From the Pastor |
Ephesians 1:3-14 & John 1: 10-18
It is easy for us to get caught up in the cynicism, negativity, and despair that is commonly reflected in the world around us. It is just as easy to embrace a faith has us looking only to some distant future when the end will come and a small remnant of believers will live forever in heaven. But, neither of these attitudes world for us if we take our scripture readings this week to heart. I mean… here we are… at the 2nd and last Sunday of the Christmas season… and we are being reminded of why our God deemed to enter this world in the form of a baby… why we celebrate Christmas… Why this is considered a time of joy and hope. The Gospel of John boldly proclaims the incarnation. Jesus… the very Word of God… entered the world… became flesh and blood and loved among us… as one of us. He came to reveal God’s heart to the people… revealing the full extent of the love God has for all of creation… bringing the fullness of God’s grace and truth into our world that the world might be reconciled back to the Lord… to reestablish the relationship human beings once had with God. This is the whole reason for the incarnation… for the coming of Jesus…who also came offering the greatest gift possible: “…to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…” [John 1: 12b] “In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ…” [Ephesians 1:5] For all who believe… all who accept the grace and truth freely offered by Christ… are adopted and called God’s own children. Through this “adoption” we are brought back into relationship with God… a relationship we did not know before. The ultimate goal is to bring unity to all of creation. We know this to be true because as Paul and John both point out… Jesus came, first to God’s Chosen People… to His own… and then to the rest of the world… looking to reconcile ALL people… Jew and Gentile alike… to God… to one another… and to all of creation. It is through the birth of a tiny baby in a small, fairly insignificant town that God entered out world bringing redemption and forgiveness… revealing knowledge of God… of God’s amazing love and God’s will… adopting us all into ONE family of faith and sealing us with the power of the Holy Spirit. This is what we celebrate during these holidays… In this world of great division, suffering, injustice, corruption, poverty, violence, and inequality it may seem difficult to even think about celebration. Some might even consider us delusional for talking about peace, security, and abundance for God’s people when we know that even our faith is no guarantee of these things. But we have to remember that Christmas is not simply a birthday celebration… not only a celebration of the birth of a king… or even the coming of our savior. It is a celebration of a dream… a vision for a world-made-whole in Christ… of our being united by the never-ending, never-failing love of God. We celebrate not just God’s incarnation in the baby Jesus, but also the grace and truth that, even though we are undeserving of mercy… we all are offered forgiveness and reconciliation with the Lord our God… who continuously works to bring us all back into a good and right relationship with God and one another. We celebrate our adoption as daughters and sons of God… of becoming God’s own children… not simply by virtue of being human beings… but adopted by faith… being born anew in the Spirit. Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus because he had heard of their faith and their love for God’s people. What do people hear about us? Can they see our faith? Is it visible? Do others notice our love for one another or does it seem to be kept on the “down-low”? When we look at the church… especially in our society… it is almost impossible to recognize that we are in any way “united”. I mean… one of the goals of the incarnation of Jesus was to bring unity to heaven and earth… yet even Christians… believers… those adopted as God’s children… cannot seem to get along. We argue and fight amongst ourselves to the point that we seem like the most dysfunctional family on the planet. As God’s children… adopted into God’s family by our faith… we are called to live… united as people of hope… as people who have come to know and experience the presence and wisdom of God in our daily lives… people who know that our strength, hope, and joy come from the Spirit of God that is always with us. To remember the hope we find in Christ… keeping it alive in our hearts. This means that we are called to replace cynicism with optimism, negativity with possibility, and despair with joy and hope. To allow our experience of God to keep us connected to the vision of restoration and hope… not just in the future… but as a lived reality in the world here and now… a reality we seek to embody in our own lives on a daily basis. It means that we live in the faith that God’s Reign is at work within and among us each and every day… that in every interaction, every moment, and every situation we are to be bearers of God’s joy, peace, love, and hope and in so doing be the embodiment of God’s light in the world today. What all this means is that … as God’s children… we must act like it. It is our faith… AND our love… working together that will bring unity. We can disagree with one another, but if we keep our focus on loving and caring for one another… we can break down the walls that divide us and reclaim our unity. The message that stands out this week is one of great joy and celebration for God’s provision and love for us, and for God’s gracious adoption of us as God’s own children who receive great blessing in Christ through the Holy Spirit. But if we cannot begin to work together… striving for justice, love and compassion… if we cannot find the joy in our unity as a global family of faith… we will never find the strength, faith, hope and love to sustain us We need more than a proclamation of faith… we need to embody that love, joy, hope and peace that we preach during the advent and Christmas seasons… bringing the kingdom of God into our reality by sharing God’s light and love with all of creation.
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Yeon Shin
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