Jesus became one of us

Jesus became one of us… (Hebrews 2:14)

Every year in our worship we follow a cycle of seasons. Each tells part of the story of faith. Advent –the coming of Jesus is announced just as God has promised. Christmas and Epiphany – he is born. Lent – he prepares for his death. Easter – he dies and rises again. Pentecost – the Father sends the Holy Spirit so believers have power to tell people about Jesus. After Pentecost – the message of salvation spreads all over the world.

The unique hope of Christianity, and its greatest scandal, is that God, in Jesus, became one of us. This changes everything.

These seasons tell God’s story, the Good News. God did it once-and-for-all, and it never has to be repeated, except in the telling and retelling. It shapes our lives. It is the story of our reconciliation – with God and with each other. The events tell us who God is and who we are. Its message strengthens us when we are weak, gives us hope when we are troubled, and calls us back home when we wander. By knowing this story well we grow in trusting God and his immeasurable love, grace, and compassion.

It is, of course, the story of the Bible, the story of Jesus. If we ask about God and his will, we know we will always find the answer Jesus. He is the entry point, the doorway. We can’t know anything about God without knowing him. He is the way, the truth and the life. It’s vital that we know him, and learn his story well.

Christian faith is based on the belief that God became human, one of us. As Jesus, he lived and died as one of us, without claiming rank or privilege. He did everything right. He treated everyone with love, justice, and compassion. The unique hope of Christianity, and its greatest scandal, is that God, in Jesus, became one of us. This changes everything. No longer are we humans desperately searching for God, but God comes to meet us right where we are. He finds us through what he has done for us in Jesus, and through the Spirit, who brings Jesus to us.

The seasons of the church year, which have been part of our practice for generations, tell us Jesus story so we will remember it and know it, year in and year out. If we forget God’s story we will also forget our faith and the reason for our hope. Jesus is among us. He is all that stands between us and death and everything that stultifies or terrifies us. In our apathy, or in our worst nightmares, we know that Jesus is here to stand beside us, comfort us, protect us and save us.

When The Lutheran reaches your coffee table, it will be around the beginning of the season of Lent. This is the season of preparing for Easter, the most important and major festival of the Christian faith. His death and resurrection is the centrepiece, the moment when all of heaven and earth falls away and God is revealed in all his glory.

God strengthen you as you continue to share God’s story, the story of Jesus, and as you go out from your churches and worship services in love, ready to tell of him, sharing his story with the whole world.