Listen to Why Jesus was Born

Posted by stpauls on December 26, 2010 under Sermons | Be the First to Comment

The first few verses of the Gospel according to John are one of the most profound, yet, also the most difficult parts of God’s self-revelation in Holy Scripture. Of course, I have read this hymn-like piece over and over again. In fact, one of my theology professors once told us, that we had to know it by heart – and not just in German, in its original Greek no less. Well, don’t test me, I did not even try. Yet, I kinda understood, why he wanted us to know it so intimately.

This piece is at the heart of what we believe as Christians: God becomes incarnate in Jesus, the pre-existent Logos tabernacles in the flesh of the boy- child born of a virgin.

Understood?

You didn’t?

Well, no wonder. I am going to be honest with you. I don’t find this passage easy at all and I wonder if I will ever grasp at least a glimpse of what God wants us to tell through these verses. It is all very theoretical… And, for crying out loud, this is the first Sunday after Christmas, this is only the second day of Christmas and I still want angels, Mary, Joseph, shepherds, wise men. I want hey, an ox and a donkey. Above all I want a manger and a stable… and I want a baby.

Our picture of what happened on Christmas has so strongly been influenced especially by the account from Luke, which we listened to yesterday and on Christmas Eve. But this piece from John is so different…

Could you imagine a nativity set constructed along the lines of the Gospel of John? Let’s play around with this, shall we: Instead of a crèche, we would have the wooden letters W-O-R-D, carved in Germany or (God forbid!) Austria, or “Made in China,” under our Christmas trees. Our Christmas presents snuggled next to it would be wrapped in paper with hand painted cards reading “WORD.” Our Christmas trees would look more like letter-soup thrown over evergreens. It would make for interesting Christmas hymns, too. Merry Christmas – hmmm!

This is the Gospel of John. And it is not at all like the romanticised and idealized Christmas we sing about in our carols and which we sometimes over-celebrate on December 24^th and 25^th. The first chapter of John is not a picture we can colour in. It’s more of a thought, an idea, a concept. And it is a challenge.

But why is that?

Each of the Gospels presents the story of Jesus in a different way, and much of their richness is lost if one tries to harmonize them into one consistent account. Each gospel contains a different structure, develops different themes, comes from and speaks to different communities, and portrays the person of Jesus in its own unique way.

Luke’s Gospel is the Gospel that reveals God as being concerned with very concrete things, things of everyday life and care, things that speak to us as human beings in this world. More concretely, in Luke, God is especially concerned with the poor, the oppressed, the hurting, the marginalized, and the outcast. Luke proclaims the Good News in Jesus Christ as a shout of and cry for liberation from darkness, death, and oppression. For Luke, it is all about God’s upside-down kingdom, in which the oppressed are liberated, the captive set free, and in which the human order, the human way of doing things is put on its head.

In the Gospel of Luke Mary sings, and I quote: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for God … has scattered the proud in their conceit. God has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly. God has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.”[1] End of quote.

Luke shows a side of God that is compassionate and will not allow for injustice to stand forever. It is all very concrete, very real, very comprehensive. That’s why the Gospel according to Luke has to start with a very concrete story, with a very real tangible saviour, born of a very real woman in a very real stable at a very real time.

John’s approach is different, very different indeed. Through John, Jesus is proclaimed as the Word incarnate, as God taking human flesh. Jesus is the heavenly reveal-er, who is not of this world, but who was sent into our world to make known the Creator of all things. John witnesses to the truth that Jesus re-defines the relationship of humanity with the divine forever.

To understand the theological world of John, one must begin by recognizing the centrality of the Incarnation to this Gospel: God and Humankind become one in Jesus of Nazareth. The Word became flesh in Mary’s son: “In the beginning was the Word,”[2] John writes on the one hand, “and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”[3] Yet, on the other hand, John continues: “And the Word became flesh and lived among us.“[4] These two claims are the foundation on which God’s Good News is built.

Jesus provides unique and unprecedented access for us to the Creator, because Jesus shares God’s character and God’s identity. Jesus’ revelation of God is thus not simply that Jesus speaks God’s words and does God’s works, although that is part of it. It is, rather, that Jesus is the Word of God, is God. No line can be drawn between what Jesus says and does and who Jesus is. No barrier can be erected between Jesus’ identity and Jesus’ mission in the world. Jesus’ coming into the world as God-incarnate on the one hand and on the other hand his passion, death, resurrection, and ascension form an eternal unit that provides full and fresh access to God. That’s why in John we hear Jesus say: “I am the way,”[5] rather than: This is how the way looks.

And this has consequences: The Word becoming flesh is the decisive event in human history –  indeed, in the history of creation. In Jesus Christ, God is born by a woman, is one of us. In Jesus Christ, God walks our ways, speaks our language, listens to our words, feels our pain and loneliness, and most importantly, in Jesus Christ, God dies our death and restores us and creation to the beauty God intends. Because God comes our way, creation is affirmed as something good, as divinely willed, and as filled with the Spirit of God.

This doesn’t make understanding today’s Gospel much easier. However, I do realize that whoever chose the readings for this Sunday did so with great care and huge wisdom. It is as to say: After you have heard how the Saviour was born, now listen to why he was born.

Yet, this is not all. Especially, Anglicans go a bit further. As Anglicans, we have always maintained that the Incarnation is a two-fold event. It is not just God, who unites with humanity in Jesus. We also have to turn it around: In Jesus, humankind unites with the divine, too. The Incarnation changes humanity’s relationship with God as much as it changes God’s relationship with humanity. And like Mary, through the Incarnation, we can become God-bearers, too. God seeks to embrace us all in an intimate way, so that we can be penetrated in every fibre of our being by the divine love and so that we can discover the divine spark growing under our hearts, too.

And this will change our relationships with one another.

In the baptismal covenant,[6] which is part of our baptismal liturgy, we commit to loving our neighbour as ourselves, to striving for justice and peace among all people, and we commit to respecting the dignity of every human being. This we do, not because it’s politically correct. But we vow to do this, because through the Incarnation we can discover the divine spark not just in ourselves, but in others too. When we meet a fellow human being, we encounter Christ, whoever they are and wherever they find themselves on the journey. The miracle of the Incarnation is not just a vertical redemption. The miracle of the Incarnation has horizontal implications too. Not only does God take flesh to live among us and to open a new way into the divine mystery. But we are also called to live out the Incarnation with our neighbours, by embracing them as sisters and brothers, by sharing the Good News with then, and by working for justice and peace on this planet earth.

Yes, the Incarnation is not just a theological concept. No, the Incarnation is central to God’s self revelation and it is central to who are meant to be. No wonder, then, we hear the first chapter of John read on this day. And maybe, just maybe, we should read it more often and more regularly.

[2] John 1: 1

[3] Ibid.

[4] John 1:14

[5] John 14:6

[6] cf. p. 158-159, Book of Alternative Services (Anglican Church of Canada)

Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ

Posted by stpauls on under Bible Readings, Webmaster Blog | Read the First Comment

John 1:1-18 ~ Gospel Reading for December 26, 2010

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.

God Sent his Son

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Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7 ~ Bible Reading for December 26, 2010

Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian.

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.

My Whole Being shall Exult in my God

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Isaiah 61:10-62:3 ~ Bible Reading for December 26, 2010

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations. For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch. The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.