Jesus names it in the Sermon on Mount, loving people who love us is not hard. Yet we are not just called to love those who are like us, or who love us. We are called to bring God’s love to those who God places in our lives.
On Christmas Eve we celebrate that heaven came to earth, that Jesus was born, and that God’s promise to reconcile us to Him became real and embodied. This is also an invitation and reminder that we are also called to be ambassadors of reconciliation to our hurting and broken world.
It’s one thing to say you believe in something or value something. It’s another thing altogether to show it, do it, and embody it. Jesus’ life was not grounded in a list of moral teachings that he talked about, but in a life that he invites us to be part of in the Kingdom of God in the here and now. This Kingdom lifestyle was shocking because God’s love extended to all, and didn’t hinge on the goodness of us, but the goodness of God.
Christianity is unique among world religions in that God walked the earth with His people. In Isaiah we read all about the coming Savior whose life and ministry will shape nations, and us.