Many years ago, God decided it was time to come to earth – things were chaotic, the people troubled, mighty empires oppressed the people. God wanted the people to have more clarity concerning God’s wishes for us. God wanted us to be reminded of God’s values and intentions for our actions – for us to know how to do what is right, to care for people who are weak, to be humble, and to treat all people with kindness and respect. God wanted us to know that God loves us and forgives us when we make mistakes.
So, God chose to do the unthinkable – to come to earth and live among us.
God is the most powerful being in the universe...God creates and is creating everything – God makes stars and galaxies and black holes and planets. God crafted atoms and quarks and the most detailed miniscule particles. God has the power to enter the world in a commanding way.
But, instead of coming with force and might, God entered the world like we did – in the form of a vulnerable and fragile baby. God entered the world after a long period of gestation – 40 or so weeks – and God was born to Mary, a young, inexperienced woman. Jesus could have been born in a palace surrounded by midwives and doctors and potentates; instead, Jesus was born in a stable surrounded by sheep and donkeys and goats. Instead of ladies-in-waiting and servants visiting him, Jesus was visited by sleepy shepherds.
God did the unthinkable and came to earth to live among us and to live like us.
God came to earth to experience the fullness of human life – to experience joy, to face sadness, to be a kid with skinned knees, to eat delicious food, to have headaches, to feel tired, to get angry, to feel the sun warm his face. Jesus experienced human life – being born like us, living among us, dying for us. As the words of our statement of faith say, “Jesus has come to us and shared our common lot, conquering sin and death and reconciling the world to himself.” Through his birth, Jesus became one of us; by his death, Jesus saved us from our worst impulses and inclinations. Through his resurrection love, we all receive God’s love and God’s grace.
When Jesus was born in that stable long, long ago, he was completely dependent on the people who surrounded him. When you hold a newborn baby, you can feel and see how fragile they are. Jesus was just as fragile as our own babies are when they are born. His parents had to hold him, nurse him, change his diapers, keep him warm, and guard him while he slept. He was totally sustained by them.
Jesus was born to parents without resources. They themselves were vulnerable – no one cared enough about them to welcome the young father and incredibly pregnant mother into their homes when they arrived in Bethlehem. Only an inn keeper felt enough compassion for them to offer his stable for them to bed down for the night. Mary gave birth in a stable, surrounded by the smells and dirt that comes from animals. Mary endured labor without nurses or supportive family members. Mary and Joseph were young, poor, and exposed.
God loves the people of the world so much that God was willing to come and live among us in Jesus. God loves the people of the world so much God was willing to be completely dependent on weak, vulnerable parents. God loves the people of the world so much God was willing to experience the joys and the pains of life on earth.
God did the unthinkable and came to earth to live among us and to live like us.
As we reflect on the joy of this night, as we remember the blessing that was inherent in the birth of Jesus, we must also remember that there were people who could have helped Jesus’ parents and could have helped baby Jesus and yet they did not. They could have made room in their homes for Mary and Joseph. They could have allowed Mary to lay down in their warm and cozy homes and deliver her baby. They could have wiped her brow and soothed her as she labored. They could have held the baby so Mary and Joseph could rest after the baby was born. But, instead, the birth was heralded by angels and shepherds.
This story is a reminder that God came into the world with a mission to call us to do better....to care for the weak and vulnerable people who show us at our doors and ask for food and shelter...for us to work to make sure that all people have enough to eat, and comfortable places to lay their heads at night, and the medical care and attention they need to live with health and vitality. As the church, as the people of God, we are called to work together to care for the people in our world who are hurting, who are vulnerable, and who are in need. Let us do a better job than the people Mary and Joseph encountered long ago – let us work together to be the people we wish they had met instead.
At the first Christmas, God did the unthinkable and came to earth to live among us and to live like us. Let us work together to welcome the Christ child tonight, and welcome the vulnerable and support them tomorrow and every day moving forward.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment