I have just come home from a long walk in a park that is located 2 kilometers away. In the park, I have learned some valuable lessons from Mother Nature – the importance of being aware that suffering, renewal and growth are well-blended together. If you look at the pic above, you can notice that in the midst of decaying barks, the new bark appears. This tree seems to scream at us that humanity is wounded because it is in denial- that human beings prefer to focus on their disorders and flaws instead of the lessons of their mistakes. Why do human beings take so long to learn their lessons? Why do wounded human beings simply choose to dwell and wallow in their wretchedness and their sinfulness? And in the process of being absorbed in their wretchedness and disorders, they choose to blame other people for their suffering.
Let us look at the history of the last eighty years and in spite of the phenomenal progress of our scientific and technical achievements, mankind has virtually learned nothing about being more civilized and more loving. Just look at the Second World War (1939-45). Look at the prime architect of the terrible war, Hitler. He was a little man of small stature but he had a gigantic ego with a sense of self-righteousness in his mission to bring about the birth of the `master-race’ that had the mission to exterminate the Jews and to found a European empire. Hitler simply could not understand the meaning of humility or love or the value of human life. In the quest of his egoistic mission, 6 million Jews had been exterminated and many millions of soldiers and civilians lost their lives. Just imagine, one small man could bring about so much of brutality and suffering to mankind!
Let us look at our current world problems and the scourge of global terrorism and counter-terrorism. The terrorists believe sincerely that self-righteousness is the valid rationale behind their destructive bombing and killing of innocent lives. And in response, the Western governments believe that they are equally justified in launching wars against the countries harboring the terrorists. This tit for tat, ‘an eye for an eye’ or `tooth for a tooth’ kind of approach is based on the platform of self-righteousness again. This is the rationale behind virtually all the wars and religious conflicts in history based on self-defense or preemptive strikes that means offence is the best defense. This is the political philosophy that is justified behind most wars.
Now let us take a look at the micro view behind most interpersonal conflicts and killings. Again it comes down to the same point- self-righteousness or `my way is the right way’. There is no other way except my way. My way is the basis of the right answer or the right solution. In short, to use famous words of a world leader, `Either you are with me or against me’. If this is the common mindset of our many world leaders, then it is not surprising that this is also the mindset of the vast majority of their followers. `Self-righteousness’ has become the popular culture behind most conflicts or aggression. No wonder the weaker gender or the poor or the children suffer under this kind of self-righteous mindset. Why? Because power or control is behind this self-righteous attitude. There is obviously a lot of truth in this popular saying, `Absolute power corrupts absolutely.’
Christmas is the time for the birth of a most remarkable man- Jesus Christ. He came to transform our flawed perception about the path to peace and brotherhood of man. Jesus was sent by God to be the Messiah by changing the basically-flawed mindset of mankind- that love is the key to the kingdom of God. Political control or power is the fake key that would never give real peace and joy to human beings. He came to condemn the religious leaders of the Jewish society of his time-the Pharisees and the chief priests- for their hypocrisy and their self-righteousness. Instead, Jesus came to proclaim the powerful message of love- God’s unconditional love for man and in response, man is to show similar unconditional love to his/her fellow human beings as a right response to God’s love. In the eyes of God, all human beings (regardless of their creed or race or social status etc) are really precious children of God. In other words, all human beings are interconnected by this common heritage and linkage of divine genetic makeup. That is why Jesus commands all his disciples to `love one another as I love you; by this will others know that you are my disciples.’
Based on his innovative gospel of love, Jesus came to highlight on the other much more important aspect of God- His unconditional love for man. The Old Testament focusedon the righteous justice and strict judgment of God as proclaimed by the prophets. Jesus was sent on Christmas day to assure all mankind that God’s love for us is much more important than his other qualities. This is the ultimate truth- God is love and his essential basic nature is love. How do we reconcile the two seemingly diametrically-opposed yardsticks of the infinite God? We don’t think we can comprehend this great paradox of God’s complex nature in our little finite minds. That is why there are lots of things we don’t understand about God such as the mystery of suffering and God’s love etc. Jesus, as the Son of God and as our Messiah, came personally to teach us about the great love of God for wounded humanity. Jesus came to teach us this wondrous great truth by his authoritative teaching that were confirmed by his miracles of healing. All his thoughts, words and deeds pointed to the paramount importance of love in life.
Would you believe if I were to tell you that Jesus Christ loves sinners more than his saints? Would you believe if I were to tell you that Jesus Christ loves the non-Christians more than his Christian disciples? Let me give you an analogy to clarify this point. Imagine God has ten children. God loves everyone of his children equally. But if one of his children goes astray and becomes a black sheep, God would be very concerned about the black sheep and he would spend more time and attention to seek out the black sheep and bring it back into his fold. Once the lost child returns to the fold, the Father would be filled with great joy. This is the basis of the parable of the lost sheep that Jesus tells us in the Bible. God loves the sinners or the non-Christians as much as if not more than his saints because Jesus has been sent as their Messiah to save the sick or wounded; to save the sheep that has gone astray. This is the main reason why Jesus has come on Christmas Day- to bring hope, faith and love to the wounded despairing human beings . Surely this is the relevant meaning of Christmas!
Submitted by David YKK
