In the name of the Word made flesh, Jesus
Christ. Amen.
Over
the past month, we’ve been focusing on the Incarnation, the central tenet of
Christianity that God became human in the flesh of Jesus of Nazareth. This
belief is most clearly seen in this morning’s reading from John: “And the Word
became flesh and dwelt among us.” But to say that Jesus is God incarnate can be
a rather ambiguous claim. Yes, the whole point of the Incarnation is that God
became specific and tangible in Jesus, but when we say that “God became man,”
what do we really mean? After all, the word “God” is merely a linguistic symbol
for that which is beyond our comprehension. So the question before us on the
Feast of the Incarnation is what became incarnate in Jesus?
Perhaps
the best answer to that question comes from 19th century English
poet, Christina Rossetti. In her poem called “Christmastide” she writes,” “Love
came down at Christmas / Love all lovely, Love Divine / Love was born at
Christmas.” What became Incarnate, what took on flesh was the love of God and
we saw this love throughout Jesus’ ministry, Death, and Resurrection. Love is
at the very center of the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As we heard
from the first epistle of John: “God is love and God’s love was revealed among
us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live
through him.” That is perhaps the most beautiful claim of our faith – that out
of God’s abundant and gracious love that Jesus came to us that we might
flourish in him. Reflecting or meditating on that verse would be a gift to us
all in this Christmas season. Love came down at Christmas, alleluia.
As
the opening of John’s Gospel portrays Jesus, we are told that he is light, and
grace, and truth. Love is all of these things. Love is light because light
shines in the darkness and casts out fear, which is what love does. Love shines
in the darkness of our hearts, the darkness of our world where people are
forgotten or trampled. Because once light shines and attention is given
transformation happens. The Episcopal priest who founded the Holy Cross
monastery in New York once said that that “Love must act as light must shine
and first must burn.” The light of the world has come into the world and this
love must act as surely as fire burns and transforms all that it consumes. And
this is how we know that God is love because Jesus transforms things. Jesus
takes people who are lost and helps them to find meaning and love. Just ask
someone who’s been in AA about it – Jesus can transform beer bottles into new
life. Jesus can transform the stingy Scrooges of the world into generous and
joyful givers. Jesus has reconciled enemies, brought sinners to repentance, and
given peace to the disturbed.
The
Incarnate love of God which we call Jesus is also full of grace. He is grace in
that he comes to us all regardless of whether or not we’ve asked for help or
made ourselves deserving of being loved. Grace is a way of explaining what we
mean by “unconditional love.” God’s love for us is not dependent on anything we
do, say, or think. And so John testifies that this Word made flesh is full of
grace.
And
Jesus is also full of truth. Truth here isn’t the opposite of false, rather
think of truth as being in alignment with God. The word “truth” in Greek
literally means “not forgetting.” So to be true is to remember. And Jesus
reminds us that God’s love is actually the most fundamental and natural thing in
the world. One theologian has said that the Cross shows us the grain of the
universe – that is what we mean by saying that Jesus is full of truth.
Throughout his ministry, he loved the unlovable, he sought out the lost, he
lifted up the lowly, and he gave himself up to Death on the Cross out of love
for us all. And this life of love is the way of salvation. This sort of love
that orients us towards the other and that is rooted in trust in God is actually
the most powerful force in the universe. Jesus came to show us this love that
we might align ourselves with that which is ultimately true.
The
fact that love came down at Christmas makes all the difference in the world.
The great theologian Karl Barth, when writing about this passage from John 1,
says “When we say Jesus Christ, this is not a possibility which is somewhere
ahead of us, but an actuality which is already behind us. This is where all
Christian knowledge and life derive their emphasis. We are not laboriously
toiling uphill, we merrily coming down.” The fact that God has come to us in
Jesus tells us that we are not alone and that love is on our side. And if love
is on our side then, indeed, in the words of Julian of Norwich, “all shall be
well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.” Love came
down at Christmas, alleluia.
What
is so unique and compelling about our Christian faith is the Incarnation
because it really does make all the difference. The world is full of religions
and philosophies that are intended to give us a sense of meaning and purpose –
even atheists do this, they search for something that will make their life
relevant and meaningful. Many other world religions are about what we need to
do in order to raise ourselves to the divine; it’s about us climbing the ladder
up to some god or state of Nirvana or peace. Sadly, you can also find many
Christians who have misinterpreted this to be the message of Christianity –
that we are supposed to pray, believe, or act in certain ways in order to
receive blessings from God. But such beliefs are antithetical to Christianity
because the Incarnation reminds us that the central message of Christianity is
that love came down.
Christianity
is not a religion about raising us up because Christianity is a religion that
proclaims that God, that love divine, the joy of heaven, to earth came down. We
are not trying to please or find God, rather God is the one seeking us out. It
turns the whole idea of faith on its head. Faith is not something that we have
to do, it is something that God gives to us. We do not have to beg or earn
anything from God, rather we have to simply receive what God has already given
us in Jesus Christ. We heard this message in 1 John: “In this is love, not that
we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice
for our sins.” Love came down at Christmas, alleluia.
Christmas
is a pure gift, the trick is that we have to receive it. And it’s so helpful to
remember that Jesus came as an infant. Those of you who have ever held a baby
know that the first thing that you have to do before holding a baby is that you
have to empty your arms and hands of anything that you’re carrying. That metaphor
is a really helpful one in terms of our Incarnational faith. We have been
gifted abundant life and there’s not a thing that we have to do to earn it or
keep it. We are loved. Just as holding a baby is a powerful experience of love,
peace, and joy, receiving the gift of God’s love of Jesus into our lives is
also about love and joy and peace. But if you want to hold the baby, you’ve got
to put everything else down. And that’s the hard part.
It’s
hard because we like the things we’re holding onto. Our arms are full of things
like power, control, money, reputation, preferences, and worldly comforts. Love
is wild and vulnerable, much like a baby is. And so trading power for obedience
might seem like a bad deal, but it’s the grain of the universe. When we go
against the grain, yes, we’re in charge, but there are going to be a lot of
rough edges. This love that came down to us is ours to embrace.
The
grace of Christmas though is that even if we can’t figure out how to empty our
arms or don’t have the courage to do it – we’re actually the baby being held by
a loving mother. “Though Jesus is God, he emptied himself, taking the form of a
servant, and was born in human likeness.” Even if you have trouble giving it
all up so that you can hold this gift of love, know that God gave it all up for
you and is holding you in love. This is the true gift of Christmas, that while
we are still imperfect, stuck in our sins and uncertainties that love came down
for us. And so even if we can’t empty our arms to receive the Christ-child, we
are still, forever and always, held by God.
The
Incarnation is a truly beautiful and life-changing event, full of light, grace,
and truth. Because God loves us so deeply, God came into the world that we
might have true life in him. “Love came down at Christmas / Love all lovely,
Love Divine / Love was born at Christmas.” Alleluia.
