By Rev. Canon David B. Tabo-oy
v1In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God. v2From the very beginning the Word was with God. v3Through him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without him. v4The Word was the source of life,a and this life brought light to people. v5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.
(Read: John 1:1-18)
When it was not yet Christmas as early as September (to some July) we are already rushing to be at Christmas. But now that it is Christmas season we are rushing to get out of it. One time I attended a community celebration in Guisad, I greeted friends that I’ve met with Merry Christmas and they say that Christmas is past – and of course when I greeted them Happy New Year, they say it is not yet.
We are still in Christmas season. Last Friday started the twelve days of Christmas. This is the first of two Sundays of the Christmas season. Our Gospel lesson this week is an extended version of last Christmas’ reading. Of all the gospels, only John did not describe the blow-by-blow event of that first Christmas. We are all familiar of the event and we have come to romanticize it that sometimes we see the event and the characters (the angels, the shepherds, the manger and the baby, Joseph and Mary) as we see the crèche or the Belen. Thereby, we forget the spirit or the deeper meaning of the event.
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John in our Gospel today, instead of describing the event, gave us an analysis and his interpretation why such a divine intervention has to happen. “he came to what was his own, and his people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.” And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.
That Word that John is referring to is Jesus who was born among us, who became like us in order that we may be restored and redeemed as we read it in John 3:16. This happened on that first Christmas.
We need to “see” Christmas in ways that move beyond the sentimental and sugar coating. So often we see Christmas and the familiar Christmas story by looking at a Christmas card or a GIF greetings in Facebook that has a neat and tidy picture and background Christmas music of the nativity on it. We look at it the way we might look at the flowers at the market as we pass by to get to the produce.
The passage from John is more than just the preface to the gospel; indeed, the remainder of the book is in a sense an elaboration on Verse 18: “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.”
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John has no nativity story, no animals in the barn, no shepherds and angels, but presents us instead with this hymn to Christ. This hymn is a love song, full of increasing light, celebrating the relationship between God and God’s only child and then extending that intimate relationship to embrace all humankind. These are powerful words that speak to us about the one who comes to us in power to make all things new for us – the exiles, the inhabitants of darkness.
Who is this Jesus, the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us?
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If we see only the baby lying in the manger, we see only part of the picture. As we did not celebrate Advent by pretending that Christ has not come, so we do not celebrate Christmas by pretending we don’t know what is going to happen to this child.
Christmas does not stand alone; it cannot be celebrated properly in isolation from the whole story of Jesus the Christ. To separate the story of Jesus’ birth from the harsh reality of the crucifixion is to engage in denial. The whole story reminds us that we must also see Jesus as the one who is not received. The very people who hoped, finally got the one for whom they hoped, and they did not recognize him and rejected him. When God came to us, it was as one who is weak and vulnerable, not just as the holy infant, but also as the adult hanging on the cross.
Yet Jesus, the weak, flesh-and-bone one, has real power. It is not the world’s power; it is not the power to make things right or prosperous. The power of Christ continues to be rejected by the world because it is the wrong kind of power. Jesus’ power is to let us be who we are created to be – children of God.
By embracing his weakness, our lives are transformed, and we are empowered. It is the one who is empty who makes full. It is the one who is poor who makes rich. It is the one who dies who gives life.
This Jesus, the rejected yet powerful one, comes full of grace and truth. The Evangelist here quotes a phrase from the Hebrew Scriptures meaning loyalty and reliability. Because of the coming of Christ, we look at the world in a new way. God’s faithfulness contrasts with our daily experiences in the world and calls us to faithfulness also.
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The coming of Jesus presents us with a choice. We can be transformed by the power of the gospel to be God’s people, walking in God’s vulnerable ways. Or we can reject him and continue business as usual. Business as usual means sitting in the darkness, shielding our eyes, and turning away from the life-giving light. The story around which we gather this season is one of transforming hope for a new life. We are invited to cooperate with the divine initiative, to let the light enable us to see the path more clearly, to make a new beginning as God’s people. Where that happens, heaven and earth do sing, there is joy to the world, and the waste places do break forth together in singing. Even this time and reality of COVID 19 pandemic.
The Church gives us not one day, but twelve, to celebrate the birth of Christ, Emmanuel, God-with-us. Don’t be overwhelmed or fatigued by the cultural trappings that have surrounded us since July and the restrictions that this pandemic has shackled us for almost ten months.
Persevere in hope and joy; don’t abandon them like Christmas trees discarded on Christmas afternoon. Relive Christmas everyday.
For the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
Let us pray.
Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.**
