In 1995 a song by Joan Osborne asked the question, “What if God was one of us?” The song was an instant hit, reaching Billboard’s Top 40 by November of that year. Its fame was not due to the popularity of the singer (Joan Osborne is now listed among music’s “One Hit Wonders”), nor did it have a particularly great or sing-able melody. The reason for the song’s popularity is that it taps into deeply held, universal questions about God:
While I’m sure the song’s producers never intended it to be a holiday hit, “What If God Was One of Us” always makes me think of Christmas nonetheless. After all, Christmas tells us that God did, in fact, become one of us. One day while driving my then 4-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter home, my son asked, “Daddy, what does God look like?”
As a trained seminarian and ordained minister of the Gospel, I took a moment to contemplate how I could explain the attributes of God, the complexities of the Trinity and the intricacies of the incarnation to a four-year-old. This was a great teachable moment and I didn’t want to blow it! Before I could deliver my answer, however, my 2-year-old daughter said, “He looks like Jesus!”
My daughter was right. With all the simplicity of a child, she expressed the truth of Christmas perfectly: Jesus shows us what God is like. The Bible says, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us, and we beheld His glory.” Jesus is God “with skin on.” And because He was willing to come to earth and live among us, He understands the struggles and trials we face. God is aware of our pain and is willing to bear our grief and carry our sorrows. Had there been buses in first-century Palestine, Jesus would have been “just a stranger on the bus trying to make his way home.” But better yet, He would have been a stranger helping you find your way home, too.
“If God had a name, what would it be?”
“What would you ask if you had just one question?”
“If God had a face, what would it look like?”
While I’m sure the song’s producers never intended it to be a holiday hit, “What If God Was One of Us” always makes me think of Christmas nonetheless. After all, Christmas tells us that God did, in fact, become one of us. One day while driving my then 4-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter home, my son asked, “Daddy, what does God look like?”
As a trained seminarian and ordained minister of the Gospel, I took a moment to contemplate how I could explain the attributes of God, the complexities of the Trinity and the intricacies of the incarnation to a four-year-old. This was a great teachable moment and I didn’t want to blow it! Before I could deliver my answer, however, my 2-year-old daughter said, “He looks like Jesus!”
My daughter was right. With all the simplicity of a child, she expressed the truth of Christmas perfectly: Jesus shows us what God is like. The Bible says, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us, and we beheld His glory.” Jesus is God “with skin on.” And because He was willing to come to earth and live among us, He understands the struggles and trials we face. God is aware of our pain and is willing to bear our grief and carry our sorrows. Had there been buses in first-century Palestine, Jesus would have been “just a stranger on the bus trying to make his way home.” But better yet, He would have been a stranger helping you find your way home, too.
Merry Christmas. May the Christ Child lead you home this Christmas.
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