SERMON
NOTES FOR CHRISTMAS I: Isaiah 61:10-52:3; Psalm 147; Galatians 3:23-25, 4:4-7;
John 1:1-18.
Isaiah
tells us part of the story of the people of
In
the lesson from Galatians, Paul puts it this way, “But when the time had fully
come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem
those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons and
daughters.” The response called for on our part is acceptance of God’s gift of
faith. This gift of faith precedes the gift of the power to obey. In Galatians
5:1, Paul declares that it is this faith which sets free his converts in
John’s
Gospel is speaking of that which becomes the most cherished of Anglican
beliefs, the Incarnation. This unusual word means that not only does God care,
but acts upon that caring. God knows about the darkness which we face in this
world. And the darkness has not, cannot, and will not overcome the light which
is God shining in and through Jesus. The most simple definition of Incarnation
is “enfleshed.” The love and grace of God have become real in the human flesh
of Jesus of Nazareth. John says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
full of grace and truth,…” The literal meaning of “dwelt among us” is “pitched
his tent among us.” God’s coming to us in the flesh is a way that we can
understand. But more than that, it means that God has come to stay for good.
Jesus is God’s way of identification with the human condition. The great church
Father, St. Irenaeus, said it this way, “The Word of God, Jesus Christ, on
account of his great love for mankind, became what we are in order to make us
what He is Himself.” God knows totally what it means to be us. God identifies
completely with our life and journey of struggle. God only knows that we need
all the light that we can get in our world. It sometimes seems as if the
darkness of what people do to each other and to themselves, sooner or later,
will put out the light. But John says of the light that is Christ, “and the
darkness has not overcome it.” That’s the Gospel—which is indeed “good news.”
We need to know that there is something which cannot be overcome by the
darkness of this world’s death and destruction.
What
does the birth of Jesus mean to you? The Rev. Ben Helmer, who also was a P.K.
with me in our childhood Diocese of Northern Michigan, explains it so well. One
principal idea is the Incarnate Christ: “The word became flesh and dwelt among
us.” God decided to enter into a personal relationship with humanity. God
became like you and me—flesh. God could have chosen simply to watch and see
what would happen, but instead chose to connect, interact, and experience the
human condition. Not only that, God limited the experience to ours—no special
privileges. God took on the living conditions of the time: the smell, the
thirst and poverty, the ravages of disease and discomfort. Jesus was not
offered anything better than others because of who he was.
So,
what does the Incarnate Christ mean for us? It means God wants a relationship
with every one of us, not just a chosen few. God wants us to know we are loved,
valued, and worth saving, that we are precious. God wants to draw us together
into a kingdom of life that is abundant and rich, that has lots of entry points
and that involves many different people.
The
Incarnate Christ also gives us a guide for mission. If God chose to come and live
among us and be like us, then our mission is to seek out those especially who
are marginal, lonely, lost, in prison, hurt, angry, afraid, and unsuccessful
right where we live. We can be their light in the darkness, and we can
experience God’s grace in solidarity with them.
The
second idea about what the birth of Jesus means is the Redemptive Christ. Helen
Keller, whose life is depicted in the classic movie, The Miracle Worker, lived
in a world of deafness and darkness. Her teacher, Ann Sullivan, after much
frustration in trying to communicate, takes her to the family well, pumps water
over her, then spells the word W-A-T-E-R into Helen’s hand, and then pronounces
the word as she holds Helen’s hand to her throat. Suddenly, the world becomes
real and connected to Helen, and her life is never the same again.
Ben
says that redemption is something like that. God decided the world was worth
redeeming, and chose to act by coming among us and giving us a model for
humanity in Jesus Christ. We no longer have to stumble in the dark, wondering
who we are supposed to become. God has begun redemption in each of us through
our Baptism. It’s a life-long work of remodeling and rebuilding. But Jesus has
moved into the neighborhood, and nothing will ever be the same because of it.
Instead of God saying, “Let’s see what they do…” God says, “Here is what I am
going to do”. God acted in a profound way, and we celebrate the action in every
Eucharist, reminding ourselves of God’s project and of our part in it.
The
third principal idea of what the birth of Jesus means is that of the Cosmic
Christ. “In the beginning was the Word”, according to John’s Gospel. In the
Creed we state “Eternally begotten of the father…of one being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.” Jesus was present and participated in
Creation. When we are baptized we enter into a personal relationship with
everything that is created and with the divine creator. This principal has
never quite caught on in our culture, but other cultures, including the Native
American, have always known and believed in the sacred relationship of all
life.
Having
a relationship with the Cosmic Christ means the world is not ours to possess.
The title deed already belongs to another. It is rather ours to care for, and
includes the land, water, the animals, and plants, and the people of this
earth. How do we live as a people of the
Cosmic Christ? How do we use things, preserve and recycle them and what do we
leave behind for others? Since Americans consume much of the world’s available
resources while others are in want, believing in a Cosmic Christ should make us
want to do everything in our power to see, out of our abundance, that all
people have what they need. The Cosmic Christ expects nothing less.
As
Christians, as the Body of Christ, this is the only world we have. It is here
that we are to live out our lives as witnesses to the saving power of God in
Jesus Christ. The Gospel is God’s Word for those who are trying to live each
day faithfully. It is for those who are willing to let the Word become flesh in
their lives. This is the Incarnation continuing to be present in the world. The
goal is to become fully human as Jesus was fully human. The process is a life
lived with Christ, daily. In Jesus we see who God really is. God identifies
himself with us in Jesus. We are to become one with them as Jesus has become
one with us. Jesus Christ has revealed God as he is. Our task is to continue
the revelation through who we are.
AMEN.