And the Word Became Flesh and Blood and Moved into the Neighborhood

John 1: 1 - 14

     Recently, we moved into the neighborhood.  When we arrived in Paola on August 12, we were greeted with a welcome banner, two plants—a hibiscus and a desert rose, and a basket of fruit and nuts.   Driving up and seeing that welcome banner brought tears to my eyes.  Like Sally Field accepting her Oscar, I thought “They like me . . . they really like me.”  Welcome. The blooming hibiscus plant brought beauty to our home, a beauty I had left behind in Austin for there was no room in our cars for my hibiscus plants.  Beauty.  The desert rose reminded me of Kevin’s West Texas grandparents, and thus began to connect our life here with our life and family back in Texas. Connections.  And the basket of fruit and nuts—well, it was our sustenance the first couple of days—until our microwave and pots and pans arrived with the moving van. Sustenance.

We were also welcomed with a freshly manicured yard—not because our landlords had taken care of it, but because unbeknownst to us, one of the members of this congregation had mowed it before we arrived—He had performed a service for us.  Service.  We moved into the neighborhood, and we felt oh so very welcome here. 

       Welcome, reassuring, familiar—they often go hand in hand. Our scripture today is familiar.  The gospel reading for Christmas Day in each of the lectionary years, it is also one of the birth scriptures we regularly read at our Christmas vespers.  And we heard it last night as the Christ candle was lit.  It is familiar, reassuring, poetic even.  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 came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.  The gospel writer John claims not only is Jesus divine, but also this divine connection with God extends all the way back to the beginning of all creation.  Jesus is the Word of God—the Word through which God spoke creation into being.  Jesus is fully divine.  Jesus is God. 

       But that is not all that John claims, for we also read . . .   14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us.  Jesus, fully divine is also Jesus, fully human. Isaiah’s claim of Emmanuel—“God with us” takes on a new dimension.  It’s not God is with us in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night—as God was with the Hebrews fleeing from slavery in Egypt.  It’s not that God has come out of or down from God’s glory to hover around or near us.  No, God has become one of us.  In Jesus, God has entered into humanity.

        Of all the translations I read for today’s text, I like Eugene Peterson’s The Message best.  14 The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.    

         Moved into the neighborhood—We lived in our home in Round Rock for 20 years.  The first couple of years we were there, the house next door fell into some disrepair through occupants that were in transition. I remember our sense of hopeful anticipation when we learned someone had bought the house and as we watched this new couple begin working on it.  There was new energy around the house after they moved in and their middle school son and his friends began playing basketball on the front driveway.  Our children were considerably younger than their son, so we didn’t connect through school or play.  Each of the couple had jobs with long hours, as did we.  Both of them commuted about an hour to work, as did Kevin. It was hard to find time when all of us were home to meet and visit each other.  So, it was a gradual process by which we got to know one another.  Working together—putting up a new, shared fence—began to open the door to each others’ lives. 

        I remember, over the years, our conversations—conversations which would begin at the neighborhood mailboxes and continue as we walked back to our homes and stood under the oak trees in our front yard with their dogs Shawnee and Cherokee running around us—conversations which would start with our admiring their Christmas light display as they put it up each Thanksgiving weekend.  In later years—Fred and Janet began to share their faith journeys, their joys with and later their disappointments in the faith community in which they worshiped.  They were very interested in Kevin’s call to seminary and his work as a chaplain.  The summer before we moved, Janet—newly retired from her job and quite skilled at home remodeling—helped me completely redo the girls’ bathroom.  Everyday for 2 weeks, she came over to our house to tear down drywall, to measure and mount greenboard, to cut and lay tile, and to texture and paint walls.  We got to know each other well as we labored together. I remember their good-byes and their prayers for us when we moved to seminary campus.  Ours had been a gradually growing, long-term neighbor relationship. 

        The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.  In Jesus, God indeed became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood—earth—for a gradual, long-term, life-long relationship.  Jesus lived among us—waking and sleeping, eating and drinking, healing and teaching, preaching and praying, laughing and crying—sharing life with his family and with his disciples.  That particular sharing of day-to-day life ended with his death and yet it did not end. For after his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples—promising them a gift—the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

        It is through the power of the Holy Spirit, that we continue to share our lives with Christ. It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that this gradually growing relationship with Jesus can last our whole life long. It is through the presence of the Holy Spirit, that we know we are never alone.

        During Advent we have been eagerly anticipating the coming of Christ—Christ the baby and Christ the King.  Today we celebrate the coming of Christ the baby.  We celebrate God becoming one of us and moving into the neighborhood.  We celebrate that God lived among us as flesh and blood at one point in history, and that God continues to come to us, in our day-to-day lives.  Today we celebrate the ongoing relationship we have with Jesus our neighbor.  Just as Kevin and my relationship with Fred and Janet developed through conversations and shared work, our relationship with Christ grows through conversations—prayer and study—and through shared work—mission and worship.  This relationship with Christ our neighbor, nurtures and renews us.  And while we revel in how wonderful it is to have Jesus as our neighbor, we also consider how we can welcome Jesus—in each person we meet.  How can we welcome others, and therefore Jesus, into our neighborhood—that is our community, our church, our friendships, and our lives?  In what ways will we offer Jesus—in each person that we meet—beauty, connection, sustenance, and service?  How will we be both recipients and givers of the love of Jesus, our neighbor; Jesus, our savior?  How will we welcome the Word who as flesh and blood moves into our neighborhood?