CAROL: “Love Came Down at Christmas”
Tune: GARTAN (Traditional Irish)
Text: Christina Rossetti (1885)
I used the “token” analogy earlier in "And all flesh shall see the token that God's word is never broken" from the carol “Comfort, Comfort Ye My People.” In THAT case, the token was one that God presented to US in a similar way that he put a rainbow in the sky.
THIS carol line is about OUR token… both to God and to our fellow persons – and that token will be love. At least it should be.
We all know the song “They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love.” Indeed, they will; we are told that in the scriptures as well as in the songbooks. Jesus himself sings the same song in John 13:35.
According to Webster, in the later definitions of token, we find these:
· an outward sign or expression
· a small part representing the whole
· something given or shown as a guarantee
This love of Christ which came down to us at Christmas and comes to us again and again throughout our spiritual pilgrimage can truly be all of these:
· Perhaps if we see love as an outward expression of what we already experience, it will be a sign to all around us.
· Because we understand that God is love, we as His representatives are simply acting as a delegate of the whole body which beats with the Agape heart.
· We show the love of Christ as a guarantee to show in obvious and subtle ways that the love of Christ not only dwells in us, but it can’t help but seep out in every situation in which we find ourselves… not just the ones in which we TRY to act religious!
In these ways, during this season and throughout the year, the token we spend moment by moment… even without trying… will be love. And love shared with others is automatically a loving nod toward God. “Love shall be our token… love to God and others.”
From King’s College
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