We usually use the word “counterintuitive” to refer to an action which not only doesn’t make sense, it will also create very negative consequences. Instead, we try very hard to be people who are intuitive, making wise decisions which make sense and also benefit us.
Reading the Bible, however, we find that when God acts in history, he is very counterintuitive by our way of thinking. Nowhere is that more noticeable than in the Christmas story. God becomes a human being in the person of Jesus and makes his entrance by being born in a stable. His first visitors are shepherds and soon after he has to run for his life to avoid being butchered by a viciously jealous King Herod. That sure isn’t the way most of us would have scripted it.
But the most frustratingly counterintuitive part of Christmas is the way God designed for us to benefit from it. He says it in one word, “Repent!” Now we like to hear words like renew, rejuvenate, and reward – but repent – that just isn’t something we like to deal with. At the heart of repentance is the understanding that God is exactly right about us. Not only are we unable to control our lives, find a solution for death, but worst of all, we’re traitors. No, traitor is not too strong a word. We’ve betrayed God, stole his #1 place in our lives and set ourselves up as Master and King. He alone has the right to those titles, but we’ve stolen them from him and declared, “It’s my life and I’m going to live it the way I want and nobody is going to tell me different.” Such an attitude is treasonous.
The message of Christmas is about how God rescued us from that delusion. And regardless of how counterintuitive repentance seems to us, that is the place to begin in our journey back to God. If you’re looking to maximize Christmas this year, there’s no better way than to understand what repentance is and how it affects our lives.
Sunday morning worship: 10:00 am