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After 20 years of marriage I still learn things
about my wife all the time. We share many things in common.
But the more I am open to knowing her more deeply, the more
I learn how very different we are. I love her all the more as
I grow to appreciate how good it is that she is not just like
me. And yet, in my earlier years as a husband, there were (more
than) a few times when I wished she could be more like me. I
confess, I even tried to make her more like me. (Hint to new
spouses considering this strategy: forget about it.) The closer
we get, the more we realize how different we are. And the more
deeply we can love each other.
On the one hand, Jesus is human just like
us. He fully understands what it is to be tempted like us, to
suffer and rejoice like us. Jesus hungered, thirsted, laughed,
cried, bled and died just like us. But on the other hand, Jesus
is wholly other than us. Verse 6 tells us that Jesus was God,
even though he chose not to insist on claiming all the rights
that accompany divinity.
This is the weird and wonderful mystery of
Christmas: Jesus is fully God, yet he came to us in fully human
flesh like ours. On the one hand he could be your big brother.
On the other hand, he is the divine Alien — the Stranger
in our midst.
If Jesus were only a friend who is just like
us, he would not be the awesome God who delivered us from the
powers of hell (Colossians 1:13). If he were only "gentle
Jesus, meek and mild," he could not be the crucified Savior
who died for our sins, who was raised from death to make us
right with God (Romans 4:25).
To deeply love another, you must embrace how
truly other they are from you. You cannot truly love them if
you embrace only their similarities. This is true of Jesus,
your best friends, your spouse, your children, your parents,
your neighbor, and the alien (cf. Hebrews 13:2).
The divine Alien comes to us at Christmas
and raises questions for our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which
has declared a goal of "increased racial ethnic membership."
Can the majority love the minority with all their differences?
If Jesus joined our church today would we expect him to act
just like us?
It is Advent and the Alien is coming, inviting
us to discover love in unprecedented ways.
Joy to the world!
Next month:
The Magi — strangers bearing gifts
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