Reflection for the Second Sunday of Christmas

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through the Word, and without the Word not one thing came into being. What has come into being in the Word was life, and the life was the light of all people.”

It may come as a surprise to you, but this is one of the first sections of the Bible that students learn to translate from the Greek. You may imagine they’d start at the beginning of the New Testament, with Matthew, or that one of the shorter letters of Paul would be a good first exercise. But, no, these first verses from the Gospel of John contain some of the simplest Greek for translating. Actually, the entire Gospel of John is written in some of the simplest Greek in the New Testament, and so was what my second semester of Greek focused on translating.

If you look at the language of these verses, they contain simple sentence structure, clear conjunctions and transitions, and fairly basic vocabulary: Word, God, beginning, life, light, etc.

I find it wonderful that these verses, which some may argue as some of the most powerful, are written in the simplest language. Of course, the theological concepts that they relay may not seem simple, but really, it breaks down quite nicely:

            Beginning = Word

            Word with God

            Word = God

            Word = God = Beginning

            Word makes all things.

            Word makes light

            Light = Life

We may try to make it more complicated, and theologians may argue about what is meant by “beginning” or what is meant by “come into being,” but in the end, for all of us who don’t make our living by writing theological books, all that matters is that the Word, whom we know from later verses is made human in the form of Jesus Christ, is with God, and is God. All that matters is that the Word that was spoken in creation is the Word made flesh in the person of Jesus. All that matters is that the Word made flesh in the person of Jesus is the Word that spoke light into being, that spoke us into being.

Thanks be to God.

Amen.

Reflection for the First Sunday of Christmas

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children”

It can be easy, in our one-and-done society, to forget that Christmas is not just a singular event, to be celebrated on December 25^th, and then forgotten about.

It can be easy, in our use-it-and-ditch-it society, to forget that our liturgical calendar celebrates twelve days of Christmas, not before the 25^th, but beginning with that day.

It can be easy, in our “what’s next” society, to set the excitements and stresses of Christmas aside and look toward the next thing, the next holiday, the next big news.

But we have twelve days of this holy season, including two Sundays. Christmas isn’t over yet.

And, further, even when the twelve days of the liturgical calendar are done, and we move on to other seasons and other holidays, we do not leave the joy of Christmas behind. The wonder of the child born for us, the joy and hope that we have in his arrival, and the trust we have in his promised coming again, does not end twelve days after Christmas. We are always children of God. We have been forever adopted, as Paul says in Galatians.

We may find that the world wants us to move on, that we have been indulged quite enough with Christmas songs on the radio singing the joy of Christ and the holy birth, but once December is over, the radio stations, for the most part, return to their regularly scheduled programming, and the joy and hope is forgotten.

It’s like the first snow of the season: bright, white, and enchanting. By the time January comes around, though, each new layer is a little dimmer, pushed under another layer of road salt and snowplowing, and the enchantment dims.

But God’s love does not dim, it does not stay pushed under the layers of weariness and exhaustion, violence and fear, hurt and pain that the world tries to shove on top of it.

God’s love, the great miracle of the birth of Christ, continues, in this season, and the next, and the next, and the next. This birth is only the beginning of Christ’s work in the world.

Thanks be to God!

Amen.

Reflection for Christmas Eve

“For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Imagine: a shepherd tends his flock in the scraggly field, trading off with others to stay awake and keep the watch. The lights in the town barely reach, and grow dimmer as one by one each household puts out their lamps and fires and goes to sleep. The sky grows darker, the air colder, as night settles in. This night is no different than any other night, and the morning will be like any other.

Shepherds were not included in the busy life of the rest of society. Shepherds were out of place at gatherings, with their clothes rumpled and dirty from nights and days in the fields with the messy sheep. They weren’t cultured, they weren’t up on the latest happenings. They were outcasts: literally living at the edge of society, out in the fields, with only each other and the sheep to talk to.

The shepherds weren’t invited. They weren’t the ones you’d expect. They wouldn’t have decorated their house (what house? they’re in a field!), they wouldn’t have baked the cookies (see: no house), they wouldn’t have travelled miles away from their sheep or had time to neatly wrap perfect gifts bought with money they certainly didn’t have… The shepherds were just themselves, exactly themselves, no apologies, no excuses made up.

And there they were, tending their flocks by night. When suddenly, breaking the quiet of the night, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were, quite understandably, terrified. Angel, did you get lost? Town and all the important people are in the other direction.

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid—” yeah, right “—for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people—“ all you say? “—To you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.”

It doesn’t matter what field you are in, or what messy flock you are tending: Christ was born for you.

It doesn’t matter who you are, or where you’ve been, or what relationships have hurt you, or what box society has put you in, or any of the other tools that we messy humans have of separating each other.

For a child has been born for us, for each and every one of us. Authority itself rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Thanks be to God.

Amen.