Rev. Carol Fryer Immanuel Lutheran Church, New York, NY Christmas Day December 25, 2020 Isaiah 52:7-10; Psalm 98; Hebrews 1:1-4; John 1:1-14
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
This morning I invite you to meditate on the verse that is the climax of this Christmas morning’s Gospel reading. To my ears that climax is the first part of verse 14. It goes like this:
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us… (John 1:14)
Last night we heard the beautiful Christmas story as it is told by St. Luke. We are drawn to the image of the baby in the manger, the adoring young mother and protective father, the angels bursting forth with “glorias” in the night sky, and the shepherds rushing to see this thing that that has happened. The wonder and beauty of Christmas can bring a warm sense of peace and hope to our hearts and to this troubled world.
Now in the bright light of day, Christmas Day, we read about Jesus’ birth from John’s gospel. It’s a very different perspective, but an important one. Unlike the story in Luke or Matthew, it’s a very short story with two parts: “The Word became flesh” is part one; “and dwelt among us” is part two. It is that second part that I want to especially focus on this morning, that is, that the Word of God, through whom all things were created, took on human flesh in order to dwell among us humans. God became one of us in order to be with us. Therefore we know Him as Immanuel – God with us.
Now of course this happened a long time ago. One might be tempted to think that Jesus was born two thousand years ago in order to dwell with those people who lived back then. And it is true especially for Mary and Joseph, the shepherds and the Wise men, the twelve disciples and all those whose lives he touched while he walked on this earth. But it is also true for you and me. Jesus came to dwell among us – all of us! Not just some of us, but all of us.
Again, one might be tempted to think that Jesus came to dwell among a special group of people. There were times and ways that Israel believed that the Messiah would come just for them for they were God’s chosen people after all. All others, the Gentiles, were excluded, unclean, outcasts even. There were times when Israel had forgotten that God had specifically chosen Israel for a purpose. That purpose was to become a blessing to all the other nations
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It is too light a thing that you should be my servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob And to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, That my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. (Isaiah 49:6)
We too must never think that we belong to a special group of people for whom Jesus was born, whatever that group may be. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us – us meaning all of us in every time and place, for all are God’s beloved creation.
We know that Jesus especially attended to the needs of the poor, the blind, the lame, widows and orphans, the sick and the vulnerable. He was accused of hanging around with tax collectors and prostitutes. Jesus also attended to the Roman Centurion whose servant was dying. He conversed with Nicodemus, a Pharisee, who gradually came to believe in him. There were many who rejected Jesus; nevertheless he had come to save them too!
Jesus came to dwell with the Vietnam veteran begging on the street corner. He came to dwell with the Wall Street financier who makes good money working long hours under pressure. Jesus came to be with the ER nurse who cares for people in crisis. He came to be with the young man who just got shot in the midst of a gang rivalry. He came to dwell with the police officer that made a mistake in judgment. Jesus came to the woman whose husband beats her. He came for the husband who cannot control his anger when he drinks. He came for the young person struggling with drug addiction or mental illness. He came for the child of immigrants who was taken away from her family at the border. Jesus came for the politician, and for the voting citizen; for the Republican, and the Democrat, and the Socialist. Jesus came for the farmers in the Midwest; he came for the sophisticated city people. He came to dwell with those sick with COVID; he came to be with the suffering and dying, the homeless and those who are all alone in the world. He came to be with your neighbor who annoys you. He came to be with the little ones in their mothers’ arms, and the teenagers in rebellion against their parents. He came for the taxi driver, the bus driver, the sanitation worker, the doorman, the super, the repairperson, the tailor and the seamstress. He came to be with the beautician, the shop owner, the grocer, the butcher, the banker, the small business owner and the CEO. He came for the Mayors, the Governors, the
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Supreme Court Judges, the Senators, the Vice President, and the President too. He came for prime ministers, kings and queens too.
I could go on but I think you get the picture. Jesus did not come just for some of us but for all of us – all of humanity has received the gift of God’s gracious and loving presence in the Word made flesh who dwells among us. Therefore, we must recognize one another and ourselves too as people who are loved so much by our Creator that He was determined to come and save us. Our Maker did not want to lose a single one of us. And so God chose to come and join us in the adventure of human life on this earth. Jesus did not come to just observe us. He did not come to criticize us or judge us according to heavenly standards. No, he came to love us. He came to invite us to walk with him, to learn from him, to be healed by him, to be saved by him. To do that he had to die like us, but in dying he has released us from the chains of death. St. Athanasius, a fourth century Church Father who defended the church against the Arian heresy, puts it this way:
For the human race would have perished utterly had not the Lord and Saviour of all, the Son of God, come among us to put an end to death. (On the Incarnation, chapter 9)
Why did the Word of God become flesh and dwell among us? Because we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God! We all need a Redeemer, a Savior. We were made for companionship with God, but we severed that companionship when we turned away from our Maker in disobedience and pride.
We were created in the image of God, but that image in us was tarnished, even destroyed by our falling into sin and so God sent His Son into the world to restore us to the dignity with which we were created. That is why the Word became flesh – became one of us, one with us. Jesus of Nazareth is the true image of God in human flesh. He has come to dwell with us and we are invited to dwell in Him thereby restoring us to the holy image in which we are created. The meaning of Christmas is that the One who is infinite became finite so that we, through Him and in Him, may also be capable of infinitude. Another way to put it is God became human so that we humans might become godly. Jesus became one of us so that we might become more like Him. The Holy One came to us that we might become holy too. A more contemporary writer, Garrison Keillor, recently put it this way in his weekly blog:
We were made in the image of God and it is time to start doing better. Care for the children, save the planet, stop hallucinating and
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pay attention. (garrisonkeillor.com, blog post “Let the light of heaven shine on me”)
On this Christmas Day, let us take some time to meditate on these words:
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. (John 1:14)
Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given! Unto all of us, not just some of us. May we learn to see each and every person as someone with whom Jesus came to dwell, forever and ever. This is the greatest gift of all. Merry Christmas! In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
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