The Weakness of God - Advent Reflection (4)

The Weakness of God - Part Four

An Advent Reflection featuring Henri Nouwen

Today is the fourth and final post on my Advent series looking at the weakness of God.

Proving Your Worth

Henri Nouwen does a good job of summarizing what’s at the heart of my concern in this series when he wrote:

In the world there are many other voices speaking – loudly: "Prove that you are the beloved. Prove you're worth something. Prove you have any contribution to make. Do something relevant. Be sure to make a name for yourself. At least have some power -- then people will love you; then people will say you're wonderful, you're great."

These voices are so strong. They touch our hidden insecurities and drive us to become very busy trying to prove to the world that we are good people who deserve some attention. Sometimes we think that our busyness is just an expression of our vocation, but Jesus knew that often our attempts to prove our worth are an example of temptation.

Right after Jesus heard the voice say, "You are my beloved," another voice said, "Prove you are the beloved. Do something. Change these stones into bread. Be sure you're famous. Jump from the Temple..." Jesus said, "No, I don't have to prove anything. I am already beloved."

There it is. You are beloved. Even in weakness. You don’t have to prove anything. Your worth isn’t based on what you do for God. It’s based on what God has done for you.

And beyond that, what you might call “weakness” God might seize as an opportunity to reveal himself in a special way, just like he did with a baby born in Bethlehem.

Merry Christmas to you. Enjoy the holidays.

Remy

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