Sermon on First Sunday after Christmas: How are we to understand the Gospel of John?
Let me remind you that the story of the Nativity is told in the gospels of Luke and Matthew. The Gospel of Mark jumps right into the story of John the Baptist. This Gospel of John begins with this challenging theological passage.
But when explained, the theology is not too difficult to understand. John uses a lot of concepts to explain a shocking simplicity: God became a human being. Actually, I guess that is not so very simple after all.
The Theology of John begins with the phrase about the “Word and God,” saying, in essence that Jesus was the Word. He also says Jesus was life; he also says Jesus was light. And for all of us he “Came into the world” the “Word became flesh and lived among us.”
BUT, and here is the big BUT “the world did not know him,” “his own people did not accept him,” nevertheless, “from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.”
Now why would the writer of the gospel according to John use all this strange stuff about the Word, or LOGOS in Greek? Because he was writing for a particular audience: that of philosophers. He was trying to reach out to Greek-speaking educated intellectuals who used the language of the philosophical schools of Plato and Aristotle and others.
He wanted them to understand the story of Jesus according to their own perspectives.
Nowadays preachers face such a challenge as well when giving a sermon: preaching to their audience.
Some know some theology, some know just basic religion, some are highly educated, some more practically trained, some—well let’s just say that there’s a lot of variety.
Scripture itself offers a variety of ways to understand the Good News.
That is why we make the liturgy of the Word the starting point of our weekly services.
The Bible provides us with the starting points on which to build.
The Bible is a difficult book, full of, as I’ve often said, contradictions, errors, confusions, obscurities, harshness, and cruelty. But the Bible, as the anchor of our faith, is also full of consistencies, answers, directions, clarities, tenderness, and love.
To understand different perspectives from different authors we are to use reason, philosophy, theology, linguistics, textual criticism, historical scholarship, archaeology, and so much more including good common sense, a generous dose of charity, and, of course, prayer.
For examples of explaining the faith without philosophy, we have our other scripture this morning.
Isaiah is talking about God with metaphors of weddings, and gardens. In his prophecy, Jerusalem itself might not be the city itself, of course, but a metaphor or symbol of something else---perhaps Jesus himself?
And when we look at Paul, who is not using philosophy or prophecy, but the simple direct language of a preacher. In clear words Christ is replacing the rule of the Mosaic law. Paul gives Christ’s story: “born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law.” Remember his readers might not have had the Christmas story yet, they knew very little of Jesus’s life—there were no gospels—Paul is giving them a basic introduction in terms easily understood.
And the whole purpose of Christ --as Paul uses a metaphor of adoption and children-- is that we are not slaves to the law, but children of God.
For that is the message of Jesus, which the gospel of John repeats in more complex language.
Our use of language requires words. John uses words to tell the story of the Word made flesh; Isaiah uses words to tell a story of recovery and redemption; Paul simply says those same things.
Our purpose is not just to listen and understand words, but to take action, to love as Christ loved.
Written for the parish of St. James & St. George 2020 December 27
URL: <http://therev.brianpavlac.org/srms/20201227.html