145. What was he thinking?

Hebrews 2:17 & 18: For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

We are in the season of advent. That part of me that needs to fuck with everything wants to point out: it is mostly made up.  Christ was not born in December. The entire nonsense of shepherds tending their flock while ass deep in snow did not happen. At least not in snow.

          If you have followed my posts through this blessed season in years previous, you know the narrative so often told of the birth of Christ is wrong.  I believe he was born.  As a Christian, I believe in the death and resurrection, thus he would have had to have been born in order for that to happen.

          This year is a little darker, maybe even sinister, for me. I find myself questioning the birth of Christ. Questioning, not if it happened, but why it happened. What was he thinking? It is one of those times I stand convinced of our collective putridness. To my perspective Jesus coming here would be like going for a swim in a septic tank.

          Did he come as God, with all the fanfare and celebration we would expect? No. There was no privilege claimed. He came as the lowliest of positions; the illegitimate child of a peasant girl from a town that defines insignificance. Later, he and the family became refuges. We all know what we think of refuges.

          He was fully human. There would have been skinned knees, tears, puke and shit. As a teenager did he have a crush? I would think so. His purity came not from abstinence – a concept that is ours, and is disturbing. His purity came from the love he had, and still has, for us. But he must have known desire, and the heart break of rejection. He would have known exhaustion, illness, rejection, and all the foibles of life. Ultimately, he was a despised one. His death on the cross would have been a fitting finish to a life spent being shunned by people.

          His coming here, if we really pay attention, let’s us know how wrong we have things. The Kingdom of Heaven is the opposite of what we assume it to be. It is not about competition, it is not about being at of a pyramid scheme of adoration. Rather, we are called to service. It is recognizing ourselves in each other. It is recognizing Christ in each other.

Mark 9:35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

          God does not simply sit on high demanding love, praise and obedience. Rather he seeks an involvement in our lives, individually and collectively. That is what advent is about. The celebration of which should be everyday not just this time of the year.

          He does that through us. I am not a fan of the salvation from hell doctrine. I believe we are called into a salvation from idiotic living. A life of service to each other. As I learned in 12 step groups, “Let it begin with me.”

Jesus exemplified, letting it begin with me.

1 Corinthians 1:27 -  29 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.