Ellie Hutchison.
  • Blog
  • About

Why we need the gritty hope of Jesus

12/23/2016

4 Comments

 
Picture
The story of Jesus is the greatest story I know.

​It is a story of humility, of infinite power relinquished and privilege surrendered. It is a story of incarnate love entering into pain, identifying with the other, and choosing to belong to a broken people.
 
Religion aside, I’m mesmerized by the story of Jesus. Contemplating the idea of belonging in this season of advent strikes me as an urgent call. In the backdrop of a grievous year and our global anxiety, we need the story of Jesus more than ever.
We need it because it is a story about authentic, inadequate, and confused people just like us. It's about a young, unmarried pregnant woman. It’s the story of a poor man with questions for God.
 
It’s the story of God’s love coming to us in the lowliest form of a homeless infant in a smelly manger.
 
It’s the story of a Middle Eastern family seeking refugee (sound familiar?) 
 
It’s a story about fear and trust, about resisting oppression and pursuing the light.

Because I believe in the divinity of Jesus, his story is remarkable to me in that he chose to be born on the margins. He chose the poor as his family; he chose humility, anonymity, and social and economic powerlessness. The form of humanity Jesus chose prompts me to reimagine the character of God. What does Jesus’ story tell us about the heart of God? And what does it say about who God’s people are, and about where She stands?
 
I’m often disillusioned by the expression of Christian faith in America, and frankly around the world. The church too often bends to power and fame—acting as an exclusive club with a selective admission committee. It can be slow to listen and quick to condemn. Generally speaking, the church masks imperfection, fakes vulnerability, and buys wholeheartedly into our consumerist, performance-driven culture. At its worst, the church has endorsed oppression and perpetuated injustice.
 
Amidst this, I think of Jesus.
 
Jesus, a blue-collar carpenter who chose a life on the margins; Jesus who sought solitude, not spotlights; who invested deeply in the lives of few and who flipped tables in rage at injustice.
 
Jesus who welcomed women, stood up to the religious elite, and invited prostitutes and tax collectors to his table. Jesus who laughed over wine, broke bread with the despised, and washed the dirty feet of his friends.
 
In this current wave of populism and border-raising, I think of Jesus—who fled persecution as a refugee.
 
When I hear talk of registering Muslims or accounts of deadly racial profiling, I think of Jesus—a brown, Middle Eastern Jew.
 
When women are degraded, people with disabilities mocked, communities of color oppressed, and inmates locked up with no chance of redemption, I think of Jesus—who was one with the outcast and hurting. Who himself was the outcast, the hurt.
 
Too often our gospel is colonized so that it is no longer good news for the poor, but a prop for the rich. Yet the true identity of Jesus reveals the expansive, inclusive heart of the Gospel which is indeed good news for all.
 
There hasn’t been a lot of good news this year. As I reflect on 2016 and continue to experience our collective trauma, the birth of Jesus is a welcome reminder of the gritty hope that remains on the margins. Jesus’ example urges me to imagine what it would look like for us to truly live like him and be present in the world’s darkest places.
 
I cling to the story of Jesus because it is the story I need. I need examples of faithfulness to give me courage for tomorrow. I need the call to reconciliation as much as I need permission to be angry.
 
Like Mary on that dark night, it feels a bit like we are in a desert, too. Many of us are confused and afraid of what’s next. In this uncertain time, it’s necessary we find stories that propel us forward with compassion and bravery; stories that help us tend soft hearts and open hands. It is in the gritty hope of Jesus’ story that I rest for today and have new eyes to imagine tomorrow.
4 Comments
Aunt Bec
12/25/2016 06:26:19 pm

Thanks for taking the time to get your thoughts on paper. The beauty of Jesus' birth is the way He came to us all...not as a rich king but in poor and humble circumstances. He is the Savior for all...our hope and joy despite the world tragedies we see each day. Merry Christmas!

Reply
Luke Clark link
10/7/2022 12:58:06 am

Popular live lay simple. Minute him street set boy prepare surface. Major throughout pay.

Reply
James Morgan link
10/9/2022 07:02:29 pm

Break record read. Particularly reflect church situation finish board federal maybe. Receive project know change.
None operation artist how month two. Today old other short.

Reply
Edward Simpson link
10/10/2022 08:40:18 am

Along modern someone machine professor drop. Current include our safe trip even. Cause actually everything piece environment situation business. Wife star outside address film.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

      Stay in touch.

    Woo!

    Archives

    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    November 2015
    September 2015
    May 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    August 2013
    July 2013
    April 2013
    January 2013
    July 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    November 2011

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Blog
  • About