salt-shaker.blog

As our thoughts turn to the familiar yet unusual account of the birth of One  known by such titles as the son of man, the son of God, the Jewish Messiah, the king of the Jews, and the Lamb of God, we must admit that no fantasy fiction writer would have imagined this scenario for a king’s entrance into the world He Himself had fashioned. Calculate the number of every grain of sand on every beach on earth, multiply that by a thousand and we have the approximate number of stars. Then consider that this king hung and named every one of them flung across the vast universe. He also knew you – your longings, your habits, your personality, your struggles- and those of every human ever to live. Physics, chemistry, biology, horticulture, mathematics, engineering, astronomy, meteorology, oceanography, psychology, sociology, anthropology, cognitive science, medicine, logic, philosophy – He is the architect Who initiated and integrated the world that these fields merely explore. He orchestrates all creation for flourishing, choreographing it to sustain myriad forms of life with unimaginable diversity and beauty. He inspires art, music, scientific inquiry, philosophy, literature, architecture, and religion. Our surroundings are not cold and mechanical, but overflowing with delightful dynamics, magnificence in every genre. Wonder tantalizes the curious mind. Such an immensely incredible variety is held in life together with an underlying hint of dignity and care. Yet the architect arrives in the womb of a woman – vulnerable, dependent, plain and unremarkable.

We often overlook the engulfing splendor around us to focus on the dark unmerciful side of our existence. This is the tragic aftermath of our step-sibling’s lust for ultimate power to usurp his creator. And we blame God for the evil He did not intend. We were actually co-conspirators, buying in to the devious insinuation that we didn’t need a king, but could determine our own better reality. Enter dystopian art, literature and philosophy: a dark world where every entity competes for dominance and nothing has meaning, celebrating disorder. Chaos again turmoils over the face of the earth waiting for the Spirit to move. Like the Matrix, when we pull back the curtain, that ruined scenario is the hidden reality behind creature autonomy. We were the portal for such destruction when we believed the lie and threw off the constraints of our King for self rule. Because of our designated authority as the Creator’s imagers, our choice poisoned our dominion as well, spreading the separation from Life over nature as well as the race.

Eventual destruction would be our dismal destiny except for that holy night. Jesus, compelled by His love for His ungrateful pitifully arrogant creatures, devised a rescue plan of inconceivable humility. Vulnerability. Selflessness. Suffering. Rejection. Dismissal. Contempt. Pain. This is totally unexpected authority behavior, a foreign concept to  humans who learned in the fall to wield power as a weapon of subjugation, so we are wary. Yet the King of the cosmos, ruler of celestials and dust creatures alike, limited Himself in the frailty of mortal flesh to begin the persuasive story of His liberation. Jesus demonstrated by His ensuing human life that humility is safe – though not necessarily always pleasant – and invited us to trust Him to find true freedom and flourishing. 

God allowed sin’s treachery to play out over time, although it cost not only Him, but His creation as well. He has a lofty vantage point, judging this to be the best path to move unswervingly towards redemption. “All things sad becoming untrue.” I would have come back in vengeance, dragging the father of lies behind me, exposing his vile naked rebellion and its selfish destructive aftermath, calling for allegiance to a better truth undergirded by the humility of otherness. Noncompliance would have propelled me to start over without such impudent creatures. God in His infinite (let that word sink in) wisdom sees something worth all the pain, and is committed to rescuing His wayward children. In yet another unexpected move, His redemption reinstates us to a higher plane as we give Him back His rightful place as our sovereign. When our Brother returns, we will reign with Him over not just a reclaimed earth, but the heavenly realm as well, the angels as our companions. Like the prodigal we bask in undeserved magnanimous dignity, reinstated as heirs.

So it is eminently fitting that both angels and humans celebrate the arrival of the King, initiating the restoration of nobility lost to sin’s seduction. He invites us not just to watch, but to participate! To abandon estrangement for connection. Celestial history books are still being written. Imagine the forthcoming account of Jesus’ triumphant return to depose our mortal enemy and restore Eden. Will our stories be told there? I think so. What’s yours?

Shalom