Sermon for First Sunday of Christmas
December 29, 2018
In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All
things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into
being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of
all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome
it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name
was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might
believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to
the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the
world.
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. But to all who received him, who
believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born,
not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
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 testified to him and cried out, "This was he of
whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before
me.'") From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law
indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No
one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's
heart, who has made him known.
Last week we heard Luke’s version of the
Nativity. With Mary in the manger, the
Angels announcing his birth and the shepherds coming to the witness this thing
that God has done. The birth of God as a
baby. Luke, being a good first century historian,
makes sure that we know when the event happened. Luke tells us that it happened during the
reign of the Emperor Augustus while Quirinius was governor of Syria. Luke pinpoints the time when the heavens
opened and Jesus came to set us free.
This week we have John’s version of the birth
story. It is a very different
story. John tells us that this baby
Jesus was not created on that first Christmas in the manger. John starts his birth narrative “In the
beginning…” It sounds familiar doesn’t
it” The creation Story of Creation in
Genesis starts that way “in the beginning…”
John tells us that Jesus existed from the very moment of creation. Jesus was and is the Word that was used by
God to create the universe. The creative
power of God’s word that brought all things into being at the beginning of time
also brought Jesus into being. That
Jesus is the light of the world that keeps the darkness at bay.
John lets us know from the very beginning of his
Gospel who this Jesus is. Jesus is of
and is God. No question in John’s
Gospel. The rest of John’s Gospel goes
on to chronicle how God came to earth to show his people how to dispel the
darkness. In some ways John’s Gospel is
too cerebral. We much prefer the birth
of a baby in a manger because we can relate to it. We have a little more difficulty relating to
the amorphous being “The Word” that sparked creation.
This little bit of the Gospel of John is so rich
in symbolism and theology that it could occupy a whole series of sermons. This time however the one part that really
grabbed me this week is “What has come into being in him was life, and the life
was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness
did not overcome it” Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness and that
darkness cannot extinguish the light.
Now more than ever we need to hear that
promise. When we hear of immigrant
children dying in custody of immigration detention facilities. When we hear of the killing of a police
officer in a small community – a police officer who in many ways symbolized the
dream of America – that an immigrant could become a citizen and want to give
back by being a police officer. When we
hear about the disfunction in our nation’s capital with part of the government
being shut-down and where no one seems to be negotiating with each other. We here threats to completely shut down our
Southern border unless the congress gives the president what he wants. Instead of negotiations we hear soundbites
from both sides that are not negotiating strategies but strategies to engage
their base. Strategies that are more
likely to create discord than to create light.
When we hear about all these things, and more, it may seem like the
darkness is winning. It seems like the
light, the goodness, is being extinguished.
The world in which Jesus was born was not much
different for the people of Israel. They
had been conquered by the Roman empire.
They had an Emperor who wanted the “Pax Romana” the Peace of Rome and
was willing to do anything to keep that peace – including the killing of anyone
who disagreed with the occupation forces.
The people in the occupation area are paying exorbitant taxes to keep the
emperor rich and well fed. When Jesus
was born in that stable it seemed that the darkness was winning. It was into that darkness that the light of
God was born – this time not as an amorphous power of creation but as a
baby. A baby that will show us how to
keep the darkness at bay.
God came to earth in human form to show us that
we too have the power to keep the dark from winning. As I am fond of pointing out when God came to
show us how to fend off the darkness it was not with the avenging angel army to
smite down the evil. God came as a
vulnerable baby. God came as the Love
that God has for all for creation. God
came not to smite the darkness with bolts of lightning but to scatter it with
the light of love.
John tells us that to “…all who received him,
who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were
born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of
God.” Jesus came to show us that we too
are born to the light. That we are
called in our time to be the light that will cast out the darkness. We are called to continue God’s dream that
this creation will be Good. It sounds so
easy but it can be daunting too.
It can be daunting to continually have to turn
up the light to drive away darkness. It
is much easier to let the light go out and let darkness win. Science tells us that light is energy. It is not a passive force but an energy
force. We are called to be that energy
force that advocates for Love. We are
called to extinguish the darkness not with the kind of force that an army makes
but by showing that Love will win in the end.
One of the good things that seems to happen
during the Christmas season is that we hear more about the Love that happens in
our community. In addition to the
stories of death, corruption and political impasse we also hear stories of
Love. This week one of the stories was
of a social worker who seemed to have few resources – so few that he resorted
to fixing his shoes with the universal male repair tool – duct tape. It turns out that he had quite a few
resources. He left $11 million to
children’s charities. We hear stories of
the generosity that people have in their hearts for those without
resources. Toy drives and food drives
make the news.
And I say we hear about them more this time of
year because I know that they happen all the time by people who have the light
in their hearts. We see it in the
generosity of people this year to River City Food Bank. In a recent e-mail from Eileen Thomas, the
Executive Director of River City Food Bank, she announced that in 2018 the food
bank increased the number of people that it served by over 40%. That is an amazing number – and a number that
is probably in large part due to their expansion onto this campus and the crazy
generosity that allowed them to build that mega walk in refrigerator and
freezer on this campus. A generosity of
love that happens 365 days a year not just at Christmas time.
I see the light that refuses to let darkness
overpower it on Wednesdays at St. Pauls’ downtown. The gracious and over-brimming love named
Phyllis, that started feeding people after services showed a light that death
will not extinguish. Phyllis was a very
proper English women who was so full of love that in her nineties started
making good nutritional lunches for those who gather at St. Paul’s on
Wednesdays and Fridays. When Phyllis
recently became unable, due to her final illness, to make sure that food was
there on Wednesday’s one of our homeless members stepped in and made soup. Phyllis left this mortal plain on Christmas
day and that light that she lit at St. Paul’s was not extinguished. Now multiple people – and some of the most
surprising people who have little themselves – multiple people are stepping up
to make sure that hot lunches are still served after the services on Wednesdays
and Fridays.
That is the promise of our Gospel reading
today. That Jesus may have been on this
Earth in human form for a mere 30 years or so but that light that is Jesus was
here before that time and is here now.
That light that pushes away the darkness is in each of us. It is that light – the light that was at the
very beginning of creation that burns in our hearts. A light that will drive us to help overcome
the darkness that seems to be pushing upon us.
A light that will shine a light of love on God’s creation. A love that in the end will win. A love that will be so bright that the
darkness will be extinguished. And we
are called – each and every one of us – to be part of that light.
I invite you, as we enter a new calendar year to
look for the light. When the darkness
seems to overpower the light not to despair but to look and see the light
shining there too. A light that we can
be part of to drive away the darkness.
And the good news is that we don’t have to be alone. God sent Jesus to remind us that the creative
force that is God is always with us and will always be there to help us shine
bright. To help us spread the light of
love in a world that seems so full of darkness.
A light that will win. A love
that loves creation so much that it came down on Christmas day to show us how
to be that love in our world.
Amen.
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