The eCrozier

The Divine Decision to take up human flesh in Jesus at Christmas is a sign that God has never given up on the world. It’s a sign that God has graced humanity in the person of Jesus. So, the creation is good, not because of its elemental goodness, but because God has chosen to grace it by being born into it. Such grace isn’t our doing. It’s the Light of God in Jesus shining into creation, a creation that’s bent and disordered by human sin.

Part of our bent, disorderly sinful nature is shown in our fears. When fear grips us we don’t act in love. When fear rules our lives we don’t forgive. When fear becomes our guiding principle our compassion isn’t what people see. When fear rules the day we’re more apt to be violent, like when an animal is cornered. When we become enveloped in our fears, we too can act like cornered animals.

But God has done something for creation in Jesus that puts fear to flight. Jesus is the ultimate word to us that we’ve nothing to fear, even from God. And many people do fear God, but not in the Biblical sense of being humble before God. Many people actually fear that God is out to get them. This is due in some part by our cultural Christmas celebration. You know the song: “You better watch out; you better not cry-why? Because Jesus is coming to town.” If you’ve been good you go to heaven, but if you’ve been bad you go to hell. Of course, that’s horrible theology. It denies the very foundation of God’s grace.

Anyway, a God who wanted us to be afraid of Him never would’ve been born into the world as a helpless child. If God risked becoming a vulnerable baby, then we’re going to be just fine held in the hands of such a God. That’s the liberating good news embedded in the Incarnation. God plops Jesus down in the midst of humanity and says: “Here’s my baby boy. In order to prove how much I love you, I’m willing to let you do what you want with him!” And on Good Friday, we took God up on that offer.

The truth of God’s incarnation in Jesus directs us to look upon one another in a new light. Other human beings don’t simply share our genetic code. They, like us, have had their lives graced by the incarnation of Jesus. Every human being now embodies God’s image graced by Jesus. Thus, we cannot stand idly by while Jesus is homeless. We can’t ignore God while she’s hungry. We can’t pretend to be unconcerned about Jesus when he is ill-clothed. We can’t look away when God is treated with contempt and injustice. We embrace one another now because God has embraced all of us in the birth of Jesus.

Jesus then is the gift from God that can’t be returned even if we have the original sale’s receipt. Jesus might be the only real, true gift we receive this Christmas. Many gifts are in fact a quid pro quo exchange, where we find out if what we gave others is as nice as what they gave us. And if we didn’t reciprocate with a gift of equal or greater value, then we feel guilty. The gift of Jesus, however, can’t be reciprocated in any way. Jesus is the pure, unmerited gift from God. As the angel said to the shepherds, “don’t be afraid.” At Christmas, God thought of everything.

+Scott