God is Compassionate

Tonight, we celebrate a Savior - born in a stable, wrapped in swaddling cloths, laid in a manger. We sing of the "Silent Night"; we cry out for "Joy to the World", that the Lord is come. We rejoice that He is here, at long last. It's all so sweet. Calm. Beautiful. Picture-perfect. We spend time with friends and family, unwrapping presents and feasting, dreaming of the light coming into the world with God-With-Us, Emmanuel.

But let's not forget - this story is not a saccharine vignette that belongs on the mantle. Tonight we also remember as the first time, in the history of ever, that God suffered.

It's funny - in the Old Testament, God is referred to as "compassionate" (though some translations offer "merciful" instead). But if we're going based on the technical definition of the word ("compassion" = "to suffer with"), that's not something God could even in principle experience without the Incarnation.

And yet here we are, proclaiming God-become-Man.

God-become-hungry.
God-become-cold.
God-become-naked.
God-become-weak.
God-become-helpless.
God-become-dependent.

This should be such a shocking concept, but we've gotten used to the idea. It's not just that God suffered and died on a Cross. This is the great mystery - that God allows Himself to experience a lack of anything at all, willingly humbling Himself to our level to save us.

It may be wrong to think of God as being surprised, but I can just imagine Christ thinking to Himself that first night - 

"So this is what it feels like to be in pain ... oh, my dear beloved children - Here I Am. I know what you are going through, and I am with you in this. You are not alone."

Beloved friends - Christ knows intimately what you are going through. He chose to suffer for you. He chose it again and again throughout His life, for you. He willingly took that on, for you. He says you are worth it - that He'd do it all over again, just for you.

The real question is - what is your response to that magnificent and impossible gift? What do you offer to the King who dwells among us, who has touched every aspect of human existence to ensure that you are never alone? The One who never shies away from human sin and dysfunction, but always draws near - when we allow Him in? Will our hearts be the stables where He is born again every moment of each day?

When we realize who Jesus is, what He did, and that it all started that first night He suffered for us ... this is why we rejoice at His Coming.