02 Christmas Eve John 1.14
Merry Christmas. I pray that the joy, peace and hope of this season would fill your lives and last you through the whole year. Our lesson for today is form the fourteenth verse of the first chapter of John’s Gospel. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Poor kid. He never saw it coming. I’m sure it was a pre-emptive strike. He never saw it coming. To be honest, neither did I. But there he was, just lying on the floor. He wasn’t hurting or bothering anyone. He was just laying there, watching the TV. When all of a sudden… BAM!! Actually, it sounded more like a THUD! A sippy cup, it almost came out of no where. You know how it is. It was like it just materialized and smacked the poor kid right in the middle of the head.
The sippy-cup culprit? His sweet, innocent little sister. I couldn’t believe it. There he was, just watching TV, and she toddles over to him and BOOM! Looking back, it is somewhat of a comfort, because I know that I don’t have to worry about anyone messing with my little girl. But at the time… I couldn’t just let it go.
Now you might be able to argue that David has taught his sister how to play rough. There is no counting the number of times she has been tackled, sacked, pummeled, ambushed and just plain taken out by 35 pounds of big brother moving at the speed of sound. But that day, that moment, he was just minding his own business.
Well the situation called for some parental action. But how does one discipline a one year old for hitting? How does one communicate to them that this isn’t good. That it is not right. That it is not the way that we behave, or the way that we do things. Well, the answer is simple. Time Out.
Now time out with Emily is a bit tricky, because she doesn’t quite grasp the concept. I decided that I would help her. I picked her up. Firmly told her “No. No. No hit” Poor David. By this time he still had this stunned look on his face that simply said, “What did you do that for?’ I carried my little sippy-cup slugger into the other room and sat her down on the couch. She tried to get up, but I put her right back. Told her “No. No.” and gave her that look that instantly communicates seriousness.
I think it scared her. She just sat there. Looking at me. She didn’t move. These little ones are so smart. There she sat, paying the price for her sin. And in walks David. Rubbing his head. “Is she in time out?” David is no stranger to time out. I explained that she was in time out for hitting him, because hitting is something that we do not do.
I was bracing myself. Because David likes to tell people that “God wants us to be nice.” I was getting ready to explain to him that I was taking care of Emily and that he didn’t need to worry about her. But that’s not what he did. He simply looked at me, and then, without saying a word. He walked over to his little sister, sitting there on the couch, dealing with the sin she had just committed, and he sat down right next to her. Put his arm around her, and gave her a hug. “It’s OK, Emily” he reassured her. “I love you.” “I want to be in time out too.”
It is amazing isn’t it? The things that we can learn from our children. As I was reflecting on these events latter that evening, it occurred to me that I had the perfect Christmas eve sermon illustration. It is amazing. Here was this poor little kid. He had just been beaten up by his little sister, not something that anyone would claim. And he goes to her, in the midst of her time out. And he sits there with her. His arm around her shoulder and holding her close to him. And he tells her, “It’s OK, Emily. I love you. I want to be in time out too.”
You and I are no strangers to sin. We live in a world that is beaten, bruised, and broken because of sin. It is a world where selfishness and self-centeredness rules the day. And though you and I don’t often find ourselves in Time Out, we do find ourselves carrying around all the junk that comes from the effects of our sins.
We find ourselves carrying around guilt and pain, bearing grief and sorrow, hauling brokenness and separation. These are the results of sin and of living in a sinful world. Now this is not necessarily the happiest of topics to be thinking about on Christmas Eve, but it is the reality of the world we live in. And it is into this world that our God has come.
In the midst of all the evil and suffering, in the middle of all the pain and hopelessness, our God became a human being, he didn’t just look like a person, he didn’t just act like a person. He was a person. He came and made his dwelling among us. John writes it this way, the word, that is God the Son, the 2nd person of the trinity, the word was made flesh, and he dwelt among us. And his name was Jesus. He lived with us and walked among us.
A long time ago, after Moses and the children of Israel made their exodus out of Egypt, they lived in tents. One of the tents in their camp was the tent of meeting. This was the tent where the presence of God would dwell. That was how God made his presence known among them. So there it was, you could see the tent, but only a select few could enter. Many years later a temple was built, but it was the same kind of thing.
But then on that special day, that day when Jesus was born, on that day God was present with his people as a human being. He walked, talked, ate, drank, cried, hoped, dreamed, danced, he knows what it is to be human, because he is human, the only difference is that he is human with out sin.
Just as my David sat in time out with his little sister that day, in spite of the sin she committed against him. So our God has come to be with us, in spite of our sin. But the baby is only the beginning. For he would not stay a baby forever. Because in order for us to be restored to our God, the debt incurred by our sins had to be paid. And so this baby would grow up and he would go to a cross and die, in order to pay that price. And three days latter he would rise again.
In that death and resurrection he set into motion the destruction of the effects of sin in our world. No longer do we have to dwell in them, and be bound by them, but we can live in him, in Jesus. He pours out his Spirit on us and enables to change the way we think and act in regard to our sin. That is to repent. His Spirit changes us so that we become more like him. And you and me, having been reconciled to our God, are now made ministers of reconciliation. We get to share in God’s work of making things right, of restoring his creation, of bringing people back to him. All of this because God so loved the world.
He loved the world so much that he would not allow it to remain as it was, stuck in that twisted mess of sin, and so he sent Jesus, his son, who is true God, to also become a true man. And through his death and resurrection, makes this all possible. This is great news. This is wonderful news. This is the good news of the Gospel. And it is news that makes us sing Joy to the world.
It is news that gives us hope in a world that is warped by sin. It is news that gives us hope of not just life after death, but of new life. A life with God, that begins in our baptism and will continue forever. A life that proclaims that good news and through that proclamation brings joy to the world around us. God’s love is indeed great. And that is why he sent Jesus.
And so we don’t just carry his message of joy to the world, but we carry his presence. He works through us in this world, to show this world how much he loves it. He gives us to one another to care, and love and serve each other, and even to sit in time out with one another. So that in the relationships that we share, we would be reminded of God’s love and care for us. In our interactions with one another we see God at work through the other. His presence is in our lives. And he promised that he will never leave us, or forsake us. This is most certainly good news.
The news about Jesus is news that brings forgiveness, peace and hope. And it is news that will never get old. May you always know the joy of that news, and privilege of sharing it and living it. Merry Christmas. Amen.