Story

Charlotte Collins Reed

Christ Episcopal Church

December 31, 2017 (8am only)

                                                     Christmas 1

How appropriate that today, as we stand at the edge of one year and on the cusp of another, our gospel lesson begins with those magical words "In the Beginning...."  I think there is something inside each of us that longs to know about our beginnings.  Our sons, who are now quite grown, still like to hear stories about their beginnings.  And when we run out of stories about their beginnings, they want to hear stories about when Don and I were little, or when our parents were children.  Our kids have always want to know where they come from, and they want it in the form of a story.  Even as small children, they knew that the story of their beginnings goes back way beyond the moment of their individual births, and that understanding their beginnings is an important part of figuring out who they are.     

So, today, we hear the story of our beginnings as Christians.  John begins his gospel "In the beginning" echoing those words that begin the book of Genesis.  "In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the the face of the waters, there was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God."  The Greek word "logos" is translated as "Word" in every translation of the New Testament that I know of, but it can be translated many other ways such as "speech," "reason" or "plan," or even "rational thought" but the most interesting translation, I think, is "story."  In the beginning was the Story, not just any old story, but our story, the story of our relationship with God.   

The gospel lesson we heard this morning is John's version of the Christmas story.  John's version of the story of our beginnings as Christians has no manger, no swaddling clothes or barn animals, and no baby Jesus.  This gospel lesson would make a terrible Christmas pageant!  But this gospel lesson is very clear about who Jesus is.  Jesus is the Word, the story, that has dwelt with God since the very beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth.  Jesus is God made flesh so that we can know God, not as an abstract concept, or a deity that we can know the fullness of the story of God's relationship with humanity, from the very beginning right up through our own relationship with him in the present.

What does this story of our beginnings tell us about ourselves?  First, in Jesus we meet God as God wants us to see our Creator.  We meet the God who wants to communicate with us, be in conversation with us, walk with us and experience our humanity.  God could have chosen to be revealed as light, or diamonds, or an incredible sunset or a powerful earthquake, but instead God chose to be revealed to us as one of us.  It is difficult at best, perhaps impossible, to have a relationship with a sunset or a diamond.  God's revelation as a person shows us how deeply God wants to be in relationship with us.  Jesus is God's offering of God's entire self that we might have this relationship.  This story tells us that we are meant to be in relationship with God, and that we are, in fact, God's beloved children.

The second thing we learn from this story of our beginnings is that God, revealed in Jesus, is not going to be obvious to everyone.   John says "He was in the world, but the world did not know him."  There are many people right here in Hudson who are good, gracious people, but do not know Jesus, and who have no interest in knowing him.  The same God who wants a relationship with us so much that the Word became flesh in Jesus, gives us the freedom to choose whether we want to respond and reciprocate that relationship.  It is a gracious God who continually offers the gift of Jesus, but allows us the freedom to say "no." 

Does this mean we should stop introducing people to Jesus?  Absolutely not.  We each have the responsibility and the privilege of introducing Jesus to whomever God sends into our lives- family, friends, co-workers.  But the gospel tells us that we should not expect that our introductions will always be met with joy and wonder.  John the Baptist, we are told, came to testify to the light, even though not everyone would believe.  We, too, are called to testify to the light, even though not everyone will believe. 

New Year’s Eve is a prime opportunity to reflect on who we are and what we are called to do.  Who are we?  We are beloved children of God with whom God is dying, literally, to have a relationship.  What are we called to do?  We are called to bear witness to the light of Jesus at all times and in all places, so that no one will walk in darkness because they haven't seen the light.  May we be faithful bearers of the Story.

Amen.