Not all that long ago Brian Wren wrote a poem titled "Good Is the Flesh." What follows is from that poem:
Good is the flesh that the Word has become.
Good is the body for knowing the world,
sensing the sunlight, the tug of the ground,
feeling, perceiving, within and around,
good is the body from cradle to grave,
Good is the flesh that the Word has become.
Good is the body from cradle to grave,
growing and aging, arousing, impaired,
happy in clothing, or lovingly bared,
good is the pleasure of God in our flesh,
Good is the flesh that the Word has become.
Good is the pleasure of God in our flesh,
longing in all, as in Jesus, to dwell,
glad of embracing, and tasting, and smell,
good is the body, for good and for God,
Good is the flesh that the Word has become.
(Wren's poem uses "incarnational" language...specifically Christian incarnational language.)
We don't all that often see "incarnational" stuff happening around us. Sometimes we do see God being incarnated in the acts of another person, but not often enough.
There are some examples I can and will point to, however:
It could be seen in John Woolman, in 1740's colonial America, when he rallied his fellow Quakers to oppose slavery and began what would become the abolitionist movement in this country.
It could be seen in Dietrich Bonhoeffer when he challenged Nazi Germany, while most of the rest of the church was silent in the face of evil.
It could be seen in Gandhi when he took on an empire with the power of non-violent resistance.
It could be seen in Rosa Parks when she sat down in the front seat of the bus.
It could be seen in Desmond Tutu when we persisted in hope in the face of apartheid.
Belief is important...but not even close to the importance of being, being the incarnational presence of God in our time and place.
Oh, and being-a-jerk-about-it is never gonna fly.
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