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Advent seems to be about the shame of God, but this is nothing new. Long before the incarnation, God risked shame. He chose elderly Abraham and his barren wife—strangers and aliens, without country, without city, without seed—as the unlikely parents of His people. Yahweh became their God. Long before Jesus, God began to enter into flesh.

Whenever we commit to people and causes and projects, we place ourselves at the mercy of others. We put our reputations and names on the line. Will our chosen spouse be faithful? Will our children embarrass us? Will the others working on this project pull their weight? Will we risk everything, and lose? Will we be ashamed?

In His eternal humility, God puts His reputation on the line by allying with strangers, and Hebrews says “God is not ashamed to be called their God.” Abraham and Sarah trusted and died in faith, though they greeted the promise only from a great distance. They sought a heavenly city prepared by God, and God was vindicated in their trust.

And God is not ashamed to take flesh because in the flesh Jesus proves Himself a true Son of Abraham. Even when He faces the cross and grave, Jesus trusts His Father, and God is not ashamed to call Him Son.

We bear the name of the Triune God. The Spirit dwells in our flesh. God entrusts His Name and future to us, and calls us to be His covenant partners. Will we vindicate Him by the faith that overcomes the world? Or will He be ashamed to call us His people?

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