Christmas Vulnerability
You can feel it in the air when you choose a gift for someone after thoughtfully searching and choosing, as you wrap it carefully, and then finally present it to that person. You watch them open it - perhaps they rip into it eagerly or tenderly and slowly pull apart the tape and open the paper and then the box - and you can feel your heart catching in your throat as you wonder, “Will they like it? Did I make a good choice?” You scan the person’s facial expression and try to see their eyes as they become aware of what you hoped would make them feel loved and understood. So much rests on that instant when you look for the reaction that you wanted.
God opens Himself up to vulnerability as well in the gift He gave us at the first Christmas. All along, ever since His gentle hands formed Adam from the dust, He has chosen the path of vulnerability. He has not created us as robots that automatically love Him or mindlessly follow Him. Instead, He gave us free will: the ability to decide whether or not to love our Creator. Along with that comes the capability of breaking His heart. Mere mortals can turn their hearts and faces away from the King of the universe simply because love can only be genuine love if it’s given freely.
In that manger in Bethlehem on that starry night, the tiny, helpless baby dependent upon a woman’s nourishment and human hands to care for Him, we again see that vulnerability. Can you picture those tiny rosebud lips, the little stub of a nose, the quiet sucking and cooing, and the sweet newborn smell emanating from the fuzzy little head that’s not yet fully formed? Those images, those sounds, and that smell tug at our heartstrings as our senses open to the realization of how fragile this brand new life is. This tiny promise wrapped up in swaddling clothes with such a humble beginning holds our attention not because it was big and bold and painted with bold strokes but precisely because of the contrary.
What should be our response to the Lord of all creation opening Himself to this vulnerability? So many of the assumptions and understandings about God and His character paint Him as strong: powerful, almighty, King, Lord, a mighty warrior, just to name a few. And as we reflect on how the Jewish people saw their expectations of their coming Messiah: someone who would overthrow Caesar and rule as king, we find that the moment of the incarnation startles and surprises us sometimes. Gentle, meek, and mild feel like astonishing adjectives to describe Yahweh.
But what a precious picture of a side of God’s love and personality we find squinting back at us from the manger when we bow our heads to look inside this humble feeding trough. Not only can we ponder in our hearts as Mary did the exquisite sweetness of a loving, compassionate God who gave up everything for us in that choice to experience our dusty, sweaty, sometimes uncomfortable existence of humanity, but we can also treasure what a lesson for us to learn! Imago dei means we are created in God’s image, and if Jesus Himself is willing to be born in a stable and then later in His life to get down on His knees and wash His disciples’ feet, surely we as followers of Christ need to demonstrate that same quality of being willing to serve others. Those adjectives also pop up in the prophecies and accounts of Jesus as a servant, and this vulnerability in considering others better than ourselves and not thinking too highly of ourselves is literally a God-given directive.
This Christmas when you catch a glimpse of a manger scene, remind yourself of the ironic power of sacrifice. Try to reflect a bit of Jesus in your own daily choices as you thank God for allowing us to have a relationship with Him that hinges on His gift: a member of the Holy Trinity shrugs off His royal robes, takes off His crown, and chooses instead to go through life being surrounded by the prickly hay of humanity instead. This incarnation truly exemplifies to the extreme the essence of what it means to be vulnerable, and that helpless infant reminds us that we too can glorify our Creator by making ourselves less (in our case - less selfish, less proud, less greedy, less important). Embrace His example and imitate it however you can!
