December 16, 2001
Matthew 1:18-25
John 1:1-14
 - almost always part of a candlelight service - "Lesson & Carols" - last reading
 - John was the only disciple to live to be an older man. All others = martyred.
 - Because of his many years, John writings are more reflective & polished.
 - very poetic, very theological, also has an echo of Gen. 1 - "In the beginning."
 - John uses an interesting title that he ascribes to Jesus - "The Word" of God.
 
 

 I received a call this week from the editor of the York Independent, Paul Mann. He asked me if I would write a column for his paper this coming week on the meaning of Christmas. My first thought was, I wonder if that’s OK to do since the ministers currently have a rotating weekly column in the York Weekly, which we consider an honor and an outreach to our community, It’s sharing the Christian message beyond our walls. But I wondered if the York Weekly would be mad at me for being in the other paper. Then I realized that we never signed a contract with the York Weekly and they didn’t offer us free subscriptions for our weekly column.  (only ministers would be too shy to ask) So I told the guy from the Independent I would do it!

 "The Meaning of Christmas." That shouldn’t be hard to write, I thought. The Meaning of Christmas. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that’s a difficult assignment, especially if you focus on the "The."  The meaning of Christmas, as if you could sum up the eternal significance of the Christ event in 500-600 words. I can’t even sum up yesterday in 500-600 words!

 There is, after all, a mystery to Christmas. How can we ever fully comprehend the overwhelming power and significance of the Creator of the Universe becoming a human embryo and being born into this world? Our finite minds are too small to fully comprehend such an eternal event.

 I saw a poster once that said, "If God were small enough to be understood, he would not be big enough to be worshiped."

 And so we look for analogies & metaphors to compare the Christ Event to things we can understand. So Jesus is a Light in the darkness, a Shepherd come to find his sheep, a King born to lead us, a loving Friend come to offer us his divine companionship. All these analogies are found in scripture and are used to describe Jesus.

 John uses another analogy in the first chapter of his Gospel. He calls Jesus "the Word of God." "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." U-suggesting the mystery of the Trinity-Christ as part of God yet distinct within God

 Vs. 14: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." This eternal part of God, the Word, one day came to earth and took on flesh and blood. The Word became . . . one of us. Before such mystery we would do well to follow the example of the wisest men of the first century, the Magi, and simply kneel before the Incarnate Word and worship him.  God spoke a Word to us.  That Word was Jesus.

  You know that experience of being in an Elevator with a stranger. There’s usually an uncomfortableness about it, especially if it’s a long elevator ride. Should I say "Hi!"  Do I feel like chatting?  Am I rude not to say something? Who will break the silence?

 The New Testament teaches that we were at one time estranged from God, as if God were a total stranger to us,
and there was an uncomfortable silence between humanity and God. And to break the silence . . . . God spoke first. I John 4 says, "We love, not because we first loved God, but because he first loved us, and sent us his Son."

 God spoke first. He spoke to us a word of reconciliation in Jesus. God’s Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld the glory of God!

 God spoke a Word to us. And what a Word it was! It was a Loving Word.

 Imagine wondering if someone loved you, and you could never get around to telling them how you felt. Then one day, this person came up to you and said, "I need to tell you something, I love you." That’s Christmas -- God’s Loving Word to us. It was also a Forgiving Word.

 Have you ever gone up to someone and apologized and they said, "Don’t worry about. I forgave you a long, long time ago. I’ve forgotten all about it." That’s Christmas, too - God’s Word of forgiveness. John says, this Word from God was full of grace - full of accepting & forgiving love.

 God spoke a Word of Grace to us in Jesus, and John says, this word was "full of grace and truth." God spoke a word of truth. Christmas is a word of love, a word of grace, and a word of truth.

 Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." Jesus is the truth about God. He’s the definitive word about God - The authoritative word. Now, I can’t prove that to you. It’s a statement of faith and loyalty, not something that can be proven. But this for me is the relationship and balance between Christianity and other religions. Moses had a word or two to say about God. Mohammed did, too. Buddha taught about God, although in a very different way. There have been great men and women throughout history that had a word for us about God. But I believe, like John, that Jesus is THE Word, the definitive word on the subject of God. Because he’s God incarnate, in the flesh. He’s not just a prophet or a teacher, he’s the subject matter.

 It’s like taking a course on Shakespeare and having Shakespeare walk into the room!

 Let me share with you an illustration that comes from Tony Campolo. Imagine for a moment that you are a scientist and you study ants. This may be a little hard to imagine, but give it a try. You are the world’s foremost authority on ants. And you have come to love ants very, very much. In fact, you’ve created a beautiful ant farm for many of them to live. It’s a wonderful world with everything they need. But one day you look down at the world you’ve created and you notice that your ants are not living up to their potential. They’re fighting. They’re not working together. They need help! So you send them little messages with suggestions & guidelines for them. You even inspire certain ants to be prophets, teachers, & role models for the others. But still they need help.

 Now consider this, if you had supernatural powers what would be the best way to get your message across to the ants? That’s right! You could become an ant! You could take on the body of ant, and yet you would still have all your human knowledge and intelligence to help them. You would be the Ant Man!  Fully Human-Fully Ant. Then you could teach them and show them personally face-to-face how to really live.
 
 God did this for us in Jesus. He became one of us. The God-Man!  Fully Human-Completely God! He did this to show us how to live. And to tell us how much we are loved - "As the Father loves me, so I love you." There’s an old saying you might have heard, "When you want the job done right, you have to do it yourself." Well, God decided to take the job upon himself, so that we might always know the truth about God.

 If God is fuzzy for you this morning, then turn your eyes upon Jesus. "He is the image of the invisible God," says Paul. "He’s the message of God, the Word of God made flesh," says John. This is our most basic and foundational teaching about God that we have in the Christian faith. God is like Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is just like God. In fact, he came to reveal the invisible God. And that is the Good News.

 We received a Christmas card once that said this:

 The Word did not become a Philosophy, a Theory, or a Concept,
 to be Discussed, Debated, or Pondered.
 But the Word became a Person, to be Followed, Enjoyed and Loved.

 Let’s follow and enjoy and love this personal Savior and God this Christmas and always.

 Let’s pray:
 Dear Savior,
 You are God’s Word to us. Help us to hear and understand.
 You are God’s truth revealed to us. Help us to believe.
 You are God’s will modeled for us. Help us to follow.
 You are God’s love extended to us. Help us to receive.
Thank you for shining your light in the darkness and speaking your Word into the silence. Speak to each one of us anew this Christmas. Refresh our spirits, fill our souls, deepen our faith. In your name. Amen.

Rich Knight