I’d rather do less. But when she asks, I find it hard to turn down. I actually kind of enjoy it because I enjoy her joy.

She can make up moves on the spot. She’ll do something silly and totally laugh at herself. It’s like the attention is half the fun. Then she’ll want me to swing her around and toss her in the air – all the things that hurt my body and make me feel old. But then she asks me, “Can we do it again?”

It’s hard to resist. I guess you could say her joy is contagious.

–

My son is into the Marvel Universe right now.

He can tell you the secret identities of people like Steve Rogers and Tony Stark. His face lights up if you ask him who King T’Challa is. I’m still learning about this world. It didn’t really appeal to me growing up. But he’s taken a vested interest in it, and I’ve taken a vested interest in him.

The other day he asked me what villain I was so he could play-fight with me. Not knowing what to say, I told him I worked for Hydra. Not the best answer, I know. But now, when I come home from work he asks me, “Daddy, can you be High Drop?”

It’s hard to resist. I guess you could say his joy is contagious.

–

My youngest daughter is almost two. Maybe the best way to describe her is that she’s a beam of joy. Really, it’s her whole demeanor most of the time. When she sees me walk into the room her face lights up and validates my whole existence. How does she do that?

Her middle name means friend, and she’s truly the best kind of companion. In moments of sadness – I don’t know how to explain it – she has this knack for turning sad moments into joy. I’ve even seen her run over to people she hardly knows to give them a hug. It seems intuitive for her.

Sometimes you need a moment to yourself. But then she comes out of nowhere to cuddle up beside you. That’s when you realize, “I didn’t need to be alone. I needed this.”

It’s hard to resist. I guess you could say her joy is contagious.

–

Observing the joy found in children has helped bring my affections for Christ’s birth into focus this Advent season. Theirs is a joy that’s innocent and untamed. Seemingly over the top, and yet appropriate. Pure and energetic and so filled with life.

It doesn’t hide the darkness that abounds. And yet, it’s as if the darkness is being swallowed by joy.

It’s like that line from O Holy Night:

“The thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices…”

When I think of a weary world, a real-to-life experience begins to settle in. When you’re weary, it’s not just that you’re tired. Plenty of people are tired but push through. No, when you’re weary, you feel tired but you also look tired. You look worn down.

And if that’s you – if you’re tired to the point of exhaustion in these dark and anxious days – it’s okay if you look it. Our God came to a weary world. He knows about weary people. Disillusioned or disappointed. Going through the motions; trying to get from one day to the next. It’s good that we acknowledge it.

But you also must know that He doesn’t leave us there. In His good will, He enters into our weariness but then brings us into His…

Rejoicing.

Maybe it’s logical to think that the joy my kids experience will wane with a dose of realism. But better yet, maybe their joy is an object lesson God is using to wake me from my own stupor and to remember what He has done and to continue trusting in who He is and what He will do.

On the night of Jesus’ birth, an angel of the Lord appeared to shepherds saying:

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”

(Luke 2:10-11)

It’s not wrong to feel somber. But it’s also very appropriate to be rejoicing. In fact, we don’t need to be mild mannered about it. We don’t need to temper expectations. We’re talking about a joy caused by the God-incarnate King.

That looks to me like a joy increasing.

And it’s hard to resist. I guess you could say His joy is contagious.

Abiding Peace Sung Over You

Written by Stephen Cole

When I think of the timeless Christmas carols “Away in a Manger” and “Silent night,” I remember how my mom always gently rolls her eyes whenever the lines “no crying he makes” and “all is calm” are sung. I am one of five siblings so I understand where she is coming from. I imagine “peaceful” is not the first word she would use to describe the holiday season. However, growing up in a home that celebrated the birth of Christ with parents who intentionally slowed things down to cherish the story of Christ’s birth, I am thankful they taught us various Christmas traditions from the Church that have highlighted the momentous story of the incarnation for generations that gave me a sense of peace rooted in the reminder of the reality of the advent of Christ our King. I see now that my mom and dad were more concerned about having their children understand the deep peace found in Christ rather than just merely appreciating idyllic symbols, songs, and practices. They consistently emphasized deep peace that is found in the sacrificial, humble, and submissive act of the King who came as a helpless infant so that helpless and peace-less humanity could enter a new reality where peace is prince, calm is cultivated, and all tears are wiped away.

As I enter the Advent season this year in my own home, celebrating Christmas with my wife, and looking towards a future of many more together, I am caught in reflective affectionate hopes that Christmas in my home would also be a reminder of this deep transformative peace that sustains the hope found in the King who made himself nothing so that he could save me from a peace-less reality. This is my hope, but I find that with each year that goes by peace seems to be more and more threatened by change, fear, and division. I want to take the time this year to not only remind myself, but hopefully to also remind our Church family that deep peace is a reality in Christ because of what he has done for us. The incarnation marks a move in history that both gently and subversively sweetens change, falters fear, and heals division.

So much change has happened in my third decade of life. I feel as if every few months another big milestone is passed, and though exciting and often unavoidable, change is disruptive and makes peace feel fleeting. From new life that I have witnessed with my two new nephews that joyfully jumped into the world this year, to the sadness of mortality I have been reminded of this year with news of grandparents hospitalized--- knowing their bodies are finding it harder to make it through each day. Amidst the fears of good and bad change; it is hard to find peace. Maybe it is hard for you to find peace this year too? If so, I encourage you to rest in the truth of Christ as King. A King that came so that deep peace can beautifully dance in the midst of change. For each decision and for all the changes to be made in your life this year, remember that you DO have a Wonderful Counselor who is also Prince of Peace. Remember the good news of Christmas:

“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal father, and Prince of Peace.”-Isaiah 9:6

Whatever fear is in your life it is but a speck compared to the Mightiness of God who is FOR you. There is a short story that helps remind me of the simple but powerful truth that whatever fear may be paralyzing us from participating in peace this year cannot stand if we remember that we have a Mighty God who is OUR Father; our Eternal Father:

“There was once a wise teacher who asked his young pupil “do you think a hyena could hurt a lion?” and the boy answered, “I think he would lose in a fight but he might be able to hurt the lion.” The teacher then asked, “could the hyena hurt the lion if the lion was the size of your house?” The boy answered, “not very easily but he could probably bite him and still hurt him a little.” This kind of back and forth happened for a while and then the teacher finally asked, “what if the lion was the size of the universe?” and the boy answered, “I don’t think so.” The teacher than proceeded to tell the boy “the hyena is like all that threatens us in life, chiefly fear, and the lion is like God. The lion cannot be hurt or threatened by the hyena. Does that make sense?” The boy nodded. Then the teacher said, “God is our Father and he protects us. So, the lion who is the size of the universe, is our protector from the hyena, so just as he cannot be threated and hurt so also we cannot be because he stands in the hyena’s way as our protector. In this way, you are safe from fear, and all that threatens, because mighty God the Father is on your side always.”

The holiday season often reminds families and churches of division and brokenness. Maybe something is keeping you from reading the Christmas story again this year or going to Church that just seems so full of division, or even going to see family because it is just too hard. Maybe you feel robbed of peace this year because of disunity in your family or Church. I also feel that division and hurt in family and the church. BUT. I also know that the Prince of Peace came into this divided world as an infant to live and die so that sin, fear, hurt, and death no longer have the final say in how we feel and celebrate this year. Because of the incarnation, brokenness can be made new, division can be reconciled, and amidst change, fear, and division is a God who comes near and breathes peace into conversations, celebrations, hard decisions, hurt, and loss.

We do have a Prince of Peace that does make the words “all is calm, all is bright” make sense despite the darkness and chaos of this life. We do have a Mighty and Eternal Father who is with us in this life and promises an eternity of peace with Him if we but trust Him. And we do have a Wonderful Counselor who is the Holy Spirit that makes His home in our hearts so that the turmoil of this world is made bearable and so that hope grows as we celebrate the life and light that entered the darkness of this world on Christmas that we might have calm in our souls. That we would have deep abiding Peace.

I hope your reflection on Christ this Advent helps to grow your view of the Prince of Peace who is near even amid change, fear, and division.

One last thought: I want to leave you with a practical way that I have found helpful to spend more time in the true and peace giving story of Christmas. Each Christmas season, listening to Andrew Peterson’s Behold the Lamb of God Christmas album is a way for me to soak in the story of Christ. Andrew Peterson masterfully wrote a collection of Christmas songs that tells the FULL story of Jesus from the Old Testament to Christ’s birth in a deep, real, creative, and lively way.

If you are interested more in this album here is a blog on Andrew Peterson’s website detailing the collection of songs that he created about 20 years ago.

https://www.andrew-peterson.com/about-btlog

The reason I end with sharing this is because Christ’s peace is in some ways like good gospel-centered Christmas music. It is playing over and during the craziness of the Christmas season singing abiding, comforting, and transformative truth over our lives whether we are sitting on the couch enjoying some hot chocolate or going through something very hard due to change, fear, or division.

Whether it is from timeless Christmas carols (that my mom may not totally agree with) like “Silent Night”, or singing corporately during a Waypoint Advent worship service, I encourage you to let the story of Christmas be sung over your life this year by a God who deeply loves YOU. Let His deep abiding peace change your life.

Happy Advent and Merry Christmas!