One of the big debates in our house at Christmas is which person in the Richard Curtis film “Love Actually” has the best story? Obviously, there is a right answer, (Colin Firth), but a lot of the comedy in the film comes from what being in love makes people do. Love has this ability to make us cast reason aside and do things that, objectively, reasonable people would never do. Love has this power to change our priorities and our behaviours. And it is love we are considering today and how it has the ability to change us and make us act in a different way.
Now, obviously, the birth of Jesus gives us an opportunity to talk about the love that God has for us. But in Matthew’s account, we get the story from the perspective of Joseph. When he discovers that Mary is pregnant, and he knows he’s not the father and he knows he only has one option open to him. As a Jew he would love the Law, and the Law is clear, it demands that he must divorce Mary. Yet he clearly loves Mary as, rather than drag her before the village elders and accuse her of adultery, he resolves to divorce her quietly to spare her some shame. When an angel appears to him and tells him not to do so, his love of God compels him to ignore the law and to take her as his wife. The rest is, as they say, history.
Throughout this story we see how love changes Joseph. His love for Mary softens his desire to hurt her or seek revenge. His love for God causes him to go against the law and do as God calls him to do. This is what love can do. It’s not some romantic notion of hearts and flowers, but an incredibly powerful emotion that changes our behaviours; changes who we are at our deepest level. This is the love we as Christians are to embody. At Christmas we received the love of God in the person of Jesus Christ. Our love for Jesus then transforms us; changes our behaviours and priorities; calls us to live as Jesus calls us to love. Love makes us share our resources, love makes us forgive, love makes us feed the hungry and clothe the naked. Love came down a Christmas and it’s up to us to make sure this love continues to change us and the world for the better.