Christmas Eve we had our first ever Christmas Eve Candlelight Service. I honestly didn't expect more than 40-50 people to show up. I was blown away when we ran out of chairs and had people standing in the back. It was a good night.
The short talk I gave centered around the theology of an embrace. Here are a few thoughts from that message.
Seeing Santa in the mall reminds me of Mark 10 where the children are scrambling to sit around Jesus to receive a blessing. Mark 10:16 says that Jesus opened his arms and blessed the children. There is something spiritual about a hug. Something almost mystical.
Miroslav Volf (professor of theology at Yale Divinity School) says this:
“An embrace involves always a double movement of opening and closing. I open my arms to create space in myself for the other. The open arms are a sign of discontent at being myself only and of desire to include the other. They are an invitation to the others to come in and feel at home with me, to belong to me. In an embrace I also close my arms around the others - not tightly, so as to crush and assimilate them forcefully into myself, for that would not be an embrace but a concealed power-act of exclusion; but gently, so as to tell them that I do not want to be without them in their otherness. I want them to remain independent and true to their genuine selves, to maintain their identity and as such become part of me so that they can enrich me with what they have and I do not.”
The first Christmas was an example of God opening His arms to embrace us. It was (and is) and invitation to come in and feel at home with Him and belong to Him. Sending His son as a baby, vulnerable and weak, demonstrated God's invitation rather than an act of power. God desires to give us meaning and significance in Him. He wants us to find our true self which can only be found within the context of a relationship with Him.
The baby in the manger is His invitation to this relationship. It is God's open arms, welcoming us into Himself, creating space for us to be us within Him.
As you think about this past week and the week to come, think about all the hugs you gave and received. Think about what they meant (and didn't mean). Think about how you welcomed others into yourself and vice versa. Think about how every hug you give is a picture of Christ - an open invitation to another to find space within you to be loved and accepted.
Let's all be a little more willing to hug this next year - to invite others into a safe place where they can be themselves and find meaning and significance.
Under the Mercy,
Jason
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