“Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” I John 2:6
Merry Christmas everyone! This is such a great time of year. I love the music (judge me if you must), I love the food, and I even love the gift giving and receiving (again, judge me if you want). Some of my favorite memories in life have occurred during the Christmas season, including my discovery of the real Jesus. Probably the most important part of this season that has emerged for me however is on how the concept of the incarnation has contoured my idea of how mission works best.
A few nights ago at our home community (dinner group), a dear friend of mine read a portion from Madeleine L’Engle’s elegant little book entitled Bright Evening Star. In the excerpt she summarizes Oscar Wilde’s, The Happy Prince.
"In the story, in the village square, there is a magnificent statue of a prince encrusted with gold and jewels, with sapphires for his eyes, and a ruby in his sword. He is covered with gold leaf and brilliant stones. Little by little, as needs arise, he gives himself away, a sapphire to a struggling student, the ruby to help a poor man buy bread for his family, his golden cloak to a freezing girl. Little by little he gives all of himself away, his gold, his jewels, his sapphire eyes. Eventually there is nothing left of him but a lump of lead, which the village authorities see and throw on the dump heap. This is God, completely giving away power and glory for the needs of us lost and hungry sheep. This is Jesus, faithfully fulfilling God's love in his life and death and resurrection. With all of our human struggling for power we cannot heal ourselves, so God, with wondrous love, gives away himself so that we may be healed. We cannot do it ourselves. God does it for us…”
When my friend was done reading I was struck with the power of the story and of Christ’s incarnation. My mind immediately raced to Philippians 2 where Paul writes about Jesus’ self-emptying, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!”
When God took on flesh, our Christmas narrative, the story really was one of self-giving. Having everything and exchanging it…even ultimately death. I believe it was Calvin who coined the phrase “murifica communtatio!” It is translated, “The wonderful exchange.” The applicational strength of the text is, however, found in v. 5 where the great apostle preempts the Christological song with the statement, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus…” There is the crux! For those of us seeking to live out this missional life, becoming highly acquainted with Christ’s incarnation must inform our idea of mission. Having the same mind or attitude of Jesus is our charge. It is in giving our life away…just like the picture of the “statued Prince!” To those who are without food, we attempt to offer our humble allotment to allay the gnawing need. To those who are sick, we extend a sensitive arm of embrace for comfort. For those who are suffering oppression, we use our prophetic voice to speak out for them regardless if we consider the issue "our" battle. For all without hope in the world, we unpretentiously offer Jesus.
We at Christian Associates, the organization I help lead have committed ourselves to church planting, but not to just any church planting. We hope to start Christ communities throughout the world that “flesh out” the magnificent story of Jesus in real and tangible ways. I love the line in Wilde’s story: “Little by little he gives all of himself away.” That is what Jesus did and we are to follow in his way.
Merry Christmas y'all!