Please note: The following sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.

Please open the hymnal to Hymn 57.

We have sung it a few times over the years, but not very often, so today we'll work a bit at learning it.

Words, so many words!

At the beginning of the Gospel of John, the words are spare and succinct:

In the beginning was the word....

            and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.

On Christmas Eve, we heard from the Gospel of Luke; at the Remembrance Service we heard from Matthew; and today it is John's turn to reflect on the Incarnation, God come to us in the flesh.

Here there is no picturesque narrative of shepherds or wisemen, but instead a theological summary: a gemstone with brilliant facets.

The Word became flesh: 

            that is, God reveals himself,

            God decides to speak

                        with body-language.

Before Jesus was revealed, all anyone saw were the things which God hid from their eyes,

such as the burning bush for Moses,

a smoking mountain,

a pillar of cloud and fire to the Hebrews,

a still, small voice to Elijah,

an angel to Abraham and others.

But now, there is Christ in the flesh!

John's hymn is hard to hear.

Often when we read it out-loud, we get our tongues tied in knots;

partly because it is poetry,

but chiefly because it is mystery.

How does one describe the enfleshment of God?

How do we wrap words around the Word who is beyond reduction into our words?

In the beginning was the Word, John sings, and even that is hard to grasp.

We most often think of “word” as a unit of human speech, and we live in a world that is flooded with such words.

Everywhere: radio, TV, unsolicited emails, Twitters, Face-book posts, etc........

And they come from everyone,

           from politicians and pundits,

           from pastors and parents,

all trying to get our attention.

And too often, words get separated from their truth:

--tree-ripened oranges aren't

--a friend who says “I'll call you” but doesn't.

--the political leader who promises such wonderful things that cannot possibly be delivered.

--”if you believe hard enough, you'll be healed”, and you aren't.

Words separated from truth.

The Good News of this day is that Jesus does not speak or act that way.

Word and Truth are one and the same in him.

This Word does not deliver medical lectures; this Word heals sick people.

This Word does not hand out neatly printed copies of Bon Appetit magazine;

           this Word feeds people.

This Word does not just leave inspirational tracts lying on the bedside tables of the dying; this Word raises people from the dead.

This incarnate Word does what he says and says what he does.

If you want to know how God looks, look at Jesus.

If you want to know how God sounds, look to Jesus.

If you want to know know God acts, watch Jesus.

If you want to know how much God cares about us, look to Christ crucified.

Finally, with this body-language, God has an effective way to reach our hearts and minds.

What is there for us to do because of this?

The first thing is to sing, through music to hint at something even greater than our limited words.

We do this with good reason, because as we contemplate all that has been given to us, we are, as one of our hymns says, “lost in wonder, love, and praise.” [LBW 315.4]

In American culture, something important has slipped through our fingers: a common heritage of song.

How many times can one sing the National Anthem while in a crowd, and realize that you're the only one singing.

A crowd might be able to get through  the first stanza of a few Christmas carols, but that is about all.

That means that the church is almost the only place where a group sings together for powerfully good reasons.

Here is the one place where we are not spectators;

we are in the midst of the action.

Here we receive the Word of God made flesh, and respond with joy and thanksgiving.

With angels and archangels and all the company of heaven,

we praise God, singing, Holy holy, holy is the Lord....

Have you ever thought about how funny that must be from God's point of view?

The song of heaven rolls on in all of its infinite variety and complexity

           (singing Bach of course)

and we are tagging along,

           sometimes getting the words right,

           sometimes on pitch,

           sometimes together,

but most of the time mumbling, off key, and not quite with it.

God encourages us;

           “That's OK. Keep working at it.

           Eventually you'll get it,

and not as an accomplishment, but as a gift.

When you have grown up and receive your heavenly voice, it will blend perfectly.

Sing the word as best you can right now.

It will encourage some,

           and probably annoy some others,

but it will be one of the best things we can do to respond to the Word of God at Christmas...

...to begin to test out our new voice, language, and song.

Barbara Taylor Brown, wrote about a Christmas dinner where she was a guest.

There were 8 adults and one small child about 12 months of age.

The child was on the verge of speech, with some syllables but not quite words.

The table conversation went on and on, and the child of could got tired of it.

“Ja, ja,” he exclaimed,

           and one of the adults wisely paid attention and  said, “He wants us to sing Jingle Bells. And so they did.

The child sat mesmerized by the sight and sound of 8 large people making the  same loud noise in his direction.

“Whee!” he shouted when the song was done, and the game was on.

“He means We Three Kings”, said another adult, and the child was spellbound.

“Oh!” he said, and next the adults sanf O Come, Emmanuel.

“Da!” he announced, and the group responded with Deck the Halls.

On and on it went, the group taking his one syllable and turning it into song after song.

What a celebration that was, infant and adults bound together in the one enterprise of joy,

Might it be a part of the Good News for this the 10^th day of Christmas that this is what is happening right now between heaven and earth?

--the heavenly chorus hears our faltering attempts, and exclaiming

“Yes, we know the truth behind those words and that song, and launching into Blessing and honor and glory and power be to our God forever and ever.

or another of those hymns which we hear from the book of Revelation.

The Lord desires our attempts, even if they are feeble.

What saddens him is when we turn away and say that  “the word and the song are not for me.”

Then the person has truly missed Christmas.

The Word became flesh.--Hal-le-lu-jah

God spoke a true word in Christ –Hal-le-lu-jah.

He lived among us – Hal-le-lu-jah

He spoke in body-language so that we can begin to grasp that truth – Hal-le-lu-jah.

Let our gladness have no end –Hal-le-lu-jah

Again....and again....  Amen.

St. Mark's Lutheran Church

142 Market Street

Williamsport, Pennsylvania

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