God loves you

Dec. 24, 2022

John 3:16 is one of the most famous verses from the Bible; you’ve probably heard it. But I want you to listen to it now like you haven’t heard it before:

God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in hm should not perish but will have eternal life. This is why we celebrate Christmas: God gave us Jesus, born a baby to Mary.  I have always believed God loves the world. That is easy. Of course, God made the world, and loves everybody. But sometimes I’m not sure God loves me. Can you relate? You think about the things you’ve done, or said, and maybe you wonder, “How can God love me when I’m such a screw-up?” Today we’re going to try to answer that question: “Does God really love me?”

1 John 4:19 says, “We love because God first loved us.” Love comes from God in the first place! It’s easy for God to love because God is love.

But I want to talk about two types of love. There are more than two types, but tonight I want us to think of these two. The first type is love that loves because something has value. Something is valuable, worthy of love, so you love it. You love your new kitchen, because you worked hard to get it, it’s valuable. Or you love your dog because it has a pedigree. That dog cost you quite a bit! You love your vehicle because it’s REALLY expensive! And it smells new. There is love where you love something because it has value.

But what if you don’t feel valuable or worthy? I don’t feel like I live up to my expectations, or God’s expectations. Well, there is another kind of love. A love that gives value to an object. The value comes because it is loved. Like did you have a stuffed animal or blanket you loved as a child? Something you cuddled with? Raise your hand if you did. Often it had a name. And that toy or blanket you loved; it probably wasn’t perfect. It might have had a hole or been missing an eye. It could have lost some of its stuffing and looked deflated. But even though it wasn’t perfect, you loved your blankie or animal.

I had a stuffed koala bear my aunt brought from Australia. It lost some of its fur, but I loved it! When it was new it had value. But I remember it looking like it had had better days. If it were for sale in a garage sale, it would be passed up, “EEWW!” There was nothing valuable about my bear. The bear was valuable to me not because of how it looks. I loved him because he was MY bear.

This is exactly how God loves us. God loves us. Even though we are flawed, and broken, there’s nothing hidden from God. He knows about every single one of your flaws. You’re like a stuffed animal that has seen better days. But you’re God’s. And he loves you! While we were sinners, Christ died for us. God loves you with an unconditional, immeasurable love. It’s the kind of love that doesn’t look for what’s worthy in someone in order to love them. Instead, God’s love is the kind of love that gives worth to you. God doesn’t love you because you’re worthy. His love makes you worthy.

One of the reasons we love the Christmas story, is it’s such a simple and humble story, and the people in it are ordinary Joes, not celebrities. God’s love for them brings everybody together in the miracle story of Jesus’ birth.

For example, Mary and Joseph came near divorce, but Joseph listened to an angel, and so they stayed together and came to Bethlehem. The shepherds in the fields were ordinary working guys. It seems like the reason the angel came to them was they were awake that night, keeping watch over their flocks. I imagine the angel said to himself: “Look, there’s some people! They’re awake! I’ll go tell them that Jesus is born.” Then the shepherds saw the angel choir and went to check out this miracle. Why if you were living in Bethlehem at the time, and had trouble sleeping that night, it might have been YOU the angel came to. It wasn’t the holiest people God brought together that first Christmas. It was people God loved, people who had worth, just because God loved them.

I want you to turn to someone near you and say, “You’re the one Jesus loves.” Now turn to someone else near you and say, “Jesus loves you too.” Now say softly to yourself: “I am the one Jesus loves.”

God wants you to know, no matter what your parents said about you, or no matter how somebody else made you feel, no matter where you fell short, you are the one Jesus loves. It doesn’t matter what you have done, God loves you.

We gather here on Christmas eve, to remember, God loves us! he sent Jesus, to save us from our sins. The love of God is not based on your goodness. It is based on who God is: God is love. And he really loves you! Amen.