(First of Christmas)

Readings: Jeremiah 31:7-14; John 1:1-5, 14, 16-18

preached by Rev. Wayne Irwin

It was Christmas Eve.

About 3:30 in the afternoon.

I was at the hospital.

About to visit someone.

In the administration area

hanging up my coat.

The workers there had gone home . . . early.

There was staff visible, of course,

in ‘Emergency.’

And Hospital Volunteers, in their smocks,

attending to their particular tasks.

And as I checked the computer

to see where my parishioner was located,

I overheard an older volunteer

approach a younger one

sitting behind the information desk,

and ask abruptly:  “Where’s your name badge?”

Her voice carried a tone of ‘mothering.’

The younger person

pulled something out of her pocket, and said:

“It’s here, but it came apart.

I was trying to clean it.

I put it in some soapy water . . .

and it came apart.

Could you make me a new one?”

“All right.  But don’t let it happen again.”

“But this time,” said the younger one,

“could you please put Kathy on it,

instead of Mrs. K?”

“Oh . . . I don’t think I could do that,”

“They don’t like it.”

“But I saw someone else

with their name like that.”

“Doesn’t matter. 

I wouldn’t want anyone to be angry with me.

I’ll have to check, first.

so just don’t wear one today.

Maybe nobody else will notice.”

What was the word being expressed there?

The message?  On that Christmas Eve?

What we say, and how we say it,

goes a long way

towards making known to others,

to the world, and to eavesdroppers,

not only who we are,

and what we think, and how we think,

and also the intention behind

what we say and do.

The volunteer behind the desk

wanted to relate to everyone

in an informal, friendly  way.

The older one

was clearly afraid of many things,

and even willing to allow

a violation of security policy

because of her fear.

One of the most important teachings

of the Christmas message

is the word reportedly spoken to the shepherds

by the angel on that Bethlehem night:

“Do not be afraid!”

In essence, a message declaring

“Something has happened in this world

that means:

never again need you be afraid.

“Never again be ultimately afraid.”

And the Gospel of John

in which we find our text today

celebrates that same affirmation.

The Gospel of John, as it declares itself,

is written so its readers might believe

that Jesus is that message.

The presence of Jesus meaning

we need never be afraid.

“Let not your hearts be troubled,” Jesus said,

“Neither let them be afraid.”

Something God intends. Us living without fear.

And John’s Gospel begins

by stating

that before the world itself was created,

the Word (capital ‘W’) already existed.

“In the beginning was the ‘Word,’

and the ‘Word’ was with God,

and the ‘Word’ was God.”

And since the writing argues

that it was this ‘Word’

that somehow became visible, incarnate,

embodied in a human being, in Jesus,

and lived among us, in Jesus,

it is appropriate for us, who follow Jesus,

to attempt to understand what that means,

to attempt to grasp a bit more fully,

what difference that sort of affirmation makes

for each of us . . . for all of us . . .

for our frightful journey of life.

And that means getting behind

the English translations of the text

to explore what we can of the original nuance.

And, as you probably know,

this particular text

was first written in common Greek,

with the word translated ‘Word,’ capital ‘W,’

being ‘Logos.’

A word with which

those of that time and culture were familiar.

A word carrying within it the idea

of the rational principle

that gave birth to the universe.

An abstract rationale, a basis,

the ground of being . . . that without expression

could have no effect.  No manifestation.

But a reasoning, nevertheless,

capable of initiating existence, being, life.

And in English,

we might paraphrase the concept

with the word ‘intention.’

In the beginning was . . . The Intention!

‘Logos’ itself, as we know, found its way

into many English words.

Word ending in ‘ology’:

geology, astrology.

anthropology, zoology.

Each instance

referring to a specific type of reasoning.

Biology being

     the ‘reasoning about life,’

Psychology,

the ‘reasoning about the psyche, the self.’

Theology . . . the ‘reasoning about the divine.’

And so John’s Gospel begins, saying,

“In the beginning

before the world was created

there existed the ‘Reason for Being,’ the Basis

the Intention, . . . the ‘Word.’

Now consider the characteristics of a word?

Any word.

Any of my words this morning.

And such a word . . . unspoken . . .

means nothing to you.

It remains within me . . . as a thought.

And you know nothing of it.

It is an idea.

But that idea expressed by a word spoken

goes forth from me

as vibration in the atmosphere . . .

and has a physical effect

upon the workings of your ear.

Which your system translates

into electrical signals in your brain

that bring the idea that is mine

into your consciousness,

into your awareness.

Of course, my message

may be simply expressed

through my body language only.

[Arms raised]  “Let us pray!”

You can visibly get the message.

But until the idea within me goes forth

in some form of external expression,

none of you can know

that the idea itself even exists.

And what the philosopher in John’s Gospel

is stating

is that the person Jesus

is the external expression

of the Intention, of the Idea, of the Hope

that is in God

from the beginning.

John is saying

that in Jesus we encounter

the Understanding of All Things

that constitutes . . . God!”

This particular weekend

we are so very much aware

of the danger posed for this world

by the assassination of

former Pakistani Prime minister

Benazir Bhutto. . . Frightening for many.

There are those who say she was corrupt.

There are those who say she was a messiah.

You maybe read it in the Hamilton Spectator,

the report of Pakistani journalist Mohsin Abbas,

living here in the city.

He first met her when he was 16,

and was always amazed, he said,

that she gave up a luxurious Western lifestyle

to return to Pakistan

to take the leadership

of the Pakistan People’s Party

with a slogan of “Food, Clothing, and Shelter,”

with an intention for democracy,

and a specific concern for the poor.

“She was so important to the poor,” he wrote.

“In my travels to remote areas and villages,

I often found her picture in their homes.

It was as if . . .  she were a saviour.”

And as we learn in knowing Jesus

a frightened world always attempts . . .

to assassinate its saviours!

And sometimes it succeeds.

And all of this dynamic, meanwhile

is taking place within each one of us.

When we live by fear,

we live in danger of doing away

with that which will ultimately save us.

And how we each live is seen each day

in the even seemingly insignificant decisions

that we make each day –

like whether we simply speak up

in the grocery store

if we’ve been given too much change.

How we each live . . . moment to moment . . .

reveals to others, to the world,

and to the eavesdroppers,

the reasoning, the intention, the logos,

the Word that is within us.

And Jesus . . . says the Gospel of John . . .

. . . is the incarnation

of the reasoning of God.

Soren Kierkegaard, the great 19^th century

Danish philosopher and theologian,

expressed this concept in a story he created

telling of a prince

running an errand for his father

in a local village,

who passed through a poor section of town,

in his carriage,

and observed through the window

a beautiful young peasant girl

walking on the street,

whose image he could not remove

from his heart.

So he proceeded to visit the village

day after day,

just in the hope of seeing her again.

Feeling himself drawn to her.

His heart yearning to meet her,

to develop a relationship with her.

But how could he do so

without destroying her?

By his authority,

he could order her to marry him.

It was in his power to do so.

But he wanted his relationship with her

to be a relationship of the heart . . .

to be something undertaken willingly.

He could put on his royal garments

and impress her with his regal entourage.

He could drive up to her front door

with soldiers escorting him,

in a carriage drawn by six fine horses.

But if he did this

he would never be certain

that the girl’s response

was of the heart.

How would he know

that she was not simply overwhelmed

by his power, his position and wealth.

So, the prince devised another answer.

As you may have guessed.

He surrendered his kingly robe

and his symbols of power and privilege.

And moved into the village

dressed also as a peasant.

Chose to live among the people,

sharing in their interests and concerns.

Chose to speak their language.

And in time, the young peasant girl

did come to know him . . .

and ultimately

to enter into relationship with him

and to love him.

And this, of course, is the principle

of ‘the Word made flesh.’

The idea of God living with us

and sharing our humility.

To enter into relationship with us.

And to win our hearts.

God, who could force us.

Who could overwhelm us.

Choosing to romance us.

To stand with us,

with arms open to embrace us.

Meanwhile, each person in this world . . .

and that includes you . . .

whatever your age or stage in life . . .

each person in this world

is also an incarnate word.

Some are seemingly the incarnation

of a word of cursing,

of a satanic word.

Others clearly are the incarnation

of a word of blessing,

of a divine word.

And we who be Christian,

we who have declared our intention

to do our best

to walk in the way of Jesus,

we open ourselves

to the re-birthing

of that divine Word within us

in this festive season.

Because the baby born in Bethlehem

is only a metaphor

for the Word that is birthed anew

in the humble stable of our hearts –

the Word that is intended to be

a blessing to this old world,

and an antidote to its fear.

So, what is the Word that lives in you?

Is it the Word of Hope? of Peace?

Is it the Word of Joy? of Love?

Look deeply within.

Because it is there within you.

Gestating within you.

Your divine Word.

And your challenge, like that of Mary

is to deliver the Word that is in you . . .

safely . . . into the world.

Said the apostle Paul (Col 3:16)

     “Let the word of Christ

          dwell in you richly . . .”

Said the apostle James (Jam 1:22)

     “Be doers of the word.”

Said Jesus (Joh 14: sel)

     “Let not your hearts be troubled.

          Neither let them be afraid.”

Amen.