Video Transcript: A Ministry of Incarnation: Representing Christ with Flesh and Blood

Abby - We are back in this holiday chaplaincy class, and we're going to get in  the theological side here a little bit  

Henry - a ministry of our incarnation, representing Christ with flesh and blood,  like Christ born on this earth to Mary flesh and blood God human with us.  

Abby - So as a Christmas chaplain, you're representing Christ, not just as a  helper or a volunteer, you are sent as a representative of of Jesus, Christ.  

Henry - And as Jesus, embodied God, human, you are coming as an  ambassador with the presence, the posture, the purpose and Christ, Jesus,  living in you, defines your calling. It's this insight of incarnational leadership,  Christ's, method of ministry representation flows from spiritual identity and  calling. It becomes about who we are and who God has made someone to be  more than it comes to the acts themselves. And this is a huge Christmas issue,  because in so many ways, Christmas is now defined as what someone  

Abby - gets, right? It's all it's turned very transactional in a certain sense, yes,  

Henry - in here, Christmas Chaplin, seasonal chaplains come back to No, it's  not about what you get at Christmas. It's who you are in Christ, Jesus in the  presence of God.  

Abby - So offering presents, you know, you have to model this, that you're a  minister in real spaces, whether that be a hospital, whether it be a shelter,  whether that be going into someone's home. You know, this is a time where  hospitality is very needed.  

Henry - Wow, you offer Christ nearness through your presence, just by showing up. And that's really the essence of a chaplain. So it makes sense that there  would be a Christmas chaplain, right? Absolutely. Ministry, sciences, Insight  embodies presence, communications, compassion beyond words, the physical  proximity itself opens doors to spiritual impact. You know, you know, I could see, you know, that lot of times in Christianity, they'll have, like Street Preachers and  and we know some at Christian Leaders Institute. This is like the amazing street  preacher opportunity with a twist. So instead of this feeling like, Okay, we're  gonna go out there as a street preacher, no, you're gonna just stand at  Christmas time, right?  

Abby - You're gonna stand in spaces that need someone to be standing in  them, right? 

Henry - And then, if you have Chaplin on, that is so different than a megaphone  saying, you know, repent, the time is near, okay? And again. And I am not  criticizing anyone who has a calling.  

Abby - This is another approach, because people need different approaches to  sometimes be reached, and we know that this is one of the ways people need to be reached. They need that, that presence of God that they feel from someone  

who is in love with God. And so as a chaplain, yeah, maybe you're standing in  the local library, just, you know, standing in an aisle that is on books to deal with  grief. You know, there's a lot of ways that you can  

Henry - imagination where that could go. I think of being, let's say you're in a  wheelchair. You're here, you are. You want to purpose this day, and Jesus Christ has completely changed you. And you're not bitter. You are so connected. And  so get your little Chaplain shirt on, and it's Christmas season, and you just come to a spot, and you show up there, and people are going to be like, Hmm, who is  that guy? Who is that gal? And next thing, and they come back and they're  getting their coffee, you know, you're on the sidewalk and Chaplain. So you  have Chaplin on your what is that, you know,  

Abby - tell me about, or how did you come to want to be a chaplain like, well,  you know, you don't know what question someone might ask, but you're creating that open door.  

Henry - You know, my your sister Christina, wrote a play years ago. It was a  story about a woman who just loved Christmas, Nora. You're actually in Nora,  yes. And you were in the play. You were the young Nora, yes. And but was so  fascinating about what that place showed is, here's a woman who loved  Christmas, and. And and because in the whole kind of trope of the story was  around that and how many people's lives were impacted. So I could see that this is where theology and presence come together at Christmas time, where you  can just sort of have, here's my here's my route, here's I walk in our little town  this route with my Chaplain outfit on, and word spreads, yeah,  

Henry - is a Christmas chaplain. You ever heard of a Christmas Chaplain before they first laugh? And I noticed that as a chaplain like at the country club, yeah,  we got a reverend here, and they all laugh, give me a hard time, and they think  there's no such thing as a Christmas or a country club chaplain, Chaplain, and  then what happens is the space is opened up, right?  

Abby - And people do come and ask and talk and need that chaplaincy. It's true.

Henry - It's the most fascinating thing,  

Abby - a presence of flesh and blood. So as we've been talking about, Jesus  came in flesh and blood, fully human, fully divine. He enters into humanity with  that vulnerability and intimacy. Chooses to be near, not distance, and so distant.  So as a chaplain, again, we are just really embodiling in our ministry. God's  model of that humble proximity,  

Henry - right proximity, just showing up. Yeah, you know, I sometimes, in my  mind, dream of, like, like, this is a thing, like, a really big thing. Like, there are  Christmas chaplains, and they're just walking along, and they don't talk in terms  of, like, trying to approach people, yeah, just there.  

Abby - And maybe that's hard for some of us. Maybe it's hard that's hard for us.  I mean, we're both talked about, we'll talk. I think that as we talk about this class, it's a good challenge to me, as I'm going to the next Christmas season. You  know, it's, it's so easy for me to just, yeah. Want to talk into somebody's thing  and try to say that what might help them, or blah, blah, blah. But you know  what? People really again, need people to be just with them, present,  

Henry - yeah, in some ways. How many ways can we say that?  Abby - Yeah, we found quite a few ways  

Henry - you are the body of Christ in action. Hey, check out I Corinthians 12:27  it's hands, feet, eyes, Voice of Christ in the world, your surrendered presence  becomes his extension.  

Abby - Yeah, absolutely this incarnational ministry, it transforms these ordinary  acts into really sacred encounters. You know, I watched a movie last night where the main probably a movie I've watched that barely any, like, the least amount of words I've seen in a movie for a long time. Let's put it that way. And you just  absolutely love this main character. And it was just, he was very quiet, but he  just did these things, saw the people that weren't seen. And it was really cool,  because they really dug into his backstory, of what he had experienced as a  child, to really set him up to be this person that saw what other people weren't  seeing. And there's this scene where his wife's like, you just have too soft of a  heart for people, and you just, like care too much for everybody, and you need to just ignore more things, you know. And I think what's beautiful about being a  chaplain is you can have that soft heart, and again, it's still important to have  healthy boundaries and protect your life and family, but you get to have that soft  heart and just step out and be an open door and presence for people. Wow. 

Henry - I mean, so many of the Christmas stories that we love have those  themes, and even, like the Charles Dickens Christmas Carol, you know, you'll  have like, you know, like the whole story about Tiny Tim and the ghosts and who visit Ebenezer Scrooge and, you know, in even the Ghost of Christmas Future  doesn't even hardly say a word, yeah, you know, but it's a whole big story of the  presence of what could potentially happen if people know that they can come to  someone that brings the presence of Christ, absolutely, okay. This is true,  because this is what may happen.  

Abby - Yeah, messy and holy ministry. So there, there might be some very  awkward things that you have to encounter here. Yes, interruptions, you know,  again, this, this is a challenging spot to be. You know, yes, we are saying how  beautiful and wonderful it is to do this type of ministry, but yeah, it's not always  going to be this easy thing or glamorous, like Jesus washing the feet. You're  entering into other people's pain with humility. And again, it's hard as someone  who. Has empathy and care for other people who are hurting and in pain.  

Henry - I mean, in some ways, it's that being adaptive. Ministry of sciences  emphasize adaptive emotional resilience, like you know, if nothing else, you  know what I hear, what you're going through, and I don't understand it, because  I haven't experienced it. But I can say this, I can pray for you  

Abby - absolutely, and that's when love emerges in these really imperfect,  difficult, painful spaces.  

Henry - I want to talk, and we're going to talk now about the mystery of  incarnation in this almost is to be more experienced. We can talk about it.  Theologically, The Word became flesh. God enters human, the human story.  Fully God, fully human, not in disguise, but a miracle. He came because he  loved us and wants to dwell with us in that insight international theology shapes  ministry posture toward empathy and solidarity, love-driven proximity reflects  divine intentionality. Let's talk about the mystery of all of it. It's like the mystery of relationship, yeah. So it so on so many levels. Why does it work? See, if you  were to go in in look from a maybe behavioral science perspective, you might  say, well, it works because, you know, people tend to feel better about  relationships, but, but it is because we're made in the image of God to relate to  the God of the universe. In a Christmas Chaplain embodies that the mystery  

Abby - Absolutely I mean, it is something that's hard to wrap our brains around,  but it's so powerful, the mystery and the truth of it, you 

Henry - know, a lot of times people will talk about like, get touched by an angel,  an angel showed up. You know, I believe this is the type of thing where every  Christmas chaplain has that sort of theme, like, who knows how you are going to be used today, whether it's in a nursing home, whether it's on the street corner,  in a mall, a school, you know, something is going to happen because the Holy  Spirit is in you, and you are bringing the presence of God to someone else.  

Abby - Yeah, I think that more of us just really need to think about, how can we  be a chaplain, you know, and in what places can we be? I mean, you might be  working just nine to five job, but you might be able to, you could maybe talk with  maybe you can wear a chaplain shirt while you're working. You know, you don't  know what opportunities might be before you. But again, that core of this  Christmas ministry is you show up because God first came near to us. You  move others towards that compassion as the as he did with you and moved  forward in you, and the seasonal ministry as this ministry science, as it says,  gains depth when it's rooted in that redemptive history, when it's pointing people  to thinking that aligns practical with the theological foundation of Emmanuel, of  God, of what he did when he came at Christmas.  

Henry - This is so deep and so cool. It's a living extension of Christ's ministry.  You are his ambassador of witness. People may encounter Christ through your  presence, and I would say you will notice it. And what we want, too, is you tell us the stories. We're going to have a place for you to tell this  

Abby - huge section of all the amazing Christmas, Thanksgiving and just Easter stories of what God, what God has done through you and in your community.  

Henry - Christ witnesses often experience through relational trust, incarnational  acts embody truth in tangible forms,  

Abby - although, again, as a chaplain, you cannot fix everything. You're not  going you know, you can't get that savior complex of you can save everybody,  do every youth buddy, but you have been sent by God to be present, to allow  Christ and the Holy Spirit to work through you have that availability, that  compassion, and again, just allowing presence itself to be transformative. And I  think it just has to be stressing in and again, I think there is such a temptation for us to feel one of two things. Again, I can fix things. I can give people this  amazing advice, or even that pressure of, I didn't do enough. I didn't do enough,  you know. And so both of those are such strong temptations, I think, for those of  us that are trying to be ambassadors for Christ. So I think just continuing to rest  and showing up for people is what they need. They need that. 

Henry - So I want to talk about a little debate that happens amongst the  Christians right now. I have seen it's like, well, you know, Christian Christmas. Is  a pagan holiday, and then the Christian church, you know, took over this pagan  holiday, and there is a debate, and I'm not saying how you pretty good,  particularly aligned in that debate, in your walk, but this is what we see. We like  Christmas chaplain, not because we're going to fix that debate on the origin of  Christmas and all of that. What Christianity did somewhere along the way is  storied that it that it's a religious thing, that Christ came into the world, God in  man, incarnation in that this just the birth of Jesus. This is theological. The birth  of Jesus himself is such a big deal, and in we're gonna celebrate it whether  Jesus maybe was born. And like I've heard, some people believe it's at the end  of September, early October, because of some study or this, you know, all of  that put aside, in general, in the world, this is an opportunity for our theology to  shine in your ministry, to make impact, absolutely, and that's really what this is  about. And you know, in we ask you, you know, do not send us letters about how we got the don't understand that the debate. We understand the debate, but we  also understand this opportunity. Absolutely.  

Abby - Yeah, we have such an opportunity to embody ministry and in a world  that's becoming very disconnected, very digital, very synthetic, AI, all of it. And  so I think even more than ever, this is so important that people need someone to really look them in the eye, someone to really share a space with them and  meet real pain in real places.  

Henry - Yes, and Ministry of sciences affirms the power of embodied empathy, a real person, yes, not a chat, not a video game. Face to face, presence disrupts  isolations isolation, and fosters healing. We're going to talk in this class and  some of the later ones about, you know that Blue Christmas training really  people. They're looking for love, yes, someone to notice them. So we continue  on. And I'm praying that the Lord will, as you think about this, you are living out  the truth of the Incarnation.  

Abby - Your ministry declares God is with us, still with us. You serve humbly as  a vessel of love.  

Henry - Final ministry, impact is measured by faithfulness, not this, not visibility.  You know what visibility in that word we're talking there means is like, you're just out there trying to, like, you know, look good, or have some sort of, yeah.  Incarnational chaplaincy bridges the gap between doctrine and lived reality. So  until naext time, may God bless you. As you think about your Chaplain journey,