The Reading
The Gospel
John 1:1-18
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.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 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 man, 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. (John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'") From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 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 Sermon
I mentioned in the first
advent sermon that most of our gospel readings would come from Luke
and with an occasional contribution from John. And...here he is.
John starts out with a theology lesson. He says, “In the beginning
was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. As you
were reading along with me you may have noticed that the word, Word
is capitalized. John is not just talking about a word as such. John
is giving us a theology lesson. The Word is Jesus of Nazareth, the
messiah. John tells us that Jesus always existed, that he was there
at the beginning and that all things came through him. John says
that Jesus is incarnated. He is God who came to earth and took on
his own humanity.
These few verses in the
Chapter of John give us a lot to ponder. People who are much better
thinkers than me have written volumes on this subject so that people
like me can better understand what John was saying.
Sometimes though, I think
maybe we are better off not trying to over intellectualize our faith.
I am not convinced that we grow spiritually when we do. The
Buddhists have a saying that, “sometimes less is more.” I will
never understand God and how God works. It would take a much bigger
brain than I have to figure that one out.
What I want. What I need
to grow spiritually is to have a relationship with God. So. How do I
do that? How do we do that? I think there is not just one thing
that we can do and have that aha moment where we find ourselves at
one with God. We humans are very complex creatures and each of us
is unique. What might not work for me might word wonderfully for
others.
Reading and studying
scripture is a good practice for me but I need more. I pray in
different ways. Sometimes I read prayers in the prayer book.
Sometimes I just talk to God. Sometimes I sing to God and make a
joyful noise. On a daily basis I listen to God in silent meditation.
When I was half the age I
am now, I was pretty sure I had it all together. I didn't need to go
to church. I could be spiritual with out going to a 'church' and
that was just fine. Then one day I met a man who had actually come
to talk to me about something else. Near the end of our
conversation, he informed me that he was the Episcopal priest at a
small church in town. I firmly told him I did not go to church.
Later however, I decided
I liked the guy so I would give it a try. I went that Sunday and on
that day I realized that something had been missing in my life. It
was a sense of belonging to a spiritual community. My belief is that
we become stronger spiritually when we practice our faith together.
Our spiritual energy lifts us all up.
I am clearly preaching to
the choir here but I encourage you to reach out to others who like me
did not think they need to go to church. It might just bring them
closer to God.
Amen
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