Miller’s Station UMC
12/21/25
Anchor Verse – Luke 6:35 (27-35)
Love
This week as we consider the fourth week of Advent and the theme of love, let us pause and reflect on the spiritually deep and at times perplexing nature of love. Too often, especially in our Western context, we reduce this the concept of love—a gift from God—down to a single word, stripping it of the rich cultural and spiritual meaning it holds. But true love, the kind that transforms hearts and communities, cannot be contained in a simple definition or casual phrase.
As someone who has walked the journey of a committed relationship, I have come to understand that love is not merely a feeling—it is an action and a daily discipline. Love is an act of becoming. Love is something we must choose, again and again, through acts of kindness, forgiveness, and grace. We are called to practice love in our everyday lives, to let it shape our words, our choices, and our very posture toward one another.
The ancient Greeks, with their wisdom, recognized that there are many forms of love: philia (the love of friends), pragma (enduring love), storge (familial love), eros (romantic love), ludus (playful love), mania (obsessive love), philautia (self-love), agape (unconditional love), and meraki (doing something with soul). In our churches and Sunday schools, we often speak of only a few—eros, philia, and agape—but the fullness of love is as vast as God’s own heart.
Over these past weeks of Advent, we have looked upon the state of our world—the pain, the division, the struggle of the migrant, the LGBTQ+ individual, the one who does not fit our cultural norms. Our society is quick to label, to dismiss, to defend itself rather than to open its arms. Our society is quick to cloak itself in a “love” that does not resember the grace filled and self emptying love that Jesus exhibits.
The gospel calls us to something greater. Love, my friends, is not a MacGuffin—a plot device without substance—in the story of our lives. In fact, love is the very heartbeat of our faith. In relationships, whether with partners, friends, or strangers, love demands that we engage—it is an active, life-sustaining commitment, a day-by-day practice.
Hear this: Love is a spiritual discipline that draws us closer to God and to one another. It is a grace that deepens our intimacy and pushes back the shadows of fear. To love as Christ loves is to take on a posture—both physical and emotional—that refuses to see the barriers the world would build between us. True love does not stop at the boundaries of race, sexuality, gender, nationality, or social status. Rather, it sees Christ in every person.
Unconditional Acceptance
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian and pastor, courageously lived out the call to love by opposing Nazi oppression and ultimately sacrificing his life for his convictions, demonstrating that true Christian love often requires profound moral courage and selflessness. Dietrich Bonhoeffer distinguishes between human love, which is often selfish and conditional, and spiritual love, which is selfless and unconditional. He emphasizes that true love reflects God’s nature and is demonstrated through actions that serve others without expecting anything in return. As we watch the events unfold in our country and we are continually met with voices pushing us to “other” people rather than seeing all people as potential seats of Christ, Bonhoeffer’s words continually are relevenant to us and a roadmap as to how we should live as Christians.
It is okay to have our opinions, but to truly follow Christ and embrace the way of love that is Christ-centered, we must lean into the spiritual love that Bonhoeffer describes. This kind of love, grounded in Christ, frees the other person, does not demand, does not manipulate, and does not idealize. In this way, Bonhoeffer comes closest to the idea of “unconditional acceptance”: we accept others because Christ has accepted them—not because they meet our expectations.
Love then must be cultivated as a spiritual practice.
Love as Spiritual Practice
Imagine for a moment if every mention of “Christ” in the New Testament were replaced by “Love.” Christ — Love — appears over 500 times in the New Testament, teaching us about salvation time and again. Paul’s testimony is echoed in songs like U2’s “When Love Comes to Town.” The protagonist finds himself rescued, changed, and accused — yet ultimately transformed by love’s power. When we accept Christ’s — Love’s — presence in ourselves, we let God’s unconditional love guide every step of our journey.
Love is the heartbeat of the Christmas story. Joseph’s love for Mary protected her. Mary’s motherly love nurtured Jesus. God’s love for all sent His son into the world. As the Gospel of John tells us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…” (John 3:16).
Love becomes the central theme of Jesus’ ministry. A radical love that was captured best in Galatians 3:28 where the author proclaims, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” We are all one in Love.
When we look at Jesus and how he and later his followers carried themselves, we see a group of Jewish people not afraid to stand up to the system of oppression and hypocrisy around them. Jesus’ death was the greatest demonstration of how love heals. In the story, myth and lore about Jesus’ death, we are told that God’s love transcends evil, conquers death, heals all wounds.
Later, despondent and disappointed over the events of Jesus’ execution, the story is told about the disciples walking to Emaus when they encountered a stranger who would describe to them all the teachings that Jesus had once taught them. Realizing that this stranger was Jesus, these disciples began spreading the teachings of Jesus and as the movement grew, became more emboldened and would eventually grow into the movement it has become today. These early disciples taught us that love heals when we take action.
The Advent Take Away
Dear friends, as we gather here on this last week of Advent, let’s remember a simple but powerful truth: love is more than just a feeling. Love is something we practice—it’s a discipline, a way of living that God calls us to every day.
This kind of love goes deeper than words. It reaches beyond everything that divides us—our skin color, our gender, who we love, where we come from, or how much money we have. Jesus teaches us to see every person as a child of God, made in God’s image.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a faithful follower of Jesus, called this “costly grace.” It means love isn’t always easy. True love asks something from us. It means following Jesus, even when it’s hard, even when it means giving something up. It’s not “cheap grace,” where we just say we’re forgiven but don’t let it change how we live.
If we put Jesus and his love first—even above our families or what our culture says is important—some people may not understand. Sometimes, loving like Jesus did will make us stand out. It might even make us unpopular.
But this is the heart of what Jesus asks of us: to break down all the walls that keep us apart and to see God’s image in every person we meet. That’s the kind of love that changes the world.
When you accept this understanding of Christ—when you accept Love—into your life, you are invited to let God’s unconditional love guide every step of your journey. This is not a mere suggestion; it is the heartbeat of the Christmas story itself.
Amen
Advent Wreath Prayer
Loving God, the whole meaning of Christmas can be explained in one little four-letter word…LOVE. You sent your gift of pure love to us that first Christmas. Love descended from heaven to be born of a virgin. Love lay in the scratchy hay of a manger in a meager barn in Bethlehem. All of your love, God, was robed in the delicate skin of a baby and wrapped in swaddling clothes. This final week of Advent helps us to reflect on the magnitude of love that was made manifest in Jesus.
The greatest gift of all came that first Christmas. It wasn’t wrapped in a beautiful package and set under a decorated tree. The greatest gift came wrapped in the flesh of baby Jesus and laid in the rough wood of a manger. Our perfect gift would later be rewrapped in the scars of our sin and nailed to the rugged wood of a cross on Calvary, all because of love.
This final week of Advent, fill our hearts and minds with the significance of that truth. Thank you, Lord, for loving us enough to send Jesus. In Jesus’ precious name we pray. Amen. (Hope Bollinger)
Benediction
Beloved, the wait for the Messiah is almost over and has only just begun. Go from this space carrying the love that transforms us in your hearts, that your lives may give birth to hope, peace, joy, and love wherever you go. Amen.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In