<p>ADVENT WEEK FOUR: LOVE</p><p><em>December 21 Rev. Allie Utley, PhD</em></p><br><p><strong>The Origins of Love Incarnate</strong></p><p>John 1:1-18</p><br><p><strong>“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word</strong></p><p><strong>was God.” John 1:1</strong></p><br><p>The poetic first verse of the Gospel is something of an origin story. We often</p><p>read this passage on or around Christmas as we celebrate the birth of Jesus:</p><p>God taking the form of a baby. Christ comes to us, fragile, small, dependent.</p><br><p>But the writer of John reminds us that Jesus’ life doesn’t begin at Christmas;</p><p>it reaches all the way back to the beginning of the cosmos. His very being is</p><p>eternally woven together in the very being of God our creator.</p><br><p>In advent, we wait for the coming of the Son of God through whom the love of</p><p>God was, is, and will be revealed. That doesn’t mean the Hebrew people didn’t</p><p>know God’s love, or that Jesus is the only way God makes love known. But</p><p>one reason I claim Christianity as my faith is that I am moved by this mystery:</p><p>that God would become human, that God would take on vulnerability, tempta-</p><p>tion, even suffering.</p><br><p>In Christ’s coming, God draws close not only to reveal love, but to know our</p><p>lives fully. There is no part of you, no part of me, that is hidden from that</p><p>knowing love. This knowing can make us feel loved, but it can also make us</p><p>feel vulnerable and exposed.</p><br><p>Advent is a season of anticipation and preparation. What might it look like to</p><p>open ourselves to that love and to allow ourselves to be truly known?</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>