THE POWER OF A SMALL INCARNATION
Recently, a friend of mine got married in Texas. If you know anything about Texas, it’s BIG. And they do things BIG. I was honored to officiate the wedding. And the wedding was BIG, very classy not showy but of all the weddings I have done, this was the BIGGEST. It was an amazing 2 days of celebrating. Lots of cool surprises, incredible venue, and delicious food. But there is one thing I will remember about this wedding that stands out amidst all those things.
It was a SMALL card under our plate at the rehearsal dinner. It was a special personal message to both my wife and I. SMALL note, BIG impact. The bride and groom typed about 60 of those to all who were at the rehearsal. The words were very meaningful. But thats how SMALL is. Its acts of SMALL LOVE that make the BIGGEST TRANSFORMING IMPACT.
SMALL is easy to miss. As we ponder this fourth week of advent and the theme of love, we are reminded of these words from scripture.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. John 1:14
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” Luke 2:12-15
Most people missed this birth. Nothing very impressive, just another poor Jewish baby being born. Would you have been drawn to going to see some baby born in a stable if your friend said, hey, my friend is having a baby out in the pasture tonight, want to go see? In fact I wonder who would’ve showed up if not for God’s angels breaking through the normal night watch to let shepherds and wiseman know that something that appeared small and insignificant just happened. We are not normally drawn towards SMALL things.
We're drawn towards BIG things. Big light displays at Christmas mesmerize us, big houses, big successful companies, big personalities, anything that looks successful. Certainly God incarnate laying somewhere in the Judean wilderness in a manger doesn’t look, feel, or smell all that BIG a deal. Just another baby born. My wife and I just visited friends who had their 6th baby. As we entered the hospital there was a sign that said nearly 2000 babies born this year. I wondered who came to visit each of them. But as you know, when you walk into a room with a baby, it’s not the big people who command attention and draw you like a magnet, it’s the smallest person in the room known as a baby.
The baby born in a manger would make his first act of small love: becoming human.
He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion. Php 2:5-8
There is a reverberating power that small has that is very different from the 1 time wow exchange that big things have. Small acts of love are the things that prop up our world and keep it going. It’s easy to miss the small acts. I loved the wedding in Texas and celebrating my friends but what has stuck with me the most is what it took to write all those personalized notes to everyone at the rehearsal. There were BIG things to think about other than that. Yet that SMALL card was an incarnation of their love for each of us. Mother Teresa said herself some of the best things are small things done with great love.
We often are looking for a big gift to buy our loved ones at Christmas. Who wouldn’t want something big? A car with a bow on it. A trip to somewhere warm. Something that will wow them. But how long will it wow them? I can almost bet a smaller act of love toward them will wow them longer. Thats why the incarnation was the doorway to the single most powerful act of love a human can bring and that is the sacrifice of ones life.
Reflect: How have you experienced the small acts of love from Jesus this advent? What small acts of love might you give to those around you?