Christmas
January 2, 2016

 Scripture Reading: John 1:(1-9), 10-18

[The Word] was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. –John 1:10-13

John was written with the feel of hindsight. I don’t really know when I learned that the book of John was probably not written until the last decade of the first century, but John has always seemed a retrospective to me. Indeed, the other gospels included in the canonical Bible were all written several years after the events they discuss. I also read a somewhat speculative commentary some years ago that suggested the gospel of John might have been written by the John Mark who wrote the earliest gospel. Now that is an interesting set of bookends. While these two gospels appear to have different sources, the idea does recognize how differently we may experience the world when we are younger and when we are older. The Jesus of John has been transformed into the abstract Christ, the logos. Yet in some of the stories he seems more human, nearer than the teacher of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God. As one who perceives that all people are children of God, what is this power that we require to fulfill such a legacy? My Sunday school class has an ongoing dialogue regarding what the scripture I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6) means. It is a hard saying. Whose definition of the way, and the truth and the life is to be applied? The meaning interpretations differ greatly among Christ’s proclaimed followers. Is the Judeo-Christian representation of the One we call Messiah or Christ, this being’s only manifestation? What was meant when Jesus said: I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd (John 10:16)? Was he opening the doors to bring in the gentiles or was he saying he is active and engaged in other religions? Is it single-natured or diverse? Is that heresy or is that omnipotence at work?

While I think such discussion is vital to our authenticity in Christ, I also accept that Christ is shaping us as we move and have our being and that is the power we need to humbly recognize and welcome fully into our lives as we love our way closer to God.

Prayer: Lord, continue your work of nurturing us in wholeness so that we may through the power of your spirit become one in you whether in our diversity or our sameness. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.