"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.

The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness did not overcome it.

The true light, which enlightens everyone,

was coming into the world.

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.

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 humanity, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us,

and we have seen his glory,

the glory as of a father's only son,

full of grace and truth.

From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

This is the Word of our Lord. Thanks be to God.

In the Beginning

John 1:1-18

Prologues seem to be the thing of this season.

Marley was dead: to begin with.

 The register of his burial was signed by Scrooge.

Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail. And.

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. And.

The Grinch hated Christmas!
The whole Christmas season!
Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason.
But I think that the most likely reason of all
May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.

            And we as the church gather to hear our prologues, our beginnings: "In those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed."

And a prologue, a beginning, leads to a story. A story of a couple seeking shelter; an innkeeper slamming a door; a baby born among the animals and set to lie in a trough; shepherds, drawn by the music of the angels, gathering at the stable; celestial choirs singing of the birth of a child; the star so bright and kings bearing gifts.

            But if you go to John's house for Christmas, the gospel writer John's house for Christmas, there is no angel visiting Mary; no shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night; nothing of wise men that follow a star to Bethlehem. In John's gospel there is no innkeeper, no holy family, no donkeys or camels, nor angel choirs.

            If you go to John's house for Christmas, the story you will hear by the fireplace will not be Dickens' or Dr. Seuss or even "In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night." [i]

            For in John's prologue, he begins, not with Caesar Augustus; John's Christmas story begins with God:  

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.

The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness did not overcome it.

John's Christmas story begins with God, echoing the creation:

In the beginning was the Word.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

And the Word was with God.

In the beginning the earth was formless.

God saw that the light was good;

And the Word was God.

In the beginning God said, "Let the dry land appear."

He was in the beginning with God.

"Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures." And God saw that it was good.

All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.

In the beginning God made male and female.

God blessed them. And it was so.

What has come into being in him was life,

and the life was the light of all people.

God rested on the seventh day.

God blessed it and it was so.

The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness did not overcome it.

When you drive up to John's house on Christmas Eve morning there's no scattered hay or a crèche out front, no wise men coming around the corner, no plastic sheep or cows, no star perched on the roof.

But when you drive up to John's house, you have to make your way through the thick shadows of creation, through gloom and fog and darkness.

The light shines in the darkness.

The light shines in the darkness.

Somewhere today in the Middle East there's a patrol bunker and a nineteen year old from the Bronx is leaning on his rifle butt and peering through a scope. There's a house in the Middle East, and a family looks out and sees soldiers keeping watch over the desert borders.

Somewhere today in Africa there's a house where a grandmother and grandfather watch over their 2 year old granddaughter and their 11 year old grandson, both dying of AIDS. The grandparents glance to one another knowing that this will be the end of a second generation of their family.

Somewhere in a house very close by is a couple waiting until after Christmas to tell their children that daddy has lost his job and they'll be leaving their schools, their church, their home to move to a town far away.

It's been said that the paradox of our time is that we:

·        have taller buildings, but shorter tempers;

·        wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints;

·        we spend more, but have less;

·        we buy more, but enjoy it less;

·        we have more conveniences, but less time;

·        increased possessions, but reduced values;

·        we can get to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to greet the new neighbor;

·        we know how to make a better living, but are clueless when it comes to finding a life."[ii]

When you drive up to John's house on Christmas Eve morning, you have to make your way through thick darkness and gloom, but as you round the corner, you're met with a blaze of light and brightness and radiance; for hundreds of thousands and hundreds of thousands of luminarias light the way right to the door.

Into the midst of darkness, when all seems out of joint, John comes with the Word and the Light to shine in the darkness.

John carries God's Word spoken to our fearful dread; a light held out to our despair; the good news that God has taken flesh and lives among us. And we have seen his glory; he who takes to himself the hopes and fears of all the years.

You who are undergoing rigorous medical treatment, enduring the ache and sting, fighting the good fight, waiting for news to live by: the light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it.

You who are fearful of the future, uncertain that anything today holds out any hope for tomorrow; you are not alone. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it.

You who are sure that God could not love you, that you have done something incomprehensible. You who stares in the mirror and doesn't recognize the one who stares back; there is One who knows you through and through and loves you still and still; who gives himself as a gift. Do not be afraid. You are not alone. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it.  

You who are young with your life ahead of you, and you who are older with your life ahead of you; there are so many unknowns. Do not be afraid. You are not alone. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it.[iii]

It is Christmas Eve morning in the household of God. Hear the Good News:

·        There is no experience so hidden that God's grace cannot find it.

·        There is no soil so sterile that the seed of holy wonder cannot grow in it.

·        There is no moment so dark that it can extinguish the Light of God that shines in it even now.[iv]

Come people of God.

God dwells in us.

God makes God's home with us.

For the Word became flesh and lives among us,

full of grace and truth,

full of grace and truth,

full of grace and truth.

__________________________________________________________

Endnotes

[i]    Jon M. Walton. Inspired by and adapted from his sermon, "Christmas at John's House: A Breakthrough." December 24, 2002. The First Presbyterian Church in the City of New York .

[ii]    Anonymous. "Paradox." Presented by John C. Bookout,

President of the National Fraternal Committee. Omaha, NE, September 11, 1999.

[iii]   Jon M. Walton. Inspired by and adapted from his sermon, "Christmas at John's House: A Breakthrough." December 24, 2002. The First Presbyterian Church in the City of New York .

[iv]    Thomas G. Long. Shepherds and Bathrobes. Lima, Ohio: CSS Publishing, 1987, 56.

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