The daily opportunity of living
Christmas Day | John 1:1-14
Merry Christmas Day!
There is something about coming to church on Christmas morning, isn’t there?
From when I was young, we’d stay up and go to the late service on Christmas Eve. My Mom would put me in a tie until I learned to tie my own. We would often do a gift exchange and I would anticipate searching for that final gift on my way into church.
I was a young adult the first time I even set foot in a church on Christmas morning. And the contrast could not be starker.
Nighttime, candles, all of those favorite hymns—the bright sunlight, quiet.
On Christmas Eve we get Jesus’s birth story, full of joy and familiarity. We have the pastoral images of the journey, the inn, the shepherds to remind us of the warmth at the heart of the Christmas story.
But then Christmas Day comes and we get the beginning of John. And he is ready to talk about the Word’s union with God—the scale is the cosmos itself, and there is nothing pastoral to draw on.
And yet…here we are. Drawn, not by spectacle or warm expectations, but to hear about the Word made flesh in the flesh. To gather with those who mark this day, too, as different.
Here
A mentor of mine liked to say that American Christians do our grand feasts backwards. We’re supposed to be in church Christmas morning and the night before Easter, not the other way around.
But rather than focus on should or ought or supposed-to, I’m in the mood these days to talk about “get to”. We get to be here Christmas morning. And what we get to hear today is not only the miracle of Jesus’s birth. But his participation in everything.
And then…
Incarnation. Change. Present. Here.
Not all the things in all the time, but pinpointing a moment, like a divine record scratch or tires squeal. Right there and now.
In this moment, we perceive the scale—not only of the event, but the impact of what God is doing to all of creation.
In short, God’s like Let’s mix things up. And BOOM! Nothing gets to be the same. Because newness is born. And we’re not going back.
The Light
The evangelist describes the coming of John the Baptist as a witness—one who comes to testify to the light.
These words: witness, testify: are legal words. And in our time, they don’t inspire a great deal of trust or confidence. We think of courts, trials, and lawyers. We don’t think of grace and hope and the Word made flesh.
It may even be that we hear “testify” and “light” as oxymorons that don’t belong in the same sentence!
But to the evangelist, here is a person who has seen the light, knows the grace of God, and can speak to its transforming power. He has an opportunity. He gets to tell people about the light that has come into the world.
And he does.
And then soon, the light is with them.
The New Thing
This new thing God has done, of the Word walking around. Getting baptized. Collecting disciples. Healing and teaching and performing miracles. All of that comes from this new thing.
It is as if God has intervened, causing a branch in the Sacred Timeline. And what it creates is all new possibility.
Possibility that we could choose to do things differently. To be different people.
Jesus doesn’t merely invite us into a slightly different way of being. Celebrate some holidays, eat some different foods; but otherwise, be the same people we’ve always been.
This is an invitation into partnership, to be fundamentally different people. From inheritors of tradition to full-fledged children of God. As Caesar claimed to be Son of God, Jesus comes to ensure that every one of us is just as much a child of God.
And we don’t have to be born into the right families or raised in the right neighborhood. We don’t have to come from the right country.
And also, we aren’t stuck because of our family, neighborhood, or nation. We aren’t trapped by tradition or orientation or ability or gender or how we were raised. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” The light frees the captive and breaks the chains that bind us.
This is the new thing God is doing. Not just once.
Every day.
This is the message of the season. A message we prepare for weeks to hear. Not just the story of a baby born and of angels visiting shepherds—nor of the Word hanging out with God from the very beginning. And not even just the new thing God did that one time.
We prepare to hear that this joy, freedom, opportunity is for every day. We get to do this every day. Not just on Christmas.
Every day.
We are freed from bondage. To be a freed people.
That means we are free to feel this joy all of the time. To be generous and thoughtful all of the time. Serve each other—all of the time.
This is what the Word brings into the flesh. Being Light. When so much is dark. Being light. When our ways are like labyrinthine caves of expectations and requirements.
A light that reveals the love of God in all of its forms, and all of its practitioners. Love in compassion and generosity, hope and mercy. To be the grace of God in checkout lines and parking lots and drive-thru windows. At work and in our homes. And with ourselves when we are alone.
Being joy and hope and love to everyone. Including ourselves. Sharing that grace we’ve been given.
We get to have that every day.
Not just Christmas Day. Or the twelve days of the Christmas Season. But every day.
Incarnating grace now and forever.