Jon often misbehaved at supper time. One day, his mother had enough and put the 5-year-old in his room for time out.
The boy's grandfather, who was visiting, heard Jon's wails of sorrow down the hall. Grandpa wanted to let Jon come out of his room, but did not want to negate his daughter’s authority.
After a moment’s thought, Grandpa went into Jon’s room to spend time with him until his time out was over.
Across town, Paul was walking in the woods with his 9-year-old son, Andrew. The boy pointed to a trail of ants scurrying across the forest floor, many of them carrying leaves and twigs.
He noticed a small group of ants trying to wrestle a particularly large leaf around a rock. It seemed no matter how hard the ants tried, they could not make it around the rock.
Andrew said he wished he could help them.
His father said, “But, you are too big, and they wouldn’t understand. If you were to help them, you would frighten them off. ”
Andrew thought for a moment and then quietly said, “If I became one of them, they wouldn't be frightened of me. Then I could help.”
God knew humanity's plight: people overrun by sin, crying for help and seeking release from our self-imposed prisons.
God knew he could ignore his own rules and expectations, but knew that would not solve the problem. So, God decided he needed to be with us and among us.
He also knew that if he came here as he is, we would have been so afraid of him we would have run away. So, he came to us as one of us.
Jesus. Immanuel. God with us. How wonderful is that!
The Rev. Mark Broadhead is Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church of Crestview’s pastor.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: FROM THE PULPIT: Having God here on earth, with us