The Tenth Day of Christmas
03/01/16 05:05
The cycle of readings that is used for worship planning, known as the lectionary, is filled with strange quirks. I have been a lectionary preacher for all of my career, which means that I do not make the choice of scriptures for worship, but rather accept the choice made by an ecumenical group, known as the consultation on common texts. This means that our congregation follows the same texts as other congregations, sharing biblical themes simultaneously with other Christians. It also means that I am not tempted to dwell only on the texts that I happen to like, or to choose texts to illustrate the theological points I want to make. But it also means that sometimes I do not fully understand the reasoning for the choice of particular texts.
The lectionary follows a three-year cycle, and we are currently in the third of those years. In general, the first year follows the gospel of Matthew; the second the gospel of Mark; and the third the gospel of Luke. There is no year dedicated to the gospel of John, but the second year has more Sundays focusing on John than the other two, in part because Mark is the shortest of the Gospels. This week, however, even though we are in the year of Luke, our reading is the prologue to the Gospel of John. I love the poetic and theological strains of John’s gospel, and the prologue is challenging. In it, the writer outlines the theological themes that are more fully developed throughout the gospel. You can tell from the first sentences that this is not the same kind of story telling that is found in the other Gospels. It isn’t concerned with reporting the same kind of details upon which the others focus. And it uses symbolic language: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
“Word” is a pretty good translation of the original Greek, “Logos,” but there are nuances that don’t convey exactly the same meanings. That is true of all translations. A word, of course, is a unit of language, a particular set of sounds or written symbols that conveys meaning. By speaking of Jesus as “Word,” the gospel begins with a commitment to the idea of the messiah - the essential meaning precedes the physical person. The word exists before it becomes flesh. It is a heady and philosophical thought.
It is not, however, the most challenging idea of the prologue. The entire text challenges our way of thinking about God and about ourselves.
For this year, I believe that one of the great challenges of the prologue to the Gospel of John comes in the 16th verse: “And from his fulness have we all received, grace upon grace.”
We have all received - past tense - already have grace upon grace. That is, there is already abundance for all. Jesus Christ shows us who God is, and we have received from his fullness, "grace upon grace." This phrase sets a tone for this new year 2016, especially when so many of our neighbors are still struggling on our way out of deep economic troubles, unemployed or under-employed, so many still caught in the web of poverty. It may be secular heresy to see plenty right now, to see abundance, to see fullness even in a time like this. However, if we can claim that there is more than enough of everything we need most – forgiveness and reconciliation, grace, life, truth, joy, generosity, healing, justice – perhaps we can also believe that there is more than enough of what our bodies need to live on: food, water, land, clothing, and shelter. Enough that we might share, and share generously.
Perhaps our greatest challenge is to understand this abundance as something meant not just for us, or for those strong (or lucky) enough to have it already, but something that God intended to be shared, from the very beginning of creation, with all of God's children. Might this even be a first step on the path to peace, if we truly believe there is more than enough for all? What dreams of peace might a new year, a new beginning, bring, if we could share this abundance personally, communally, and even globally, with all of the people of the earth?
If you listen to the politicians, pay attention to those who are campaigning to become President, you might become convinced that we live in times of scarcity - that there isn’t enough to go around. There are fears of immigrants, fears of refugees, fears of others who might take from us the possessions we have. Politics may be the art of stirring up fears and getting people to vote “against” instead of “for,” but it seems to me that the Gospels challenge the very foundations of the political process. I don’t expect any of the candidates to begin making major speeches in which it is declared that we have more than enough and that all that is lacking is our ability to share.
That, however, is the foundation of the gospel message. We all have received grace upon grace. There is no need to invest our time in whining about what we do not have or our energy in trying to obtain more for ourselves. We live in an abundance of God’s grace.
Despite what the world around us may say, Christmas is not over.
The ideas of the season, the Word, is too expansive to process in a day or a moment. After the weeks of Advent preparation, we now are invited to linger for a few more days in the power of the reality that is the gift of Jesus Christ to the world. The word has become flesh and dwelt among us and we have received grace upon grace. The abundance of God is not something that lies in some other time. It is not an ancient story of our past, nor is it a yet unfulfilled promise of the future. It is for us here and now.
All we have to do is to learn to share.
The lectionary follows a three-year cycle, and we are currently in the third of those years. In general, the first year follows the gospel of Matthew; the second the gospel of Mark; and the third the gospel of Luke. There is no year dedicated to the gospel of John, but the second year has more Sundays focusing on John than the other two, in part because Mark is the shortest of the Gospels. This week, however, even though we are in the year of Luke, our reading is the prologue to the Gospel of John. I love the poetic and theological strains of John’s gospel, and the prologue is challenging. In it, the writer outlines the theological themes that are more fully developed throughout the gospel. You can tell from the first sentences that this is not the same kind of story telling that is found in the other Gospels. It isn’t concerned with reporting the same kind of details upon which the others focus. And it uses symbolic language: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
“Word” is a pretty good translation of the original Greek, “Logos,” but there are nuances that don’t convey exactly the same meanings. That is true of all translations. A word, of course, is a unit of language, a particular set of sounds or written symbols that conveys meaning. By speaking of Jesus as “Word,” the gospel begins with a commitment to the idea of the messiah - the essential meaning precedes the physical person. The word exists before it becomes flesh. It is a heady and philosophical thought.
It is not, however, the most challenging idea of the prologue. The entire text challenges our way of thinking about God and about ourselves.
For this year, I believe that one of the great challenges of the prologue to the Gospel of John comes in the 16th verse: “And from his fulness have we all received, grace upon grace.”
We have all received - past tense - already have grace upon grace. That is, there is already abundance for all. Jesus Christ shows us who God is, and we have received from his fullness, "grace upon grace." This phrase sets a tone for this new year 2016, especially when so many of our neighbors are still struggling on our way out of deep economic troubles, unemployed or under-employed, so many still caught in the web of poverty. It may be secular heresy to see plenty right now, to see abundance, to see fullness even in a time like this. However, if we can claim that there is more than enough of everything we need most – forgiveness and reconciliation, grace, life, truth, joy, generosity, healing, justice – perhaps we can also believe that there is more than enough of what our bodies need to live on: food, water, land, clothing, and shelter. Enough that we might share, and share generously.
Perhaps our greatest challenge is to understand this abundance as something meant not just for us, or for those strong (or lucky) enough to have it already, but something that God intended to be shared, from the very beginning of creation, with all of God's children. Might this even be a first step on the path to peace, if we truly believe there is more than enough for all? What dreams of peace might a new year, a new beginning, bring, if we could share this abundance personally, communally, and even globally, with all of the people of the earth?
If you listen to the politicians, pay attention to those who are campaigning to become President, you might become convinced that we live in times of scarcity - that there isn’t enough to go around. There are fears of immigrants, fears of refugees, fears of others who might take from us the possessions we have. Politics may be the art of stirring up fears and getting people to vote “against” instead of “for,” but it seems to me that the Gospels challenge the very foundations of the political process. I don’t expect any of the candidates to begin making major speeches in which it is declared that we have more than enough and that all that is lacking is our ability to share.
That, however, is the foundation of the gospel message. We all have received grace upon grace. There is no need to invest our time in whining about what we do not have or our energy in trying to obtain more for ourselves. We live in an abundance of God’s grace.
Despite what the world around us may say, Christmas is not over.
The ideas of the season, the Word, is too expansive to process in a day or a moment. After the weeks of Advent preparation, we now are invited to linger for a few more days in the power of the reality that is the gift of Jesus Christ to the world. The word has become flesh and dwelt among us and we have received grace upon grace. The abundance of God is not something that lies in some other time. It is not an ancient story of our past, nor is it a yet unfulfilled promise of the future. It is for us here and now.
All we have to do is to learn to share.