It is always difficult to know where to begin a story. Three books in the Bible tell the story of Jesus from the beginning. The book of Matthew begins with explaining who Jesus is in terms of his earthly descendants. The book of Luke begins with people whose lives are changed by God asking special things of them. And the book we hear tonight – John – starts as far back as it is possible to go – at the beginning of everything.
In the beginning, he says, was the word. At this point, a little Monty Python type character often pops into my head and screeches,
“Word, what word? What's 'e talking about words, I'll give 'him words alright...” and so on.
But John is not, of course talking about the sort of word which adds to another word and makes a phrase, a sentence and paragraph, no, John is talking about something altogether different.
John is talking about word as something which is living, which has always been living from before time. Word is like breath, it is creative, it moves and interacts with people. Word is the essence of God, it is what it means to be God. Word is energy to create and energy to be born – out of such a little phrase comes everything that is and was and is to come. Perhaps that is why we often use the word logos – the greek word for word – to show just what we mean by calling Jesus the word of God.
As I have been thinking about words this week I started to wonder how, if any of us were to write our own stories, we might begin. Trying to sum ourselves up and grab a readers attention all at the same time might prove a difficult task.
However we would begin our stories we would proabably find ourselves weaving complicated tales on a page. Short words, long words, angry words, happy words would all combine to begin to piece together who we are, have been and might be. Perhaps someone might read the story and recognize pieces – but the chances are that even the people closest to us might read such a story and scratch their heads or laugh and say – well I never knew that!
At Christmas we celebrate the beginning of a story, but it is an odd beginning . It is odd because of its details – God comes to earth as a human baby and is born in a stable – we have heard it so many times it is east to forget how amazing it is – that God should take human form and come and live among us. The other reason that it is a strange sort of beginning is because it is not a beginning at all – it is a continuation of God loving human beings – it is just a new way of doing that.
This Christmas story is both very simple – children can understand and remember it – and the most profound thing which humanity has ever encountered. But Christmas is not only something which happened two thousand years ago – it happens now and continues to be true. This is why John is such a brilliant beginning for us as we begin our Christmas celebrations – John calls us not to a point in history but to a point in eternity – John does not tell a story that was, he tells a story that is. He sees that God was and is, he knows that Jesus is part of the foreverness of God and yet still came to earth and comes to everyone who calls on his name.
What is important tonight though, is not where stories start but that we are part of the story. We are the ones who God is come to live with. The Word is taking on our flesh, sharing our lives. But this is not easy – even in these first few verses John lets us know that this way of Jesus is not a magic cure all – even the God who made everything and is everything – even God who is light and life – even that God will not be accepted by his own people.
So what might this good news mean to our own stories? What difference does Christmas really make? After all when we go home, we will still have to deal with dripping taps, annoying relatives, repeats on TV and a whole lot more. Isn't Christmas just a nice pretty diversion from the harsh realities of life? The BBC even went so far as to announce that Christmas was cancelled for some people because of the travel chaos. It might feel like that to those who are still waiting to get away on longed for holidays and even more so for those who are going to be away from family – but the good news is that wherever we are, whatever our circumstances, whoever we are with – Christmas is never cancelled.
The truth is that even when we give up on Christmas – God does not – God does not stop coming to us no matter how tired or fed up we are. God does not stop loving us even if we cannot or will not celebrate. That is the reality of a God who will go to the lengths of being born in a stable, of living a life in which Jesus was constantly under attack and of finally dying for all of us. This is not a story of a distant God who does not understand – this is the story of a God who is holding us and is passionately involved in each of our lives.
And this is where the words of our stories become difficult to find – it is difficult to write down just how much God loves each and every one of us – it is impossible to explain just how Jesus invites all of us, just how Jesus sees all of us, just how much Jesus wants each of us here tonight to be a part of this great Christmas story. And so we sing carols and read stories and write poems, each little word and note etching a small echo of that love which God offers. But the place where the story truly must be written is in our hearts – in a place where we allow ourselves to be who we are with the God who made everything and knows us from the inside out.
Perhaps this might be a way to start our stories – I am known from the inside out, I am known from the first spark of my life and I am held through every moment by God. The God who came at Christmas.
This story makes sense, it makes sense to every one here because it is each of us – it offers hope and comfort. It offers us a vision of the world carefully and lovingly made and it refuses simple explanations for things which we cannot understand. If we can begin to believe that every moment, every word of our story, is held by God then some of the other things might not seem so overwhelming. This is not some delusion but a way of living which offers life. Christianity is not a crutch for the weak it is a path for the strong.
After all by earthly standards Jesus starts off as a bit of a failure and things only seem to get worse. Why do we judge ourselves so harshly then – if God shows us that being who we are might not mean all the things which we think we might have, but might mean lingering a little longer in the stable and asking God who God thinks we might be.
Right here, tonight, the words of the stories mix together as The Word, the living Word of God, the logos, becomes human. Whether you prefer the traditional history of Matthew, the human history of Luke or the mystery of John you are invited in to the same story – God's story of you.
That might all seem a little bit hard – but you are invited to start a new chapter tonight. Our story simply starts with us, saying hello to Jesus and saying thank-you to God. Words or no word we are all invited into God's story of Christmas. This amazing night takes all our ordinary and makes it extraordinary.
And that is good news, that is a new beginning, wherever you have travelled in from, travel out with the good news that the Word of God – He who has been from the beginning and has know your every moment – is here, on earth, in a stable – wanting you to be a part of this very big story.
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