| Psalm 147 Isaiah 61:10-62:3 Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7 John 1:1-18 |
I am continually amazed at what I remember as I get older! As I was preparing my sermon for this morning the first Christmas Eve service in the Episcopal Church flashed through my mind. It was at this service that I was introduced to the "Last Gospel." Bob McDougall and a few of you may remember the reading of the "Last Gospel," the first fourteen verses of the Gospel of John, at the end of the service immediately after the blessing. The reading of these verses actually evolved from the practice in the Middle Ages of the priest reciting this portion of the Prologue of John’s Gospel in the sacristy as a private devotion while he removed his vestments. By the end of the Middle Ages the Prologue of John’s Gospel had become part of the service of Holy Communion, being recited out loud immediately after the blessing. Because of this placement right after the blessing, the Prologue came to be understood as part of the blessing itself.
Now, if you’re not from the "biretta belt" (this is a biretta by the way) which was composed of Northern Indiana, Northern Illinois, and Wisconsin, or from a "high church" parish all of this probably has little meaning to you. But for those who love the smell of incense and the pageantry of a Solemn High Mass, it brings back memories of the mystical worship in the church. Some have said that they, the clergy of the "high church" persuasion, walk to the beat of a different drummer because they are so out of step with the rest of the church.
This morning we have heard the "Last Gospel," the Prologue of the Gospel of John. John is the last gospel to be written that was included in the New Testament. And if you are familiar with the other three gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, you will have to agree that the gospel of John must have been written to the beat of a different drummer because it is so out of sync with the other gospels.
The Gospel of Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus, tracing his heritage back to King David and Abraham before he tells of Jesus’ birth. Mark ignores Jesus’ birth and childhood altogether and begins his gospel with Jesus’ baptism. Luke gives us the most detailed information about the conception, birth and childhood of Jesus. It is the Christmas story we are all familiar with. Now comes the fourth Gospel, John, which goes back, way back, to the very beginning.
In a beautiful poetic style, John tells us that the story of Jesus does not begin with his conception and birth in Bethlehem, but rather at the beginning, the very beginning of everything.
It is like saying that this building that we call St. Philip’s was not built in 1959, but began as the seeds for the trees that suuplied the wood for construction; first hit the ground and germinated.
"In the beginning was the Word, and Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God." Word is a literal translation from the original Greek text of the Gospel of John. In Greek, Word is Logos, which means divine utterance, emanation. In Old Testament thought the Word of God is God’s manifestation, the revelation of himself. John blends these understandings together in an attempt to state that the Jesus, born in Bethlehem, has an existence that predates the world. As a matter-in-fact, John intentionally begins with the words we find in Genesis, "In the beginning," to link Jesus, the pre-existent Logos, to God’s act of birthing or creating our world.
"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." Perhaps the simplest way to understand what John is talking about is when in Genesis it says, "God said," that is the Logos. It is Jesus, pre-existent in his divine essence as Logos, that gave life to the world when it was created.
"And the Word became flesh and lived among us." It is this same Logos who is born of Mary.
However cute Luke’s story of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem is, John challenges our thinking that this is a local event that will only affect a few people. John provides the big picture of the incarnation of God in Jesus. John points to the infant Jesus in the manger and says this is more than another cute baby, this is God, the life giver and sustainer of the universe. The abstractness of God is shattered by his arrival in Jesus Christ. The God from out there somewhere, comes to live and walk among us.
The greatest gift we have to offer someone else is ourselves. Our presence is more valuable than any other gift we can give. I believe that God knows this, and that is why he came to us here, on this earth, in Jesus.
This past week it was nice to open all of the presents. But what was even nicer was to have three of our children and our grandson with us. For me, that is the best present they gave us, coming up here to spend some time with us.
That is the true present of Christmas, God presence with us. To walk with us in our everyday lives and personally experience what we experience, means more than anything else God could give us. To know that Jesus is present with us in our trials and tribulations as well as our successes and joy, gives us hope and strength.
It is one thing to know about God, but another to know God. We know about God through the Bible and other people. We know God by experiencing his presence in Jesus Christ.
It is as different as light and darkness. Jesus, as the light, reveals to us who God is, how he thinks, how he feels, and how he loves us. Darkness hides and conceals. It is in darkness that we become disoriented and lose our way. But the light of Jesus pierces the darkness, shattering the seclusion we feel from God, bringing us into his divine light and the presence of God his Father. As John states, "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."
The "Last Gospel" this morning reminds us that the fundamental Christian claim is that in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, God provided the people of the world with the opportunity for their salvation. This is God’s blessing upon us, that we have become his children, heirs of eternal life through his Son Jesus Christ. The "Last Gospel," the final blessing, of a God that so loves us that he gave the life of his Son so that we would not perish, but have eternal life.