Dec 31, 2023 |
In the Beginning Was the Word
| The Rev. Gabriel Lawrence
In the Beginning Was the Word
In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Word.
Speech. It’s the way we know each other- the way I know you, and you know me:
by the words that we use to speak, to describe things and places and thoughts.
The Word, that way we know God (God’s things, and places, and thoughts): The
Word was with God. Hidden from us- God, Source of all being- we did not yet
know.
He was in the beginning with God. And has been with God since the very beginning, since before time and space, since before things and places and thoughts. Before all things came to be, before the first tick of a clock, before the first sunrise, before the first day or month or year, God was, and the Word was, right there with God. In the dark void, the Source of Life was.
All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. And the Source of life, breathed over the dark void, and out of the darkness was born life and breath; sun, moon, and stars; sunrises and sunsets; and days and months and years. Time itself was born from the Source of Life, from divine creation.
What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. And for the first time, the Source of Life had breath and form, lungs and eyes, leaves and roots, gills and scales, skin and hair. This life that burst forth was full of so much power and came from a Source so far beyond our knowing. It was light and love. And light and love literally lit up the sky and lit up all things that God had made.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. The dark void does not get the last word. Light speaks to our fear of the dark, the unknown- that primal fear we first got to know as a child. It is touched by the warm light of God and is met by the Word who looks into the eye of the dark storm and speaks the words: “Peace be still. Do not be afraid.”
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. God did not send a king or a governor or a high priest. God sent an average man named John, a man who had grasped the life changing love of God and wanted to share that love with all those who came to him. This man named John pointed to the Word as someone greater than himself, pointed to the Lamb that would take away the sins of the world.
He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. John knew he wasn’t the Light. But he had been called by God to point the world to the light, to the Word- the Word who came from God and was God. He did this so that all might experience the power of love to turn a heart of stone into a heart of flesh, to raise up what had been cast down, to make new that which had grown old.
He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the Light. And here is perhaps the best news of Christmas: We are not the Light. We are made of the Light, but we don’t have to be the Light. We don’t have to be the Source. Only God is that. We participate in the light, and we point others, like John did, to the light. We sometimes fail, and God’s love and light is not overcome by our failures. Our work is simply to show the Light to the world.
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. Was coming. Not came. Not comes. But was coming. Movement. Motion. God was on the move. God’s love was breaking through all the walls and defenses and barriers and self-doubt we put up to keep God’s love from changing us, transforming us. God’s love does not rest. It pursues, it heals. It comes to us week after week in bread and wine, and it comes to us in this season in the heartbeat of the Christ-child.
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. And how could we? The hymn says our hearts were tuned toward strife and so we refused Love’s overture. In Christ, God invited us into the holy dance of love. And yet, we were terrified of love so pure, love so sweet. We were made for love and by love, and yet we refused to dance.
But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God. But! This word but, this is the Word. In Christ, God says, “But wait! There’s more!” In Christmas, our hearts can be tuned to sing God’s grace. If we sit in the darkness, in the silence, God in the Christ-child comes to us, bends down, and whispers in our ears: You are my child. You are loved forever and ever.
And the Word became flesh and lived among us. God’s speech, the way we know God, became words spoken by THE Word. In Christ, God took on flesh and skin and hair and teeth and feet and hands. And with all of that flesh, healed the world. The Word lived with us. An old source says God leapt from his throne to become one of us. God ran to us. God ran to be one of us. God lived among us, and God still lives among us.
And we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son. Having seen God in the Christ-child and tasted God in bread and wine, and heard God in the chirp of a bird, and smelled God in the aroma of a meal shared with friends, and touched God in the soft fur of a pet or the embrace of a loved one, we know God. In all that we do, God is with us. Emmanuel.
Full of grace and truth. In Christ, God has filled the world. God filled all things. In the gaps where we fall short, God’s grace makes up the difference. In places of darkness, God’s truth speaks light. God’s very Word is grace and truth. God’s Word, God’s speech- how we know God’s things and places and thoughts- God’s Word is found in grace and truth. Joy to the world, the Lord has come, full of grace and truth.
He was in the beginning with God. And has been with God since the very beginning, since before time and space, since before things and places and thoughts. Before all things came to be, before the first tick of a clock, before the first sunrise, before the first day or month or year, God was, and the Word was, right there with God. In the dark void, the Source of Life was.
All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. And the Source of life, breathed over the dark void, and out of the darkness was born life and breath; sun, moon, and stars; sunrises and sunsets; and days and months and years. Time itself was born from the Source of Life, from divine creation.
What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. And for the first time, the Source of Life had breath and form, lungs and eyes, leaves and roots, gills and scales, skin and hair. This life that burst forth was full of so much power and came from a Source so far beyond our knowing. It was light and love. And light and love literally lit up the sky and lit up all things that God had made.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. The dark void does not get the last word. Light speaks to our fear of the dark, the unknown- that primal fear we first got to know as a child. It is touched by the warm light of God and is met by the Word who looks into the eye of the dark storm and speaks the words: “Peace be still. Do not be afraid.”
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. God did not send a king or a governor or a high priest. God sent an average man named John, a man who had grasped the life changing love of God and wanted to share that love with all those who came to him. This man named John pointed to the Word as someone greater than himself, pointed to the Lamb that would take away the sins of the world.
He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. John knew he wasn’t the Light. But he had been called by God to point the world to the light, to the Word- the Word who came from God and was God. He did this so that all might experience the power of love to turn a heart of stone into a heart of flesh, to raise up what had been cast down, to make new that which had grown old.
He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the Light. And here is perhaps the best news of Christmas: We are not the Light. We are made of the Light, but we don’t have to be the Light. We don’t have to be the Source. Only God is that. We participate in the light, and we point others, like John did, to the light. We sometimes fail, and God’s love and light is not overcome by our failures. Our work is simply to show the Light to the world.
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. Was coming. Not came. Not comes. But was coming. Movement. Motion. God was on the move. God’s love was breaking through all the walls and defenses and barriers and self-doubt we put up to keep God’s love from changing us, transforming us. God’s love does not rest. It pursues, it heals. It comes to us week after week in bread and wine, and it comes to us in this season in the heartbeat of the Christ-child.
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. And how could we? The hymn says our hearts were tuned toward strife and so we refused Love’s overture. In Christ, God invited us into the holy dance of love. And yet, we were terrified of love so pure, love so sweet. We were made for love and by love, and yet we refused to dance.
But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God. But! This word but, this is the Word. In Christ, God says, “But wait! There’s more!” In Christmas, our hearts can be tuned to sing God’s grace. If we sit in the darkness, in the silence, God in the Christ-child comes to us, bends down, and whispers in our ears: You are my child. You are loved forever and ever.
And the Word became flesh and lived among us. God’s speech, the way we know God, became words spoken by THE Word. In Christ, God took on flesh and skin and hair and teeth and feet and hands. And with all of that flesh, healed the world. The Word lived with us. An old source says God leapt from his throne to become one of us. God ran to us. God ran to be one of us. God lived among us, and God still lives among us.
And we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son. Having seen God in the Christ-child and tasted God in bread and wine, and heard God in the chirp of a bird, and smelled God in the aroma of a meal shared with friends, and touched God in the soft fur of a pet or the embrace of a loved one, we know God. In all that we do, God is with us. Emmanuel.
Full of grace and truth. In Christ, God has filled the world. God filled all things. In the gaps where we fall short, God’s grace makes up the difference. In places of darkness, God’s truth speaks light. God’s very Word is grace and truth. God’s Word, God’s speech- how we know God’s things and places and thoughts- God’s Word is found in grace and truth. Joy to the world, the Lord has come, full of grace and truth.
