The following words were shared today as we celebrated Jesus' birth day.
Christ Mass: Celebration of New Life! John 1:1-14
DeLIGHT in what you see and hear.
Let’s celebrate the sights and sounds around us! Let the trumpets blare.
Let the light shine through the darkness.
This is a time to stimulate all the senses as we usher into our midst new birth.
The words in Isaiah and the Psalm remind us of God’s majesty set before us.
No matter how dark the day, physically and emotionally, God reminds us of the Hope that was and is and is to come.
In the beginning the Word of God pierced the darkness with new light just as we pierce these dark days with one more lit candle through Advent.
Today, we lit the fifth candle, the Christ Candle.
Although the days are darker, we have more light to direct our path. What if we had only five candles to pierce the dark of early morning or late night?
What if we had no heat, no electricity, no light except from a brightly shining star on a clear night?
That was enough light to draw the shepherds to the site of God’s only begotten Son, born of a virgin woman, flesh of her flesh, fully human yet fully divine.
New life enters the world through a woman.
In the beginning of creation God said, ‘Let there be light’ and Light shone in the abyss.
In the beginning God was . . .
God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit . . .
and They created through Word.
God said . . . and it was done.
God began with Time and Space, created for us.
Time equals space because time moves.
Each word I speak uses time and that word enters into this space and moves into either your heart or the abyss.
God spoke into creation all that we need to survive and grow and learn to live.
God continues to speak.
But do we listen?
God gave us choice: to listen to God’s Word and act upon what we hear or to ignore God and choose our own path.
God speaks.
We choose to be all in for God and live eternally or not.
God, our Creator, created creation.
God created creation to be creative and to create.
The Word came to us in the form of a seed planted in Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Word, brought to her through the messenger from God, Gabriel, was planted in Mary only when she said, “yes.”
Mary knew God intimately . . . so intimately that she, like Joseph, interacted with God’s angelic messengers.
God did not send an angel to change the world.
God did not send a grown man to change our lives.
God spoke the seed of life into Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit. This ‘seed’ became flesh to walk with us, to talk with us, to be with us eternally . . . if we choose to invite the ‘Word made flesh” to dwell within us.
In the beginning . . . was the Word . . . and the Word was with God . . . and the Word was God . . . and the Word became flesh . . . this tiny baby . . . helpless . . . in need of others to survive . . . filled with God’s presence yet totally human . . . dependent upon 24/7 care.
This babe was nurtured not only by a loving human family but also through the divine family of God.
God’s Word, the Light of God, pierced a dark world and continues to pierce hearts of those who seek God’s presence.
And so we celebrate Christmas, the Christ Mass, annually as well as every Sabbath. We all know the story yet we anticipate the celebration of Christ’s birth as if it were a new awakening.
And it is.
Today is a new beginning . . . of our walk with Jesus, . . . of our connection to God incarnate.
God purposely became touchable, embraceable and relatable. The living Word of God spoke our language and walked an impossible path to show us we could do the same.
Jesus, the Christ, became the new covenant through relationship.
God incarnate walks with us eternally if we choose to submit our entire life to God.
Covenant relationship means that God will never let go of us even if we choose to turn away from God.
In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God . . . and the entire community of God works as One to guide all who chose to cling to God.
God Among us became God With Us, Emmanuel, in full accordance with words of the prophets.
God with us, the Messiah, pierced the darkness for us, became the new beginning so we could have a new beginning.
God’s story of new life through his Son, Jesus Christ becomes our story.
As we cling to the Word made flesh and digest God’s words we learn to live out our own story in Christ Jesus.
Through our own immersion into life with the Word and in God’s word, our heart become fortified to withstand the joys and challenges of life.
By living life in Christ, by living according to God’s plan for each of us, by simply trusting in God in the flesh, Jesus, the Christ, we become part of the larger story and can share with others how God has dwelt among us. . . . how the Lord’s presence fortifies us each day.
Each time we allow the Holy Spirit to work through us, each time we celebrate God in the flesh, Jesus, the Christ, we are open to God’s direction.
God wants us to spread the good news of the “Word made flesh”, “of God with us”.
Let’s enJOY a new beginning in our Christian walk as we share the miracle of new life in Christ and everlasting covenant with God.
Merry Christ Mass!
