sermon Notes John 1, Eph.1

In this second Sunday after christmas we move far from the baby in Bethlehem to a sophisticated view of the Incarnation of God in Jesus Christ. John avoids biology but insists that God’s own logic of love, god’s plan for creation can be seen in the life of Jesus, one of grace and truth

.“God is here. This truth should fill our lives, and every Christmas should be for us a new and special meeting with God, when we allow his light and grace to enter deep into our soul.”

― Josemaría Escrivá, Christ Is Passing by

The word is logos in Greek we use it to show the study or logic of something, or word, logic as thought process.John also draws on the language of "Wisdom" found in another Jewish text from the second century BCE, Sirach. Here, Wisdom is said to make her dwelling (kataskēnō) in Jacob (Sirach 24:8). John uses the same verb root (from skēnoō) in 1:14. A more literal translation might render this verse, "The Word pitched its tent among us," giving the phrase a wonderfully earthy feel. This alternate translation also provides a sense of God's intentionality. God has chosen this place, a place identified not by physical characteristics or geographic boundaries, but by reference to relationship ("among us").Hearon -shakan in Hebrew. Logos can mean word, but it can mean  expressed thought, message, logic, idea, vision. In other words, Jesus communicates God to us in a way we can grasp.In. philosophy- it could be the natural order of the universe or a bridge between divinity and the world. Perhaps John wants to get away from talking about the biology of the Incarnation but to its meaning. Notice that John does not use the word messiah/christ here until the very end of the prologue.It is also connected to the figure of wisdom in the Old Testament. Tillich- logos grasps and shapes reality and in Jesus Christ graphs and shapes what he call the new being away from alienation and estrangement into participating with God’; sway in the world.Barth the logos is God’s determination to be with us no matter what.-Von Balthasar-Jesus is the expression of god’s own life with us.the invisible radiates in the visible-sacrament, a sacred part of the world-it links heaven and earth-it is a looking glass for us-Hall sees it as bridging the gulf between heaven and earth, of showing God’s solidarity with us, of working within the world, within us.Hall-God’s very truth.

Eph 1 is a long sentence in Greek. It struggles to put the event of Jesus Christ into words, for words are frail vessels, but they are what we have. Perhaps, hymns are a better vehicle.It is an explosion of words about the range of meaning concerning jesus Christ."In Christ" every experience is reframed, from our most bracing joys and cherished achievements to our besetting temptations, our most anguished regrets, and our most wounding losses. "In Christ" we are joined to the power and presence of God. "In Christ" we are knit to others who will cry over our dead with us even as they help us sing hymns of resurrection. At the same time, being "in Christ" is no sentimental togetherness. An "in Christ" community has to reckon with the fact that it will be perceived at times as more a threat than a blessing. Part of the community's calling is to be a truth-telling, truth-living reflection of the God who has called it into being.Sally Brown

These large claims are part of the miracle of Christmas. All of this was placed in the hands of Mary and Joseph. All of this depended on the life a a baby far from home and on the run to Egypt. In all likelihood they were a young couple,maybe in their early teens. Beyond biology, yet within the fabric of of human life, this baby has a destiny in the middle of danger and uncertainty.Emmanuel is God with us, as one of us.