The Word became flesh

John 1:1-5; 14 -New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

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.

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.

First and most importantly, Happy New Year!  May 2015 be filled with God's ever abundant blessings and peace in your life that you may share that blessing and peace with others.

This year my church, St. Paul's Lutheran, celebrated Epiphany Sunday on January 4th - the second Sunday after Christmas.  A good move, I think, even though Epiphany is actually on January 6th (thus after the 12 days of Christmas!).  I got to preach and I love the story of the wise men - especially when you strip away the legends and myths we've created around their story.

But what we missed by not focusing on Christmas 2 was what I think is the greatest opening of a story - any story - ever.

There's so much about this passage from John that it's hard for me to focus on any one thing.  Some of what I love about it is it's simplicity.  In it, Christian theology gets explained in as concise and lovely as way as can be.

Its beauty is another thing about John 1 that I love.  The words flow seamlessly.

It's also the passage I go to when things seem bleak to me.  The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not - WILL not - overcome it.

And as someone who loves language and words, and especially well-placed metaphors, there is something about the idea of the Word being God that makes so much sense to me.  God speaks and Jesus is the Word spoken.  Our words often, rightly or wrongly, come to define us.  People remember us frequently by what we say.  I was never alive during John F. Kennedy's lifetime, but I know him through his words.  And while I was a small child when Martin Luther King, Jr. died, when I hear "the truth shall set you free," he is who I think of.

So Jesus being the very Word of God comforts me.  It helps me understand who God is.  It helps me make sense of things that might not otherwise make sense.

May that Word speak light into your life in 2015!

Amen