Love Has Come (ELW 292)
Devotion
We cannot publish the text for today's hymn due to copyright limitations. We apologize for the inconvenience. However, you may find a recording and video here on YouTube.
This is my wife's favorite Christmas hymn. Her name is Angel. Every year she makes sure I plan to include it in one of our Christmas worship services. I oblige because I love this hymn too — but I also would never want to go against the will of an "angel" at Christmas!
Love is the name Mary whispers while she looks glowingly at her newborn son. Love is the name her heart is saying. This poetic line points us to an important theological truth: that the incarnation of God in Jesus, born of a human mother, is not merely a point of doctrine; it is the very reason we are able to know and experience the love of God. God must necessarily come to us through real, flesh-and-blood relationships, like the love of a mother for her baby. "Love is Jesus within and among us." These words further tell us that the incarnation takes shape in our own bodies and relationships. Love is born in us! What a gift!
Prayer
Loving God, you whisper your name in our hearts. Be born in us today. Embody your love in us and through us so that others might be drawn to your light. Amen.