The Triune God is here bringing grace and love and hope into our lives and into our world.
Vicar Andrea Bonneville
Nativity of Our Lord
Texts: Isaiah 52:7-10, Hebrews 1:1-4, John 1:1-14
Beloved in Christ, grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Grace is here.
Forgiveness is happening now.
Love is here.
Good news is being proclaimed now.
Peace is here.
Division is ending now.
Hope is here.
New life is springing up now.
The Triune God is here.
God is dwelling among us now.
But you already know this. You’ve already experienced this. This is the Christmas promise.
God being born into the heartbeat of our humanity and all of creation.
God dwelling among us and with us and in us.
God bringing grace, love, peace, and hope into our lives and our world.
We’ve been lighting candles, praying and singing, hoping and waiting, anticipating this moment. For Christ’s light and glory, the very presence of God, to dwell among us and to scatter the darkness of the world.
I wish I could tell you the waiting, and hoping, and anticipation was over. That the pain of this pandemic, the heartbreaks, the illnesses, the grief, and injustices were gone.
On this day as we sing joyous praise our hearts are likely a little heavy, our bodies fatigued, our minds filled with worry, our voices worn out.
But we are still singing. We are still seeking, looking, listening for God to break into and transform our world. Bringing peace, good news, and salvation for all of creation.
God is coming to us in plain sight, in places that are both expected and unexpected, in ways that have been passed down from generation to generation and ways that surprise us every day, in messy and vulnerable places through messy and unexpected people.
John, in our Gospel reading for today, gives a glimpse of how this looks. We hear the promise of God being born into the world, into the cosmos, into the wind and the trees and the birds, into my life and yours. God taking on flesh and everything that comes with having a body in this world. Showing us grace and truth and light and love will scatter darkness.
And in one of his letters, John even deepens what this means for our lives. He writes. “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him” (1 John 4-9).
What does this mean for us today as beloved children of God. It means that we are created out of love. That we embody love. That we be love.
Because to experience love, grace, hope, joy, and comfort is to experience God and to experience God in creation, in our neighbor, in ourselves is to experience comfort, joy, hope, grace, and love.
To know pain and suffering, to walk with people in their pain and journey with them at their death, to have our hearts break open because of the sin and suffering and death and destruction of our world, to weep is to be the reflection of God.
To stand in awe of and care for creation, to care for animals, plant gardens, grow food, put solar panels on our roofs, raise awareness about the climate crisis is to be co-creators with God.
To extend empathy when it is hard, to challenge ourselves and our neighbors to grow and learn, to recognize and acknowledge when we hurt others and creation, to strive for unity and community is to be the body of God.
To sing and praise, to curse and scream, to advocate for yourself and others and call out injustices in our world, to share words of comfort and hope is to be the voice of God.
To deliver diapers, welcome and support immigrants and refugees, build affordable housing, provide transportation, volunteer our time, go to our jobs, care for our families and our neighbors in whatever way we can is to be the hands and feet of God.
To forgive, to heal, to love is to be the heart of God.
God’s dwelling in you and creation is the Christmas promise.
And I can tell you, that because of who you are and how you love and because of who God is and God’s love, the world has been transformed forever and will continue to be transformed through God with us.
But when in doubt keep singing, seeking, looking, and listening.
Grace is here.
Forgiveness is happening now.
Love is here.
Good news is being proclaimed now.
The Triune God is here.
God is dwelling in you now.
Amen.
