Hebrew Scripture Micah 5:2-5
You, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has brought forth; then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel. He shall stand and feed his flock in the strength and majesty of the name of God. And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth; and he shall be the one of peace.
Gospel Luke 1:46-55
Mary said, "My soul magnifies God,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the
lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me
blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown
strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their
hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the
lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the
promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants
forever."
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Play “Love is All You Need”
Love, love, love. love, love, love
Love, love, love
Love, love, love
There's nothing you can do that
can't be done, nothing you can sing that can't be sung
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game,
it's easy
There's nothing you can make that can't be made, no one you can save that can't be saved, Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time, it's easy
There's nothing you can make that can't be made, no one you can save that can't be saved, Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time, it's easy
All you need is love, all you need is love, all you
need is love, love
Love is all you need (Love, love, love)
Love is all you need (Love, love, love)
(Love, love,
love)
(Love, love, love)
All you need is love
All you need is love.
(Love, love, love)
All you need is love
All you need is love.
All you need is love,
love, love is all you need
There's nothing you can
know that isn't known,
Nothing you can see that isn't shown, there's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be - it's easy
All you need is love
All you need is love
Nothing you can see that isn't shown, there's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be - it's easy
All you need is love
All you need is love
All you need is love,
love, love is all you need
All you need is love, all together now
All you need is love, all together now
All you need is love,
everybody
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need
Love is all you need
Love is all you need
Love is all you need...
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need
Love is all you need
Love is all you need
Love is all you need...
Let’s go back through
the wardrobe again….
Throughout the story,
one person has shaped the course of events because of his anger and hurt – and
a desire to hurt back. Edmund, the one who somehow never gets it right; Edmund,
the third of four – who feels like he’s invisible and not needed. The one who
feels like everyone else is loved more than he is. The one who is weakest when
tempted with those things which others can resist; the one who can’t really
tell what’s good and what isn’t. Yet he loves his siblings. Way down at the
bottom of his lonely and hurting heart, he loves them. And somewhere in that
little heart he knows he’s wrong.
But Aslan is coming –
Aslan whom the others now know, and who somehow knows all about them. Aslan who
holds in his heart all the beings in Narnia. Father Christmas has come, winter
is fast fading, and even Edmund realises
the power of the White Witch can no longer hold him.
The Witch is losing her
power because of the return of Aslan and his power, but it’s not just that;
slowly, through the faith and tenacity of the inhabitants of Narnia, her power
weakens. The many creatures have held up the prophecy that when two sons of
Adam and two daughters of Eve come to Narnia, her power will be broken and
Aslan will come. And they labour away quietly to prepare the way for the King,
Aslan, to return and bring new life to Narnia. The four children didn’t really know
what they were doing in Narnia or what they could do – but they became part of
the community. They had faith, they were open to learning to see the world
differently, to change and adapt; they learned to care about the creation
around them and everything and everyone in it.
What they learned was
the capacity to love, and how it can overcome so many things.
In the story Chronicles
of Narnia – a little further on than where we have been, Aslan has been
resurrected, and clashes with the White Witch – finally winning. How is he
resurrected?
There is a magic deeper
than the Deep Magic of the world – a magic beyond the dawn of time, when
everything was still dark. When someone who has committed no treachery
willingly gives his life in the stead of a traitor, the great stone table will
crack and time would begin to move backwards.
But even then, even
with Aslan’s power – there was one more thing – Edmund.
“It was all Edmund’s
doing, Aslan.” Peter was saying. “We’d have been beaten if it hadn’t been for
him. The witch was turning our troops into stone right and left, But nothing
would stop him. He fought his way through three ogres to where she was just
turning one of your leopards into a statue. And when he reached her he had the
sense to bring his sword down on her wand instead of trying to go for her
directly and simply getting made a statue himself for his pains. Once her wand
was broken we began to have some chance – if we hadn’t lost so many already. He
was terribly wounded.”
Edmund – the one who felt
unloved, useless, put upon. Edmund has grown, through the unshakeable power of
the love others offered – the other creatures, his family, and the
understanding and love of Aslan. Love.
The first Christmas
came because of the power of God, but not just that; it was because of the
willingness of completely ordinary people to prepare the way. Mary, Joseph,
Elizabeth, Zechariah, maybe some shepherds, and even an innkeeper – watching
and waiting, preparing the way, each having a part to play – and each bearing
love – each not quite sure what they’re doing where they are, or what they’re
going to do.
One of my favourite
preachers is Bishop Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in
the US, and preacher at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. In that
sermon, he said this: “Jesus of Nazareth on one occasion was asked by a lawyer
to sum up the essence of the teachings of Moses. He reached back into the Hebrew
Scriptures, to Deuteronomy and Leviticus , and said “You shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your
strength. This is the first and great commandment. The second is like it: love
your neighbour as yourself.”
This is found in Matthew,
Mark and Luke. But, says Bishop Curry, in Matthew’s version Jesus added
something: “On these two, love of God
and of neighbour, hang all the law and all the prophets, everything that Moses
wrote, everything that God has been trying to tell the world….Love God, love
your neighbours, and while you’re at it, love yourself.”
And now, put these
words of Bishop Curry into the Narnia story, and into our world: “That’s what
love is. Love is not selfish and self-centered, Love can be sacrificial, and in
so doing, become redemptive. And that way of unselfish, sacrificial, redemptive
love changes lives, and it can change the world.
If you don’t believe
me, just stop and imagine. Think and imagine a world where love is the way.
Imagine our homes and
families where love is the way. Imagine neighbourhoods and communities where
love is the way.
Imagine governments and
nations where love is the way. Imagine business and commerce where love is the
way.
Imagine this tired, old
world where love is the way.
When love is the way –
unselfish, sacrificial, redemptive love –
then no child will go to bed hungry in this world ever again.
When love is the way we
will see justice roll down like a mighty stream and righteousness like and
ever-flowing brook.
When love is the way
then poverty will become history.
When love is the way
the earth will be a sanctuary.
When love is the way,
we will lay down our swords and shields, down by the riverside, to study war no
more.
When love is the way,
there’s plenty good room – plenty good room – for all God’s children.”
And a baby is born, born
from an incredible love. Every baby born is born from this incredible love. In
this world, our Narnia, this baby brings the power to melt anger, hurt, pain –
and bring new life to a world living in winter.
All you need is love. May it be so.
Sources: 1. Haverkamp, Heidi.
Advent in Narnia. Westminster John Knox Press; Louisville, Kentucky 2015.
2. Lewis, C. S, The
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. HarperCollins Children’s Books; New York, NY.
1956.
3. Curry, Bishop
Michael. The Power of Love. Avery (Penguin Random House) New York, 2018.
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