The Risk of Birth

 The scriptures referred to are John 1:1-14.

A reading from the gospel of John:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it....The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become the children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1-5, 9-14)

A poem by Madeleine L'Engle:

This is no time for a child to be born,

With the earth betrayed by war & hate

And a comet slashing through the sky to warn

That time runs out & the sun burns late.

That was no time for a child to be born,

In a land in the crushing grip of Rome;

Honor and truth were trampled to scorn—

Yet here did the Savior make his home.

When is the time for love to be born?

The inn is full on planet earth,

And by a comet the sky is torn—

Yet Love still takes the risk of birth.

John Cleese defined creativity as connecting two or more things that hadn't been connected before. My head intuitively connected these two poetic passages. And I want to explore the reasons the connection makes sense.

Madeleine L'Engle's poem is one we can relate to. Most of us have had kids. And we know that doing so is risky. Not just childbirth itself but raising kids. You don't know what will happen to them or how it will affect them. Life is inherently risky. There is pain, sickness, injury, death. There is heartbreak. Why do we risk it? Love finds the risk acceptable. Without birth there is no risk of loss. But there is no one to love either. And so we have children, daring the risk.

The point of Madeleine's poem is that God took this risk when he sent his Son to be born into this world. And being all-knowing, he knew the risk in a way we never do. We don't know what the future holds for our child. He did. He saw the cross dead ahead in the path of his Son. And yet he let Jesus be born.

But his decision was more vital than anyone knew at that time. Not even Mary and Joseph knew exactly what they held in their arms. Jesus wasn't just the Messiah. He wasn't just the promised savior of the world; he was the reason for the world.

When John says Jesus was the Word, in Greek he uses the term logos. And while it could mean simply “word,” in Greek philosophy and Jewish theology it meant so much more. To the Greeks the Logos was the rational principle that governs everything. It was the the mind that ruled and gave meaning to everything in creation. To the Jews it was not only that but the Word of God, the expression of his wisdom by which all things were created. So we might paraphrase John 1:1 by saying “In the beginning was the reason for and behind everything, and that reason was with God, and that reason was God.”

So it was that personal expression of who God is and why all things are that was born into the world. And once you see that, you see how infinitely risky this move was on God's part.

And as we said, he knew what would happen. He knew how people would react to someone who was right when everyone else is wrong. People don't like that. They don't like the truth when it is painful to accept. So they try to silence and bury it. God was sending his Son on what amounted to a suicide mission. Despite the cost, it had to be done.

But why? What is worth the death of the man who embodies the very principle of life and creation and reason?

Apparently we are. We are worth the risk. Because God loves us. Love decides what is worth the risk.

So think about that. God is willing to risk everything he is, everything that makes sense of the world, everything that gives value and meaning to the world, for you.

What are you willing to risk in return?