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Luke 2:1-20 and Matthew 2:1-23

Embrace Vulnerability

Fundamentally all of us want to be invincible. None of us likes to be hurt, disappointed or rejected.  We strive to be strong, successful and popular. Weakness is something that we avoid or at least hide behind the mask that conveys we are ‘coping.’

However, vulnerability is in essence what it means to be human. The best relationships are forged despite the risk of being hurt. Such a friendship is valuable because we invest something of ourselves. To be close to someone means becoming vulnerable.

Christ embraced vulnerability

Paul wanted to be strong and not weak. But God taught him to love weakness, to find strength in Christ rather than in his own effort. Vulnerability gave Paul the opportunity to trust God for what he lacked and needed. The different in Paul’s life was not anything in himself but everything in God.

We can relate to God because he made himself like us, vulnerable. He was born a baby in a manger, the child of poor parents. He was completely dependent on God care of him through his Joseph and Mary. The Saviour of the world was born vulnerable, needing to be fed, his bottom wiped and his nose cleaned.

When I think about where I went wrong in my first church ministry I would have to say that I was too ‘strong.’ It’s hard to be vulnerable, to operate from weakness when you feel afraid and anxious. This Christmas there is this comfort. Jesus knows what it is to be vulnerable because when he was born in a manager he did embrace vulnerability.

the Rev (Chris Perona).