Good morning. We’re halfway through Advent which brings us nearer and nearer to Christmas. As we’ve been journeying to Bethlehem, we’ve been exploring the themes of our Advent devotional. So far we’ve looked at the extraordinary faith that it took to journey under such conditions and the unexpected peace that was found in an unlikely place. This week, we’re going to focus on new life.
New life is a phrase that can mean lots of different things to us depending upon where we are in our own lives. It can be the very literal experience of having a child. It can also be an equally momentous occasion of a radical transformation where we find new life through the healing of an old wound. For example, think of helping someone else through their grief with the power of our own experience or the use of a painful encounters like bullying to help support others. New life can also be in finding new worth for something that was previously cast away. An example of this might be the renovating of an old building to usefulness or tapping into an old hobby for new pleasure. We’ve even used our God given skills to bring new life through organ donation. And each day we wake up and move forward in hope, we are claiming the promise of new life.
We could make long lists of our experience with new life and we should be able to do this. Why should we? Because as our gospel lesson says, “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.” See, by our faith and I would suggest by our very God given nature, we are seekers of life. We find darkness and destruction unpleasant, even unbearable. But life… now that’s something we really crave.
We crave it and God provides it. God’s love poured out on us and the glimpses of joy we receive when basking in that love are amazing experiences of life. Those feelings like our Psalm talks about of being held, understood, loved, known, supported, and special invigorate in us a sense of life and liveliness. To be fearfully and wonderfully made is to know life while at the same time having a sense of just how fragile and precious it all is. It’s diving into the wonder and experience no matter what the journey may bring.
So, let’s think back to Jesus’ birth for a moment. The past few weeks, we’ve talked about the uncertainty of this time and journey for Mary and Joseph. They moved forward in faith and hope but it was still an anxiety filled and treacherous time. In the time of the Roman Empire, over 30% of all babies born would die before they were a year old. Compared to today, far less than 1% of babies die in this country. I think the number is something like 0.6% infant mortality rate.
I believe the courage to bring a baby into a world where you know that 1/3 of your children will die young is pretty remarkable. And even if the baby lives, lots of other dangerous things awaited. The average life expectancy in that time was only 28. If you were lucky enough to avoid being in the army and you made it to adulthood, you might live to be 52 but that was a very hopeful expectation. So when ask what new life means in Bethlehem, I think we need to stop and realize that it means far more than what we might see at first glance here in the modern era.
You see, I think we don’t realize that when Angels foretold of this special baby becoming a special man, that was nearly unheard of in that time. Birthrights, future prospects, and such were not things that were typically discussed until a child neared adulthood because there were too many things that could go wrong. So when we read of God’s promise to this family that a child would be king, we are reading of something that is not only miraculous from a spiritual standpoint but also a miracle in a very practical way as well.
But assuming that we can wrap our minds around how amazing this story is, we are still left trying to figure out how to take this remarkable narrative and combine it with our God given desire for new life and do something useful with it. We know the true meaning of Advent and Christmas isn’t in shopping and gift giving or in decorations or holiday treats. There’s nothing wrong with those things but it’s not what that precious birth or the Word becoming flesh is all about. So what is it that ties all this together for us in our daily lives?
Well, in our gospel lessons the previous two weeks, we read Christ’s birth stories. They tell us of a special child who was coming to be a special leader, Emmanuel… God with us. This week’s gospel lesson reminds us that Christ lived and lives among us even still as the true light of God in our lives. As much as we love the birth stories in Matthew and Luke, I have to be honest and say that I find the true meaning of Christmas in this passage from John.
Let’s re-read part of this passage from John chapter 1: It goes,
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. 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.
He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 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.
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.
What we’re really talking about here is creation. God brought all this forth. And why? Was it to prove God’s powerfulness? No. At its very core, all of God’s actions are born out of love. This light that brings things into being is a rich and full metaphor for love. The act of bringing a child into the world is an act of love. God’s reaching out to Mary and Joseph and all creation to become flesh and live among us is an act of love. Our craving for life is an act of love. The shedding the commercial elements of Christmas to get to the real root of God’s gift is an act of love.
Everywhere we look in this story, our lives, and God’s promises, we see that God is constantly reaching to us in love and the gift we receive in that is new life. This birth is “not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.” New life is always about love and hope and promise in God. And new life is our gift to claim each and every day with the enthusiasm of a child opening the biggest Christmas present under the tree.
See, much like the way Scrooge in A Christmas Carol comes to live with Christmas in his heart every day of the year; we too can do that by embracing the love and new life that God offers us each day. Love that heals, hope that builds vision, peace that comforts, and faith that guides are ours when we open ourselves to what Christ has for us and God provides to us. This Word that became flesh, Emmanuel, God with us, is truly full of grace and truth.
But just like Mary and Joseph found it hard to claim God’s promise and new life in the face of so much danger, we too often find it difficult to claim new life in the midst of grief, worry, doubt, financial struggles, and other hardships. We may not face the same trials as Mary and Joseph but life is still fragile and complicated by adversity. Yet, our hope always lies in God and the promise of new life that is offered to us just as it was to Mary and Joseph.
Sisters and brothers, Advent, Christmas, and the journey to Bethlehem are times to recognize how remarkable God’s love is and the new life that can be found in Christ. The opportunity to embrace new life, renewal, and hope are rooted in the gifts God implants within us. God leads us through all that happens in our lives showing us ways to remember who and who’s we are. Life in Christ can be new life each and every day, redeemed and renewed. May we receive the love that God is pouring out and let it breathe new life into this holiday and all days. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment