December 25, 2022 Sermon
Sermon title: "Merry Christmas!"
Scripture: John 1:1-14
(Other lectionary choices include Isaiah 52:7-10, Psalm 98, and Hebrews 1:1-4 and 5-12.)
John 1:1-14
The Word Became Flesh
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. 6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. 14And 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.
Once again, good morning, and Merry Christmas! I awoke singing in my head this Christmas song, which isn't one of the most popular ones: "On this day, earth shall ring, with the song children sing....." And then I forget the next line, until "Him the Father gave us, Come to earth to save us, Id-ee-oh, oh, oh, Id-ee-oh, oh, oh, Id-ee-oh, Gloria, In Excelsis Deo." And I don't know what "Id-ee-oh" means! Probably some Latin phrase! But anyway, Merry Christmas!
The lectionary gives us the first 14 verses of the Gospel of John. Notice that there was no birth account, no Joseph and Mary, no shepherds or wise men. Why? Maybe because John had not heard those accounts - and I do say accountS plural, because the birth stories in Matthew and Luke differ. (Matthew has the wise men following the star, and Luke has the shepherds and angels and the manger and the stable.) OR.....and this may be a shocking thing to hear on Christmas morning.... maybe whoever wrote the Gospel of John didn't think how Jesus got here was important! What's important is that he DID get here, and by God's Will! And for John, Jesus didn't just "get here"....He has always existed, from the Beginning. Did you hear how John opens his Gospel? "In the beginning." Sounds reminiscent of Genesis, doesn't it? That's not an accident! That's ON PURPOSE! For John, Jesus existed with God from the beginning! Please listen again: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word WAS God." Do you hear what John is saying? Jesus is the Word, the Message, the Logos (in Greek), and he was with God from the beginning. Not only that: he (Jesus) and the Word and God are all the same thing!
Wow! That's a lot to digest ANYTIME, not just on Christmas morning. And I just had this thought: we hear a lot of Christians talking about being "born again". That comes from John's Gospel later on, when the adult Jesus has a conversation with the religious leader Nicodemus, and Jesus talks about being "born again". What Jesus meant is open to debate, but one thing he could have meant is that those hearing this message maybe need to re-boot, as we say in the computer age! We need to look at everything all over and perhaps CHANGE the way we think. I think the writer of John made his first few verses sound like Genesis because he wanted us to consider taking a NEW look at things we have always taken for granted. Genesis started out with "In the beginning". Well, so did John. Maybe John was saying we need a NEW beginning, and Jesus is it!
That may be too much theology for a Christmas morning, but there it is in the last gospel written - or at least the last one the early church thought should be in what we call the New Testament. And why NOT consider why Jesus came to earth if not on THIS day? You've heard the phrase, "Jesus is the reason for the season." And that's right. Not Christmas trees and pretty lights and camels and wise men and shepherds and sheep and stables, although I like all those things, and they do have their place. But there's the reason, put so well in the last verse we heard today: "And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory of a father's only son, full of grace and truth."
I could end right there, but there's another verse we heard today that is just as important, and that's verse 5: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." Thanks be to God for this day and EVERY day. Amen.
Pastor Skip
