What Advent Teaches Us about Embodied Love
Every night as we put our kids to bed, my wife and I sit with each of them, look them in the eyes, and remind them how much we love them. Every night we tell them that there’s nothing they can do (or not do) that will change our love for them. Every night we remind them that as deep as our love is, it pales in comparison to the love of God for them in Christ. Then, we top off our bedtime routine with a hug and a big kiss!
In some ways, Advent is like that bedtime liturgy. As we join Christians around the world and throughout history in remembering the wonderful truth of the incarnation, it’s as if we’re sitting down on our beds, listening again to a reminder of our Father’s love. God came to his people, wrapped in a baby’s delicate skin rather than a king’s royal robes. God conveys his love for us by stooping low, communicating himself personally, and providing a healing balm for all our wounds.
High Goes Low
When you’re parenting small children, some days feel long. More than I’d like to admit, my children push me to mental exhaustion by bedtime. I think, “I’m the adult. Why won’t these kids do what I ask? Why are so many nights such a struggle?” But even on these nights I need to remind them of God’s love. I need to be reminded of it too.
I need to remember that God is faithful and keeps steadfast covenant love with those who love him (Deut. 7:9; Neh. 1:5; Dan. 9:4). I need to remember that he came to love those who would reject him (John 1:11–12). The almighty God who painted the night sky with the tips of his fingers (Ps. 8:3) came to have those hands stilled by nails on a cross. God so holy Moses was only permitted to see his backside (Ex. 33:18–23) came to have his face crowned with the thorns of our curse.
In love, our mighty and transcendent God accommodated himself to lowly creatures to redeem them. As the apostle writes, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Love is most displayed when the high go low for those who don’t deserve it.
Word Takes a Body
My wife and I believe what we do each night with our children is important, in part, because it’s embodied. I could yell my love to my children from the other room as they go to bed, and it would be no less true, but the fact that I’m there with them, holding them, touching them, and looking them in the eyes conveys a depth of importance and meaning that a shout across the house could never accomplish. This is no less true with our Lord.
For centuries, God had told his people that they were his special possession and beloved ones (Deut. 7:6–8). He reminded them regularly that in love, he’d liberated them from the bondage and oppression of Egypt and that one day he’d liberate them once and for all from Satan, sin, and death. But love is best communicated personally, so in the fullness of time, he sent forth his Son. God came in the flesh (Gal. 4:4).
Personal presence conveys meaning mere words cannot. As Jesus shared meals, journeys, and hardships with his people, he showed how much he loves them. His willingness to be made like us in every respect, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15), teaches us that love enters the fray. Love is unwilling to sit on the sidelines and give instructions. It motivates sacrificial action for the good of those we love.
Balm for the Wounded
For many, the holiday season can bring increased pain. There are reminders of goals left unmet and even of loved ones lost in the last year. When you’re lonely, holiday cheer can feel more like salt in a wound. But it’s in this season we discover the only remedy our ails require. In the message of Christmas is the message of Easter. As J.I. Packer put it years ago, “Jesus Christ was born to die.”
In the incarnation, we see God’s consistent movement toward sinners who’ve rejected him. Here we’re reminded that his impulse is mercy and grace to the downcast and disobedient. And it’s this embodied love that comes from the highest heights down to the depths of our low estate that proves his love for us (John 15:13). As parents, it’s the reality of God’s love to which our love for our children points. The balm of love we give our children each night as we sit with them on their beds is only a dim reflection of God’s love for his redeemed.
This Advent, sit down on your bed, look God in the eyes, and listen to the words of Scripture heralding the good news that Jesus came to redeem for himself a people like you.
Matt Boga is the associate pastor at Reality Church of Stockton in California, where he lives with his wife and three children. Matt enjoys reading, building with his hands, and playing basketball. He writes at his website, and you can follow him on Twitter.
