Sermon: 1st Sunday after Christmas 12/29/2024

Here is the sermon for the 1st Sunday after Christmas, 12/29/2024: For the RCL readings go here: https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/lections.php?year=C&season=Christmas ???

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Here are some thoughts on the readings for today:

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Collect

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Yesterday we joyfully received Christ as our Redeemer. From what and to what are we redeemed? Could the answer to this question be from being slaves to the law and to being children of God?? In the Collect for today we ask that the new light of His incarnate Word be poured onto us and enkindled in our hearts shine forth in our lives.? What does this have to do with redemption?

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Old Testament

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“I will greatly rejoice in the LORD,

my whole being shall exult in my God;

for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,

he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, … .

For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,

and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest,

until her vindication shines out like the dawn,

and her salvation like a burning torch.”

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1)???? This is the result of our salvation/redemption, what we cannot help but do.

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2)???? I concluded the Christmas sermon by saying: “We answer God’s call to reconciliation with Him in Christ because we cannot help but answer it.? For as the hymn goes “who would not love thee, loving us so dearly?”? It is out of our love of God that we make our nature, God in us, manifest; answer His call to be and are/live.? It is out of love for God in the Holy Spirit that we unconditionally love and forgive each other, unconditionally serve one another (and thus God) as God in and through He whose birth we celebrate today unconditionally loves, forgives, and serves us in the Unity/Fellowship of His Holy Spirit.? It is out of love for God in Christ by means of His Holy Spirit it is that we proclaim the Good News of the Word made flesh, which is Christ Jesus, making our being a living expression of His Word by our so unconditionally loving and forgiving one another as we are unconditionally loved and forgiven by God through Him Who is the Savior of the world – Whose Incarnation we today celebrate.? It is out of love for God, in so doing, we thus reconcile with Him through Christ by/through our reconciliation with each other.? It is out of love for God in Christ, grounded in faith in Him, then, it is that we are, we live, have life in Christ. And it is out of love for God in Christ that we exclaim Alleluia!? For this day “… a child has been born for us, a son given to us [born in us]; …; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace …” Who is Christ the Lord. Amen!”

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3)???? Our salvation is the result of Christ being born in our hearts.

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4)???? With Christ born in our hearts we cannot help but have His light shine forth through us in all we do.

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5)???? And this, in turn, is the result of the new covenant with God through Christ.

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Psalm

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3?? He heals the brokenhearted * and binds up their wounds.

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6 The LORD lifts up the lowly,

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15 He has established peace on your borders;

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1)???? Notably, here we have the result of Christ’s light shining forth through us.

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2)???? Its shining is our acts of healing the brokenhearted.

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3)???? Its shiniiinnnnggggg is our bindiiinnnngggggg up their wounds - out acts that leads to their wounds being bound up, our acts that result in the lowly being lifted up.

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Epistle

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“Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. … .But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian.

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…, 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. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.”

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1. Prior to Christ were subjects/slaves to the law which was our disciplinarian. After Christ we are justified by faith and no longer subject to the law.

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1. God sent Christ to redeem those who were subject to the law so that they might become adopted children of God.? And as children of God heirs through God.? Of what?

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1. Because we are children of God he sent the Holy Spirit of His son into our hearts crying Abba! Father!? How is this manifest in our lives today?

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1. Note that on Christmas there was an emphasis of God with us.? Here the emphasis is God abiding in us via the Spirit of His Son and the result of His so abiding.

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Gospel

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“… .? All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.? … .?

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… .?? But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

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And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. (…) From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.”

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1. In the beginning there was the Word (Christ) who was with and was God and all things were/are created through the Word. How?? What does this mean?

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1. What came into being in the Word was life which is the Light of the world.? Through this Light of the world we received grace and truth.? The laws given through Moses and grace and truth through Christ – the Messiah.

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1. All who receive and believe His name – Christ – are, through Him, given the power to become children of God, being born not of blood, of the will of the flesh or man, but rather of God.? Through Christ we are born again as children of God.? What does this mean?? What does this entail?

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Context:

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Looking back from the perspective of the John’s Gospel - For John Jesus was the Word made flesh.? In the beginning there was the Word and the Word was … .? Tenney notes:?

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“The prologue (1:1-18) begins by using the term word to introduce the person of Christ.? This term differs from those used in the other Gospels, for it does not connote any particular religious background.? Christ is Jewish; Lord is Gentile; Jesus is human; but Word or Logos is philosophical.? John thus makes the subject of his Gospel a universal figure, the incarnation of Eternal Reason who is God, who came from God, and who reveals God as a son reveals a father.? He is to be apprehended by those who receive Him (1:12), and the conflict between those who receive Him and those who do not is likened to the conflict between light and darkness” (Tenney, p.193)

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So we are to live by the Word – Christ – and this just is Eternal Reason.? Note that in John’s Gospel there is also we find “I am the bread of life.” Eternal reason – the Divine Logos – then, is the bread of life.? But how?? It is worth noting that living by the Word has something to do with our being sustained (bread is to the body as the Word is to the self/ourselves).

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Yet more background.? What is the overriding point John is attempting to get across?? The key to the content of the Gospel of John, according to Tenney (1981), is the author’s own statement in John 20:30,31:?

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“Many other signs therefore did Jesus in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life in his name.”

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[Central, then, is seeing Jesus is not just another man, but rather is Christ. For it is seeing that > believing > living]. Further:

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“Three words are prominent in this brief passage:? signs, believe, life.? [The signs are miracle Jesus performed for others and] operated precisely in the areas where man is unable to effect any change of laws or conditions which affect his life. … .

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[So signs are God in and through Christ doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves by our willpower alone. Continuing with Tenney]

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The second word, believe, is the key word in the Gospel, … .? It is customarily translated believe, though sometimes it is rendered trust or commit (see 2:24).? … .?? John defines belief in Christ as receiving Him (1:12), making Him a part of one’s life.? … .

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[So to “believe” in Christ is to make Him part of our lives.? But how do we make Christ part of our lives?? Tenney (`1981) again:]

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The third word in the key to the Gospel is life, which, in Johanine language, is the sum total of all that is imparted to the believer in his salvation.? … .? Life, according to John, is not just animal vitality or the course of human existence.? It involves a kind of nature, a new consciousness, interaction with environment, and constant development.? Christ is presented as the example of this life [i.e., nature, a new consciousness, new interaction with environment and constant development] which is God’s gift to the Christian and God’s goal for the Christian.

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[So Christ is an example.? Of what?]

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These three words, signs, belief, life, provide a logical organization for the Gospel.? In the signs is the revelation of God; in belief is the reaction that they are designed to produce; in life is the result that belief brings.? (Tenney, p.p. 189-191)

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-??????? The three Rs so to speak: signs/Revelation (Word), belief/Reaction (Worship), life/Result (Salvation/Redemption).

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According to Tenney (1981), then, for John the Word is something apprehended.? If so, then, it would seem that the Word is something to be seen with the minds eye, something that once grasped necessarily is understood by, received by, and moves the heart and the result is life in and through Christ here and now in the Fellowship/Unity of His Holy Spirit.

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What is seen is a new way of viewing the world and one’s place/function in it.? A new Vision, if you will, God’s Vision, God’s Vision for man, for man’s fulfillment (our fulfillment) and the fulfillment of all His creation.? And our fulfillment is life here and now and life eternal.? We live by “believing” in Christ, making Him a part of our lives, committing our lives to Him by healing the brokenhearted and binding up all their wounds, lifting up the lowly, with a result being peace.? And we do this by our so making ourselves in act in His Vision, by imitating and thereby becoming like Christ. Thus Augustine as cited in Black (2004) claims, “God became human like us so that we might become like God” (p. 30).

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God made the Word flesh so that we might have a template, a guide, by which we can act into being like Him, into life on the basis of that Vision, the Vision made flesh, the Bread of life.? When we eat the Bread of life, which is to say act on the Word, unconditionally forgiving others as we are unconditionally forgiven by Him, unconditionally loving others as we are unconditionally loved by Him, healing the brokenhearted, lifting up the lowly, we walk in His light, the light of Christ and find life in Him, dwell in Him and He in us.? And in so walking we proclaim the Word in deed. And in so proclaiming, He through us, is for us and others, through our interactions with each other, theirs and our Bread of life.? For being Christ in the world entails caring for others so that no one be in need. It is through us, then, that God meets our needs.

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“… one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” ?As bread is to the body, so the Word is to our selves.? We find life in Christ, which is to say, live, when we allow ourselves to be that through which God in Christ is the bread of life for each of us, for each other in the Unity/Fellowship of His Holy Spirit. We live, in other words, when we say as did Mary, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word," when we say,? “I give my flesh, my self, my soul and body so that the Bread of life can work through me for the life all I encounter in and, in general, the world, and so act – thus becoming a living sacrifice to Him Whose birth we celebrate this Christmas Season.

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What are we to make of this? A central theme in both the Epistle and the Gospel readings for today is that through Christ – the Word, the gift of Grace and Truth – we gain the ability to become children of God, to be born of God.? Our hearts are enkindled with the Spirit of the Word made flesh and this entails it shining forth through us in thought word and deed to all we encounter, and, in general, the world.? To be children of God, redeemed, then, involves action on our part, namely, to walk in the Light of Christ, unconditionally loving and caring for all we encounter - which is to say, to walk the talk – not keeping silent, but rather, proclaiming the Word by, as has been said, healing the brokenhearted, lifting up the lowly, etc..? God with us > God in us > through us God to others and the world > God with us.

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All of this, according to John, is entailed by our receiving God in and through Christ in our lives which follows necessarily from our seeing/feeling God in Christ in our lives, which is to say, seeing/feeling God’s unconditional loving and forgiving us in and through Christ in the Unity/Fellowship of His Holy Spirit. And we cannot help but respond by becoming like Christ – thus who we are created to be in His Image - through our action, through our interaction with each other and all of God’s creation.? For we now see the Truth, (i.e., a great light), have a new Vision, and are transformed, born again in the process, by unconditionally loving and forgiving each other. And in so doing we live, find life in Christ as children of God HERE and NOW; life gained by His Light, the Light of the Word, which is the Light of the world illuminating the TRUTH that is Christ, a new Vision of how what is, can be HERE and NOW. For in so becoming like Christ by the power of the Grace of His Spirit given us by God through Christ, we are made one in and through Christ in the Unity/Fellowship of His Holy Spirit by His light shining forth in our lives to all we encounter, reconciled with each other, and thereby, reconciled with God the Father of ALL.

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Let us pray,

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Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your Incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives that we and all Creation might find life as one in Christ in the Fellowship of His Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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References

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Black, V. (2004). Welcome to the church year: An introduction to the seasons of the Episcopal church. New York: Morehouse Publishing.

Tenney, M. (1980). New Testament Survey. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing.

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THE BLESSING

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May Almighty God, who sent his Son to take our nature upon him, bless you in this holy season, scatter the darkness of sin, and brighten your hearts with the light of his holiness. Amen.

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May God who sent his angels to proclaim the glad news of the Savior’s birth, fill you with joy, and make you heralds of the Gospel. Amen.

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May God, who in the Word made Flesh joined heaven to earth and earth to heaven, give you his peace and favor. Amen.

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And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be upon you and remain with you for ever. AMEN.

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BLESSINGS and PEACE to ALL!!!

+MWH

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The Rt. Rev. Dr. Michael W. Holland, Founding Bishop

Saint Clare’s Anglican Chapel

The Anglican Church International

79 Colt Square, Suite 2

Fayetteville, AR 72703

479-409-6915

[email protected]

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