The Message, January 2, 2022, "The Life of the Party!"
Author: Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
January 04, 2022
“The Life of the Party”
A Message by Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
John 1:10-18
This is usually the party
season. These two weeks surrounding Christmas and New Year are typically the
time for office parties, family gatherings and celebrations with groups of
friends to ring in the New Year. However, we know that things have been
different the last couple of years. The surge in the Omicron variant certainly
put a damper on things. We could call COVID the Grinch that stole Christmas …
and all of the other things that we used to enjoy!
But … I think that we can still
remember what parties used to be like. Right? Parties … even among grown adults
… can take on some of the characteristics of a Middle School dance. There are
the wallflowers … the shy and sometimes awkward folks; the minglers … they move
comfortably around the room moving from group to group with ease; the
facilitators … they are a special category of mingler … they introduce people
and try to meet new people. And then there is a very special participant … the
life of the party.
You know who they are. They always
have a group of minglers around them. The wallflowers listen from a safe
distance. They are gregarious and confident, they tell great stories, they are
engaging and funny. Sometimes, they are particularly gifted and will sit down
at a handy piano and play for a few tunes for everyone’s entertainment.
There are times when the phrase is
used in a derogatory or pejorative way. The annoying guy is the ‘life of the
party!’ Or at least he thinks that he is.
But generally speaking, the life of
the party is the person that we all want to be around. When we receive the
invitation to the party, we think, “Oh, I hope that so-and-so is going to be
there!” There is a lure, or a draw, that pulls people in. People want o be near
them, to be included in their circle. They may hope that some of their
popularity will shine upon them.
Some of you here this morning, or some
of you watching online, may be the life of the party. If you are one who is the
life of the party, thank you for taking the pressure off of the rest of us. I
am NOT in the ‘life of the party’ category. (Shocking … I know.) I tend to hang
with the wallflowers.
I think that I can safely say that
Jesus was the ultimate Life of the Party! In fact, there is no party without
him. In fact, there is NOTHING without him!
Our Gospel lesson for this morning
is very different from the one that we read last Sunday, or on Christmas Eve,
and it is very different from the one that we will read next Sunday. The Gospel
of John does not include a Nativity narrative in the same way that Matthew and
Luke do. It is more like a Creation story. The very first words from the Gospel
bring us back to the very first words in the Bible …
“In the beginning.” “In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in
the beginning. Through him all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made.” (John 1:1-3)
The
Gospel of John is not just a chronology of Jesus’ life, it is the full meaning
of everything he was, and is, and did. This book is all about God, the story of
God and the world. The Gospel of John is much more of a ‘theological’ book than
the other gospels. It considers the long arch of God’s love that began in
Genesis and found its culmination in the creation of human beings. Creatures
made in God’s own image.
And
then, here in John 1, the story reaches its climax with the arrival of one
particular human being … the Word of God made flesh!
Let
us pause for a moment. When we speak, we take our words for granted. In most of
our cases, we have been speaking since we were toddlers. However, when we speak
the words that come out of us are part of us.
It
is our breath that comes forth from our lungs.
It
is the vibration of our vocal cords.
It
is the movement of our tongue, our teeth, our lips.
Even
more, it began with the thought or intention in our minds as well as the
feelings in our hearts.
Every
word that we speak is a part of us. Every word that God speaks is a part of
God.
Throughout
Hebrew Scripture … the Old Testament … God regularly acts by means of the Word.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there
was light. (Genesis 1:3)
God said, over and over again, calling everything into existence.
“By the word of the Lord the
heavens were made, their starry host by the breath
of his mouth.” (Psalm 33:6)
A
voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?”
“All
people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the
field.
The grass withers and the flowers
fall, because
the breath of the Lord blows on
them.
Surely
the people are grass. The grass withers and the
flowers fall, but the Word of our God endures forever.” (Isaiah
40:6-8)
“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and
do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so
that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my Word that
goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish
what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah
55:10-11)
The Word of
God has been active throughout history.
The Presence of God dwelled in the Temple.
The Word of God was enshrined in the Law, in
Torah.
The Word of God is the life and history of the
Hebrew people. The Word of God is the life and history of all humanity.
The “Word” also connected with the pagan
philosophers. Ancient thinkers spoke of “Logos” … the Word … as a principle of
rationality, wisdom that was part of the cosmos and within all human beings.
And then the Gospel of John brings the message to
it fullest flower. The Word of God is more than some abstract philosophical
principle debated in scholarly circles. The Word of God is a human being … in
the flesh! And then John said, “Let me introduce him to you!”
Of course,
from our perspective, we are saying, “Great! Wonderful! We love Him!”
But John
makes it clear right from the very beginning that the Word did not receive a
warm welcome. God sent the Word Made Flesh into the world, but the world did
not recognize him. And not only did the world not recognize the Word, the world
rejected him! And by “the world” John was referring to humanity. Those who were
created in the image of God, did not recognize the purest expression of God’s
love and light.
Humanity is the
antagonist in the story, constantly at odds with the central character. Humanity
prefers darkness to light. Humanity prefers distance to intimacy. That
rejection of the Word creates a tension that God seeks to resolve as the story
unfolds. And that tension is why grace plays such an important role in the
story. Grace is necessary. Grace upon grace.
And the
promise of the story is that all who recognize the Word, all who accept Him and
welcome Him into their lives will receive that grace. They will bask in the
love and the light. They will experience the wonderful peace of God. One does
not need to born into a special family, or in a certain period of time. ALL are
invited. God welcomes all humanity into this relationship.
As
we sit here in the midst of the Christmas Story, we think back to where it
began, we remember the words that the Angel Gabriel spoke to Mary.
“Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found
favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him
Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son
of the Most High. … the holy one to be born will be
called the Son of God.” (Luke
2:30b -32a, 35b)
The
Gospel of John does not include this narrative, but this is where it begins. This
is the Son of God; this is God’s Word Made Flesh. God’s Son became flesh in the
same manner that all of humanity is made in the flesh. The Son of God came to
dwell among those who were created in God’s own image.
No
one had ever seen God. No one could ever see God … until God became flesh.
We
see God when we peer into the manger.
We
know God through Jesus Christ.
We
imitate God by following the Way of Jesus.
In
Jesus, we see the glory of God. The glory is God’s essence, God’s Presence on
earth. The glory of God is not oppression, not despotic rule, not tyranny. The
glory of God is the pure splendor of love.
We
have seen the glory and we desire to be in its Presence. We have seen the glory
and we want to dwell in it. The Word Made Flesh dwells among us. The Word is
Life! Let us celebrate! Amen.
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