Along with the majority of Christians I believe that God
became human to save us. God saved us by
becoming like us — the all-powerful Word of God, the Word that created the
universe and us within it, took on human nature so that we humans might
participate in God’s nature (2 Peter 1:4). Or to quote one of the theologians
of the Early Church, “God became man so that man might become god.”
In
other words, our salvation isn’t simply found in the several hours of Jesus
dying on the cross. Rather, our salvation is found in the entire event of the
Incarnation — from the angel Gabriel’s annunciation to the young Mary, through Jesus’
entire life, his crucifixion, resurrection, and even beyond.
In
all of these events, we discover the amazing reality of “God with us”
(Immanuel). That is our salvation. Our salvation is that we have the chance to
be communion with God, who has taken on our nature and dwells with us. We
participate in God and God in us. And in that sharing of lives, we are being
transformed into the likeness of Christ, who is not only the very image of God,
but also the very image of humanity. Christ embodies the kind of humanity into
which we are being saved. Through Jesus, God is recreating and renewing his
image within us, within humanity.
While
that is all certainly true, those are rather big words and concepts.
Incarnation. Salvation. Redemption.
Renewal. They are just as big as the words for the 4 candles of Advent –
Peace, Hope, Joy, and Love.
Let’s
take all of this down a few notches.
Would you agree with me that our world is a mess. The world that we
created and which fruits we reap and which pleasures we enjoy? So we are not just passive bystanders of a
mess that others create, but we are participants and perpetrators of the
mess. It won’t help to do what we so
often do when something went wrong – point the finger onto someone else. It wasn’t me. She made me do it. That’s what Adam
did in the Garden of Eden. That’s what
we so when things go wrong.
In
reality, though. We are not innocent. We
cheat, we lie, we take advantage of others. We use others to our own benefit.
We put on a false façade. A nice appearance. Behind that façade, though, we
often are not so nice.
Christmas
is a reminder that we are created for something better. We are created in God’s
image and God wants us to act in ways that honor the divine origin within each
other.
Those
are really big words again. Big words
and big steps. Let’s break this down
into some really small baby steps.
Let’s
take for example all the things that make up Christmas for us.
For our purposes here, let’s just cut this list down to a few essentials. While that’s a lot less, it certainly is still a lot.
Do you think that these capture the essence of Jesus’ life? Hmm. Now, what if we were to change the items a bit.
I do think that if we
begin with baby steps, if we begin with admitting the mess in our own lives and
ask for forgiveness, God’s forgiveness, and if we focus our actions just a bit
more onto the needs of others rather than our own needs, we WILL capture more
of the meaning of Christ’s birth, than if we were to stick to our original
Christmas to-do-list.
I encourage each and
every one of you to pick a few items from this list and begin God’s love, God’s
generosity, God’s compassion, and God’s mercy in the here and now. This Christmas and throughout the year.
And may the peace that is
beyond all our understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ.
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
No comments:
Post a Comment