1/2/22
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| Neapolitan tree ...Metropolitan Museum |
I begin the New Year with the Beverley Congregation...still virtual...sigh...here is my reflection:
Happy 2022 to you. And may it be a better one than 2021. As happy as we are to see 2021 go, it wasn’t all bad. We got a new President. Though his election inspired the first insurrection since the Civil War. Tried to do a lot of things that most people seem to want, with not too much success. And one group is working very hard to make it even harder for many of us to vote or have our vote count…
But…on the other hand, it’s our first time not to be in a declared war since 1978 (some debate the year..) With all its problems, ending the Afghan War was a good thing. And now refugees are being welcomed around the world.
We made advances on Covid but it came roaring back and its confusing where we are now. So…may 2022 be better.
But let me also say happy eighth day of Christmas. I am a strong believer in celebrating all 12 days. Especially this year, which has been a strange one for me. My mother died one week before Christmas…she was 93, she lived a good life. And I was blessed to be with her until the end. In the middle of a very hard week for me, my rabbi friend delivered a Christmas tree to me. Said it was the first one he had ever bought and that I needed some cheer. But then my middle son got covid and then my sister’s daughter got covid so no festive family gathering meal this year. We did manage a family ZOOM where we got to remember my mom from our various places around the world. And that was good.. SO happy 8th day of Christmas…and celebrate all 12!
Our Gospel this morning is just what we need to continue our celebration of Christmas and prepare to begin again. Every New Year is an opportunity to begin again. What we have for all intents and purposes is John’s Christmas story, told in his own unique way. His version of the Jesus Christ origin story.
Each of the Gospel writers has their own way into the story. It’s kind of like when a new Spiderman series reboot comes out and the origin story gets retold…
Mark gives us the mysterious stranger who wanders in from nowhere to be baptized by John, Luke gives us shepherds and angels and a manger. Matthew gives us kings and a star. John gives us a cosmic Christ, who has been there since the beginning of time, involved in every aspect of creation.
Let me also remind you that John is a poet…not a historian or scientist or even philosopher…so read him like that.
His opening words echo the very first words of the Bible as we are literally taken back to the Beginning.
There are two key words. One is WORD. In the beginning was the word…remember how in Genesis God speaks the world into creation, The word was with God and the word was God…
And that was LIFE…..That life is a light …a light that shines in the darkness…no matter how dark it gets, that light is always there…in Genesis, God’s first words were Let there be Light…separating light from dark…and the darkness has not and will not overcome it…
That’s good to remember on Christmas Eve when we light our Christmas candles…some think the world was in darkness for eons of time then Jesus came on the scene and presto changeo light!…No, John makes clear…the light even when dim, is always there…and the beauty is …that it is true in the BIG picture and it is true in the smaller picture that is our own lives. Even in the darkest moment of our lives, that light is still there, if we allow ourselves to see it…and Jesus is that light for us…
Neil Young sings “…and still a light is shining from that lamp on down the hall..”
"Star of Bethlehem"
In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes were watching God, when the Black community gets its first streetlamp, the people gather and Mrs.Bogle sings ‘Jesus the Light of the World”….
”Shine all around us by day and by night,Jesus, the light of the world"
(hymn sung by Mrs, Bogle on 46)
and Joe who lights the lamp says
"Lift yo' eyes and gaze on it. And when Ah touch de match tuh dat lamp-wick de light penetrate inside of yuh, and let it shine, let it shine, let it shine" (45).:
I wish we could sing Jesus the Light of the World…
1 Hark! the herald angels sing.
Jesus, the light of the world.
Glory to the newborn King,
Jesus, the light of the world.
Refrain:
We’ll walk in the light, beautiful light.
Come where the dewdrops of mercy shine bright.
Oh, shine all around us by day and by night.
Jesus, the light of the world.
2 Joyful, all you nations, rise.
Jesus, the light of the world.
Join the triumph of the skies.
Jesus, the light of the world. [Refrain]
3 Christ, by highest heav'n adored.
Jesus, the light of the world.
Christ, the everlasting Lord,
Jesus, the light of the world. [Refrain]
4 Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace.
Jesus, the light of the world.
Hail, the Sun of righteousness!
Jesus, the light of the world. [Refrain]
Source: One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism: an African American ecumenical hymnal #277
Or even “this little light of mine…”
See that’s where this gets down to…how to enter into a new year and and begin again…the real bottom line of John’s story, John’s Christmas story, is that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us..
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. ….. 16From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.
The law from Moses…from Jesus, grace and truth….think about these two words…grace and truth… we all need grace to begin again…grace, not judgment…and we need to extend that to each other as well…and truth ? No one has seen God, but if you know the son, you know the father, you know the mother….
Have you seen the word made flesh recently? I saw a video of a Jewish congregation welcoming an Afghan family to Tulsa, Oklahoma. I see the tree my friend gave me. The books for children gathered by my local Venezuelan coffee shop…
Whenever we see the word made flesh we see Jesus among us….and we see the truth and know it is true..it’s not about complicated doctrines or creeds or assent to theological formulations it is about participating in the word made flesh, being the light…
I so wish I cook walk up Beverley Road from the subway and stop at the Mexican panaderia and buy a Rosca de Reyes (Kings Bread) and take it downstairs to the fellowship hall and share it together as we wait to see who finds the baby Jesus…oh how I used to enjoy that…
But for today…I leave you with this…as Storm Large sings:
Be the light. Be the answer.
Be the music in the dark.
Stand up for me, and I'll stand beside you.
I'm the light that guides you from inside you and everyone.
Be the light my friends….happy new year …and let the light of Christmas shine on…
****
Gospel John 1:(1-9) 10-18
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. 15(John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'") 16From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No 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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