Jesus said life’s purpose is fulfilled in two ways: loving God and loving others. But how do we do this-as individuals and as congregations? My previous post in this series explored the varied ways scholars and saints have answered that question. And I highlighted one answer above all: The Jesus Story. The multiple chapters of manger/incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, Pentecost and Parousia provide guidance for growing in love for God and others.
Consider the manger and the incarnational ministry it launched.
We grow in our love for God as we embrace these realities of the manger:
- Jesus closes the distance to us because of a desire to be with us. The incarnation revealed an attitude (Jesus desired to be with us) and an action (he closed the distance to us). Jesus crossed moral chasms, cultural canyons, and relational craters to be with us. He didn’t remain safe behind the heavenly walls. He moved into our neighborhood. He drew near. The more we embrace this reality, the more we as individuals/congregations grow in our love of God.
- Jesus serves and sympathizes with the lowest. In his incarnation, Jesus experienced the lowest of our lows. He knew temptation, fatigue, hunger, betrayal, disappointment, and even spiritual pits. Thus, he sympathizes with us in our lowest moments. He walked in our shoes. In addition, he served the lowest of the low. He helped children, women, tax collectors, the poor, lepers, the lame and hosts of others on the margins of life. He walked beside those whom others had forgotten. The more we embrace this reality, the more we as individuals/ congregations grow in our love of God.
- Jesus becomes good news through good words and good works. In his incarnation, Jesus became the good news so desperately needed through his teaching ministry (good words) and healing ministry (good works). He did not emphasize one over the other. He brought both to a broken world. For example, in Matt. 5-7 Jesus brought the good words of his Sermon on the Mount-a life-changing teaching. He followed this in Matt. 8-9 with healing and help. As we embrace his good words to us and his good works for us, we grow in our love of God.
- Jesus brings life before death not just life after death. Had Jesus only been interested in saving our souls and getting us to heaven, there would have been no manger. Jesus could have just arrived on the scene as an adult, walked to Jerusalem, and embraced the cross. Instead he spent three decades being present with people. He was just as interested in our here and now as he was our hereafter. We grow in our love of God as we embrace this reality.
- Jesus’ ministry flows from his intimacy. Again and again, Jesus spent time alone in desolate places, connecting and communicating with his Father. His ministry to others flowed from his intimacy with the Father. As we meditate on the union between Father and Son, we grow in our love for God.
We grow in our love for others as we embrace these ramifications of the manger:
- We close the distance to others because of a desire to be with others. Often we as individuals or congregations do not have the desire to be with those of a different faith or no faith. We communicate that we wish to be separate from them. Yet the manger compels us to cultivate a desire for relationship with those so different from us. And, it compels us to close the distance to them. Further, even when we have the desire to be with others, we don’t always take the steps required to close the distance to them. As congregations, we maintain rigid traditions based more in church culture than in Scripture and these end up maintaining an unnecessary distance between us and those we hope to reach. The manger compels us to erase as many of these gaps as possible related to culture/preferences. And, as individuals we remain in our cliques and silos, rarely even connecting superficially with those around us. The manger compels us to invest time in forming relationships with neighbors and others.
- We serve and sympathize with the lowest. As individuals and congregations, we seek to walk in the shoes of others in their lowest points. And we seek to walk beside those whom others have forgotten. We sympathize with and serve those on the margins of life and those in the pits of despair.
- We become good news through good words and good works. There is a tendency for us as individuals or congregations to focus almost exclusively on one or the other. We either focus on bringing good words to the world (preaching, teaching, writing). Or we focus on bringing good works to the world (serving the poor, digging water wells, adopting orphans). The manger, however, compels us to bring both. We are to be known for both our good works and our good words.
- We bring life before death not just after death. Christianity in the Western world has gained a reputation for focusing almost solely on life after death. Preaching has emphasized heaven or hellfire. Ministries have focused on saving souls. The manger, however, calls us to also focus on the here-and-now of the people and communities around us. We are to be agents through which the kingdom breaks into the present.
- Our ministry flows from our intimacy. The manger calls us to abandon all perceived conflicts between contemplation and compassion, between inaction and action, between meditation and ministry. One flows from the other. Our Western culture prizes action and results over prayer and reflection. Yet if we wish to love others as Jesus did, we must renew our conviction that ministry to others flows from our intimacy with the Father.
What would you add to these two lists regarding the manger?
