Thursday, December 21, 2006

Vulnerable

Luke 2:15-16 – “When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in a manger.”
Matthew 2:16 – “When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under…”

Have you ever noticed that vulnerability provokes one of two principle reactions?

There is what I like to call the ‘Ooh-ah” reaction. You see it a lot with new babies. Everybody wants to see, to hold, to rock and make funny noises. It is, I think, an innate parental response for most people. But it’s not reserved for newborns. Our hearts go out to anyone who is exposed and defenseless: the poor, the physically and mentally challenged, the victims of war and famine, disease and disaster. Americans are famous for their compassion. And I’m sure the shepherds did their share of oohing and aahing over the baby Jesus, the fact that He was the long-awaited Messiah aside.

Then there is the reaction of the bully. He finds weakness despicable. She looks for ways to take advantage of it. The bully mentality sees an invitation for violence, an outlet for rage, an opportunity to make him- or herself seem powerful in comparison. The difference between the schoolyard bully and Hitler, Stalin, Saddam Hussein and Herod is only a matter of degree.

What strikes me most about these stories of Jesus’ birth, however, is that, knowing how people would react, He nonetheless chose to make Himself vulnerable. In order to give us the choice of faith, He put Himself entirely at our mercy. From the very day of His conception – the shame of pregnancy out of wedlock might well have driven a proper Jewish girl like Mary to suicide –He put His life in our hands.

What does it say about the love of God, that He would enter our world clothed in our flesh and live with the possibility of death at our hands for every day of thirty-some years? And death was what He received from us in the end. His openness and honesty, His holiness and goodness shamed too many of us, we couldn’t stand to see ourselves exposed and made vulnerable too. So, we sent Him to the cross.

Except, of course, that wasn’t the end. It was barely the beginning.

Risen from the grave, and now enthroned beside His Father, Jesus’ life is still in our hands, in a sense. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit He can continue to live and act in this world – through us. What I wonder, what I ask myself every day, is: will I show compassion and let Him live or will I be a bully and condemn Him to the tomb yet again so that I can follow my selfish desires and pretend that I’m in control?

Have a really joyous celebration of Jesus' birthday!

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