Love All (Romans 16:25-27)

When I was a child, I could not understand how Father Christmas was able to receive requests for presents from children around the whole world, make them, and then deliver those gifts all in one night. For a kid growing up in the Adelaide Hills long before satellite communications and digital technology, it seemed like an absolutely impossible task.

Then I found out that Father Christmas has help! I was told he has a whole lot of elves at his workshop at the North Pole who help him go through all the letters children write to him, make the toys, and pack his sled ready for the big delivery night. I have even heard that some of these elves, who are also called ‘Santa’s little helpers’, go with Father Christmas on Christmas Eve to help him deliver toys and other gifts to children in every part of the earth.

I acknowledge that there are risks in comparing Father Christmas with Jesus. There are definite differences between the two, for example that Father Christmas is making a list and checking it twice to tell if children have been naughty or nice. Jesus gives forgiveness and new life to all of God’s children as free gifts because none of us really deserve them – which is why we call them grace. However, we can also find similarities between some interpretations of Father Christmas and the real-life person of Jesus.

One similarity is that neither Father Christmas or Jesus share his gifts with the world by himself. Jesus calls people to partner with him in sharing his grace-filled gifts, especially his gift of life-giving love, with the world. At Christmas we celebrate the gift of God’s love which he gives to us in Jesus. He is the incarnation of God’s love as God takes on human flesh and blood in the birth of Jesus. God is love (1 John 4:16) so when the divine enters our human experience and embraces our human condition in himself, love takes on human form so we can experience the life-changing reality of God’s love for us in a personal way.

Sometimes people can equate love with words, such as saying, ‘I love you.’ Loving words are important, but they also need to be reflected in and supported by actions and the ways we treat others. That’s why the Bible says, ‘let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions’ (1 John 3:18 NLT). Loving words need to go together with loving actions and behaviours if there is going to be a genuine expression of that love.

The Evangelist John identifies Jesus as the Word of God who spoke everything into existence at the start of creation (John 1:1-4). This was God’s Word of eternal and perfect, life-giving love. When Jesus was born, this Word of Love became a physical, flesh and blood expression of God’s love for us, which we also see in his suffering and death for us (1 John 4:10). When Jesus was born, and when he gives himself to us through the Holy Spirit, God is loving us in ways that aren’t just words, but which show us the truth of his love for us by his actions.

One of the most radical things about this love is that it is for all people. At the time of Jesus, the Jewish religious people were very exclusive in their understanding of God’s love. They thought it was for a select group of people from a particular racial background who kept a precise set of religious rules. Jesus revolutionized people’s understanding of God’s love by showing that it was for all people, especially those who deserved it the least but needed it the most. That was why the Apostle Paul dedicated himself to bringing the good news of God’s love in Jesus to Gentiles, or non-Jewish, people. As we read in Romans 16:25-27, God’s plan was always to bring the good news of Jesus and the unconditional love we find in him to those people who were previously outside of the Kingdom of God. Paul teaches us that the love of God is radically inclusive, freely available to all people.

This brings us back to the analogy of Father Christmas giving his gifts to others with his elves’ help. Just like Santa’s little helpers work with Father Christmas to make sure that all children around the world receive their presents at Christmas, God calls his people to work with him to distribute his gift of perfect and unconditional love through Jesus. Throughout the Bible, God called people to work with him in sharing the gift of his love to others. In our time and place, God still calls us to be ‘Jesus’ little helpers’ in bringing the gift of his love to the world.

Jesus gave his followers the new command to love each other in the same way that he had loved them to prove to the world that they were his disciples (John 13:34,35). His way of sharing his love with the world is through the loving actions of those who were learning his new way of loving through their relationship with him. We became Jesus’ little helpers as we receive the gift of his love and then share that same love with other people. Just like Santa’s elves might hand out gifts to children in a shopping centre, we receive God’s love for us from Jesus so we can share his love with everyone in the world.

That can seem overwhelming when we consider the number of people in the world with the variety and magnitude of their needs. We don’t have to do it all. Instead, God calls each member of the body of Christ to share Jesus’ love wherever we are and wherever he leads us. It begins right here on our own doorstop. We can start by sharing the gift of God’s love with people in our own families, our own friendship groups, our own congregation. When we are loving the young, elderly, single, the married, or vulnerable people of our congregation in the way Jesus teaches, we pass on the gift of God’s love for them. Giving God’s gift of love to the world as Jesus’ little helpers starts with the people in our lives here and now.

God’s purpose for his Church is to re-present his love for all people through Jesus. The fourth week of the Advent Conspiracy reminds us that the heart of our identity and purpose as a Christian community of faith is to Love All with the same grace-filled, self-sacrificing, life-giving love that God gives to us through Jesus. This is not just a Christmas thing, but it begins at the manger with Jesus’ birth, continues through all the ups and downs of life in this world, leads us to the cross where we see this love poured out for us in Jesus’ death, and to the resurrection where we witness the life-giving power of Jesus’ love. Santa’s little helpers work with Father Christmas to achieve something that seems impossible. We are Jesus’ little helpers who are invited to participate with him in delivering the gift of his radically inclusive love to all people. This Christmas, and into the New Year, each of us will have countless opportunities to share the gift of God’s love that comes to us as a flesh and blood person, as we trust in God’s love for us and Love All, just like Jesus does.

More to think about or discuss:

• Do you ever need some extra help at Christmas? What might be something you could use help with?
• How important is it to have helpers at Christmas? Why might that be important for you? for others?
• When you read Romans 16:25-27, to whom did God plan to give his gift of love? Who are some of the people included in that plan that you can think of?
• How do you think God distributes his gift of love to all people? Discuss your answers…
• What does Jesus’ love mean to you? How does it make a difference in your life?
• What is your reaction to thinking about Christians as ‘Jesus’ little helpers’ who distribute the gift of his love to all people? Share your thoughts about that…
• God’s purpose for his Church is to re-present his love for all people through Jesus. What is your reaction to that statement? What do you think is good about it? What might be not so good about it? (You’re welcome to leave a comment with any thoughts you might have)
• What do you find positive about the Advent Conspiracy challenge to Love All?
• What do you find difficult about the AC challenge to Love All?
• What is one thing you can do to be ‘Jesus’ little helper’ this Christmas as you Love All in the way that he loves you?

You can watch a video version of this message by following this link: https://youtu.be/Bc2-w-7_4Bo

God bless you with his love in Jesus so you can Love All in your life this Christmas and into the future…