Advent 14: Christ was a Fool

Today I had a sweet neighbor post on Facebook that she was mad at herself.  Basically a stranger asked her for help, and out of her kind heart she helped him, only to later realize she had been taken advantage of.  She was upset that she was tricked and blamed herself for trusting a stranger.  Another neighbor commented below her post, "I would never trust anyone at all... so sorry that happened to you."  Others agreed about the depravity of people...etc..

And I thought, how sad is this!  How sad that trust is being equated here with foolishness.  How sad that so many of us have come to the conclusion that wisdom means turning away from a stranger who asks for help.

Hebrews 13:2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Going out on a limb for another person is never foolishness, it takes pure courage.  It's scary to be vulnerable, and it doesn't always turn out the way you would have hoped, but it is in these leaps of faith that we meet the Divine.  God did not choose to come to Earth as a warrior, a king, or even an ordinary person.  God took the weakest, most vulnerable form of all: that of a newborn.

And as I sit here on typing with my four-month-old laying next to me, I am amazed to that her very survival depends on me.  She trusts me to feed her, protect her, change her, and take care of her every need -- in fact she just almost rolled off the sofa and I had to catch her!  And during this season at Advent, we should never forget to marvel at the foolishness that at one time, our great omnipotent God became a tiny and impotent newborn...lying in feeding trough!  What foolishness it was for God to take mortal form, to come to earth, and to allow himself be taken advantage of by tax collectors and sinners!  He had to have seen it coming!  It could only end badly!  And sure enough, the very people who he had given his life to save turned against him, humiliated him, and sentenced him to capital punishment.

But after all was said and done, when it was clear he had been betrayed, was the lesson the risen Christ drew out of it -- "Don't ever trust anyone!  Look what happened to me!  They'll always let you down!"?

No.

It was "love one another as I have loved you."

It was "go, and do likewise."

Go out on a limb for one another.  Go out there and be a fool for Christ.  Let love dismantle all your "wisdom."  And even if it doesn't end well, keep on loving others anyway.

So I wrote below my neighbor's post that she should instead be proud of herself, not mad.  Proud that the world hadn't taken away her kindness, and that she went out on a limb for a stranger.

And so I leave you today with a famous poem from Mother Teresa:

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.