The Attraction of Opposite

In the season of Advent, as we gather around a table with family, join colleagues from work, or find our way to a gathering of friends — do you notice the empty chair? Is there an empty chair at your table?

Some people leave an empty chair for the unexpected guest — the one who brings an unforeseen element to our gathering. Advent is the arrival of that guest. It’s the season that invites us to celebrate a unique truth: the power of the opposite.

God, the Creator of the universe, shows up as a fragile baby — taking on all our limitations, our vulnerability, our neediness. He becomes the opposite of our expectations of greatness, power, and even worth. He enters the world as an impoverished individual living in an occupied country.

And yet, this is what is most attractive about our story of Jesus.

He is completely, utterly, without any disparity, like us. The only difference between us and Jesus is that He is never separated from God. The separation we experience — as we live for ourselves, dismiss others’ worth — is something He never knows. He never sins. He never chooses disconnection. When tempted, He chooses connection with God above all else. When mistreated, He remains guided by God’s Spirit in His response. When tortured and led to death, He hallows the worth of even His enemies.

This is why He can lead us into God’s presence. He cleared the way for us to come back into relationship — into connection — with God and with each other.

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”— 2 Corinthians 5:18

We are healed through the coming of Jesus. And we grow into that healing — we recover — by the work of the Holy Spirit, so that we become part of God’s work here on earth: recreating everything. The opposite of what we expect — the shift from power, demands, and required authority to fragility and vulnerability — leads us into the healing recovery we need.

Advent invites us to gather with friends, family, and colleagues and take the easy steps, in many cases, of strengthening our bonds with them. It is also a time to evaluate broken relationships and seek to reconnect frayed communication.

God chooses to become the opposite — so that we can be attracted to the real.