The Power of the Word
Christmas Day – December 25, 2011
“In the beginning...”
If we hadn't just heard the gospel of John read, when we hear the words, “In the beginning,” we might not think about this story. We might not think about Jesus. Instead, we might find our minds drawn to another Bible story that starts this exact same way, the story that John's gospel echoes. We might find ourselves recalling the beginning of the beginning – the opening words of the entire Bible, the opening words of all creation, set back, not in John, chapter 1, but in Genesis, chapter 1: “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said...”
This is how it all begins: “Then God said, 'Let there be light'; and there was light.” We hear this refrain throughout that first chapter: And God said, “Let there be...” and it was so. And God said... and it was so. And God said... We learn from the very beginning of time the power that God's word spoken has. God speaks the word, and it is so. God speaks the word, and light leaps into existence. God speaks again, and there is sky and land and plants and sun, moon, and stars and animals of every kind and human beings – all because God speaks the word, and it is so. Into chaos and confusion, God speaks, and they are replaced in an instant with beauty and order and goodness. And God said, and it was so.
And now, in this beautiful song from the beginning of John's gospel, we get another glimpse into the power of God's Word, capital “w” this time, rehearsing, re-framing the creation story, looking at it with a different lens. “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.” God speaks the Word, and light shines in the darkness.
This Word, God's son, was with God before the beginning, eternally existent. This Word, Jesus, whose birth we celebrate today, was there with God to see the birth of all that is – and without him, John says, none of it would exist. This Word of God, spoken and speaking into our world, brings life and light; this Word is filled with glory and power and might –
Yet what we are reminded of on this Christmas morning is that he laid all of that aside. The world and all that is in it came into being through the Word, and you'd think that might have been enough – but it was not enough for him simply to create life, not enough to shine light into that life, watching from on high, from a distance. This Word of God longs for relationship, wants the world to know him. He comes to his own, because he wants to be a part of our lives, and if that's going to happen, he has to come. It requires his presence. He couldn't just be “Skyped” in, he couldn't send someone in his place. God had tried that again and again, the stories are there in the Old Testament, but it was never quite enough, and so, in the fullness of time, he chose to come in person. The Word became flesh and lived among us. He came himself, because nothing and no one else would do. He came because the world is filled with darkness, with the consequences of our own sin and rebellion, yes, but also with sickness and loneliness and despair. He came because the darkness of this world threatens to block out the light, tries to convince us that darkness is all there is, and so he came – the Light shining in the many shapes and forms our darkness takes, and the darkness did not overcome it. He came, because the world is filled with the shadow and the fear of death hovering over us – not just physical death, but emotional and spiritual and relational death, so that there are those among us who are not dead, but are not really living – and so he came, because in him is life – new life, abundant life, eternal life... life truly worth living, life that he wants us to live. He comes into all of the places where death's specter would seek to reign over us, and he speaks his own life. He comes, embracing the full human experience, birth, laughter, love, crying, anger, frustration, loneliness, even death – embracing us and all that it means to be human, in order to redeem us, to reveal God to us – Love itself becoming flesh and living with us, dying for us.
This is why we celebrate at Christmas. It's not about Christmas trees and Christmas carols and Christmas cookies and Christmas presents. Those are all fun and wonderful and add to the celebration, but they're not the reason why we celebrate. We celebrate because the Word of God comes, offering himself to us as a gift. He transforms our lives in his living, gives us power to become children of God ourselves, drawn near by the light of his love, drawn into his life so that we may live. May our lives bear witness to this love that has been for us and all creation since before the beginning. May we carry his light into our dark world, and speak his life-giving Word to all the world.
Amen.
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