What Is This Thing Called Christmas Love?

[This is an entry based on the sermon I gave to the youth group at OkHab Church this past Sunday. Please comment if I said something biblically incorrect. I don't want to misrepresent the Word of God.]

In my last entry, I was talking about how I missed hanging out with friends recently. Then I realized it's Christmas season, and I thought I had a good reason for wanting to be with friends more than ever. After all, most people living in modern societies believe that Christmas is a time for family, friends, significant other, and loved ones. It's time for gift-exchange, tree decoration, and carols. Most, if not all, Christmas-themed movies and music is about some form of love. Basically, people think that Christmas is a season of love. Well, indeed it is a season for love, but the real meaning of Christmas Love is quite different from the common perception.

Some children, even sunday school kids, might tell you that Christmas is a time to get presents, and still others may say it's Santa Clause's birthday. Most church-going Christians should at least be able to tell you what Christmas is really about: the birth of Jesus Christ. Well then, "How is a day celebrating the birth of a baby be about love?" you might ask. It's not an ordinary love that you would think of. This "love" I'm talking about is not the fuzzy feeling you get in your stomach when you see a new born baby or when you are with your special someone. John 3:16 links the birth to this "love":

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." (KJV)

So apparently this baby Jesus was born because God loved the world. But what does it mean for God to love the world, that he would give his Son? I mean, who gives a baby to someone just because of love? And what are you supposed to do if you're given someone else's son? That doesn't sound like the "love" that we typically think of when it comes to Christmas, does it? But the Bible clearly explains how this is indeed love, God's love:

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." (1 John 3:16, NIV)

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8, NIV)

So what God says about love is that it's about laying down one's own life for another. Perhaps that makes some sense to some parents, if they would actually put themselves in danger to save their children and family (e.g. James Kim). Maybe some children would die for their parents, too. I think we all have an idea of what real love is when it comes to family, but I don't think most of us really understand it or actually practice it.

Ask yourself, would you ever give up your life for someone else? For whom?

Your children? ... Of course.
Your parents? ... Probably.
Your friends? ... Maybe, depending on how close they are.
A total stranger? ... Uhh... what?

"I don't even know who they are!" That's what one of the kids at the church said when I asked that question. Exactly. Why would you die for someone you know nothing about? But then, is the reason you wouldn't die for someone really the lack of knowledge about the person? Do you think you would die for someone depending on how well you know the person? Then what if you knew everything about someone, and that person didn't know you, would you still die for that person? Take Saddam Hussein for example. You know what he has done (or you can find out), and he's sentenced to death. Would you die instead of him? Yeah, right! That's just ridiculous, isn't it? Well, then think of your best friends, those that are so close to you that you might even die for them if you had to. What if you knew that those friends had secretly mistreated and cheated on you in the past. Would you still die for them? And what if you found out that they were planning to betray you and to put you to shame the next day. Would you still lay down your life for them? Can you still love them?

You see, knowing more about someone doesn't always make it easier to love that person. Rather, it usually makes it harder. We all have crap that we want to hide from others, things that would make us less "lovable" by others. You may think dying for someone like Hussein is ridiculous. But dying for someone whom you know everything about is crazier. It's incomprehensible.

That's the kind of love that God demonstrated when he sent his Son Jesus Christ to earth, and God's love goes beyond that. Jesus Christ died for us when we were sinners. That means when we were his enemies, he died for us. When he knew that we were going to betray him, he died for us. Even though he knows that you are going to sin again, he died for you. He knows everything that you did against him, but he still loves you. Isn't that crazy or what? Can you really love someone like the way God loves you?

As if dying wasn't enough, God the Father gave his own Son to die! Can you imagine seeing your own child stripped, beaten, and nailed to the cross? Can you imagine your own son or daughter on that cross shouting, "Daddy! Daddy!"? Is that easier than dying yourself? You see, God's love is beyond that. God loves us so much that he would give his Son to the world, see him suffer and die! That's what it means when it says "For God so loved the world"! Can you wrap your head around that? Can you love another person like God loved the world?

Now, ask yourself: If you believe what the Bible says about God's love, how does it affect you? Why does it matter that God loves us? that Jesus was born? that Christ died for us? that he rose from the dead? How is your life different because of that?

Let me rephrase these questions. If God didn't send his Son to Earth, if Jesus was never born, and if Christ never died for your sins, how would you live differently from the way it is right now? Would it be any different? If not, why not?

As for me, the answer is definitely a yes. God's love affects most, if not all, decisions that I make in my life. If the aforementioned events did not happen, how would I know what real love is? More importantly, how would I know that God loves me? Why would I risk my life and career to go to Africa? Why would I want to become a doctor to help the poor in the developing world, rather than be rich, secure, and comfortable in the US? You see, God's love determines the way I "love" others because the Bible says, "We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19, NIV). Indeed, "we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers" because God did that for us, and he told us to.

Because God loves me, I'm willing to spend my entire life serving him wherever he leads me. I may never be able to love others like God loves us, but I'm willing to give my best effort. If loving others means going to the most impoverished parts of the world and putting my life on the line to help those in need, I will do it. I will do it because God loves me.

What would you do, knowing that God loves you? If you believe it, live it. Live like you're loved, and live to love. Live to lay down your life for others.

Remember that Christmas is a season of love, and remember what that Christmas Love really is. Now, spread it.

What I Miss Most / Change of Plans

While I was in Kenya, I really missed having friends that I could connect with deeply. Since I came back, I visited AGO (my fraternity) once, and hung out with my old roommate once. It was really nice seeing some of my friends and talking with them...

More and more I'm realizing that I need to do more of that.

These days most of my time is spent in front of my computer either just wasting away or trying to motivate myself to work on some more essays for med school secondary apps. I've been working at a hak-won (tutor place) in Cerritos, which is actually quite fun, but tutoring kids and studying with college classmates just aren't the same (yes, I think group study is fun, yes, I think studying is fun, and yes, I am a nerd).

It's so strange because I never felt so lonely in my life... Ok, I'm not like desperately lonely, but I definitely feel like I'm missing something. And I guess it's people that I love (other than my family, of course). I never realized how much I loved hanging out with friends, although I didn't take them for granted.

I miss my friends...

I don't think I can wait like this until I start making new friends in med school.

Well, it's winter break, and I'm sure someone wouldn't mind hanging out with me. Anyone?

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In other news, last week I found out that I won't be going back to Kenya next spring. God seems to have closed the door there. I'm pretty sad especially because I won't be able to see the kids in Lenkijape anymore... I promised them I would bring back photos, too. Well, God is always faithful. When He closes a door, He opens another. Looks like He wants me to go to Haiti this time. It's basically Africa except it's in the Caribbean. So I've started relearning French using a computer program.

I've always wondered why in the world I took French in high school and not Spanish. I was in Japan then, and I didn't know I could be moving to California where Spanish is useful and French is not. Now I'm beginning to think that God lead me to take French because He has a plan for me in Africa. If that's the case, I should seriously start studying French. The trip to Haiti will be in late March, and I may be staying there till end of July. My life would be quite miserable if I'm not prepared... I'm sure it will be a lot more challenging then my trip to Kenya.