What’s the Problem?

It just seems like a lot of fuss.  And work.  And trouble.  No, I’m not talking about all the preparations for Christmas.  I’m talking about that first Christmas.

Surely, God could have found a simpler way to deal with wayward humanity!?  Nine months in the womb, a rather messy and undignified birth process, childhood, growing up, dense disciples,  and ultimately, Calvary.

If we are to understand God’s solution in sending Jesus that first Christmas, we need to understand the nature of the problem being addressed.  At times, the church has focused on our sinfulness and need for forgiveness as the central need.  At other times, the focus has been on defeating death.  Still other times and places, the emphasis has been on getting us to be better people.

These are, indeed, all things needful.  But I don’t believe any of them are the central need.

As I read the Scripture, I believe that the central problem God sought to address is alienation.  We have become separated from God and didn’t know how to get back, or even that we need to.

You can’t fix alienation remotely.  That one is in-person, face to face.  There just is no substitute.  So Jesus came right among us.  All the mess and fuss.  All the dirtiness, hunger, need, etc.  And Jesus built a community.  First a community of disciples, then an extended community of followers, and now the Church across the distance and through the millennia.  There really was no other way.

Think about that.  God was not trying to deal with your bad behavior, or cajole you into being better.  God wants to be WITH YOU.  That is the point of Christmas!  That is why Jesus did it all!

How might you live differently knowing that the God of the universe wants not just for you to behave but to actually be with you?

This column appeared in the December 25, 2022 edition of St. John’s eNews. Click here for the complete issue.

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