Lately, I’ve been drawn to a new song I stumbled upon during our generosity sermon series this fall. It’s titled Please Pass the Bliss (Nick Mulvey Rework). The song is simple—more like ambient pop with a catchy beat than a traditional piece with lyrics. In fact, it isn’t sung at all; instead, a solitary voice speaks the verses, almost like spoken word. The first lines spoken are:

The soul
Takes birth
Takes incarnation

The closing lines are:

We love everyone
By inhabiting the soul

I’ve found myself especially drawn to these lines as we enter the season of Advent and inch closer to Christmas (remember, my first Advent sermon urged us to pump the brakes and walk to Christmas). Christmas is all about incarnation—God taking on flesh, Emmanuel, God with us: first in Jesus as a baby, then as the man who was crucified and died. Jesus became one of us and dwelt among us. God with us. You could sum it up just as the song begins:

God
Takes birth
Takes incarnation

As the song begins, so Jesus’s life on earth begins—with incarnation. But why does incarnation matter? Why does it matter that Jesus took on flesh, was born of a woman, breastfed, soiled diapers, scraped his knee at play, disobeyed his parents, grew up, made friends, called disciples, taught and walked the streets of Galilee and Jerusalem as a rabbi, was arrested, crucified, died, and was buried? Does it really matter?

To me, it matters deeply. It makes all the difference. It makes God’s love real. God takes birth, takes incarnation. God loves everyone by inhabiting the soul and by inhabiting our world. God loves us profoundly as a human—as Jesus. And now, God is with us by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, who inhabits the soul of each of us. The Spirit—the gift who gives faith, hope, joy, peace, wisdom, strength, comfort, consolation, freedom, love, and new birth—is closer to us than our very breath. God’s breath is our breath (Spirit in Hebrew is ruach, wind/breath).

Jesus, Emmanuel, matters for you, your loved ones, your neighbors, your enemies, and all of creation. May you be filled with all the gifts of the Spirit and receive God—who takes birth, who takes incarnation, who is love—Jesus.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Patrick