God in a Guest House???

Just a few days before Thanksgiving, my family had some good friends stay with us. We had not seen them in several years and both our families had grown in number. They had a beautiful family of five and according to my mathmatical skills, I quickly determined that we would have 9 total individuals in our home. This was exciting for us. Since living in Memphis, Tiffiny and I have not had many house guests, especially large families. Truthfully, one could become a bit anxious about the whole thing. There were dietary issues to consider, rooming situation to consider, the cleaning of our house, and the sharing of bathrooms.

On the second morning I was the first person awake and was curious to whether or not I would be able to fall into my normal routine of cereal, coffee, and Sportscenter. I know...overwhelmingly spiritual isnt it?

However, my initial sight was of three little children that I didn’t know very well staring at me from a slightly open door way. The oldest whispered, “Is Carson up yet?” Well, just a few minutes later I found myself pouring cereal into bowls, entertaining children, piecing together sippy cups, making coffee, drawing pictures, taking breakfast orders, and washing hands. From that moment until the day of their sad departure it seems that the bathrooms were always in use, special meals were being prepared, and entertainment was being planned.

Contrast that to another, purely hypothetical situation. Let’s say I had a guest house in my back yard. In that guest house was a fully equipped kitchen with 3 bathrooms, a fully stocked pantry and refrigerator, and 4 bedrooms each with king sized beds. If this was the case, first of all, my family would be living in the guest house!!! But, hypothetically speaking, any guest or family that would visit would not require a great deal of attention. There would be little interaction. Not much conversation. And, realistically, we wouldn’t get to know our guests as well.

You see, it is one thing to enter into a community of people and live in a guest house or king’s palace. It’s another thing altogether to live among your hosts and share in the details of common, shared space. And this is the way in which Jesus chose to reveal himself.

God wants be on familiar terms with us. He could have chosen another way. But God decided to not stop short of revealing his true nature to humankind. The incarnation was not a strategy of persuasion so that people would be convinced of the goodness of God. Persuasion would not have required full humanity. Neither was it a strategy of influence. When one person influences another, the relationship can only go so far. The one being influenced could never be completely sure that what he/she was experiencing is completely accurate. The eternal Word became fully human so that it would no longer be necessary to question whether or not God understands the human predicament.

God became fully human so that we could become fully human in Him.
God came and made his dwelling among his creation and this is how He desires to be known. In Jesus we see God.