12/25/22 - The Word to Live By - Westminster Presbyterian Church Westminster Presbyterian Church | Serving God and others with open mind, hands and heart - 12/25/22

12/25/22 – The Word to Live By

THE WORD TO LIVE BY

December 25, 2022
Christmas Day
Sermon: John 1:1-14
Rev. Denise Clark-Jones

Action may speak louder than words, but words are mighty powerful! In this country, we carry on endless arguments regarding free speech. Christ’s exaltation of God’s commandment to love others as we do ourselves does not appear to apply in these debates. Paradoxically, avid proponents of free speech are quite willing to limit the words of others in the public forum. To me, the worst offense is banning books. To bring Americans to the level of Adolph Hitler by banning books is very troubling. In a news segment about the most frequently banned books in schools in 2022, “The Handmaid’s Tale, Blue Eyes, and The Diary of Anne Frank made the top ten. Authoritarianism and Racial and Ethnic prejudice are deemed not topics fit for children or teenagers because they question our society’s justice and compassion. Jesus was always questioning and challenging these issues in his own culture and religion.

We have seen throughout history, including our own present time, how silence, in the face of injustice and prejudice, makes us complicit in it by allowing it to continue unchallenged. When we are baptized or join the Presbyterian Church (USA) we are asked if we will pledge to reject evil. When our words do not reject evil or even promote evil, we are breaking our promise to God and one another.

John reveals a deep appreciation for words. It is God who has the first and final word in all matters in heaven and on earth. In the Prologue to John’s gospel, the writer speaks of “The Word” which is the eternal presence that brought the world into being and remains as the presence that is greater than we can ever imagine. The actual Greek word used for “Word,” in John’s gospel is Logos, which also means “wisdom.”

We know not all words reveal knowledge. Some wise words attributed to Abraham Lincoln are: “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.” Or if you want to use biblical words, which in this case are slightly less caustic, you can cite Proverbs 17:28: “²⁸Even fools who keep silent are considered wise; when they close their lips, they are deemed intelligent.” What was true in the past, is even more true today. With our abundance of communication media, words can be more than foolish, they can give voice to evil by propagating hate, bigotry, cruelty, injustice, ignorance, and lies. Words can incite violence and even, murder,

What does John mean by “The Word?” He means that what God communicates to us is wise, good, just, and true. God’s Word has the power of love and creation. Even God’s words of anger come from God’s steadfast love of humanity and desires us to be wise, good, just, and truthful. John tells us God so loved the world that he sent his Word-Made-Flesh, Jesus to be our Savior. The poetic language of John’s gospel tells us that before the creation of the world, Christ was with God because Christ is God. Jesus is the perfection of humanity. God chose to reveal once and for all time, what human beings could be if they were living in complete obedience to God and love for God.

The prepositions, “to” and “for” designate what God does as our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. John uses the preposition, “with,” to reveal the loving intimacy which God desires for a relationship. There is no space for evil or untruths in a good and true relationship.

John begins the gospel with the echo of the first words of Genesis, the first book of the bible, “in the beginning.” John tells us in just a few poetic phrases the whole theological framework of this gospel. In Genesis 1 God began the whole creation process with words. God spoke and nothing became something that was filled with life and “it was good.”

John goes on to say: “What has come into being ⁴in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” Darkness is the total absence of light. Even a small presence of light destroys darkness. Light is power. Light is also a revelation. John uses the word, light, as a metaphor to define the presence and purpose of Jesus Christ over a hundred times in his gospel. His words echo the psalmist: ¹⁰⁵Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Ps.119:105)

John tells us this light is a presence that is greater than any absence. Light casts away fear – the fear of the unknown that darkness incites. Light warms the cold. Light generates power. And like the strong light of a laser beam, light can heal.

On this Christmas, my hope is that we all give voice to God’s Word of love, justice, compassion, and mercy for at least one other beloved child of God. What better way of bringing God’s Word into the world? May the light of Christ shine through our hearts, in word and deed, this day, and all through the year.

Amen. May it be so!

My Story

“As a newcomer to Westminster, I’ve found it to be a most welcoming fellowship. I look forward to going to services and events and find the warmth of the congregation to be most helpful to a newcomer to the entire area. I find sermons challenging … music beautiful and well prepared … and a dignity in the worship that is all too lacking in most Protestant congregations. Mix this with an open atmosphere where it is OK to question and still be seen as a good Christian, and I know I’ve found one important ‘home’ in Central Illinois.”