Christianity is unique in its beliefs about Jesus. Not just a teacher, not a demi-god but Emmanuel, God With Us. Why is it that we only talk about God With Us at Christmas time, especially because it makes such a difference in our lives?
God With Us means that we are not alone in our suffering, a theme which David Kelsey, Professor Emeritus at Yale Divinity School, explores in his book Imagining Redemption. He looks at the circumstances of one family – Sam’s family – who has gone through significant tragedies: from illness, to death and suicide. Kelsey asks what redemption looks like for them in real, tangible ways.
First he takes a step back at how we define our lives: what gets us up in the morning? What’s the story we tell about ourselves? What makes life worth living?
Some people measure their lives in terms of success: career, family, making a difference in the world.
For Sam’s family, they had begun to measure their lives in terms of the trauma they had experienced. They defined themselves by these significant events and did not let any new event define who they were as much as the trauma. They were literally stuck.
Sam became known as the troubled kid at school who had gone through bad things. He got so much attention for his past experiences and they began to consume all of his identity.
Kelsey points out that God tells a different story about who Sam is, about who we all are. God With Us gives us a new reason to live, a new way to measure our lives and define who we are. Instead of being defined by past trauma, God sets us free. God With Us means that God’s love is not abstract but grounded in concrete actions in history we can point to.
In Christ, love is the act that defines who we are and gives us a reason to live. God With Us changes everything.