Incarnation

Language is complex. We speak everyday, sending all sorts of signals to those around us. We take language for granted not giving it much thought or attention. The words we use and how we use them carry with them not just the information we are trying to convey but also our feelings, attitudes and stories. All of these come through in our everyday, even if we do not realize it.

Because language is complex translation is difficult. Many times I find myself trying to find the appropriate word when translating. In the end translation is always interpretation. The choice of words and phrases have as much to do with the feelings and attitudes as they have to do with the actual word or phrase itself. Many times there is no translation/interpretation that can communicate what the other person is trying to say.

The director of the movie Babel, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, spoke of this difficulty in communication. In a recent interview on National Public Radio he spoke of the real difficulties with language. Inarritu said:"the points of view of life, what means something for you, there is no translation for that." This is the real challenge in human communication.

The incarnation was God's solution to the problem of communication. God sent the word (logos) in human form so that we could finally understand God's love. This was the only way that humanity could know that we mean something to God. At the core of God's identity is creation, so as a creator God wanted to initiate a renewed relationship with us.

The story of divine-human relationship found in the scriptures is a story of misunderstanding. Humanity was constantly fooled into thinking that God did not care, that God did not know. In the incarnation God showed the extremes that God was willing to go in order to reach each one of us.

The Christmas season is the celebration of God's incarnation in the person of Jesus Christ. We celebrate that God broke the barriers of communication and became one of us in order to redeem us. We are made new because God made God-self new. We are able to understand because God went beyond translation and instead transformed God-self into human form. In this gracious act God made clear God's "points of view" and "what meant something" to God.

During this season of Christmas may you accept God's gift. Acceptance means surrendering to a new identity in Christ Jesus. This identity is universal: God's children no matter the language, nationality, or race. All one for "the word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14 NRSV)

Look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

Peace, Juan

Fullfilled Promises

As a child I remember hearing that promises must be kept. A promise is much more than something one says. It is an agreement, a guarantee. In the bible we call these promises "covenants." God is the initial covenant maker. When God made us God promised to love us and provide for us. When we failed God's love "remained steadfast" (UMH, 9), meaning that even though we failed and broke the covenant God kept God's end of the deal. This tells me that God is one to be trusted. So when God promises to one day bring about final justice, love, and renewal to the world I believe.

Jesus Christ is the main sign that God did not forget God's promise. In Jeremiah 33:14-16 the prophet reminds us of God's promise "[t]he days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah." So the day has come and the day will come. In Jesus we were able to experience what God's kingdom could mean: healing, wholeness, new beginnings. God keeping promises.

This Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent. We wait for the fullfillment of God's promise. God will keep it. In the person of Jesus we saw a glimpse of God's kingdom. As the church we were given the task to proclaim this glimpse, this kingdom to all the world. Are we doing that? Are we taking this task seriously?

This Advent season I invite you to reflect on your spiritual life. Jesus came because God keeps promises. Jesus in turn promised to be with us always. So Christ is with us, waiting for us to allow his work in our lives. Christ wants to make us new and wants to deepen our relationship with God and with each other. Are you ready for that challenge? What is holding you back from keeping your promise, I Believe?

May this season be a season of new beginnings for you. And most of all may the incarnate Christ come to live in you in these days. Christ is coming again in body to make all things new. I join the choir of angels in saying "Maranatha," come Lord Jesus and pour out your spirit on all flesh.

Peace, Juan