“In the beginning was the Word…”
It all began with a word. God spoke and light was born. God spoke, and the waters moved. God spoke and heaven and earth came to be.
The essence of God was the creating word.
Words made this world, this galaxy, this universe.
Words continue to make worlds. How we name things, how we describe things, affects what we see and how we behave. That’s what “politically correct language” is all about. If we name male things as more important than female things, then we will have a world in which men dominate women. If language about youth is primary, then your world will have little use for older people. Words have great creative power.
The writer of John’s gospel affirms that power. “All things came into being through (this Word of God) and without him not one thing came into being.” This Word, says John is life and light.
What an amazing image this is! How hard it is to understand! How can our minds comprehend a Word which is God, a Word which is all light and life? How does such an image connect with our everyday world?
But of course God knew we’d have trouble understanding. So John tells us “the Word became flesh and lived among us.”
Now that’s the Christmas story we know. That’s the story that makes sense to us. In fact, that’s the story we really understand, the one about Mary and Joseph and the baby, in the stable at
But why would God, who is almighty, omniscient, and omnipresent come to us as a vulnerable dependent infant?
Well, according to the gospel of John “He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.” In countless ways across the centuries, God came. God was with us in the Garden, walking and talking at the end of the day. But the experience was too much, and we could not remain. God split the waters of the sea, and led us to safety. But in the desert, far from familiar surroundings, we turned to other gods for comfort and support. God sent prophets and kings, and still we were afraid.
Finally God sent an angel to a young woman named Mary, and the angel said to her: Fear not. And God came to Mary, and Mary gave birth to Jesus, who was God’s son.
Fear not! It’s not something or someone beyond our understanding. It’s a baby, for heaven’s sake!
We know what to do with a baby. And we know you can’t use words with a baby. You might try. You might say to the little bundle of joy who lies screaming on your shoulder at 2 a.m. – you might say, “now little one, it’s time to stop crying and go to sleep.” You might say that. But would it work? Never worked for me!
What you do with a baby is love it. Babies need love. Countless studies have proved that without love a baby cannot live. And so the baby who came to Mary literally personified love – literally put love into human form, so we would understand.
I think then, that this is our message on Christmas Day: first of all, it is the message of the angel to Mary – fear not. Our world is becoming more complex by the minute. There is threat on every side. There is much to fear. But we have a God who is greater than we can imagine, greater than all that threatens us, greater even than our fears. And so, we are to trust instead. We are to hold on to our faith as firmly as Mary cradled Jesus to her breast. Know that God will never leave us alone and that always we are loved.
The second message for Christmas Day is the message the baby himself brought us when he grew: we are to love one another. Thus it ends as it began – with a word. That word is Love. To paraphrase songwriter John Denver: love is the reason, and love is the why. Love is letting go of fear. Love is the answer. Love is the way.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was Love. And love was with God and love was God, and love became flesh and lived among us – a baby, for heaven’s sake – and for the sake of the world he made.