Second Sunday After Christmas A 2011

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.

Text: John 1:1-18
Theme: Word, Life, Light

Dear friends in Christ Jesus,

Life and light are found only in Christ. Seek it not in the powers and possibilities of mortals or in the glitzes and glamours of the world. You will not find it elsewhere. Few people have difficulties attributing generic power to God. It’s simply part of a well-understood definition of divinity. Though there are significant limitations. Fewer people all the time-even Christians- believe that God created the universe. This lack of faith is in direct conflict with the claims of John’s gospel, “Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.”1 When God’s power has implications for us personally- well, it’s a more complicated and vexing picture yet. We don’t easily concede to God the capabilities that are due Him; especially when our own capacities are compromised.

Acknowledging our inability to be objective is key. Some time ago, zoo officials in Kirby, England, had to pay visitors for articles stolen by monkeys. But what puzzled them was the favourite item the animals snatched: Eyeglasses. An investigation revealed the reason. The monkeys grabbed the glasses when visitors leaned over to read a small sign on the wall of the cage. The sign said: "Beware! These monkeys steal spectacles."

We “see” the conundrum. The means for warning people and protecting them ended up being part of the problem. In a light-hearted way it illustrates the spiritual dilemma of sin. We walk right into danger because we do not have the spiritual eyesight to travel safely. We can sense the danger because sin manifests its effects all around us. We can read the warnings of God’s law. We can hear His voice demanding that we avoid transgression. But we soon find we’ve already lost the capacity to fulfill His will. We don’t become sinners once we commit that first act of sin. We sin because we are already sinners- from conception. The distinction is important. It means that the solution is beyond our ability.

Furthermore, we learn that sin is so deep and deadly, we can’t even grasp the problem. So we take Scripture at its word. We take it as a matter of faith that sin merits each and every person eternal damnation. After all, how readily can we believe that the average human, the good citizen, the well-meaning neighbour would still be lost eternally apart from the grace of Christ? How reasonable is it to think that even the most pious among people are still bound for the judgment of hell apart from Jesus’ redemption? The answer is: We can’t! We can’t accept this on our own. It violates our sense of fairness and justice. We much more readily believe that God will credit us for our efforts at goodness and receive us into His kingdom on their account- at least in part.

So we begin to embark on a journey of relying on our own self-righteousness to maintain God’s favour. We look inside of ourselves, to our own strength for help. But now- you see- our glasses have been taken by the monkeys. What we thought would help (like reading the sign in the monkey cage) makes things even worse. We become blinded by our own good works and we have justified it as being part of God’s will. The results are devastating. And the expressions of how it happens are endless. Each can pursue a particular way of trying to impress God, of heading steadily and surely in His direction. But it’s all a lot of groping in the darkness.

Now comes the incarnation of Christ at Christmas. “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.”2The Gospel ends our “groping for God in the dark” the moment the Holy Spirit illuminates our hearts with this truth. And the Holy Spirit promises to bring us into contact with this truth only through the word of forgiveness. That word of forgiveness comes into contact with us when the repentant are absolved of their sins; when that word is washed over them in baptismal water; and as that word is ingested in the body and blood of Christ received in Holy Communion. These are God’s means of grace.

In short, if you do not have this forgiveness; you do not have spiritual life. If you do not have spiritual life you are in the darkness. But your past sins can condemn you no more because the Babe of Bethlehem became the Crucified One of Calvary. Our epistle says it like this, “In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”3 And again God’s word says, “When the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”4 He died on the cross and rose again for our salvation.

You are baptized. You are promised an inheritance. You have been received into the fellowship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. You are redeemed as a son. You are a child of God. This reality is nothing to take for granted. You are a mortal being but you bear the truth of the Immortal One. You have weaknesses, troubles, fears and doubts. Like everyone your life is littered with disappointments, tarnished with failures, and hindered by uncertainties. You are a vessel of clay that nevertheless carries the holy and imperishable things of the Almighty. When you suffer for the truth you are living your Christian identity. When you carry the burdens of others; whether they are physical burdens, emotional burdens, or spiritual burdens you are living the identity God intends for you. As the apostle says, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”5

It won’t be glamorous. It won’t be a means of self-promotion or a way to move up the social ladder. But far more important things are accomplished. The spiritual well-being of those in need is given credibility by your interest in them. Those things the world dismisses as unhelpful and unimportant- sacrifice for others, willingness to be humbled, burdened, and shunned; willingness to be wronged- are the very Christ-like things which characterize our faith. Something as simple as the willingness to listen to the cares of others is a powerful opportunity for the word of grace.

Dear friends, you are temples of the Holy Spirit. Through the word the Holy Spirit conceived in the Virgin Mary the body of Jesus, the Christ. Through her the Son of God came to dwell with humanity. Through this same word the Holy Spirit conceives faith in your heart. Through you His truth shines as light in a dark world. Thanks be to God for the magnificence of this mysterious gift. Amen.

+ in nomine Jesu +


Second Sunday After Christmas
2 January 2011
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt

1 John 1:3
2 John 1:4
3 Ephesians 1:7-8
4 Galatians 4:4-5
5 Galatians 6:2