by Matt Moser (from WowGod.org)

December 25, 2006

In the Christian circles I travel in, a common sentiment is: “I will become even more undignified than this!” This statement is used in the context of praise, saying that the person praising God will offer any type of praise God demands, even if the world might consider it “undignified”. I suppose a few suitable examples of undignified worship are the act of speaking in tongues, “eating Christ” in communion, and even praying to an invisible being. Can you imagine a purely secular person (if there is such a thing) encountering a Christian speaking in tongues, or talking to an invisible God, or “eating Christ”? I’m sure the secular person would think the Christian is off his or her rocker! And I’m sure there are also quite a few Christians who would agree with them! I think that, in Christian circles, however, those things that the world would view as “undignified” have become “dignified.” The world may think waving flags is strange, but most of us in church are used to it. It has become dignified, acceptable, and encouraged. We aren’t scandalized by the “undignified” intimacy of charismatic worship anymore.

But there is another form of undignified intimacy that we in the church have dignified: the incarnation of our Lord, Jesus. (Come on, it’s Christmas time… you had to see that one coming!) The church has been celebrating Christ’s incarnation for nearly 2,000 years. And I think that it has become a little bit too routine of a thing: “Mmm’kay, it’s December 1st, so we need to start singing Christmas songs and have the kids do some sort of play or something.” Many of us, you know who you are, spent the Christmas season counting down the days until it is over. We’ve lost the sense of the intimacy of Christmas.

We lose our sense of awe at Christmas when the incarnation of our Lord becomes a dignified thing rather than the profane scandal that it truly was and is. I remember being in Mrs. Harper’s music class in 5th grade. It was Christmas time and my class was learning some Christmas songs to sing in the annual Christmas program. We had just finished singing “Hark! The herald angels sing” when I raised my hand and asked a question. I didn’t understand the line, “Hail the incarnate deity.” I didn’t know what the word “incarnate” meant, so I asked. And my teacher, to her credit, very cheerfully indulged me in a brief explanation of the Christian belief that the man, Jesus, was (and is!) God the Son in human form. Of course, to my 5th grade mind, raised on faerie tales, this made complete sense and I accepted it without hesitation. God became a human. Easy enough. No problem.

Then I went to college and started studying the ancient church, in particular their creeds and liturgies (by the way, the church was extremely liturgical from the very beginning!). I was amazed, when I read the Nicene Creed, at the scandal of Jesus’ incarnation. There is one line in the creed that declares who Jesus is in his divinity with startling words: God from God, light from light, True God from True God. Whoa. It hit me like a ton of bricks: God: the infinite, the almighty, the unlimited, the omnipresent creator of the entire universe, became a human baby who needed to be nursed at Mary’s breast, who couldn’t lift his own head, and who needed to have his diaper changed. Do you realize how scandalous this idea is? Let me put it starkly for you (please indulge me): the almighty God pooped his pants sometimes.

I’m sure that the previous statement seemed very inappropriate and profane to some you. It does to me too. I was practically cringing as I wrote it. It seems so inappropriate to be thinking, let alone writing, about God in such a way. But that is EXACTLY the point! There is no more scandalous, inappropriate or profane idea in the world than the idea that the infinite God became a human baby.

Did you know that Islam holds Jesus in high regard? Did you know that Islam accepts Jesus as a mighty prophet, the son of God, the messiah, and the word of God? But Islam will not — cannot! — accept the idea that Jesus was the incarnation of God. Such an idea is unworthy of God. I’m sure Jews would agree with the Muslims at this point: to say that God became a man is to utter one of the most profane, blasphemous things imaginable.

Traditional Christianity teaches that God the Son took on the fullness of humanity. The fullness of humanity. That means all of the experiences, all of the limitations, all of the emotions, and all the physicality of human existence. Poopy diapers, sore knees, loneliness, hunger, thirst, confusion, family problems (imagine being God and still having your family think you were going crazy!), desire, a dry throat, a cracking voice, bad dreams, vomiting. Ew. Can you imagine how utterly humiliating it could have been for the infinite God the Son to accept the call of incarnation? Christmas is a scandal: profane, blasphemous, and preposterous…

…And unbelievably glorious! Christianity teaches that it was for us that God underwent this humiliating descent into humanity. God the Son exchanged eternal majesty, infinite glory, and limitless power for a manger and a dirty diaper so that he might come and dwell among us. There is no more profane intimacy than this.

God did not become incarnate in Jesus for kicks or for his own amusement. He came in order to be present among us and to draw us out of sin so that we might gain eternal intimacy with the Father. God descended into the profanity of human nature in order to draw human nature into utmost intimacy. Whew. It blows my mind.

So… this Christmas season I encourage you to meditate on the scandal of Christ’s incarnation and the undignified actions that God the Son did in order to be our Messiah and our Lord, Jesus the Christ.

Oh, and one more thing, this Christmas, when you sing “Joy to the World” sing it joyfully! The profane intimacy of the Incarnation is indeed the greatest joy the world has ever known! It was the profane intimacy of the manger that the herald angels sang about and, I’m sure, they are still singing about it with songs that continuously ringing throughout heaven and earth.

Merry Christmas!

Hark the herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled”

Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
“Christ is born in Bethlehem”

Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”
Christ by highest heav’n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a Virgin’s womb

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with man to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris’n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth

Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”