My pastor spoke on the “gift” of relationship that God gave us with the birth of Christ recently. I know all this, I thought as he was speaking, but then the Holy Spirit corrected me. Do you? He asked. Do you really know what the birth of Christ signified for relationship with the Father?
Pastor Mark talked about Mary. Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. (Luke 2:19) Before Jesus was old enough to talk Mary pondered the relationship. She knew that relationship was part of the deal. When she and her cousin Elizabeth (mother of John the Baptist) were pregnant John lept in his mother’s womb when he felt the presence of his cousin Jesus. That was relationship.
Jesus came as our Savior, and yes that is very important, but it wasn’t his only role. The very title of Savior implies relationship. By being our Savior that means that we have a relationship with him, one where he holds us up, and saves us from our sin. This is central to the Christian faith. What can be more relational than God sending His Savior to earth so that He can have US with Him in heaven?
The Bible never says this specifically, but God is a God of relationships and His greatest desire is to have good relationship with us. We miss this concept of God’s relational-ness when we think of him as God, as Savior, and as Lord. But all of these titles imply relationship.
When Jesus’ disciples asked him to teach them to pray he started off with a radical concept by calling God “Father” and not just HIS father, but OUR father. Up until that time no one had dared to assume that kind of relationship with God. God was a God of judgment, rules, and regulations. He was not an “Abba” in their way of thinking. That is why it is so important for us to realize that yes, God is judge, and needs us to live according to his ways, but he is our Father.
If a child were to fall down and get hurt, or dirty, or frustrated, sad, etc would an earthly father tell them to stop crying, clean themselves up, and then come to him? NO! An earthly father scoops his child up, cuts, bruises, dirt, tears, and all and loves that child. He calms the tears, wipes away the dirt, bandages the cuts, and kisses the bruises.
So many people (Christian and non-Christian alike) feel that in order to approach God they must be put together, clean, and free of hurt. The God of judgment and rules is going to want to see a polished and clean person stand before them. But that is just not the case. God is relational. He is Abba. He is Daddy. He wants his kids to come to him downtrodden, dirty, and bruised. He wants them to have the freedom to approach the throne in tears with a broken heart. He wants US to come to him when our lives fall apart, and we don’t know which way to go. He wants to be the one to make us clean again. He wants to love us, dry our tears, brush us off, pick us up, and He doesn’t just send us on our way, He holds our hand and walks with us as we go.
As the Body of Christ, our job isn’t to tell people they need to get right with God. Our job is not to help them get their lives straightened out. Our job is to invite them in, and show them the way to the Father. To show them the One who loves them right where they are, and passionately desires relationship with them. God will clean them. God will dry the tears. God will fix the broken places. Our job is to be “Jesus with skin.” Jesus didn’t spend all of his time going to church. He didn’t surround himself only with the people in the church. Jesus didn’t spend his time telling people to get their act together. Jesus spent his time with people. Dirty people. Broken people. Hurting people. He went to them and he loved them. He hugged them. He held people as they cried. He touched people in the broken places. He reached into the darkness and helped people into the light. He wasn’t scared by the dark things surrounding people. Death and sickness didn’t make him shy away. When we see these things in people’s lives we must go to them and show them what Jesus showed them – the way to approach the Throne of God, in as many pieces as their lives were in, as broken as their hearts were. He brought them to the Father and showed them what the love of God was all about.
This is the way I believe Jesus would have us live. He didn’t tell his disciples to go to church. He told them to go to every nation and show them the Father. THIS is the relationship God wants with us. He wants us to be relational ambassadors, showing people that the God who loves them doesn’t want to love them from afar. He wants to be active in their lives. He wants to walk with them in the dark places. He wants to dry the tears of the brokenhearted. He wants to be with us wherever we go. That is the relationship we can have with him, and it all started with a baby boy, wrapped in a blanket, lying in a manger all those years ago.

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