a god worth worshipping

incarnation sermon series, pt 1

 

The Holy Gospel according to St. John the 1st (1-18) chapter!

Today is a moment of transition: Today is the last Sunday of Christmas; in fact it is the last, the 12th day of Christmas; and today is the first Sunday of the new year.

With that transition in mind, we will be beginning a sermon series.

To begin this sermon series I'd like to ask you all to engage in little exercise...

Now I know I ask you all to do different things, but I never do it just to see if you all will; there's always a reason. So just bear with me.

What I'd like you all to do is post, somewhere in your house, this sentence; "I am a child of God."

And, I'd like you to read this statement aloud once a day; ideally at the same time each day.

Perhaps posting this near your bathroom mirror would be a good idea...

Now maybe that feels a little hooky to you you, but I believe it will be worth the mild embarrassment you may experience.

A little more on this exercise in a bit...

 

Today in the Gospel, the evangelist John, in his typical metaphorical style, begins his testimony to God's good news in Jesus with a poem on the "significance of the incarnation."

Truth be told, poetry is a fitting way to meditate upon the significance of something as profound and mysterious as God taking on bones and flesh...

Honestly, however, I really don't mind how any of us meditate upon the significance of God -GOD- becoming a human; so long as we at least attempt to meditate upon the incarnation,

as long as we undertake to discern what the claim the God became a person means for you,

what it means for the church,

what it means for the world...

It's important for us to take some time with the claim of the incarnation because, you know, I worry that Christianity in North America is all too often taken for granted, that it is all to often mere sentiment...

When we're not blown away by the incredible claim of Christianity that God did something ungodly, than our faith becomes mere tradition; at that point Christianity has lost its purpose, its reason for being, it's evangelical fire.

The great theologian Jaroslav Pelikan once quipped, "tradition is the living faith of the dead; whereas traditionalism is the dead faith of the living." And although it goes without saying, he finds it edifying to add that it is traditionalism, of course, that gives tradition a bad name.

With that in mind, then; the sermon series beginning now -the last Saturday/Sunday of Christmas and first of the new year- until Ash Wednesday will dwell on that incredible claim at the center of our faith, that as John puts it "the Word become flesh," the incarnation.

The Sermon Series will be on the "significance of the incarnation."

This may seem like a long time for a sermon series, but Lent will be here before we know it;

and, more importantly, even these 8 Saturdays/Sundays will not be enough time to dwell on the significance of the incarnation fully.

Because truth be told, the incarnation is terribly significant, it is central to our faith, it reveals the kind of God we worship, and the kind of God that is revealed is the kind of God the world, ourselves included, is longing for...

That is why John begins his gospel with a poem on what it means that God became a human.

That is why the people who put together the lectionary have decided that John's poem on the Word becoming flesh, bringing light and life with him is fitting for the last Saturday/Sunday of Christmas...

The incarnation is an incredible claim, it is a faith-inducing work of God, it is a glimpse of the light of life illuminating all of creation.

 

See, here's the thing, finally you don't just find Jesus -God in bones and flesh- just in the manger on Christmas Eve.

What John, and the Church in all its wisdom, want us to know that God is finally fully revealed in the fullness of Jesus' life, ministry, death and resurrection, in the fullness of the incarnation.

What this Christmas poem at the beginning of John's gospel insists is that if you want to know what God is like;

just look here,

listen to what Jesus says,

observe how he lives,

witness his ministry,

suffer the crucifixion,

be raised on the third day;

and in the culmination of the entire sweep of this one person's incarnated life you will get a glimpse of God.

And what we see, well; what we see makes all the difference in the world...

For instance, you all know that I worked at a church in godless Seattle before coming here.

The northwest, epitomized by heathen infested Seattle, is an thoroughly unchurched part of North America.

In fact I remember a pastor from a church way up in Queen Ann Hill insisting that there were Christians in Seattle to someone or another. This pastor said he knew there were because one summer day he took the sprayer from his kitchen sink, opened the kitchen window and sprayed it down on the seattle-ites in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; thus baptizing at least a few!

I bring up these heathens, though, because the more time I spent with these people the more I came to see that they weren't opposed to Christianity; in fact, they were open to Christianity.

What they were opposed to was traditionalism, Christianity that was simply sentiment, faith that didn't mean anything...

These folks were looking for something that would matter.

And, while Seattle may have been uncommon then, the low rates of Christians is soon to be the norm everywhere.

When that becomes the case, it is incumbent upon us that we carry the faith to folks who are open to Christianity.

This goes without saying, though, we can't share the faith if we're unclear about what it means;

but more importantly, we won't share the faith if we're not convinced ourselves that it makes all the difference in the world,

and finally what we share will not be received if it doesn't make a difference in the lives of those we go carrying the good news to...

What I'm insisting, though, ad what this whole sermon series will be about is that the incarnation does make all the difference in the world;

and it isn't just to the abstract world out there that the incarnation impacts, it affects those you love and yourself in those places where it matters...

 

Before we wrap up this sermon, remember that exercise I asked you to consider for the duration of our sermon series; posting "I am a child of God" somewhere in your house and to saying this aloud at least once a day?

Well, I didn't come up with this exercise on my own...

 

A while back a few of us were asked to do this. After the first week we all met again and our convener asked how the exercise was going.

Well, we all sheepishly dug our shoes into the ground, admitting we hadn't been that good at the exercise.

At this our convener said there was no reason to meet that day, and said we needed to go home be more diligent the upcoming week.

So we met the next week, and you can bet we had all made sure to notice that statement and say it aloud.

Certain that we had actually tried, our convener asked how the exercise went.

Well, we all sheepishly dug our shoes in the ground, admitting saying that simple sentence was a lot harder than it seemed.

"Good" the convener declared.

"Keep at it. I'll see you next week," and that was it for our second meeting.

Honestly, I thought after a week that  short sentence would get easier to say, but it didn't; in fact it became harder.

It was pretty frustrating.

So when we met the following week, I wasn't the only one a little piqued.

When the convener asked how the exercise was going someone blurted out,

"Its hard! I always avoid saying this; and when I finally make myself it's difficult to say those five little words..."

Without missing a beat the convener asked, "why do you think that is?"

We were all quiet, and so our convener asked us to continue the exercise, and to meditate upon why its such a challenge to say that simple sentence. That was it for our third meeting.

When we meet the next week there were a lot of theories; it felt awkward, it wasn't the way we normally speak; stuff like that.

But then this quiet woman spoke up, "I think its because most of the time I don't feel like I'm a child of God."

"Bingo" the convener said.

You say that simple sentence, 'I'm a child of God;' and before you can even finish the voice in the back of your head is saying:

what about that embarrassing thing you did,

what about that person you hurt,

what about your weight,

what about that scratch on your car,

what about that credit card bill you just got in the mail,

what about the report you just got from the doctor's office,

what about those failed New Years resolutions,

what about this that and the other thing?

Finally the voice in your head concludes, maybe those other people are children of God, but not you;

not you..."

 

After our convener laid it all out, we were quiet again.

Then the convener read something, something we all heard not long ago;

"But to all who received the Word made Flesh, who believed in his name, Jesus gave power to become children of God."

Then the convener said, "go home and keep saying that sentence aloud, but know something, your status as God's children doesn't have to do with how bad or good you are; but with God coming here and choosing you."

We all meet the following week, and the truth was it was a little easier to say that sentence, but it still was hard;

in fact there are many days when I still find it hard to say that sentence aloud and believe it.

Through repetition, though;

through constant reminder that that sentence is true, not because of anything I've done, but because of God; it gets a little easier to say...

 

So here's the first thing about the significance of the incarnation;

when God decided to take on bones and flesh;

God left everything godly behind to redeem everything flesh and bones; to redeem us;

and when God did this claimed us; all of us, every part of us, each one of us,

God claimed you.

See, all too often we're bombarded by those messages of the god of not enough,

messages that we're not good enough,

not smart enough,

not pretty enough,

not rich enough,

not enough;

but God when God took on flesh and bones God redeemed people of flesh and bones, God redeemed us.

See the incredible insistence of the incarnation is that God quits the business of being perfect far off in heaven to come with us here on earth, and to be born, live, even die and be raised

all to bring us into God's household,

to give us power to become children of God.

Try and tell me that isn't significant.

Try and tell me that isn't a God you don't want to worship.

What the incarnation reveals is a God who doesn't despise us and the world we live in,

but instead a God who makes us and this world lovely by first of all loving us and coming to be with us.

What the incarnation reveals is a God worth worshipping,

a faith that changes everything.

So here this, God wants to be so close to you that God took on bones and flesh -

God is here,

God is with us,

God is Emmanuel.

Amen