In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.<\/p>\n
2<\/sup> He was in the beginning with God.<\/p>\n 3<\/sup> All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being<\/p>\n 4<\/sup> in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.<\/p>\n 5<\/sup> The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.<\/p>\n 6<\/sup> There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.<\/p>\n 7<\/sup> He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.<\/p>\n 8<\/sup> He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.<\/p>\n 9<\/sup> The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.<\/p>\n 10<\/sup> He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him.<\/p>\n 11<\/sup> He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.<\/p>\n 12<\/sup> But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,<\/p>\n 13<\/sup> who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.<\/p>\n 14<\/sup> And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.<\/p>\n 15<\/sup> (John testified to him and cried out, „This was he of whom I said, ‚He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'“)<\/p>\n 16<\/sup> From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.<\/p>\n 17<\/sup> The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n 18<\/sup> No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.<\/p>\n (Joh 1:1-18 NRSV)<\/p>\n Brothers and sisters in Christ, grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n Our Gospel today is one of my favorite parts of scripture.\u00a0 It is also one that pops up in our lectionary multiple times, and one of the texts that I have preached on perhaps the most.\u00a0 Today makes the 7th<\/sup> time I have preached on this text to you as a congregation.\u00a0 So what is new about it?\u00a0 What can I say different today than I have said in the past?\u00a0 Afterall, you all know this text.\u00a0 Besides John 3:16 this is the most widely known text from John\u2019s account. \u201cIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.\u201d\u00a0 Although this is the beginning of John\u2019s account of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I look at this text as a transitional text.\u00a0 For 4 weeks in Advent we heard about John the Baptist, and how he was not the Messiah, but instead the messenger sent to prepare the way.\u00a0 John prepared the world for the coming of Jesus.\u00a0 The story of John helped us prepare for celebrating Christmas.\u00a0 In a few days we will move from Christmas to Epiphany, and then into the ministry of Jesus, starting with his baptism.\u00a0 Maya Angelou once said \u201cIf you<\/em> don’t know<\/em> where you<\/em>‚ve<\/em> come from, you<\/em> don’t know<\/em> where you<\/em>‚re going<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 The Disney film Moana has a similar phrase, uttered by the character Maui: \u201cIn order<\/em> to know<\/em> where you<\/em>‚re going<\/em>, you need<\/em> to know<\/em> where you<\/em> come from.\u201d\u00a0 As we move into Epiphany and the time after Epiphany, we need to be reminded of where we have been so we know where we are going.\u00a0 John does that for us today.\u00a0 But John takes things a little farther back than the lessons we had in Advent\u2026.John takes us back to the very beginning of all creation.\u00a0 A big part of our Trinitarian theology is that God is and always has been Father, +Son, and Holy Spirit.\u00a0 The Old Testament includes many references to God\u2019s Spirit, and when God created mankind he did so \u201cin our image, in the image of God he created them.\u201d\u00a0 Yes, there is a plural used there when talking about God.\u00a0 By beginning his account of the Gospel with \u201cIn the beginning\u2026.\u201d John is reminding us all where we have been.<\/p>\n He moves from that intro into the story of John the Baptist.\u00a0 He is very blunt in telling his readers that John the Baptist is NOT the light, but instead the one sent to testify to the Light.\u00a0 John the Baptist did this so that all may believe in the work of God.\u00a0 Remember, we are sinners who like things that are tangible\u2026things we can see, and hear, and touch.\u00a0 The concept of faith, to simply believe in something that is not tangible to us, works opposite of sin.\u00a0 And yet it still works.\u00a0 It\u2019s been thousands of years since God led him people out of Egypt, thousands of years since Jesus walked the earth\u2026.and yet people in this world come to the faith every single day in a new way.\u00a0 That is God at work continually re-creating and re-forming the world around us.\u00a0 That is what we see.\u00a0 That is what we hear. That is what we touch.\u00a0 That is how the Holy Spirit is still making God known in the world today.<\/p>\n After the part about John the Baptist solely being the messenger, the text moves into this part about Jesus being in the world but yet the world did not know him.\u00a0 That in a way is where we are now, and where we are going.\u00a0 Every day the church continues to live by the words of Jesus recorded in Matthew 28:\u00a0 \u201cGo therefore, make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.\u201d\u00a0 We go into the unknown of tomorrow having been commissioned to do the work of God.\u00a0 We take with us the witness of the saints that have gone before us.\u00a0 We take with us the strength that the Spirit gives us, the knowledge of the grace and truth of God, and we boldly step into a new day.\u00a0 Today is the transition from yesterday to tomorrow.\u00a0 And in order to take that step, we reflect on where we have been.\u00a0 As we step into 2022, we can reflect back on 2021.\u00a0 We learn from mistakes and things done rightly.\u00a0 We continue to pray for the Spirit to be in our midst as we walk.\u00a0 We give thanks that the Son has made the Father known to the world.\u00a0 And we look with hope for what the future brings, knowing that one day we will put the past behind us as we live in the glory of the Kingdom of God forever.\u00a0 In the name of the Father, and the +Son, and the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" January 2, 2022 | A sermon on John 1:1-18 | by\u00a0 Judson F. 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