Year ABC
Christmas Day
December 25, 2016
Cross~Wind
December 25, 1994
Community UMC
December 25, 1988
Plainfield UMC
Title:
Did we get the message?
John
1:1-18 is the introductory hymn to the Gospel of John. We enter what we might
think of as the “holy of holies” for Christian theologians. Part of the reason
is this. Christianity affirms that we find truth, goodness, and beauty in an
event within human history, in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. We
learn that truth in the simple affirmation of this passage that “The Word
became flesh,” and not just any flesh, but Jewish flesh. We find that God
created through the Word. The Logos is never just an assemblage of words, but
is always meaning, thought, or discourse. It means an orderly presentation. It
could connect with the notion of Wisdom, suggesting that this form of Wisdom is
part of the world. Jesus Christ is that Word or revelation from God. We might
even say something as bold as this. We will not really understand creation
until we come to terms with the Son of God. Of course, we can understand it
scientifically, but we will never have a proper view of it until we turn to
Jesus. These verses open up a discussion of life and light, which will major
themes in this Gospel. It introduces us to the importance of coming to believe
or trust what God has done in the Word. We have many roles in this world as
human beings who are part of various groups. We are in families, places of
work, communities, and nations. Yet, beyond all roles, the most important thing
you can be is a child of God. We also learn that when the Word came into this
world, the Word did not come as a stranger. The Word came to his own possession
or people, and not to foreign territory. Those who did not receive him were not
strangers, but his own people. Our resistance to the Word means that we need
rebirth by the Spirit. If this divine Word became flesh, God intends to redeem
this world and bring it into the eternal presence of God.
Introduction
She went through a final check of her "things to
do before Christmas" list and discovered she had forgotten to send any
Christmas cards. Though the time was
short, the clock had not yet struck midnight.
She rushed into a store and found two boxes of cards, already marked 60%
off. Without reading or even really
looking at them, she feverishly began addressing and signing the cards. Dashing to the post office, she shoved them
onto the counter just as the clerk was reaching for his "This window
closed" sign. On Christmas day,
when things had quieted down a bit and some semblance of order had been
restored, she noticed that one of those last minute cards had been left over. She wondered, "What was the message I
sent to my friends?" Opening the
card, she stared unbelievingly at these words: "This card is just a note
to say ... A little gift is on the way."
Gifts
are important for this time of the year.
Though we probably overdo it, it can be a sign of our love and care for
those important to us. This season is
about a lot more than gifts we give each other.
John
speaks of majestic truths here. He
speaks of the gift God has given to us.
It speaks of what God has done.
We cannot improve upon it. We
cannot add to it.
Application
Did we
get the message of this Christmas season?
On a
personal note, as I look over the 55 years of being a Christian, I keep
learning what it means to live with Jesus and to view the world with Jesus. I
offer a few things.
First, think of the scandal of Christmas season.
In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John
1:1
This is truly a scandal of the Christian message. It speaks of the unique relationship Jesus
had with God. This is not just speculation
about the nature of God. It is grounded
in what the Christian community had experienced of Jesus, both while he was
alive, but more particularly after he died.
I was
reminded of the scandal of the Christian faith at this point when I read some
comments about Christianity that are in the Koran, the holy book of the
Muslims. It specifically and repeatedly
condemns the idea of the "Son of God."
"Allah is one, the eternal one of God. ... He
begot none nor was he begotten. None are
equal to him. ... Those who say that the God has begotten a son preach a
monstrous falsehood, which the very heavens might crack, the heavens break
asunder, and the mountains crumble to dust.
It does not become the holy God to beget a son." (7:8)
What
the Koran objects to is precisely what we have come to believe. A Jewish boy growing up in Nazareth, baptized
by John, preaching on the Galilean hills, crucified in Jerusalem, this very
person relates so uniquely to God that we call him "Son of God." We had nothing to do with it. It is what God has done. For us, this is good news. This is why we sing.
Did we
get the message of this Christmas season?
Second, think of the witness creation offers to the truth of the Christmas message.
All things
came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.-
John 1:3
Jesus not only has a unique relation to God. Jesus has a unique relation to all
creation. Indeed, all creation bears the
stamp of the Word of God. Creation
itself is a witness to God. We may have a factual understanding of our world
through science, but we need knowledge of the Son if we are to understand its
meaning and purpose.
Did we
get the message of this Christmas season?
Third, think of the particular, unique, and universal message of Christmas.
He was in the
world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know
him.- John 1:10
There are many religions in the world, with many
teachers. There are many good teachers,
with helpful things to teach us. In Jesus,
God came close to the world in a new way.
Jesus was, I am sure, a wonderful man.
He was more than a man. I am sure
he was a great teacher. He was more than
a teacher. This text shows that God
pursued the world in Jesus.
Yet, we
forget how difficult it can be to believe.
George MacDonald said we have terribly misrepresented God. We tend to think of God in such royal
terms. Like that of a king. But then, he says, we are imagining the wrong
thing. Do you want a king? There he is, picking up children and blessing
them and saying that we should be like them.
There he is, living and teaching among the poor in Galilee. Yes, it can be so difficult to believe.
Did we
get the message?
Fourth, think of the impossibility of the Christmas message.
And the Word
became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a
father's only son, full of grace and truth.- John 1:14
This is really quite unreasonable. How can we really ask people to believe that
God became a human being in Jesus, this Jewish peasant from Galilee who lived
2000 years ago? We get so accustomed to
hearing it. Maybe we have forgotten the
unbelievable character of what we sing and teach at this time.
We
recognize that the world needs, that we need, a God who is not distant in the
heavens. We need a God willing to come
right here, and dwell among us, in the ordinary lives each of us must
face. This is God's gift. All we can do is receive it, and live in the
reality of it.
Imagine
a king who fell in love with a peasant girl.
How could he tell her of his love?
Of course, he could come in all his royal power and might, overwhelm her
with his glory, sweep her off her feet, bring her to the palace, and live
happily ever after. But then, would he
ever know if she really loved him, or just things which he provided her
with. No, instead, the king decides to
become a peasant himself, to dress and in every way become a peasant, and seek
to win her love. Then he would know it
was a genuine love for him, and not just what he could do for her (Soren
Kierkegaard, Philosophical Fragments, 32-35).
Conclusion
All of
this is God's gift to us. Because we
could not find our own way to God, God has made a way to us, through Jesus. For
us, if this is not true, then nothing is true.
Let us live in the reality of this truth.
John 13:34
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have
loved you, you also should love one another.
John 15:12
"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved
you.
John 15:17 I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.
1 John 3:11 For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that
we should love one another.
The
writings of Paul continue this emphasis upon the centrality of love.
Romans 13:8
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves
another has fulfilled the law.
1 Corinthians 13:13
And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is
love.
Galatians 5:6
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is
faith working through love.
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