December 28, 2014: May God’s words alone be spoken, may God’s words alone be heard. Amen.

Merry Christmas!!

This really is the most wonderful time of the year!!! A time of celebration, of hope, and of renewal. A time when we are filled with the light of Christ in our hearts. When we join with family members and friends, gather at tables, at parties, and in church – reveling in the joy of relationship with each other as we joyously celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus.

It is also a time when, filled with the Christmas feast, and the memories of Christmas morning, we begin to look forward to a new year…and begin to make resolutions. You know, the ones where we promise to do all the things we think we are supposed to do (and perhaps even that we should try to do), but inevitably break within a few weeks.   I know, because I have done it too. But maybe we just need to be more practical about them, like the beloved humorist, the late Erma Bombeck, who once wrote the following New Year’s resolutions:

“1. I’m going to clean this dump just as soon as the kids grow up.

2. I will go to no doctor whose office plants have died.
3. I’m going to apply for a hardship scholarship to Weight Watchers.
4. I will never loan my car to anyone I have given birth to
5. And just like last year…I am going to remember that my children need love the most when they deserve it the least.”

It’s that last one that I was thinking about this week when contemplating all the family gatherings taking place. The family hugs, arguments, laughter and tears that are generally part of the Christmas celebrations everywhere. And yet, despite the stress that sometimes accompany these celebrations, we seek them out, and re-create these holiday scenes year after year. Hopes, joys, disappointments…it is the stuff that comes with relationship – family, friend, or partner.

And it is in this time of renewal, when we are filled with the hope of Christ and the promise of a new year, that we open ourselves up to new possibilities, new beginnings, new relationships – with ourselves (mostly), but also with others.

What is it that calls us into these relationships? What is it that calls God into relationship with us?   Because that is what we are hearing in the Gospel today, God wanting a new beginning, a new relationship with us.

“In the beginning was the Word…”

“In the beginning…”

We’ve heard this before – in the first verses of Genesis (a book whose very title means new beginnings). God seems to be, throughout history, seeking a way to be in relationship with us, the ones created in God’s image, seeking to bring light into darkness (as relationships can do), and to risk all that comes with full relationship.

John says “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world…And the Word became flesh and lived among us.”

It is a very familiar and poetic passage, some contend that this first chapter of John, what is called the prologue, is an ancient hymn. But having just moved through Christmas week, listening about angels, shepherds, and mangers, it is an odd verse to read now, not having any details about Jesus – in fact, not even using his name. But while all the other stories tell how the birth of Jesus happened, this passage tells us why.

Because, according to John, God wanted to be in full relationship with us, and chose to “live among us” in the form of this child, whose birth we celebrate today. To attempt to be the light that shines in our hearts when we are in full relationship.

But why?

Why would God choose to take on human form, with all that comes with that decision – to be physically present and in full relationship with us?

We can find the answer in the question.

Perhaps it is by understanding what happens when we are physically present and in full relationship, that we may come to understand why God yearned to do this too.

Over the past year, since I was first called as your Rector, I have witnessed something magical happen, something that could only happen by our being physically and fully present with each other. Throughout the year this parish comes together to share in a meal, to raise funds for those in need, to listen to sacred story. There is life and light, laughter and love in these gatherings. You are all fully present, fully engaged, fully in relationship with each other in these moments. And, I know that for myself, the joy that I feel on my long drive home after leaving here stays with me for a long time.

It is this feeling, this connectedness, that is why we long to enter into relationship with one another. We want to experience what can only happen when we let go, and we touch others and allow others to touch us.

Even at a time when technology can seem to create opportunities for isolation – social networking becomes the rage. Facebook and other sites are seeing tremendous growth as the most active type of websites. Folks sharing pictures, thoughts, activities, and re-establishing ties with old high school and elementary school friends. And this is not a fad of the younger generations, as many of those on these sites are also AARP eligible (myself included).

We seem to want to connect, want to share, want to love, and to be loved.   There is something wonderful about sharing ourselves, something magical that happens when we engage with each other, when we are fully present in mind, body and spirit.

Fully present…

…that is an essential part of relationship, right? That we are being mindful of ourselves and each other? It seems so simple, and yet I was reading in Dear Abby awhile back a letter from a woman who said that she and her husband needed a disagreement between them settled: The wife thinks it is rude that her husband text messages while they are having a conversation. The husband thinks that by multi-tasking, he is able to have the conversation in the first place. I can’t believe the question even needs to be asked!

We so often are blessed with what God yearned for, physical presence with one another, with potential for relationship on many levels, and we forget that for it all to work, we must risk – we must extend ourselves, we must be fully present, open, and mindful of the other. And it IS a risk when we choose to enter into relationship with one another. The risk that great pain will come. That our hearts, extended openly, will be broken. That we are human and we are endowed with the ability to inflict great pain, intentionally or not, on family, friends, and all those we love.

That even in the best marriage, one partner will bury another, and children their parents (or unthinkably, the reverse). And the darkness that comes with this pain seems unpenetratable at times.

Now I am not trying to bring us all down in this, a season of light and hope, but it does beg the question then… why do we do it, and why did God?

Perhaps it is because we know that, no matter the possibility for pain, that the joys of living in full relationship with another, of loving and being loved, is beyond any earthly description – though poets and song writers through the ages have tried. And, as we are made in the image of God, just as we want to experience it, so too does God. God wants to be physically present and engaged with us, fully in relationship with us, even knowing the risks that come with that choice, that new beginning.

Because no relationship, no matter how much we try, is the same when one is not physically present. We all know about long distance relationships and how difficult they can be. And, those who are widowed, or have lost someone you love, know that even when you feel the person is with you in spirit, the lack of them in the room to touch, to see, to sense in every way – leaves you feeling unsated and longing for them to be there.

Physicality matters!

Being physically and emotionally present matters. If it didn’t, we would all just worship in our homes rather than schlepping to church on Sundays, right?

God seemed to understand this, and chose to be present with us, to touch us, and be touched by us, to spark the light of love that overcomes darkness, to dwell with us so that for the rest of time, we might be all that we could be as children of God. Just as we seem to be enhanced when we are in loving and supportive relationships, God hoped to enhance and be enhanced, through the experience of physical relationship. And, because being human comes with vulnerability, it came at great cost.

So why do we do this? Why do we risk such pain, such grief? Because, when we are in relationship, we kindle a light that drowns out the darkness in our spirits, we warm ourselves and each other in that light, and we are never ever the same from that moment on, no matter what happens. We are forever changed when a relationship begins, and when it ends. We take that experience, and it becomes a part of who we are. That is why we take the risk, and that is why God took that risk as well – becoming incarnate and living among us. Because in relationship, we experience the light of life, and even in its ending, we experience the life that grows out of death, the light that overcomes darkness, the power of resurrection.

And as a result of God’s choosing to enter into the fullness of relationship with us, we have all received the best Christmas gift of all – a model of love and relationship in the life of Jesus. A vision of life as it can be. Of darkness overcome by light.

It is a gift that continues to this day. Whenever we choose to risk, to be vulnerable, to live life to its fullest in loving relationship with those around us, we experience that gift again and again. It truly is the gift that keeps on giving.

So on this Christmas day, with the joy of Christ’s birth fresh in our hearts, and the hope of a New Year on the horizon, go ahead and make a resolution or two. And include on that list, with the promises to exercise more and take piano lessons, that you will open your heart in expectant joy and love to someone this year – to a new friend or partner, or that you will commit to being fully present with those you love, or perhaps even to loving yourself as a beloved child of God.

The light and love that you bring, and that you accept, will help us all overcome the darkness of the world, extending the gift of Christmas, of the hope of Jesus Christ – everywhere and in all time.

Amen.

 [Sermons as written are not necessarily as delivered on any given Sunday]

Rev. Diana L. Wilcox
Christ Church in Bloomfield & Glen Ridge
December 28, 2014
Christmas I
1st Reading – Isaiah 61:10-62:3
Psalm 147:13-21
2nd Reading – Galatians 3:23-25;4:4-7
Gospel – John 1:1-18