Becoming Incarnational

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.- John 1:14 (NRSV)

Throughout this Advent Season, you and I have explored through my articles on the glory of the incarnation. I find it a great sense of divine grace sometimes how God interjects the incarnation in my life and the lives of those around me. Such a situation of incarnational grace occurred one night this week in a way and place I would have never expected.

            When you’re in a vocational ministry, whenever you walk into a hospital you have barriers, boundaries and rules for yourself to keep the channels of ministry where they need to be, and to remain healthy spiritually and as a person. However God often has a different conception of boundaries than we have.

            I walked into the emergency room with a dear friend and suddenly it hit me as we were sitting in a hospital room. Our job as people of faith isn’t to try and explain why bad things happen to good people with words such as, “it’s God’s will” or “God is doing this to prove something to you.” Or my personal favorite in the wake of all that has happened in the past week, “if you would have been right with God this wouldn’t have happened.” None of these statements are close to the heart of God. My conception of God isn’t that God is judge, jury and executioner, sending gunmen to Connecticut because we took prayer out of schools. My conception of God is more like my parents, who sigh at the mess I’ve made and help me pick it up.

            Our calling is to cling to the incarnation, not only cling but also become the presence of Christ on this planet. We are called to be lovers bold in the broken places as one person puts it. People in our community don’t need lectures on the advantages or disadvantages of gun control (though I remind you Isaiah prays and hopes for a day when we will rid the word of swords and spears, and frankly guns for that matter) What people need is a greater understanding of that grace that was at work before they even realized grace was there.

            My friend in the hospital didn’t need a lecture; she didn’t need theological half-truths or superficial answers. My friend didn’t need a prayer said with words, what she needed a prayer of action. She needed someone to make her laugh, to hold her hand, to show my love in the most incarnate way and assure her while I could never understand what she was going through, I would be present with her.

            That’s the beauty of the incarnation, that’s what we need to articulate as a community. The Word became flesh. Today, in the 21^st century we are that flesh. We are the flesh and bone through which God speaks, acts, and redeems.  My hope for you is that the Word truly is flesh for you this season. I hope and pray that you have a blessed Christmas with friends and family gathered near, and you may experience the incarnation in your own life. Merry Christmas.