A sermon preached during the Christmas Day Service (Dec 25, 2016) at Tuguegarao Central UMC.
Naimbag nga bigat kadacayo amin
kakabsat. Merry Christmas canyayo.
Amo yo, idi intawag ni Pastor nga
syac ti agsermon ti Christmas Sunday, excited nac. I am always excited to share
the good news gapo ket as a medical doctor canayon met nga bad news ti
mai-share ko kadagiti pasyentic.
But today is Christmas Day. Today
is the day when we celebrate The Word is made flesh and dwells among us.
The Gospel of John is a unique
book among the four Gospel books. It is only the Gospel of John which tells the
birth story of Jesus differently. It emphasizes a high Christology, meaning the
emphasis is on the divinity of Christ. Why the need for emphasis?
The Gospel of John was probably written to early Christians meaning they already know and believe that Jesus is
the messiah. However, they still face persecution thus their faith is in
jeopardy.
The Gospel of John hopes to deepen
the faith of the already existing believers of Jesus by emphasizing that Jesus
is indeed a divine being. It strengthens their faith by teaching them that in recognizing
that Jesus is the messiah, they will see the glory of God that is full of grace
(love) and truth from God. Belief in a divine God therefore needs a better
illustration than just a birth of an infant Jesus to an incarnate God who
became flesh. Faith in God is deepened by recognizing that God is not a distant
God but a God whom we can experience and see in the person of Jesus.
You will not find the manger
story or the visit of the three kings or the visit of the angel to Joseph and
Mary. No, the birth story of Jesus in the Gospel of John is different.
Why do you think it is different?
Because the writer of the Gospel of John wants to emphasize to us that Jesus is
not just a cute little innocent baby. There is more to that.
You see, Christmas is not just
the birth of the baby Jesus. Any baby can be born on Christmas day.
In the
hospital, when I was on duty on Christmas day we deliver babies on December 25.
Yung ibang Nanay, ipipilit pa na makapanganak ng December 25. Maglalabor ng
December 24 para makapanganak ng 25. Tapos ang ipapangalan sa anak nila ay
Hesus. Pero yung tatay, hindi si Joseph. Sabi nga yung anak cute like Jesus
pero yung mukha ng tatay mukhang si Hudas. Christmas is not just the birth of
the infant Jesus. The writer of John makes a strong emphasis by describing God
as the Word who became flesh and dwells among us.
Why was John using the Word
(logos) becoming flesh to describe God incarnate as man?
The birth story of Jesus, that is
God becoming human, is described in the Gospel of John as the Word becoming
flesh. Let us focus on that “Word.” For John, God is the “Word.” In the
original Hebrew Bible, the Greek word for “Word” is Logos.
Logos is the Greek word that
means divine wisdom, potent energy, creative power.
Let me share with you how other authors and theologians answered this question about Logos. First, the writer of John wants to
emphasize to us by referring to Jesus as the Logos. This Logos is the God that
created the world through a spoken Word, God said “let there be light and there
was light.” That Word that can create is God. That Word is Jesus. Jesus is the
Word that can create the world and the source of all created things. That Word
is also the source of love, charity, grace and truth.
Another thing, the birth of Jesus
for John is not just a simple single event with a particular date in the
history of events. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and
the Word was God. It is important to recognize that the beginning is not an
event but rather beyond the human history. It is cosmic and thus is an eternal
unit. The Gospel of John emphasizes that Jesus is not finite.
But then, the Word, that is
Jesus, enters into the finite world in verse 10. Although, the world rejected the
very God that created the world. Except for some people who were born again and
received Jesus.
The story of Jesus is the story
of the Word becoming flesh. It is the story of an infinite God coming into the
finite world as a human being. It is the incarnation of God as man. The writer
of John is sharing to us their experience of that incarnation. Jesus is the
human manifestation of God’s creating and saving love. God, through Jesus
Christ, has shined the light through all the dark corners of the earth.
One book emphasized that when the Word became flesh it
dwelt among us, the dwelling was not temporary. A closer study on why the
writer of John used the word dwell means the intent of God to becoming flesh
was not only to experience humanity but to be among humans in this world not
for a temporary moment. The original Greek word used for dwelling could also
mean “to tabernacle” or “to tent”. To tent mean to stay close without
boundaries. The tabernacle reminds us of the Old Testament where the presence
of God with the people is symbolized by the tabernacle. The verse could
therefore translate as “God tabernacled” with us. Here it is important to
understand that the incarnation of the Word in the human form of Jesus does not
only stop in Jesus but God is present with all of humanity who have received
Jesus as their lord and savior.
God is with us through Jesus. And
we could see God’s gracefulness and truthfulness in Jesus. God is graceful that he forgives us even if we
are unworthy of it. God is truthful that he keeps his promise of salvation to
us.
The Gospel of John is telling his
readers before and to us today that God became flesh in Jesus and the
truthfulness and gracefulness of God can be seen in Jesus who became human like
us. But why do we need to be reminded of that?
This problem is not unique during
the time of John. Even to this day we hear some people talking about Jesus as a
mere human being. That is the reality. Some groups and cults have propagated
this understanding that Jesus is not divine and therefore not the messiah. Why
is this dangerous and important for us Christians?
Because if Jesus is not God and
man, then the person who suffered on the cross to save us from our sin and
defeated death was not God but a mere human being. It will mean that humanity
was saved by Superman – a superhero. Not God himself. You owe your salvation to
a human being. We are entrusting our lives and our future to a mere human
being.
As Methodist, we are one with
many mainline Christians who expresses the same basic belief with early
historical Christianity that Jesus Christ is human. That is apparent in our
Nicene and Apostles Creed. That is apparent in our hymns and prayer to the
Triune God – God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
We celebrate Christmas because we
celebrate not just the birthday of an infant but the incarnation of God
becoming flesh. For the same reason, those who do not believe Jesus as the
incarnate God do not have a reason to celebrate Christmas. Again for the same
reason, if you do not understand Christmas as the celebration of the Word
becoming flesh and dwelling among us then better not celebrate Christmas. The
decorations, Santa Clause, Christmas trees, parties, exchange gifts and good
food are nothing if we only see Christmas a birthday of Jesus without
recognizing that in that birth God became human. Our faith may need a little
upgrade from God.
My friends, let us examine our
faith quickly. When we pray, do we call to our heavenly father or do we look for
Jesus? When we see the manger, do we see a poor little baby or do we see God
reaching out to us humankind? When we see the cross, do we see a suffering and
bleeding Jesus or do we see God reconciling the sinners to his glory? When we celebrate Christmas, do we see the
birth of a baby or do we incarnation of God becoming flesh? Is this because we
do not often see Jesus as God.
God is not far from us. And so we
ask, can we deepen our faith if we see Jesus as God that is all-encompassing,
all-knowing and all-powerful God? Maybe we will experience God as graceful,
loving and truthful to his promise when we experience it through the humanity
of Jesus.
God is not far nor absent if we
Jesus as God. Maybe, we will rely more
on Jesus to heal us completely if we see him as God incarnate. Maybe we will
trust more in Jesus to lead us to our lifetime partner if we see Jesus as God
incarnate. Maybe we will not feel lonely and hopeless if we see our best friend
Jesus as God incarnate. Maybe we will surrender the outcome of our exams to
Jesus if we see him as God incarnate. Maybe we will not doubt the promise of
Jesus that we will succeed in our businesses and careers if we see him as God
incarnate. Maybe we will not impose our own agenda and personal plans and
desires against the perfect plan of Jesus for us if we see him as God
incarnate.
You see, our faith deepens and
strengthens when we recognize that baby born Jesus is God who became flesh.
That is the message of the writer of John when he said later on 3:16, “For God
so loved the world that whoever believes in Jesus (as the God who became flesh)
will not die (from sins) but will have eternal life.”
That is the good news my dear
brothers and sisters, that on Christmas day God became flesh and dwells among
us. God is made flesh in you. God is living in you. In your daily lives and
daily activities, the dark world will experience the presence of God and they
will know God is for real.
God is for real. God is not just
an idea. God is not some distant being. God is present in this world.
The hospital is a the darkest
place on earth. But God is present there. There is sickness, there is
hopelessness, there is trouble and anxiety. But that is where hope is needed.
That is where God is made flesh in the lives of your health workers.
The church can be God made flesh
in the lives of other people who live in the dark.
God became flesh on Christmas day
so that God may live with us and become closer than ever to us. That in sinfulness
and arrogance people may feel the grace of God, that in our unfaithfulness we
can see the truthfulness of God, that in our suffering and pain we can feel the
comforting embrace of God, that when we are fearful and anxious God is there to
accompany us, that in our times of sadness and loneliness God is our companion,
that in times of our victory and happiness God can share in our happy moments.
God came to this world, not in
general terms. God wants to be with each one of us individually. God is coming
to you. The Word that is God needs to be incarnate in this church, in our
church group, in our families, in our relationships, in you and dwell in you,
bringing with him truth and grace. God wants to be incarnate and become flesh
in all of society and in us. Let us allow God to be born in our hearts this
Christmas day. Amen.
