Christmas 2                                            John 1:1-18                                           

                                                              “The WORD”

You don’t need to know me for long to figure out that I love words.  I love how words can have different meanings.  I love the way they can be put together to make new meanings.  I love how they can be put together so that one sentence flows into another and one paragraph flows out of another.   I love what words can do to people – inspire, illicit, incite, comfort, intrigue, ...  I LOOOOOOOOOVE WORDS. 

That may be part of why our Gospel lesson for today is one of my favorite passages of Scripture.  The writer of John is just so good at using words to create a picture for us of “The WORD”.  In doing so, he shows us how “The WORD” is the revelation of God’s self.  “The WORD”, in fact, does all those things I said I like about words in general.  Jesus, “The WORD”, communicates God’s thoughts, feelings, desires, and more.  He shows us, not just in words, but in actions, how much God loves us.  

When God “became flesh and lived among us” He made a statement that was more comforting and inspiring than all the words that have ever been spoken, much less written.  God created the world and it was good, but humans sinned and wrecked that creation forevermore.  God could have simply pressed the “delete” key on the heavenly computer and the world would have been no more, then God could have started over.  But, God loved that which He created, so instead, God made a plan.  Ultimately, that plan meant that God Himself would come to earth – not as the all powerful God of the universe, but as a baby born like all other human babies.  God loved His creation so that He was willing to be a part of the mess of humanity.  He was willing to put aside His power and glory to be like us.  He was willing to put Himself in human hands, be at our mercy.  He was willing to suffer and die for the sake of us. 

And the Good News is that this isn’t just something God did 2000+ years ago.  God didn’t just come as a baby in a stable as recorded in Luke.  Not to blaspheme Christmas and all its sentiment, but God coming to earth as “The WORD” is so much more than a baby lying in a manger that gets put away a week or so after Christmas.  “The WORD” came as His own on-going presence, with us, till the end of time. 

This shows itself in the words of our Gospel.  The Gospel of John was written about one hundred years after Jesus birth, life and death.  The Church had come to be a separate religion from Judaism.  It was being heavily persecuted and facing challenges we will never know (hopefully).  John 1 is not an historical account, nor is it a nice story about how Jesus came.  John 1 is the confession of faith of a people who need something to cling to as they face the challenges of life in a non-Christian, hostile world.  John 1 is a hymn they could sing to remind them that God loved them enough to create, to save and to accompany His people no matter what.  As Brian Stoffregen, one of my favorite Scripture scholars, has written,

 A theme from these early hymns is that the almighty, all-powerful God, who created everything that exists, is far beyond our understanding and comprehension. This same God came to earth. God came to us, as a human being in human flesh. This is God's love in action. As the Gospel of John says it in chapter 3: "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son." More than all the pageantry of the nativity scene, Christmas is a concrete demonstration of God's love for all of humanity -- a concrete expression of his love for you and me. Christmas does mean a baby in a manger, but in the face of that infant, there is the outpouring of God's love for all humanity.

And “The WORD” tells us that this wasn’t

 just for people back then, it is also for us today.  As we face an economy that leaves us wondering if we will have a job tomorrow, as we face a war that seems to have no end,  as we face that diagnosis or that surgery that could spell life or death, as we face betrayal by friends we thought would never hurt us, as we face social and environmental conditions that could devastate us, as we face a new year with who knows what problems ahead, WE can join the people of the early church who first made this confession, “In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with God, and the WORD was God.” 

This WORD came to be with us humans to show just how much God loves and cares for us – so much that He would become one of us and die for us.  This WORD promised to be with us forever.  This WORD continues to create life for us even in the midst of troubles, sickness and death.  This WORD makes His presence known to us every time we hear the Words of Scripture and take the Sacrament of His body and blood into ourselves.  This WORD has the power to be in us and with us always.  It’s power is like nothing else in all of creation or all of life. 

But, “The WORD” requires a response.  God didn’t come with all His power and might

 and force the world to accept Him.  God didn’t over- power humans with His love and make them believe.  And God doesn’t batter down our defenses and make us respond to Him.  God leaves us free to listen or not, to absorb what we hear or not, to respond or not. 

Today, we hear much about entertainment evangelism.  Certain church growth experts will tell you that a church needs rock bands, praise groups, power point, a preacher who walks around in the congregation speaking spontaneously and lots of hamburgers, hot dogs and soda or coffee after church to get people to come. But, this is not so!  And a church that is

 built on the current music fad, the hottest technology, the reputation of its preacher or its food giveaways is built on a most fragile foundation.  It may grow for a time, but ultimately because it stands on human means, it will shrivel and die. The church must be built on and focus on “The WORD”. 

What a church needs to grow – what it needs to be the Church – is a people who have fully absorbed what it means that “The WORD” has become flesh and lives among us.  It requires a people who have been willing to see the glory, the glory as of a father’s only son active among them and in their personal lives.  It requires a people who are full of the grace and truth of “The WORD” and who are willing to declare to family and friends what that WORD has done in their lives.  

My devotion for this past Thursday was written by author and story teller, Madeleine L’Engle.  It speaks directly to the necessity of our responding to “The WORD”. 

If we are infused, enthused with this joy and this wonder, then it will be infectious, far more infectious than answers to unanswerable questions.  God loves us!  We are not worthy – God save us from the worthy.  We are

 saved by grace and bathed with love, and if we remember that with sheer hilarious joy, then our numbers will stop dwindling (and numbers are something else we should stop worrying about). Grace is what it’s all about, Lord of Lords in human vesture, Christ come to us as the mortal Jesus.  (Glimpses Of Grace, 12/30 devotion) 

Let this be your New Year’s resolution:  Let “The WORD” speak to your heart.  Let “The WORD” show you how much God has and continues to love you.  Let “The WORD” fill you with such joy that you can’t help but proclaim it.  You don’t have to be a great speaker or writer (or even a mediocre

 one), just let “The WORD” speak through you.  Amen.