JESUS INCARNATE

When I was a kid, it made obvious sense that Jesus was born in a stable, or a cave, and that he was laying in a manger when the dirty shepherds came to worship him.  I’ve seen countless masses of people singing about this strange birth situation as if it were the standard Christmas cookie-cutter way for God to come to earth.  Well-dressed people (including me with my itchy red Christmas sweater) singing the traditional songs of this bizarre bit of history that we’ve taken for granted and don’t think twice about.

Three things strike me as dubious.  First, God turned into a baby.  Second, the God-baby was born in the presence of animals and their wretched stench.  Third, the angels announce the whole thing to the poor shepherds before anyone who’s officially religious has a clue. 

God could have stayed in heaven but decided to make himself vulnerable in the form of Jesus, a flesh and blood human on earth.  He could have had things all prepared and glamorous as a king or savior deserves, yet his parents could barely find a private place by the time her labor pains started.  It sounds like it was a messy, unpredictable, and awkward situation to me.  Maybe the shepherds were the only one’s who could handle such a discreditable nativity. 

But this is just the beginning.  From this ignoble entry to earth, it was all down hill till he was tortured and killed for his radical yet servant-like way of life.  He was popular, but the people with power often despised him.  He was permitted at the center of religious society, but he went proactively to the margins of society where he spent time with corrupt government workers who betrayed their own people.   He ate and drank with untouchable people of disease and shame.  He talked with people he wasn’t supposed to talk with, like prostitutes and people who were blatantly living lives of sin.  Instead of condemning one woman who was condemned for sexual promiscuity, he advocated for her and stood with her in the face of death. 

The Jesus who came as a baby in a stable came to serve, associate with, eat with, advocate for, heal, and affirm those who were outcastes without hope.  He affirmed them by taking time for them, risking his entire reputation, putting people in need ahead of himself and what others may have thought.  Showing us how to live, he made it clear that we were his priority.  When he died, he showed us how to give everything for others.  When he conquered death, he proved he was God and that any life of ridicule or death of torture was worth it because it actually produces life that is actually real and lasting.

This Christmas, my friends, I’m thankful for a God who has shown us how to intentionally journey with those in need and how to serve others no matter what the cost.  His living Spirit empowers us if we believe, and whatever we do as we follow him, it will be a continuation of what Jesus started and will result in life abundant. 

Thank you, Jesus, for showing us humility, radical love, and a generous grace that took your life but produced much more.  Please give us your Spirit so we can follow your example of bringing authentic life.