God Understands (thoughts on Ferguson and Christmas)

God Understands

“Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High.” Luke 1:31,32a

You may think it strange to begin a Christmas newsletter and devotion by referring to the recent tragedies in Ferguson, Mo. But, hopefully, if you bear with me, we can together understand one of the primary reasons that Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth.

Briefly, some weeks ago in Ferguson, Mo. a police officer shot a young black man in the line of duty. Though there has been much outcry, and even some evidence that the shooting may have been unjustified, the grand jury decided not to bring charges against the officer. People began to protest, not only in Missouri, but all over the country. And, as happens far too often, some of those protests turned to violent rioting and looting. Whether or not the rioters were expressing outrage, or just taking advantage of an out-of-control situation, is for someone else to decide.

I am a white middle-class male, brought up in a stable community and never wanting for anything. Yes, often my clothing was thrift-store chic, and my first bicycle was second hand (or maybe third-hand), but I did not suffer. And most of all, I never experienced the assumptions people can make simply because of the color of my skin. These words I write today are not meant to be commentary on Ferguson, but to help us understand how significant was Jesus’ life among mortal men and women.

People struggle with understanding what it feels like to live as a black man or woman in a community where the privileged people are primarily white. Ferguson, for example, has a population which is 67% African-American but, of a police force of 53, only three are black. There is only one black person on the city council and zero black members of the Ferguson school board. Try to imagine living as a black person where you have so little representation.

That is the problem, many of us cannot imagine it. Even if we are white and poor, we are probably well represented in government. We have no idea what it feels like to always wonder what might be someone’s next assumption simply because we are black. (Don’t get me wrong, many whites do try to “get it”.  But it is extremely difficult, right?)

If you can take a big jump with me now, imagine wondering if God really “gets it”. Here we are, humans at the mercy of a world we barely understand. No matter our ethnic background, we simply wonder if God can understand our suffering. How can He? He has never endured our pain. He has never been falsely accused. He has never had a best friend betray him. He has no idea what it is like to have people prejudge you because of your family or background.

Oh, but that is the joy of our Christmas celebration; at least it is for me. We can conduct our personal thought experiments, trying as truly as we might to understand the plight of many underprivileged who are also people of color. But, God did not simply think about it, imagining in His divine wisdom mankind’s sorrows, pain and trials.

No, He chose to be born and live among us. He chose to be a helpless baby; born in poverty to a young Jewish girl at a time when the greatest nation on earth controlled nearly everything a Jew could or could not do. Jesus grew up helpless as a baby, (a dependent God?). Jesus had to deal with questions of His birth, (we can do the math, Mary). And, Jesus had to live a live dedicated to His Father at a time when the Roman ruling class belittled such faith. (Hail Caesar; Caesar is God!)

What do we know? God does understand. Though, in His omniscience, He could have known our troubles by simple imagination, He chose to know us by experience. He chose to live as we live, thirst as we thirst, hunger as we hunger. He chose to have His entire family misunderstand Him and think Him mad. He lost one of His friends who turned tail and betrayed Him. He also endured one of His very closest friends turning away on the one night that Jesus needed him most. Peter refused to acknowledge he even knew Jesus the night Jesus was being unjustly tried.

Christmas reminds me that God does understand. Because of that, I am committed to doing my best to understand the plights of my brothers and sisters who may not enjoy the privileges I have. Rejoice, my friend, God, in Christ understands your life and offers the grace of His forgiveness for your failings. May we together follow His example and do our best to understand the lives of others less fortunate as well.