Sermon 12/25/2019 “Be Word”
Preacher: Jo J. Belser
Location: Church of the Resurrection at Immanuel Church, Alexandria, VA
Text: John 1:1-14
Day: Christmas Day III
I sometimes prefer Baby Jesus in his manger: newborn, mute—or, if not quiet, not able to physically speak. Because, once Jesus can speak, he begins “suggesting” things of me.
Invariably, once Baby Jesus can speak, what he suggests involves ways that I can “be Word” by sharing in the work of God in our world. This isn’t being THE Word—that’s Christ’s role; we are just to “be Word,” HIS Word.
Because today is Christmas Day, the day God was birthed into the world as a newborn baby, I expected Jesus in a manger today. But what we get instead is The Word. As in, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Last night we got the STORY of Christ’s birth; today our gospel insists we begin thinking about what that birth means.
But what is “The Word” of our lesson today? The Word has two meanings, I’ve learned, both true. John’s particular brilliance was to have found a way to explain Christ Jesus that made sense to both Jewish people and Greeks. The concept of Word spoke to the people of his age.
In the Jewish tradition, a word does more than carry a message—a word IS itself the message. Words themselves have power; words can be dangerous. Once spoken, words can never be truly retracted. In the Jewish tradition, we can send words out on their own to take action while we wait for words to report back. For example:
- Genesis 1 says God spoke creation into being. John 1 says Christ Jesus was the Word God spoke to create all there is. And somehow, John insists, Christ participated in speaking himself into his creation.
- Psalm 107:20 says God sent forth his word and healed people. John 1 identifies Christ Jesus as the healing word God sent.
These are but two examples of how Jesus was “The Word” of God, the energy of creation and healing. But that’s just the Jewish understanding of The Word.
The Greek tradition understood the Word as wisdom. Words don’t just make us wiser; they are themselves wisdom, the deep and ultimate truth of reality. Jesus, when he grew out of the manger, didn’t just speak truth, John insists, he was deeply and completely the truth he spoke.
Have you noticed how philosophical this sermon is? And on Christmas Day? You try talking about “The Word” WITHOUT philosophy or theology! Last night we heard—experienced the story of Jesus’ birth; today we are asked to think about what that birth means.
Our lesson distinguishes between the Word itself and those who testify to, or witness to, or otherwise point to the Light that has come in Christ Jesus. Today’s gospel is this: Jesus brought the light, the energy, of God to us. Any light we have is this baby’s light. Scripture says that John the Baptizer witnessed SO WELL to the truth of God, that people wondered if HE were the source of the light he channeled.
WE, also, need to witness about God this well. We do so when we “be Word.” John says we can “be Word” by believing Jesus is the Word of God—the ultimate reality—because Jesus then gives us what we know as the Holy Spirit, making us “full of grace and truth.”
So, that’s what the WORD is, the Word born into our world anew today. But what are the implications for us?
Ultimately, the Word wants us to be his witnesses by bearing his light into our world. John calls “being Word,” acting as “children of God” by witnessing to the truth and doing the works of God.
Resurrection’s last Rector is a big fan of Howard Thurman, an African-American mystic and prophetic preacher of the civil rights movement. Through Resurrection’s last Rector I learned of Thurman’s poem, “The Work of Christmas,” which identifies the tasks the Word would give us to do:
When the song of the angels is stilled (Thurman wrote)
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins.
To find the lost
To heal the broken
To release the prisoner
To rebuild the nations
To bring peace among brothers and sisters
To make music in the heart.
How will we find the lost? Rev. Guimond suggested recently at Resurrection that we listen and notice whose name is not spoken—these are the lost if no one speaks their name.
How will we heal the broken? The most efficient way is to not break them with our words in the first place. And, when we let loose harmful words, we must go to the places our words have harmed and fill the broken places with love.
How will we feed the hungry? Let me count the ways… the many, many ways… each of our two congregations use to feed the hungry here in Alexandria. Actually, I won’t count or name all the ways we feed the hungry, or we’d be here through lunch.
How do we release the prisoners? Suspend judgment long enough to realize we could be the prisoner, could have (under other circumstances) done the prisoner’s deeds. And then love accordingly.
If only rebuilding nations were so “easy!” True rebuilding of OUR nation begins with an honest two-step process: First, ask yourself, if God is Word, if God is wisdom—the essence of reason—how can facts and truth not exist and not matter? Second, ask yourself how we who recognize Truth in a manger, might confuse our understanding of facts and our logic to control others to our judgments. Rebuilding anything else begins by rebuilding ourselves by understanding that WE (none of us) are the Word, we are just Word-bearers. Similarly, the only way to bring peace is to leave room for others’ facts and judgments by each lightening our load of certainty.
Finally, we can bring peace by sharing a meal, by worshiping together, by finding common cause in the Name of Christ Jesus (Mr. Word), and by making music together, ever broadening the circle, both in the heart and in the room.
