Short Prayers? What about Incarnation? Why do we celebrate Christmas?
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. Philippians 2:5-7
Our son Paul was born on the south side of Chicago. Our daughter Kathy Kim was born in South Korea. They became brother and sister through adoption.
One day they returned from nursery school in a small South Carolina town, Newberry. Paul was age four. Kathy Kim three. His eyes were pink and puffy. He had obviously been crying. Her face registered mild but understanding concern. “What wrong?” we asked.
“The kids were making fun of Kathy,” Paul whimpered. “They went around saying ‘she’s Chinese’. Well, if she’s Chinese, then I’m Chinese too! A brief pause followed, “Mom,” he went on, “what’s ‘Chinese’ mean?”
Prejudice and Loyalty
Kids pick on one another. They discriminate, tease, and torture. The kind of teasing they engaged in that day at the nursery school sows the seeds of what in later life could become ethnocentrism if not outright racial prejudice.
Systematic theologians know this prejudice as sin. But sin finds itself in dialectical engagement with grace. Really? Yes. Through incarnation that is both human and divine. (Photo of Peters family circa 1990)
Kids may also show a spontaneous sense of loyalty and love. Paul was going to stick by his sister. He identified with her. Whatever blemish was being attributed to her he was going to take unto himself. If she were to be a victim, he would be a victim as well.
God identifies with us in the Incarnation
It is this latter quality which characterizes our God. If we are going to be victims, so is God. Though we may speak of God as our heavenly king, this is not a ruthless monarch who sits nonchalantly upon his celestial throne while his subjects squabble and slay one another in a far off terrestrial land. This is a king who leaves his throne and the luxury of his court to enter the land of the peasants, to become a servant to the peasants. Shedding majesty, he becomes humble. Shedding power, he becomes weak. Shedding security, he becomes subject to threats of abuse and suffering. In the incarnation, God identifies with us.
The Christmas story reminds us that this is is the kind of a God we have. In those moments when we feel victimized, we need to remember that we are not alone. And more. When we see others around us being victimized, let us ask if it would help for us to identify with them. The poor and the oppressed and the discriminated against are helped if they feel a sense of solidarity, if they know that around the world other people are identifying with their plight and their cause. This is incarnation in action.
SHORT PRAYER
God of the incarnation, you have sacrificed to identify yourself with us; so, inspire us to identify with those victims in our world who need a sense of solidarity.
Amen.
Ted Peters is a Lutheran pastor and emeritus seminary professor. He is author of Short Prayers and The Cosmic Self. His one volume systematic theology is now in its 3rd edition, God—The World’s Future (Fortress 2015). He has undertaken a thorough examination of the sin-and-grace dialectic in two works, Sin: Radical Evil in Soul and Society (Eerdmans 1994) and Sin Boldly! (Fortress 2015). Watch for his forthcoming, The Voice of Public Christian Theology (ATF 2022). See his website: TedsTimelyTake.com.
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