We affirm a belief in the Son, Jesus
Christ. We say that God took on human form, came and lived among us, suffered
the same trials that we suffered, experienced the same feelings that we
experienced. Jesus was purely human and purely divine. Jesus was not God. Jesus
was God incarnate. There is a difference. Jesus never drew attention to himself
but always pointed to God.
Soren Kierkegaard, the great Danish
theologian of another century tells a story of a prince who wanted to find a
maiden suitable to be his queen. One day while running an errand in the local
village for his father he passed through a poor section. As he glanced out the
windows of the carriage, his eyes fell upon a beautiful peasant maiden. During
the ensuing days he often passed by the young lady and soon fell in love. But
he had a problem. How would he seek her hand?
He could order her to marry him. But
even a prince wants his bride to marry him freely and voluntarily, and not
through coercion. He could put on his most splendid uniform and drive up to her
front door in a carriage drawn by six horses. But if he did this, he would
never be certain that the maiden loved him or was simply overwhelmed with all
the splendors. The prince came up with another solution. He would give up his
kingly robe. He moved, into the village, entering not with a crown but in the
garb of a peasant. He lived among the people, shared their interests and
concerns, and talked their language. In time, the maiden grew to love him for
who he was and because he had first loved her.
This very simple, almost childlike
story, written by one of the most brilliant minds of our time explains what we
Christians mean by the incarnation. God came and lived among us. I am glad that
this happened for two reasons: 1) It shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that God
is with us, that God is on our side, and that God loves us.
2) It gives us a
firsthand view of what the mind of God is all about. When people ask what God
is like, we as Christians point to the person of Jesus Christ. God himself is
incomprehensible. But in Jesus Christ we get a glimpse of God’s glory. In the
person of Jesus, we are told that God, that mysterious substance that created
the stars and the universe, that God is willing to go all the way, even to a
cross, so that a single person may be redeemed. That's what God is like.
First, may we, as father’s, be like
God, accepting and loving our children for who they are. Secondly may we be
willing to sacrifice our selfishness for our children. May we be willing to
learn how to be loving, accepting and selfless as Jesus showed us who God is in
this world. If we can be loving, accepting, and selfless fathers for our
children, we will teach our children how to face and overcome a selfish world.
Something to think about and do . .
.
Love you all and happy Pentecost!