"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; he has appointed me to preach Good News to
the poor; he has sent me to heal the broken-hearted and to announce that
captives shall be released and the blind shall see, that the downtrodden shall
be freed from their oppressors, and that God is ready to give blessings to all
who come to him."
Have you ever been told you are lovable? If you have, what did that mean to you?
Did you believe it and take it seriously or discount it altogether? Your
reaction might depend on who said it and the nature of your relationship with
that person. If you have a pattern of doubting your lovability, it may be due to
painful childhood experiences that left you with insecurities and self doubt.
But the fact is that, we are forever and always lovable. Even if a bad childhood
led you to feel unloved and unworthy, you are still lovable. Even if you feel
ashamed due to past failures and mistakes, you are still lovable. Even if you
have been rejected or abandoned by someone, you are still lovable. Why? Because
you have been created that way.
Many religions express this truth. But this morning I want to give
you two quotes from the Hebrew Scriptures:
1. Genesis 1:27: So God created humankind in God's own image
2. Psalm 139:14 "You shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my
mother's womb. Body and soul, I am marvelously made!"
Lovable adults are not necessarily love-able. Due to circumstances
in your past, you may have lost awareness of the lovable creature you are. To
rediscover your love-ability you cannot rely on the attention or approval of
others; it has to come from within, it has to come from the realization that you
are born lovable,
Experiencing the love of God for you, and the fact that God created you in God's
own image, you can reclaim our love-ability. Being lovable is inherent. It is
not earned and it is not dependent on the approval of another person.
And once you understand and are truly able to embrace your lovability that comes
from God's love for you, you cannot help but spread it to the ends of the earth.
That's what Jesus expressed when he said:
"God has sent me to heal the broken-hearted and to announce that captives shall
be released and the blind shall see..."
In Charles Dickkin's classic tale A Christmas Carol
the extremely stingy and unloveable Ebenezer Crooge, a rich industrialist, wakes
up in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve when a voice calls on him from
the next room. Investigating, he finds the spirit of Christmas. Together, they
visit miners, and then watch one of his employee's happy Christmas celebration.
His name is Bob Cratchitt and his son Tim will die if circumstances don't
change. He then observes how Cratchitt toasts Mr. Scrooge at the dinner table.
Even in light of all the stinginess and harshness he has received from his boss,
he still toasts him and blesses him.
At that moment Scrooge discovers that he is loveable. That buried deep below his
stinginess, greediness and his disregard for people and their situations, is a
lovable soul. His employee Bob saw him for the lovable creature that God had
created rather than the person he had become due to his bad childhood and life
experience.
And the Christmas spirit succeeds. Ebenezer Scrooge realizes that Christmas is
not humbug but rather a celebration of the gift of love no matter how hard the
circumstances. With the help of the Spirits, he realizes that he is loveable and
his heart is forever changed and he becomes a more loving and generous person.
God's love is infectious, it changes you, it starts a revolution. Once you
understand and experience that you have been conceived and born out of love,
that you are lovable, that you are beloved, that you were made in the image of
God, beautifully and fearfully made, you can't help but spread the love
especially to the brokenhearted.
When Jesus shared these words, he didn't just give us his job description, he
gave us n insight into the heart of God, into God's contagious love for us when
he said: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; he has appointed me to preach Good
News to the poor; he has sent me to heal the broken-hearted and to announce that
captives shall be released and the blind shall see, that the downtrodden shall
be freed from their oppressors, and that God is ready to give blessings to all
who come to him."
During this season of love, allow yourself to be gripped once again by God's
amazing love, because as you do, you can't help but share it with the people
around you.
