God Stoops Down
Here on Substack, I have two different reader groups that often overlap. On one hand, there are patients’ families, friends, and people I’ve met through parenting connections who are here to read about and discuss ideas about raising healthy children. On the other hand, there are friends, mentors, and people I’ve met through my theological connections to open and relational theology. Several of you have an interest in both areas. I try to direct my posts at both groups, yet each tends to focus a bit more on parenting or theology. This post leans heavily toward theology. For those who read to the end, I’ll tie it into parenting.
You Can’t Unsee It
Lately, I’ve heard the phrase, “once you see it, you can’t unsee it,” in many contexts. Sometimes people use it referring to horrific, violent images. Arundhati Roy is widely credited for using it regarding politics, saying, “The trouble is that once you see it, you can’t unsee it. And once you’ve seen it, keeping quiet, saying nothing, becomes as political an act as speaking out. There’s no innocence.” Lately, I’ve found myself unable to “unsee” essential kenosis as a divine characteristic. The idea of God being “essentially kenotic” was not an easy concept for me to grasp. Yet, once I saw it and understood it, I now see it in many places, including Scripture.
My doctoral advisor, mentor, and friend, Tom Oord, describes essential kenosis, saying, “God must self-give and others-empower because it’s God’s nature to do so.” The word, kenosis, comes up when the apostle Paul quotes an early Christian hymn in his letter to the church in Philippi that would have been familiar to them:
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross. (Phil. 2:5-8, NRSV)
Paul used the Greek word kenosis, which translates here as “emptied himself.” Another way to phrase it is “self-giving.” Jesus’ act of self-emptying is not an act of rejecting divinity. It is meaningful as an act of humility and a demonstration of solidarity. Jesus was self-giving throughout his life. He cared for the sick, the dying, the lonely, and the outcast, and he gave of himself to help them. He spent long hours teaching, mentoring, and demonstrating love. Ultimately, his death on the cross showed his self-emptying character by sharing in the depths of human suffering. Throughout it all, Jesus consistently showed divine love to a world in need. As Oord says, “Jesus’ life of love reveals that God always loves.” Because a loving God doesn’t control others, God’s love is “necessarily self-giving, others-empowering, and therefore, uncontrolling.”
Here’s my summary. Jesus reflected God’s love as self-giving in his life and death. His ministry demonstrates that God also aligns with the sick, the dying, the lonely, and the outcast, providing empathy, love, and guidance.
Divine kenosis is God pouring into our lives in a way that understands us, empathizes with us, and guides us toward flourishing. Once I saw this, I couldn’t help but see it in other places.
Psalm 113
Our faith community is one of many that follow the lectionary as a guide through Scripture. Each week, it suggests passages from Hebrew and Christian Scripture that may be meaningful when read or discussed together. This week’s lectionary passages included Psalm 113.
Hallelujah!
Give praise, you servants of the Lord;
praise the Name of the Lord.
Let the Name of the Lord be blessed,
from this time forth for evermore.
From the rising of the sun to its going down
let the Name of the Lord be praised.
The Lord is high above all nations,
and his glory above the heavens.
Who is like the Lord our God, who sits enthroned on high
but stoops to behold the heavens and the earth?
He takes up the weak out of the dust
and lifts up the poor from the ashes.
He sets them with the princes,
with the princes of his people.
He makes the woman of a childless house
to be a joyful mother of children.
Psalm 113 (NRSV)
Here, the psalmist begins by giving praise to God. This first section declares God’s transcendence, or the way God is “high above the nations,” using poetic praise language. The psalmist calls for praises to God all day, every day, from now to eternity because God sits on high with divine glory above the heavens. These words are certainly lofty and celebrate God’s transcendence. However, midway through the psalm, the writer changes abruptly, saying God “stoops to behold the heavens and the earth.” God is not only transcendent. God also stoops to see our situations. This language implies that God is immanent, meaning near, intimate, accessible, embodied, experiential, and sustaining. God empathizes with the weak and the poor, seeing them as princes, lifting them out of the dust and ashes. God considers the plight of the childless woman, giving her joy.
When I read this psalm, I think of divine kenosis. The transcendent God stoops to behold the plight of creation, empathizes with it, and responds with loving guidance.
Parenting and Other Relationships
I think these ideas point to a God who isn’t simply transcendent, but is immanent, living among us, experiencing life with us, empathizing with us, and guiding us toward a future of flourishing. Beyond believing “in” such a God, we can reflect these divine attributes to our children and others in our lives.
It’s easy for parents to be “transcendent” to their children, responding to them with a quick “no” or other rebuke. Alternatively, parents can look at their children with empathy and try to understand their position before judging their actions. Parents can reflect the divine by stooping down to their child’s level and offering a hug, accompanied by the reassurance of unconditional love. In this way, they are immanent. They are near, intimate, accessible, embodied, experiential, and sustaining. They are present and seek to understand their children’s plight and motivation. Once they know why their children acted in a certain way, they can guide them toward the best possibilities for their overall future well-being.
We can do the same in other relationships. Employers should try to see things from their employees’ perspectives to understand how policies impact them and how they can help everyone succeed. Although it is much harder, political rivals can humble themselves (at least a little) and open their minds to the idea that empathizing with others can lead to solutions that benefit everyone, not just those who are similar to themselves.
The idea of “stooping down” applies to all relationships. It doesn’t mean we arrogantly assume we are better than someone else. Quite the opposite: when we reflect divine kenosis, we realize that all of us are made in the divine image and are children of God. When we “pour out” ourselves, we focus on others and build meaningful and supportive relationships.
It may not be intuitive for many Christians to think of God as “self-emptying and others-empowering.” Jesus’ life demonstrates his continual reflection of this as an ideal about the divine. Beyond that, other Scriptures, such as Psalm 113, support the idea that God is both transcendent and immanent, empathizing with our suffering and guiding us toward a future of overall well-being.
I had a great conversation with Josh Patterson ( @RETHINKINGFAITH ) on the (Re)thinking Faith Podcast episode that he released yesterday. We discussed many of the topics from my book, Open and Relational Parenting, and had a lot of fun along the way. Check it out!
image: flux-forge ai
Subscribed as soon as I saw the word kenosis!!!
Wonderful ideas very well written.