EDITOR'S NOTE: On Oct. 23, 2021, I was ordained as a minister of word and sacrament in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and installed as pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. I also served the same church for four years from October 2017 to October 2021 a synodical authorized minister. The journey together these past seven years has been an amazing one, full of learning, growing and a deepening of my theological mind. This sermon took place on Jan. 5, 2025.
This week's gospel: John 1:1-18
The Word Became Flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own,[c] and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
14 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. 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.’ ”) 16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. It is the only Son, himself God, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.
The message:
It is no hyperbole to suggest that today’s gospel offers us a month’s worth of sermons. … Everything from the birth of Christ, to God’s incarnation to God’s abundance. … these 18 verses, which are known as John’s prologue to his gospel, offer quite a bit to digest.
But this year, as I experience this gospel through the lens of my past six months, this is what strikes me …
“There was a MAN sent from God, whose name was John.”
Additionally … another verse: “He was in the world, and the world came into being through him …”
Just a little later in the same paragraph: “He came to what was his own …”
There is this to begin the final paragraph of today’s texts: “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.”
And finally … this: “From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
Did you catch that striking line of thought through all that?
If you could see my sermon notes here, you’d see these bolded words that descend the page in a crooked line, like some kind of freshmen English class assignment.
A man sent from God to this physical world, which also belongs to him -- not just the kingdom of heaven, but this world too -- was God made flesh to live among us so that we could experience God in our limited capacity and as such … we could receive his grace and truth.
That is the summation of John’s prologue …
God becomes flesh so that he can also inhabit the earth to demonstrate to us his ever-flowing abundance. … To demonstrate his grace upon grace.
Faith Family, as Lutherans … we spend a great deal of time focused on salvation. … We pay a lot of attention to Christ’s ultimate sacrifice to atone for our sins and to gain us entry into eternity alongside he and God, his father.
Weighty stuff. … Important stuff. … Absolutely critical that we place an importance there.
But what I think today’s gospel -- and what John does so eloquently in his prologue -- is to remind us that HERE is important too.
Right now … this physical world … the stuff we do each and every day to glorify our God. … Critical stuff too.
You see, I think it’s really easy to focus on God’s promises about our eternity, right? … The land of milk and honey. Reuniting with all of the saints who proceeded before us, especially our loved ones! … Living out eternity carefree! … Won’t that be an amazing day!
But here, in today’s gospel, John writes to tell us to tap the brakes ju-u-u-s-s-t-t-t a bit.
Wait, John writes … salvation is important because that is what awaits us as believers. … BUT … what about right here, right now?
If life as we know it weren’t important, John asks without actually asking it, then why in the world did God become flesh? … Why did God actually take on the form of a defenseless human baby so that he could experience what it was like to be a child of God?
Why else would God have come? … Why else would God have sent his only son? … to this physical place, to live out the joys and sorrows of what it means to be human … if this earthly kingdom doesn’t matter, right here, right now?
John writes in this prologue that “No one has ever seen God.” … Well, no one had up until the point that Jesus was born, right?
And so why … if this physical body that we each inhabit … and this firm ground that we stand on … and this beautiful church in which we worship today … and that admittedly cold but wonderful outside world into which we will disburse after fellowship today …
If none of that matters because our salvation is the crux of existence … then why, Faith Family, did God decide to become flesh?
Why did he decide it was absolutely critical to know the joys and the sorrows of actual life on earth? … And why did he allow for Christ’s betrayal, humiliation and crucifixion?
He’s God, after all! … Right?
God could have avoided all of that because it was trivial. … Just earthly matters … with no consequence to the eternity to come hereafter.
God could have granted our clemency -- our salvation -- long before Jesus ever walked the earth … and, as a matter of fact, WITHOUT Jesus … ever … walking the earth. Right? … He is God.
And so, the only conclusion that I can draw from our gospel today is … THIS matters. … This right here. … All of this gloriousness surrounding us matters!
Our physical bodies matter. … The daily goings on in our lives matter. … The comings and goings of our neighbors, our church and our community … matter.
Our joys and our sorrows matter. … The fact that we experience Jesus in our everyday lives through each other … matters.
And John wants us to take note of this.
Faith Family … we aren’t actually human beings having a spiritual experience in this world. … Rather, we’re actually spiritual beings having a human experience in this world.
Just as Jesus did … to demonstrate to us that this experience is important too. … Living right now, in this earthly kingdom is important too.
Some would have us believe that the end point is all that matters. … My salvation, and my salvation alone is all that matters. … Just as long as I know that I secure my own personal eternity … well, that is what is important.
And then there is John, the one who was sent before Jesus -- another physical act of God, sending the witness to testify before Jesus arrives -- to warn us that … friends what we do here today … and tomorrow … and the tomorrows after that … matters.
We received God’s graces because of his “fullness” … because of the fact that God chose to reveal himself to us in the form of his Son, Jesus.
Faith Family … God lived among us to demonstrate the light so that we may believe. “What has come into being in him was life, and the lift was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
It is true that Jesus no longer walks this world in a physical body.
However, my friends, we should never take that to mean that what happens here in this earthly kingdom does not matter.
Quite the contrary actually. … What we have to come to understand is that just as Jesus introduced each of us to God’s abundant love through his being … it is now incumbent upon us to do the same for our neighbor.
Faith Family … WE … are charged with the work that was formerly Jesus’ work. … WE … need to be the ones introducing people to God through our light.
And John is telling us this by reminding us that this human experience is not just a checkpoint on the way to heaven, but rather part of the experience. A critical part of the experience! … And we shouldn’t cheapen God’s grace by cheapening this earthly experience.
As we pack up to leave this holy house today, I pray that one critical message sticks with you: John’s gospel reminds us that this physical world matters. … Mattered so much that God was willing to come live among us.
So, Faith Family … knowing this, how will you now live out the rest of this earthly experience? … And that is the Good News for this Sunday, Jan. 5, 2024. Amen.