Expressive Love
This week of Advent calls us to recognize God’s love. It is an expressive love in which the Father gave the Son, the Son gave Himself, and then the Son gave the Holy Spirit. Now, the Holy Spirit is the agent of the Trinity to disburse gifts for the edification and building up of the Church. The Church is designed to make known God’s expressive love by living out an expressive love. We call it living the “L-Shaped” life.
There are many examples we can find in the Bible regarding God’s expressive love. But let me share with you an individual we probably would not use as an example. He is known in Luke’s Gospel as Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7:36-50). If you remember he was the one that threw a party in Jesus’ honor. Yet, his self-righteousness soon became an opportunity for not honoring Jesus, but for Jesus honoring a sinful woman. Some even believed she was a prostitute. Really? Yes, really.
You may already be asking, “What do a prostitute, a Pharisee, and an itinerant prophet have to do with Advent?” Stay with me and I will explain. If you recall, Advent means “arrival, appearing.” For a moment let’s put ourselves in Simon’s house as observers. The Pharisee is being praised by his neighbors and peers for hosting such an extravagant party in favor of this itinerant prophet. Suddenly, the prostitute barges in and makes a scene disrupting the party. All the food had been carefully ordered and arranged. Simon had taken every precaution to make sure this party would be talked about for weeks and months afterward. And it will be talked about but for a totally different reason. And not for weeks or months but for centuries.
Expressive love does not recognize proper boundaries. Expressive love cares only for the one on whom the love is centered. This woman, this sinful woman, spurned by society and not talked about in certain religious circles, is the recipient of God’s expressive love. Now, she can do nothing but express the love she had received from Jesus. She didn’t analyze His grace, she accepted it. She didn’t debate or discuss the parameters of His mercy, she dressed in it. For her all things had become new (2 Cor 5:17).
By now I hope you are sensing how these characters display the heart of Advent. Before Jesus ever arrived in Simon’s house he had arrived in this woman’s heart. Before Jesus would be honored by His Father in the presence of angels he was honored by this forgiven sinner in the presence of the self-righteous. The truth about Advent is Jesus appeared not to call the righteous, but to call sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32). Therefore, all of us qualify for such grace and mercy (Romans 3:23-24).
This holiday season is going to be filled with many parties to honor Jesus. We will gather with friends and family over food and song. I wonder how many of us would tolerate an interruption of this magnitude by an uninvited prostitute or a houseless person? And to this end we are called.
“We love, because he first loved us.”(1 John 4:19)
“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us.”(Eph 5:1-2)
As we celebrate the first appearing of Jesus let us look forward to his second appearing and always remember, “But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”(Luke 7:47) None of us have been forgiven little compared to God’s holiness, justice, and righteousness. We have miserably failed because our heart is evil (Jeremiah 17:9). And then God appeared in expressive love to redeem us to Himself (Romans 5:8).
This holiday season let us resolve and commit to being expressive lovers because He first loved us and forgave us all our sins (Eph 2:8-9). We can do this because His expressive love has been deposited in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5).
SCRIPTURES
Luke 7:36-50
2 Corinthians 5:17
Romans 3:23-24
1 John 4:19
Ephesians 5:1-2
Jeremiah 17:9
Romans 5:8
Ephesians 2:8-9
Romans 5:5
You are loved!
Rest in His Expressive Love!
Uncle Mike
There are many examples we can find in the Bible regarding God’s expressive love. But let me share with you an individual we probably would not use as an example. He is known in Luke’s Gospel as Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7:36-50). If you remember he was the one that threw a party in Jesus’ honor. Yet, his self-righteousness soon became an opportunity for not honoring Jesus, but for Jesus honoring a sinful woman. Some even believed she was a prostitute. Really? Yes, really.
You may already be asking, “What do a prostitute, a Pharisee, and an itinerant prophet have to do with Advent?” Stay with me and I will explain. If you recall, Advent means “arrival, appearing.” For a moment let’s put ourselves in Simon’s house as observers. The Pharisee is being praised by his neighbors and peers for hosting such an extravagant party in favor of this itinerant prophet. Suddenly, the prostitute barges in and makes a scene disrupting the party. All the food had been carefully ordered and arranged. Simon had taken every precaution to make sure this party would be talked about for weeks and months afterward. And it will be talked about but for a totally different reason. And not for weeks or months but for centuries.
Expressive love does not recognize proper boundaries. Expressive love cares only for the one on whom the love is centered. This woman, this sinful woman, spurned by society and not talked about in certain religious circles, is the recipient of God’s expressive love. Now, she can do nothing but express the love she had received from Jesus. She didn’t analyze His grace, she accepted it. She didn’t debate or discuss the parameters of His mercy, she dressed in it. For her all things had become new (2 Cor 5:17).
By now I hope you are sensing how these characters display the heart of Advent. Before Jesus ever arrived in Simon’s house he had arrived in this woman’s heart. Before Jesus would be honored by His Father in the presence of angels he was honored by this forgiven sinner in the presence of the self-righteous. The truth about Advent is Jesus appeared not to call the righteous, but to call sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32). Therefore, all of us qualify for such grace and mercy (Romans 3:23-24).
This holiday season is going to be filled with many parties to honor Jesus. We will gather with friends and family over food and song. I wonder how many of us would tolerate an interruption of this magnitude by an uninvited prostitute or a houseless person? And to this end we are called.
“We love, because he first loved us.”(1 John 4:19)
“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us.”(Eph 5:1-2)
As we celebrate the first appearing of Jesus let us look forward to his second appearing and always remember, “But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”(Luke 7:47) None of us have been forgiven little compared to God’s holiness, justice, and righteousness. We have miserably failed because our heart is evil (Jeremiah 17:9). And then God appeared in expressive love to redeem us to Himself (Romans 5:8).
This holiday season let us resolve and commit to being expressive lovers because He first loved us and forgave us all our sins (Eph 2:8-9). We can do this because His expressive love has been deposited in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5).
SCRIPTURES
Luke 7:36-50
2 Corinthians 5:17
Romans 3:23-24
1 John 4:19
Ephesians 5:1-2
Jeremiah 17:9
Romans 5:8
Ephesians 2:8-9
Romans 5:5
You are loved!
Rest in His Expressive Love!
Uncle Mike
Posted in Advent
Recent
Archive
2022
June
No Comments