The Incarnation: "the more unbelievers pour scorn on Him, so much the more does He make His Godhead evident."

St. Athanasius in his On the Incarnation of the Word of God begins with a bang. It is through rejection and scorn that Jesus makes God evident. It is through suffering and being ignored that, through the Cross, Jesus reveals himself to those with eyes to see ... 

Now, Macarius, true lover of Christ, we must take a step further in the faith of our holy religion, and consider also the Word's becoming Man and His divine Appearing in our midst. That mystery the Jews traduce, the Greeks deride, but we adore; and your own love and devotion to the Word also will be the greater, because in His Manhood He seems so little worth. For it is a fact that the more unbelievers pour scorn on Him, so much the more does He make His Godhead evident. The things which they, as men, rule out as impossible, He plainly shows to be possible; that which they deride as unfitting, His goodness makes most fit; and things which these wiseacres laugh at as "human" He by His inherent might declares divine. Thus by what seems His utter poverty and weakness on the cross He overturns the pomp and parade of idols, and quietly and hiddenly wins over the mockers and unbelievers to recognize Him as God

"The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation." - Colossians 1:15.

If you want to see God, look to Jesus's humility. Look to his birth in a manger attended to by lowly shepherds. Look to his rejection by men. Look to the Cross and his humiliation. It is through looking at Jesus in all of his punishment, rejection, and death that we see the love of God stooping down to rescue sinners. God reveals himself through Jesus and all of his story, especially through the humble and hidden things. 

Advent and Christmas is a time to see that most clearly, I think. 

Advent: Hope That Does Not Disappoint, Perfect Love that Casts Out Fear

"... and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our

hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us." - Romans 5:5

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love." - 1 John 4:18

The Bible, like life, is full of dualing images. Life and Death, Sickness and Healing, Darkness and Light. I've kind of camped out in Isaiah 9 so far in Advent as I've considered the prophet's promise that those who were walking in darkness and shame will see a great light emerge from the very region that was run over by foreign invaders. In Isaiah 8 we see a warning that the King of Assyria is coming from the north and darkness and gloom that will cover the land around the Sea of Galilee. That happened as the northern tribes of Israel were soon taken off into exile. But, right in the midst of this warning, a promise is given that in the very place of shame and loss, a Light would emerge. Matthew explains that the light that Isaiah was talking about was Jesus, who would show up as the Messiah in lands to the north that were far away from the center of religious life in Israel. It was from the backwater that Jesus's light would break into the darkness. 

Light breaking into darkness. Last Sunday, we talked about Advent Hope, the eager expectation and confidence in God that He is at work making all things new through Jesus. This week, we'll talk about Advent Love, the breaking in of the love of God for the world through the gift of God, Jesus. But, it was into darkness, pain, loss, misery, and death that Jesus broke in. The contrast is real and its pervasive. 

Romans 5:5 tells us that the hope that we have in Jesus will not disappoint us. Which, initially gets me thinking about the kinds of hope that DO disappoint. We can place hope in all kinds of things: our own strength, resources, wealth, health, power. We can place our hope in other people, our jobs, families, spouses, institutions, and our church. We are chronic hope seekers, searching for something - someone to believe in that will not let us down. The story of the West over the past 50-60 years has been one of growing disillusionment with government, institutions, leaders, religion, and the idea that anyone can even know what real truth actually is. We carry around in us this lack of hope because our hopes have been dashed so many times. Or, we keep looking for new things and people to place our hope in, forever optimistic that the next thing is the real thing that will give meaning to our lives and get us past the next set of challenges.

But, the hope that God gives us isn't like this. It doesn't disappoint us. It doesn't fail. Why? Because God has poured out his love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. The love of God poured out to us by the Spirit keeps reviving our hearts. God has come for us in the birth of Jesus - a cosmic invasion of Divine Love that is sacrificial and different from any kind of love we've ever experienced before. God's love doesn't disappoint us, but rather, it stirs up hope in God and the life that God has for us. Love never fails.

The love of God is so perfect that it doesn't just give us un-disappointed hope, but it also casts out fear. There is no room for a life of fear when we live in the love of God. The line from Yoda in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace is a riff on Buddhist thought, but it has some value. Yoda said to young Anakin, "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering." This is true, but the remedy for this isn't to empty ourselves of fear or anger, but rather, to be filled with the love of God that casts out fear. 

The next part of Romans 5:5 says, that the love of God has been poured out in our hearts. From a place of hope in Jesus, God fills our hearts with his love by the Holy Spirit. God's perfect love casts out fear and replaces it with God accepting us in the Beloved. We are made complete and whole in God alone. 

Instead of trying to empty ourselves of negativity and just "think positively," God fills us with his love and with himself. The Incarnation of the Word of God found in Jesus putting on flesh and making his dwelling among us enables us to hope in God and then receive his love. We don't have to look to disappointing hopes and false loves that can never bear the weight that we place on them for hope and satisfaction. We can have the real thing  we need that never disappoints us in the love of Jesus. 

The opposite of fear isn't just courage. It's love. God's love for us. When we are loved by God, we experience hope in God, which then fills us with courage for the life God has created for us. We are not alone. In Jesus, we are loved and fear is cast out. And that kind of hope doesn't leave us disappointed.