First Presbyterian Church                                                                  Rev. Dr. Michael J. Imperiale

Salt Lake City, Utah                                                                               December 17, 2006

“Emmanuel: At Home in Christ’s Love”

John 15:9-17

Introduction

On our fourth Sunday of Advent this year we light the candle of love. With the promise of hope, peace and joy with the coming of our Savior, the theme of love is really what Christmas is all about. Yet, people so often take for granted the uniqueness of Christianity and its overarching emphasis on love. The arrival of almighty God in the person and work of Jesus Christ was a radical revelation in the first century and still is when the gospel is faithfully presented around the world today. It’s all about love.

The apostle John wrote that “God is love” as he tried to explain the meaning of his faith in Christ to others (I John 4:8). John wrote the famous verse, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Just follow with me for a moment the connections of love.

God is love. The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, the triune God lives in this self expression, this relationship of love. The Trinity is a relationship of love. Then in this superabundance of love, God shared his love by creating this physical, visible world including you and me, us human beings. The gift of the universe and the gift of life itself both spring from God’s love. Then in the fullness of time, the Author of creation showed the depth of his love by entering into the story, into real human history. Here’s Christmas! Jesus reveals God’s love in this incarnation; God becoming a human being for the salvation of his people. It’s what the name Jesus means: he saves! He will save his people from their sins. Emmanuel, God with us, invites us to be at home in Christ’s love.

And lastly, love becomes the distinguishing mark of his disciples; love for God, love for neighbor, love for one another.

Eugene Peterson notices that “the story of Jesus doesn’t begin with Jesus. God had been at work for a long time. Salvation, which is the main business of Jesus, is an old business. Jesus is the coming together in final form of themes and energies and movements that had been set in motion before the foundation of the world” (Introduction to Matthew in The Message).

Do you see the pattern? Do you realize the center of life and faith? Do you accept and rejoice in the explanation? God is love; he creates in love; he redeems in love; and he invites us to live in love.

I. The Choice to Love

As Jesus expresses this love to his disciples in John 15 (and therefore to us as well), he says something very important. “You didn’t choose me, remember; I chose you.” Every follower of Christ knows that we did not set out to choose faith in the Lord. But God in his grace approached us in a variety of ways with a call and claim on our lives out of his love. And just look at the things our gracious God has chosen us for.

We are chosen for joy. “I’ve told you these things for a purpose,” said Jesus, “that my joy might be your joy, and that your joy may be complete.” Scottish pastor and New Testament scholar William Barclay was fond of saying that “a gloomy Christian is a contradiction in terms.” Looking back over twenty-two years of being a pastor, there were a few times when a nominating committee would nominate and a congregation would elect a cranky, joyless, negative person to be an elder on session (not here at 1st pres of course!). And then the leadership team of the church is saddled with three years of an uphill struggle to get some positive things done in the life and ministry of the church. I’m so glad for our session and the two elders we’ll elect today. They are clearly lovers of Christ, lovers of the church and joy-filled followers of Christ.

When things are going well in life, it’s natural; it’s easy to feel happy, even joyful. When hardships come, they can bring sadness or a sinking depression. But true joy transcends the rolling waves of circumstance as Pastor Sue reminded us last week. Joy comes from an everyday relationship with God in Jesus Christ that helps us walk through adversity as well as skip along good times. We are chosen for joy.

We are chosen for love. “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. My command is this: love one another as I have loved you.” Without Christ and his love in our lives, we human beings tend to think and act as if we were created to compete with or dispute with one another. I mean, what are the two things you’re not supposed to bring up in polite conversation? Politics and religion. Arguments, disputes, hurt feelings, misunderstanding are not worth risking. However, as Christ-seekers and Christ-followers, God invites us to show love, care, compassion, support, and understanding to others.

Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi talked about the difference love makes. He said, “There are a lot of coaches with good ball clubs who know the fundamentals and have plenty of discipline but still don’t win the game. Then you come to the third ingredient: if you’re going to play together as a team, you’ve got to care for one another. You’ve got to love each other (what great advice for being a church!). Each player has to be thinking about the next guy and saying to himself: If I don’t block that guy, the guy carrying the ball is gonna get his legs broken. I have to do my job well so that he can do his. The difference between mediocrity and greatness,” says Lombardi, “is the feeling these guys have for each other.” As we take seriously Jesus’ command to love one another, we contribute to a successful team.

We are chosen for joy; we are chosen for love; and we are chosen to be friends of God in Christ. What a tremendous Christmas present this is! No longer are we in the dark about who God is and what God is like. John writes in his letter that “perfect love drives out fear” (I John 4:18). We are not like servants or slaves who have no right to enter the presence of the master. We are not like the crowd who could only get a glimpse of the king from a distance. Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us. And he calls us friends when we place our faith and trust in him.

All of this is the result of God’s choice to love.

II. The Purpose of Love

When God chooses to love us in this way, he loves us with a purpose in mind. Jesus chose his disciples to become his representatives, ambassadors for Christ. “I have chosen you,” he said, “to send you out.” When you or I became a Christian, we were not called to retire from the world, but to share Christ in the world. The daily rhythm and pattern of our lives is to first come to Jesus by faith and then go out to the world with his message. Someone noted that Coca-Cola has fulfilled their own version of the Great Commission many times over. They have virtually put a bottle of Coke in everyone’s hand. If they can do it with a soft drink, we can certainly do it with the gospel.

A second purpose that God has for followers of Christ is to be advertisements for the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said, “I chose you and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that will last, fruit that won’t spoil.” When I was a freshman in college, I met some new friends that had something that I found quite refreshing, quite amazing. They had a positive, winsome faith in Christ. The fruit of their friendship, their goodness and care for me led me to become a Christian. Jesus sends us out not to argue with others over religion, not to threaten people into Christianity, but to attract them to Christ. As you and I live this Christmastime, we will have many opportunities to care for others, share with others, offer to others the fruit of knowing and loving Christ. Remember the fruit of the Spirit? Love, joy, and peace; patience, kindness, and goodness; faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

Conclusion

Next Sunday is Christmas Eve. We will have two morning services: a carol service at 8:30 and a special children’s service at 11. Then we will have two nighttime services: a contemporary candlelight service with our praise band at 8 pm and a traditional candlelight service at 11 with organ, brass and choir. These are optimal opportunities to share the joy, love and friendship of Jesus with others in your life. Christmas is a prime time to be an effective ambassador for Christ and advertisement for God’s kingdom.

“If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love,” said Jesus. Christmas is all about remaining in his love: love for the Lord and love for others. “This is my command: Love each other.”

Let us pray together.