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| Our lives are filled with embarrassing moments, when we do or say something foolish (exposing our ignorance) or something disgraceful (filling us with shame), or when we suffer some indignity (being dishonored). We spend a lot of time and energy managing other people’s perceptions of us. We would like to exude an air of independence, competence, control, intelligence and “cool” but we get embarrassed when our own weaknesses, ignorance, inadequacies, incompetence and total lack of “cool” come to light. In truth, we can keep a lid on our inadequacies for just so long before we are found out. My wife works with preschool children and the other day, a little 3 year old toughy told her, “You’re not the boss of me.” I would have been indignant and thought, “You little peon, I can squish you like a bug.” But my wife was not the least bit threatened by his challenge to her authority. She calmly replied, “Actually, as a matter of fact, I am the boss of you.” And then she proceeded to lovingly make him do what she wanted. My wife could humbly endure the indignity of this little three year old’s challenge because it did not shake her confidence in who she really is! One of the things that Christmas is about is the humility of God. He appeared foolish and suffered endless indignities. He humbled Himself by becoming a man. He began as an infant and grew and developed into manhood. This is the eternal, all powerful, all sufficient God! The Creator became as a creature. The humbling of God is an aspect of His character that theologians rarely consider. I like Ken Gire’s poignant description of the mystery of God becoming an infant in Intimate Moments With the Savior, “The Son of the Most High God umbilically tied to a lowly Jewish girl. Deity nursing from a young maiden’s breast; the divine word reduced to a few unintelligible sounds. Deity straining to focus; the light of the world squinting. Hands that once sculpted mountain ranges cling to his mother’s finger.” In Philippians 2 the Apostle Paul writes, “Jesus emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant and being born in the likeness of men.” This classic passage speaks of the eternal Son of God voluntarily giving up the prerogatives of deity to live as a man and ultimately die for us. He had the same limitations of space and time that we have. He lived in dependence upon God even as we must. Even all His miracles were done through the power of God, not Himself. The One who created the moon and the stars and the universe and every creature became a creature. He suffered the indignity of creaturely limitations. He had itches He could not reach to scratch. There were things too heavy for Him to lift. And this humanity He voluntarily took on was used against Him as he tried to reach out to people. In Nazareth, the place He grew up, they were offended at His teaching and at His authority to cast out demons and heal the sick – “We know this guy; we know His mother and His brothers and sisters; we saw Him grow up; we changed His diapers” (adapted from Mark 6:1-6). At His death the Roman soldiers mocked Him, dressing Him in a purple robe and pressing a crown of thorns into His brow. On the cross He was taunted – “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” Read through the four gospels and keep in the forefront of your mind that this Jesus is “God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God” (from the Nicene Creed). It is hard not to be offended by how He is treated, disrespected, and NOT bowed down to. Every debate takes on the absurd flavor of that three year old strutting, “Hey, you are not the boss of me.” As a matter of fact, Jesus is the boss of us no matter how defiant our posture. Indeed, our destiny is in His hands. In one of the Superman movies with Christopher Reeve there was a scene in a diner after he gave up his super powers because he was in love with Lois Lane. He got beaten up by a bully. The details are fuzzy, but I vividly remember the emotional angst that I, and everyone else watching this, felt as Superman was getting pummeled. This bully had no idea of who he was messing with. We wanted Superman to get his powers back so he could nail this guy – and in the movie when it happened the entire theater erupted in applause as the bully got what was coming to him. Jesus set aside his divine powers when He entered humanity because He loves us. But He did not take them back just in time to avoid death. He purposefully went up on the cross to die for the bullies that put him there. Christmas is the celebration of the incarnation of God, the final and irrefutable proof that He’ll do anything to draw us close to Himself. The hymn has it right: “Amazing love! How can it be, that Thou my God should die for me?” |
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by Dr. J. Patrick Curtis, Senior Pastor |
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