More than Active Listening, God Was One of Us

We live in a time when we are aware of the suffering that people outside of our region or circles experience. This awareness is important because often our ease and comfort are at the expense of someone else, whether we know it or not. The discomfort of awareness can make us talk more–we want to say the right things, but it’s important to listen. It’s only through listening that we can understand, to avoid being a part of the problem. We might even be able to be a part of the solution. However, no amount of listening will ever convey to us what another’s suffering is like to them.

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

Hebrews 1:1-4

Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. But someone has testified somewhere,

“What are humans that you are mindful of them
    or mortals that you care for them?
 You have made them for a little while lower than the angels;
    you have crowned them with glory and honor,
     subjecting all things under their feet.”

Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them, but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, saying,

‘I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters;
    in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.’

Hebrews 2:5-12

Think of your own pain, your successes, your joys, and anything you overcame to get there. Experiences are intertwined and can be hard to describe. Soldiers who’ve just met can connect immediately if they’ve had similar deployments, because they know the other one “gets” something that most people don’t. We feel “at home” around others who are like us, especially in the areas where we’re rejected or marginalized.

So when advertisers, politicians, or anyone that holds power, tries to use a person’s experience of marginalization as their platform, it can feel mixed. At this point in history, it seems like this is happening with every issue or group, either positively or negatively. Are the people with the microphone raising awareness because they care? Does this issue simply correlate with something they already wanted to do? Am I being used to further this person’s career? These are all valid questions. It’s hard to know who’s an ally and who’s making a name for themselves.

Reconciliation is More than Listening

God knew reconciling us would mean more than listening, it would mean becoming one of us. Jesus left his place of power and became powerless. He wasn’t powerless just because he was a baby–he was a baby that the king wanted dead. Jesus left his place of privilege and was born into a family that carried no importance in their society. People reminded him of that even as an adult when he started to teach,

Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon?

Mark 6:3 NIV

Jesus left the place where he experienced constant communal love within the trinity, and came to earth where he would have to sneak away to pray to connect with God. In addition to that, Jesus experienced rejection and betrayal.

Jesus took up our cause and invites us into his family. He doesn’t just send a list of detailed instructions on how to be like God. He isn’t content to shrug and conclude that we must not really want salvation if we’re not willing to be perfect. Jesus takes the first step by becoming one of us and living out God’s law, summed up by him as,

‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.

Mark 12:29-31 NIV

Jesus isn’t using your issues to get your votes, he didn’t listen to your problems to give you better advice. You’re not God’s poster child. Jesus lived your problems. Jesus calls you family, and now advocates on your behalf from a place of power.

Photo credit: by Cody Board on Unsplash