That very poignant song makes a serious point. It suggests that, if we distance ourselves enough from the pain and conflict of our world, we can almost pretend that our world is full of beauty and harmony, with resources for all; and that God watches this from a distance. I wonder, does it also suggest that God is not concerned any more with need, disease, or hungry mouths because of that distance between God and humanity?
The idea of God being 'out there', in another realm, in another dimension, something 'other', was a very typical way of interpreting the nature of God in the ancient world. The Hebrew scriptures generally portray God as a form of being separate from, and physically distant from, humanity.
In the Book of Exodus, when God speaks to Moses, the voice appears to come from a burning bush. Moses and his people are told that they cannot look upon the face of God and live; and Moses is required to hide in the cleft of a rock when the glory of God passes by.
And the imagery used for God throughout the Hebrew scriptures is that of a shield, a fortress, and a bright light. In Exodus chapter 15 God is described as 'majestic in holiness, awesome in splendour, doing wonders'.
This was a God who existed 'at a distance' but who reached an agreement - a covenant - with a chosen people and found ways of bridging that distance on particular occasions for specific purposes. But there was no sense of closeness or intimacy within that relationship. God was a primeval force of power and judgment, sometimes of vengeance and destruction, who demanded obedience and strict observance of the divine law. When the Israelites went astray from that law, God was watching - from a distance - and might well visit the people to bring punishment and correction.
Then came Jesus - Emmanuel - God with us. Here was someone who taught about a God of love; an intimate, affectionate Father-figure to whom he prayed as 'daddy'. Here was someone who called the powerful leaders to account, and showed infinite love and patience to the poor and the lost and the marginalised. 'God with us' had been living a human life for thirty years and was about to change forever the relationship between God and God's creation.
And this Jesus, whom we meet in the gospel, in our records of his teaching, and through the gift of his presence in bread and wine, continues to offer a wholly different approach: for us, God is not watching from a distance; God is alongside us, sharing our humanity, because our God took flesh and became human.
This is the true and lasting significance of the incarnation. It is so much more than a brief historical event which lasted for around 33 years in Roman-occupied Palestine a couple of thousand years ago: it is one of the cornerstones of our faith. God came to us in Jesus to live and to work, and to love, and to suffer, and to die among us. God is revealed among us. No other faith can claim such intimate sharing of our very essence with God. St Leo the Great in his Sermon on the Nativity said,
"O Christian, be aware of your nobility - it is God's own nature that you share."
In Jesus, God is not watching us from a distance; God is living with us, working with us, loving with us, suffering with us and dying with us, because that is how God loves us.
Of course, God is easier to deal with if we can keep God at a distance. This God who is Jesus is quite a confrontational God, who expects us to get involved in this earthly world just as much as he did. This God, who will not keep a distance from us, likewise expects us to break down the distance between ourselves and our neighbours. Perhaps when we don't feel like following the way of Jesus, we find it easier to keep God at a distance - perhaps that is the real point of the song we heard earlier.
But when we do try to meet God's expectations of us, no other faith can claim such an intimate friend as Jesus, fully God and fully human, who knows our humanity so well that he can teach, and challenge, and rebuke, and inspire us with such unique insight into God's truth. We hold up to the world our incarnate God as the perfect model for our lives: as his disciples in the world today, we are called to follow the way of Jesus towards the promise of an eternity of rest in company with him.
So when we say in our creed that God became human, we declare a continuing truth: when God took flesh and slowly grew to maturity within our human nature, a whole new relationship was forged, built on love, sacrifice, and redemption. God was no longer watching us; God became human and, from then onwards, God lives life with us; and from no distance at all.
Amen.
(Philip Jones)
This sermon was first preached in the Metropolitan Community Church of Manchester. Click here for further information.