This sermon was preached at Glenwood Lutheran Church, Decorah, Iowa on December 25, 2019. It’s based on John 1:1-14. If you’d prefer to listen to it, find it at https://soundcloud.com/stacey-nalean-carlson.
John 1:1-14
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
10He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
14And 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.
FOREVER
The Word became flesh and lived among us.
On this Christmas morning we again stand in awe of God’s decision to enter into this world in such a vulnerable way.
The Word who brought all creation into being in the beginning now becomes part of that creation, exposing God to all the joys and all the sorrows of life in the flesh.
Birth.
Bewilderment.
Growth.
Struggle.
Change.
Doubt.
Conflict.
Peace.
Family.
Friends.
Laughter.
Weeping.
Companionship.
Loneliness.
Energy.
Exhaustion.
Concern.
Questioning.
Hurt.
Hope.
Grief.
Grace.
Death.
All that we experience as human beings–all that we love and all that we lament–is now part of the heart of God.
The Word became flesh and lived among us, opening us to the grace and truth of God and opening God to the grace and truth of humanity.
And isn’t it remarkable that the Word became flesh not as an adult, with some capacity for self-preservation, but as a baby, completely dependent on his community for food, for shelter, for love? God became completely vulnerable, born as a baby not into an idyllic scene, but into a world much like our own.
Jesus was born into a world of oppression and civil unrest, a world of corruption and longing for things to change, a world that needed to be turned upside down–the powerful brought low and the poor lifted up. His birth among us is a call for change, a call to join him in dreaming God’s dream–and embodying God’s dream–of abundant life for all.
I’d like to close this morning with a poem by Luci Shaw entitled Descent:
Down he came from up,
and in from out,
and here from there.
A long leap,
an incandescent fall
from magnificent
to naked, frail, small,
through space,
between stars,
into our chill night air,
shrunk, in infant grace,
to our damp, cramped
earthy place
among all
the shivering sheep.
And now, after all,
there he lies,
fast asleep.
We, too, can sleep securely amidst all the joys and all the sorrows of life. We, too, can dream of the world God intends and wake to serve our neighbors near and far. We can live and love without fear, trusting that all our lives are held and hallowed by the Word born into our world this day.
Praise to you, O God of mercy: thanks be to you forever!*
Amen.
*Praise to You, O God of Mercy text & music by Marty Haugen. ELW #208.
**I took today’s picture during my first visit to the Amdal-Odland Heritage Center (part of the Vesterheim museum here in Decorah). The murals surrounding the room are stunning! They were painted by Sigmund Aarseth & Sallie Haugen DeReus. Learn more by watching the video below.