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Word became flesh Christmas 1 December 30, 2007
Rev. Tom Trutner
Every year it seems, Time Magazine, and its “twin,” Newsweek,
try very hard to find some headline-grabbing way of presenting the Good News as
new news when, in fact, it is really old news (but
definitely not bad news). This year, it’s U.S. News and World
Report that entered the fray with a special edition entitled “Secrets of
Christianity” and some samples of its articles include “The Real Jesus,”
“The Lost Gospels,” “The Three Marys,” and “Exorcism.”
Yes, these are all interesting topics, but it has been rather amusing to see
what lengths these pundits will go to find a different twist or spin on the
age-old story of faith. I guess these efforts are a byproduct of our times.
Nevertheless, it is true that the information revolution that we are
experiencing through the technology of computers, on-line services and web-sites
is giving us a myriad of new possibilities for communicating essential facts
about religion that could be very helpful to the seeker.
Unfortunately, it is also served up with gobs of baloney. Regardless, it is
quite exciting, and I, for one, love to get on my MacIntosh and search out
web-sites that “open up thousands of interpretations of God’s words to anyone
curious enough to click a mouse,” as one article states.
I will not ask you to comment on whether or not this has resulted in better
sermons!!
Of course, the wider Church must be diligent in keeping up
with this techno-logy, and I have been happy with the efforts we have been
making here at St. Stephen’s recently. However, the pressure to merely keep up
with the curve is going to be with us far as we can see into the future. One
social scientist has commented, “This technology is so important, that
churches that don’t establish a presence in cyberspace will start to seem badly
out of touch with their parishioners.”
A humorous example of this is the gigantic web-site set up a few years back
by the Vatican, and it is run by three powerful computers named, believe it or
not, Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael! Don’t ya love it!
No doubt, the Church and individual members are wise to heed these
developments. But let’s never forget the most basic fact of our faith: the
incarnation - the enfleshment, the embodiment of God in the person of Jesus
Christ. No amount of cyberspace technology will ever replace the loving presence
of one human being to another, and God chose this way to be revealed to us. The
central message of Christmas, and, indeed of Christianity, is that God came to
us personally to share in our human condition. He did not send us an e-mail or a
text message.
No, “The Word became flesh and lived among us,” as we heard in John’s
Gospel just read. We have heard this phrase so many times, it may have lost some
of its impact. But stop for a moment and reflect how startling this utterance
is. The infinite and indescribable Creator-God is focused in a human being in
what is called “the human analogy,” - a real human being to whom we can relate.
We Christians believe that insofar as a human being is able to understand the
essence of God, the personality God, if you please, we can know and experience
in Jesus the Christ.
As Pope Leo the Great wrote in the 5th century :
“Invisible in his own nature, he became visible in ours.
Beyond our grasp, he chose to come within our grasp.
Existing before time began, he began to exist at a moment
in time.
Incapable of suffering as God, he did not refuse to be a man,
capable of suffering.
Immortal, he chose to be subject to the laws of death.”
This is what we mean by the incarnation. It is earthy and untheological.
There is no grandeur or majesty. It is plain and rather unsophisticated. It is
undistinguished, but according to Christianity, it is the way things are.
Jesus taught his disciples face to face, he laid his hands on people to
heal the brokenness of both their bodies and their souls, he shared meals with
his followers, he suffered with the family at the death of a friend, he walked
dusty roads with ordinary folk, and at the end he willingly submitted himself to
a cruel execution for one reason and one reason only: to demonstrate the height,
width and depth of God’s invincible and healing love.
One of my favorite teachers at seminary, the eloquent preacher and author,
Dr. George Buttrick, told us that every time we entered a pulpit, we were
responsible for communicating “truth through personality.” It can be no
other way, he said, because this is precisely the way God communicated with us.
This is the meaning of the incarnation; the truth of God embodied in the
personality of Jesus.
Another of my mentors once said, “Creation tells us of the power and
magnificence of God; Jesus shows us the love of God.” The Word became flesh
and lived amongst us. And now we are called to live out this incarnation as the
Body of Christ. It is our call to be God’s living and loving
presence in the world.
Gentle people, let us always remember that while computers can give us
loads of information, only humans can give love. No computer can give us the joy
of a compassionate smile, a helpful hand, or a loving gesture. No computer can
give us the embrace of peace, can hold out hand at the time of illness or death,
or can give us the Bread of Life or the Cup of Salvation.
No computer can stir in the heart of individuals and move them to great
acts of generosity and sacrifice. No computer can raise the thousands of dollars
we have raised for the Heifer Project as we have done at St. Stephen’s over the
last several years; nor can a computer sing Handel’s Messiah and be inspired to
donate more thousands of dollars to feed the hungry and shelter the homeless.
Only human beings that care can do that.
Yes, the truth of God became a human being 2000 years ago, and that same
truth becomes alive in us when we love one another and care for one another -
and extend this love and care for the greater world in which we live. This is
what Christmas is all about. So, If you asked for a computer this Christmas, I
hope it was under the tree for you. Enjoy it, learn from it, but make sure to
turn it off frequently, and go find someone whom you can hug and with whom you
can smile and laugh and cry and and be everything God wants you to be for
others. No machine can ever take your place.
I pray that this season of Christmas has been - and will continue to
be - a wonderful blessing for you and all those you love.
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