Jesus did not come to change the mind of God about humanity (it did not need changing)! Jesus came to change the mind of humanity about God.[1]
My spiritual practice during Advent this year was to read Richard Rohr’s book, Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis Assisi. Rohr is an American Franciscan priest and mystic who lives, teaches, and writes from his community in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The quote I began my sermon with comes from this book and it has been haunting my thoughts throughout this Advent season.
Jesus did not come to change the mind of God about humanity (it did not need changing)! Jesus came to change the mind of humanity about God.
This is a very different way of viewing Jesus, God incarnate, than what most of us were taught as children. For most of us, Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection were explained as being necessary because of the sin of humanity. Jesus, we were told, was born, lived, and died for our sins. This is known as “substitutionary atonement theory” and was first presented by the theologian, Anselm, in the Middle Ages. It is the idea that before God could love their creation, God needed payment, and a very violent payment at that. It has been the majority view of Christianity ever since, but it is not the only view.
Franciscans, those who follow the way of Jesus in the manner of St. Francis, see the incarnation of God in Jesus in a very different way. Dons Scotus was a Franciscan priest and theologian also from the Middle Ages who offered an alternative view of God and God’s work in the incarnation. Scotus, insisted on the absolute and perfect freedom of God to love and forgive as God chooses. The incarnation of God and the redemption of the world could not be simply a reaction to human sinfulness, but instead an embodied version of God’s love that had always been present from the beginning of creation. In other words, God became incarnate in Jesus not because of our sinfulness but because of God’s love. The incarnation was the natural outpouring of God’s love.
And we can see this in both the story of Jesus’ birth in Luke and in the first chapter of the Gospel of John, both of which are read as we celebrate Christmas each year (Luke on Christmas Eve and John on Christmas Day).
In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see– I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” Luke 2:8-14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. John 1:1-5
Both of these passages are saying that Christ’s birth is ultimately about revealing the character of God, the heart of the Divine. It is a divine affirmation of God’s love and embrace of us all. God’s deepest desire is goodwill, complete wholeness, for all that God created.
And this is what we are here to celebrate this evening (morning). We are here to celebrate that God is pure love. God is not seeking our punishment or atonement. God is seeking us pure and simple. God is committed to us pure and simple. God loves us pure and simple. Again, in the words of Richard Rohr:
We all need to know that God does not love us because we are that good; God loves us because God is good.[2]
God has always loved us, and God will always love us. And embracing this truth as we remember that baby born in a manager amongst the animals so long ago makes all the difference in the world. God loves us so we do not need to be afraid. God loves us unconditionally and so we can love God’s creation unconditionally. When we see God as a being that needs restitution for our wrongs, we treat God’s creation in the same way. We respond to violence with violence. We respond to pain with punishment. We create inquisitions. We call wars holy. We conquer and destroy in the name of God. When we understand that God needs no restitution and is committed to us, all of us, in love no matter what, we respond to violence with peace. We respond to hate with love. We understand that violence can never redeem. The only redemptive power is love.
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see– I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.
Merry Christmas my friends. May your heart be full of the knowledge of God’s love for you as you celebrate the birth of Christ this day. Amen.
[1] Rohr, Richard. Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi (p. 187). Franciscan Media. Kindle Edition.
[2] Rohr, Richard. Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi (p. 188). Franciscan Media. Kindle Edition.
