In the name of the One who is, and was, and is to come. Amen.
Merry Christmas! The Christmas morning Eucharist is one of the holiest there is and the Christmas morning sermon is one that I always enjoy preparing. For one, I know that you all want to be here. No one gets dragged to the Christmas morning Eucharist, they get dragged to Midnight Mass. There is something special about gathering in the Lord’s name to celebrate the Eucharist on this the most foundational of days in our faith when we celebrate the glory and grandeur of the Incarnation. And the Gospel text that we have this morning from John is one of the richest in all of Scripture and theology. It’s always a treat to sit down with commentaries for a few hours and dig into these iconic verses. So indeed, it is a joy to be here with you all this morning.
There’s a Bible scholar who recently published a new translation of the New Testament, and in the footnote about this passage he writes “There is no passage more resistant to translation.” And by that I take him to be saying that this passage is not to be translated or understood, it is to be incarnated or experienced. The very idea that this passage points to is that God takes on flesh and dwells among us, and it encourages the same in us – that the eternal Word of God that is full of grace, and truth, and love take root in our lives.
These first fourteen verses of John are so rich that there is essentially an infinite number of sermons that could be preached from them. This year, my approach will be to lift up four of the central claims that this prologue to John makes about Jesus, the Incarnate God.
The first of these claims is that the Word is creative. Just as Genesis opens with “In the beginning,” so too does John see the Incarnation as an event as creative and foundational as Creation itself, and so John begins with “In the beginning.” And if this were a lecture on the Gospel according to John, we could trace this theme through the writing. But the place where we read John really building on this idea is at the Resurrection, which, for John, takes place in a garden, which is meant to again evoke Creation imagery.
This link between the Incarnation and Creation shows us that the Incarnation was not a “back up” plan. John tells us that “In the beginning was the Word.” The Word is a part of God and always has been. It’s not as if God created the world and then said, “Oops, that’s not what I was hoping for. Better kill my son to fix this.” That is abhorrent theology, but sadly, it’s common. But this passage from John makes it clear that Jesus has always been a part of the equation. God has always loved us and from the beginning of Creation, intended to make this love manifest in the Word of God. Undergirding this insistence that “All things came into being through the Word, and without him not one thing came into being” is a profound sense of love. The Word which created all things taking on flesh is not a strategy to deal with our brokenness, but rather is a manifestation of God’s eternal love for us. As we all know, when you love someone, you want to be with them – and that is what we see in the Incarnation.
And we also see by linking Incarnation to Creation that there is always a new possibility in God. By portraying the Word by using the imagery of Creation, John is pointing to the fact there is no such thing as a dead-end when it comes to God. As we hear in Eucharistic Prayer D, this Word of God makes the whole creation new. So even when it seems that all is hopeless, that you are stuck, that there is no way forward, that only a true miraculous act of God can save you, we have the Incarnation to remind us that God is not done with us. God’s creative power to make a way out of no way, to put back together what has been broken is what we celebrate in the Word becoming flesh.
The second thing that this passage tells us about the Word is that it is light. Light is a multivalent symbol. Light from a fire is purging and transforming, taking away imperfections, allowing us to cook food, and stay warm. Light, whether it be in a lantern or lighthouse, can give us direction and guidance. Light, as we’re starting to capitalize on, can provide power and energy. Light also dispels the darkness and takes away our fears. It’s why children so often want to have a nightlight in their room – just a bit of light can put us at peace. The light of Christ defies injustice, brightens our path, and warms our souls. And as we know from science, without light there is no life. The same is true in our faith – without the shining light of Christ, there is no faith.
No matter what, we hold onto this image of the Word as light. John tells us that “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” Whatever darkness you may experience, there is always the light of Christ. Sometimes it may seem distant and dim, other times it may be like a bonfire that singes your eyebrows. Either way, this image of light reminds us that we always have hope.
Next, John speaks about this Word in terms that are courageous. We read that “He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.” God so loved the world as to come and face rejection, betrayal, and death. God did not have to do this. But out of God’s deep and abiding love for us, God came and continues to come. One theologian has said that compassion can be defined as “entering into the chaos of another,” and that is certainly what God does when the Word becomes flesh.
Our chaos looks like a lot of things: doubt, greed, hatred, holding grudges, theft, lying. But God is not scared of those things. This Word of God is ultimately self-giving, just as a spoken word is. Once a word is uttered, it cannot be taken back. When you say “I love you” to someone, you don’t know what will follow. It might be received warmly and be the salvation that person needs to hear. But that statement of love might also be rejected or ridiculed. It takes a tremendous amount of courage to speak a word of love to someone, especially when you know that you might be speaking a word into darkness. But thanks be to God that love is stronger than fear.
The final aspect of this Word that I’ll point to this morning is fullness. John writes that, in this Word, we see glory, grace, and truth. The Anglican bishop and theologian NT Wright has said that “if you want to know God, look long and hard at Jesus.” Because this Word “was with God and was God,” what we see in Jesus is not an aspect of God or a glimpse of God, but the Word made flesh is the fullness of God. And in looking at Jesus, we see the very same power that made all things, the very same love which redeems all things, the very same grace with blesses all things, the very same truth which sustains all things, the very same glory which animates all things.
And so if you want to encounter that which is good, and true, and beautiful, look at Jesus because he is the grain of the universe. In him, we see that dedication to the poor, and generosity, and self-giving love are the most natural things that we can ever do. As Jesus will say later in John, he came that we might have abundant life, and this abundance of life is rooted in the fullness of grace, glory, and truth that are manifest in him,.
Because Jesus tells us that our sins are forgiven, we know that it is true. Because Jesus shows us that the last shall be first, we know that it is true. Because Jesus shows us that God is love, we know that it is true. If you want to know about God, look at Jesus; and as you look, know that what you are seeing is the pure and holy love out of which you were created and to which all things are destined.
The Word is the creative and courageous light that shows us the fullness of God. This passage also mentions John the Baptist, saying “He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.” Witnessing is our ministry. There are two aspects to being a witness. The first way to understand witnessing is to see something. So keep your eyes open for the fullness of God that is all around you. Since this Word of God created all things, it means that all things are holy. Expect to find the grace of God in every person you meet. Don’t be surprised to find the light shining in the darkness. Part of being a witness is simply knowing what you’re looking for – so look for mercy, kindness, generosity, and when you see those things, know that you are witnessing God.
The other aspect of witnessing is to share what you have witnessed. Tell people about this light that guides and energizes you. As we heard in our first reading from Isaiah, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news,
who announces salvation.” Isaiah is talking about your feet. How beautiful are your feet because they carry with them the good news of God in Christ. As far as the world says, Christmas ends today. Tomorrow is back to normal. But for us, as people of faith, we know that Christmas never ends, that the grace and glory of God coming to us is as true today as it was in a manger some 2,000 years ago. And so we witness to this reality, we let the light and hope of Christmas shine through us. You all have beautiful feet, may God bless you as you witness to the Word made flesh.
Thanks and glory be to God because “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.” Amen.
