Christmas Morning - Just Words

Merry Christmas!

This is my Christmas Sermon, which I'm probably giving about the same time as this is scheduled to post.

John 1:1-14

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

 Just Words 

Grace Mercy and Peace from God our Father, and Savior Jesus Christ.  AMEN

Our Words

How we phrase things is very important, because it can mean the difference between offending someone or making them very happy.  I learned this all too well in college when I worked in a call center for an energy company, taking payments and the like.  All I had were just my words, and that didn’t really work for some people.  People who did not have electricity wanted to hear the words that their power would be restored.  People who had no money to pay the bills wanted to hear the words that they would be able to keep their lights on a little longer.  If I couldn’t do what they wanted they didn’t want to hear empty promises, because they would be just words, and no actions.

One of the greatest frustrations working there though was how controlled with my words I had to be.  And it’s probably not in the way you think.  I wasn’t supposed to say the words, Merry Christmas.  But wait a minute, it’s just words why can’t I say merry Christmas?  I’m sure many of you have already figured it out.  It’s because I might have offended someone by suggesting that this particular energy company might be Christian. Wow… Instead I was supposed to use phrases like Happy Holiday or Season's Greetings.  I was only allowed to say Merry Christmas if the customer said it first.  But as a Baptist minister said to me when they had a power outage the week of Christmas, “those are just words, they don’t mean anything at all.”

How often do we as Christians let our greetings be just words?  Words have power.  There is a real danger to the Christian church when we underestimate God’s Word to be “just words”.  Churches that focus on the pretty stories and leave out the non-politically correct, do so in the name of education and academic learning. The popular phrase, “the bible is just a book”  attempts to reduce the Scriptures down to just words, words that can be picked and chosen, and if they disagree with you, discarded for something else.  We as Christians especially need to remember that the Word, is more than just words.

Season’s greetings

How often do you say merry Christmas, but don’t think about what you are wishing?  For many people, that greeting has become just words that they say at this time of year.  If you want proof look at people’s favorite Christmas movies.  When looking at top ten lists of Christmas movies: Scrooged, Home Alone, The Nightmare Before Christmas, It’s a Wonderful Life, and A Christmas Story are consistently on them.  None of them have anything to do with the actual meaning of Christmas.  On one list I even found Die hard as one of the best Christmas movies ever.  Really … Die Hard?  Terrorists happen to take over the building in the middle of a Christmas Party, and that makes it a Christmas movie.  Sad thing is I know someone who will admit that Die Hard is their favorite Christmas movie.  If this is your idea of Christmas, Merry Christmas is mostly just words.  You could easily substitute Holidays, and nothing would be lost.

Ultimately if Merry Christmas is to be more than just words, we have to ask what makes Christmas, Christmas?  For many families its getting together as a family, around a beautiful Christmas tree, with Christmas music playing, and opening gifts from Santa.  For others it’s a fresh snow making everything glitter and sparkle, making a dirty world looks clean, even if it’s only for a moment.  For still others it’s helping out at a food pantry or giving to those who don’t have enough.  These are beautiful scenes, but there is something missing.  In all the hustle and bustle, sometimes I just want to hear Charlie Brown cry out “Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?”  Linus answered it simply, reciting Luke 2, the birth of Christ our savior.  Ultimately Charlie brown had a crisis because he could no longer see the Christ in Christmas.

How we phrase things is very important because it tells other people what really matters to us.  And when we have accidentally offended someone we often claim, sorry, its just words.  We us the defense of “just words” because many of our own words, whether intentional or not are words that hurt, words that give a misrepresentation, and others are literally just words, words without actions. 

God’s Word

God’s word is different though.  John 1 is very clear what that word is like.  1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  They are words of creation, words of Life, and words of light. 

Words of Creation

The First spoken words of the bible, come from the mouth of God.  In the Beginning was …

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.  3 And God said, “Let there be” and there was.  Whenever God says, let there be, there is the result of his words.  Not only did he simply create, he sustains, comforts and protects.  He sent his spirit to be the counselor.  We have his WORD.  And just his Word brought forth a new creation, the heavens and the earth and all that dwells in it.

Words of Life

            And his words to his creation Adam and Eve were words of life and promise. “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” This was not a hollow promise, instead we are the children of our first father and mother.  When the actions of humanity brought forth death, God declared the truth, that death had entered the world.  But he did not leave humanity alone.  He sent his prophets into the world promising a messiah that would lift them out of their despair, and he would be called, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. Where our words reveal our inaction, his words reveal his actions. All of his Words bring life.  These words were fulfilled in the proclaimation to mary, “And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.””(Luke 1:30-33 ESV)

Words of Light

The light of God reveals the truth of his words. “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  The light that shines into the darkness reveals our sinfulness, our inability to bring forth goodness or light.  The light that shines reveals that not everything is as good as we want to believe it is.   He promised death if Adam and Eve ate of the fruit, and death did come.  But the light that reveals our brokenness also reveals himself to us.  Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  His powerful word calls us his own.

Jesus is God’s Word

It was in this power of speaking the Word of creation, life, and light that god spoke to his people.

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

That true and faithful Word, is Jesus Christ our Lord, the one who came as a baby in a town called Bethlehem, raised by the virgin mother and carpenter who adopted him as his own.  This was the Word of God clothed in the flesh of man to fulfill his promises to all people that a new heaven and a new earth shall rein.  Where there are no words of destruction, words without action, and words of misrepresentation.  And this cannot truly make sense to us, because what have we done to be worthy of the grace of God in Jesus Christ?  Can we claim that we found him through our own ability? No.  Can we claim an inherent goodness?  No.  Can we claim anything? Never.  But it is through the Word that calls us by the Gospel into new life that we have fellowship with him.  He has washed us clean in the blood of the lamb, invited us to his supper, and through the mysteries of the Word and Sacraments, we have been made into a new Adam, we have life, and we have the light that shines for all to see.

Our words really are just words.  They have no truth or power.  But the Word of God goes beyond anything that we can understand.  Our understanding may be broken, but his Word never will.  When he speaks it is more than just words.  Amen