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1st Sunday after
Christmas
December 27, 2009 Sermon
by The Rev. Bill Van Oss, Rector
Readings
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. A true story entitled, Let Jesus show. It was time for the annual Christmas pageant put on by the children of the church. The manger was located in front of the altar steps. Mary was there in a blue mantel and Joseph in a cotton beard. The wise men were there with a handful of shepherds, and of course, in the midst of them all was the Christ child, lying on the straw. The nativity story was read by the pastor with carols sung at the appropriate places, and all went like clockwork until it came time for the arrival of the angels – a “heavenly host” of the children of the congregation dressed in white, and scattered throughout the pews with their parents.
At the right moment the angels were supposed to come forward and gather around the manger to sing; “Glory to God in the highest, and peace to God’s people on earth.” And that is just what they did, but there were so many angels who came forward there was not enough room around the manger. There were angels crowding and jockeying for position near the babe of Bethlehem. One little angel of nine years old, a bit small of stature, was left out on the fringe of the group. As the angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and peace to God’s people on earth,,” this little angel stood on her tiptoes and craned her neck, trying to see over the crowd. As the angels singing of the Gloria hit its crescendo, the littlest angel was now hopping up and down, trying to see baby Jesus over the crowd. The moment the song ended, in that instant of silence before the pageant would continue, the little angel, who suffered the blocked view, cried out in a voice both irritated and frustrated, “let Jesus Show!” And the pastor, who was both caught off guard and moved by the angel’s plea, ended the pageant with that phrase ringing in the people’s ears. “Let Jesus Show!”
Let Jesus show is our Christmas task, it is what we are called to do. Today’s Gospel tells us that “the Word became flesh and lived among us.” That’s what we celebrate at Christmas, God’s word taking flesh, becoming a human being, Jesus Christ, born the humble child of Bethlehem. God’s Word, the Divine Logos, had existed since the creation of the world. The Word existed from the beginning, and the Word brought creation into being. “Let there be light…Let there be living creatures…let there be man and woman.” And then, at a certain moment in time, the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we see God’s glory through Him.
So now what? The Word of God was in existence from the beginning, it took flesh at a certain point in time, born in a manger in Bethlehem, the Word lived and died and rose again, now what? Now the Word takes flesh in and through us you and me. That’s the little angel’s cry at the Christmas pageant, “Let Jesus show!”
That’s how the Word takes flesh today, when we let Jesus show in our church, in our homes, n our places of work, in our schools and everywhere. We let Jesus show when we are compassionate and forgiving, generous and loving. We Let Jesus show when we are kind to others, and think of someone else before ourselves. We let Jesus show in our words and actions, even seemingly simple words and deeds, we show that we are modeling our life on Jesus’ life.
That we are striving to be Christ like in everything we say and do. Let Jesus show was the little angel’s cry. We believe that the Word takes flesh in us. Let us pray that we do not lose Jesus in the many demands on our time and energy. That we do not hide Jesus when difficult decisions have to be made. That we do not pack Jesus away with the ornaments and nativity set until next Christmas. We believe that the Word made flesh makes his dwelling place in our hearts and minds and hands and voices. That He is within and among us, filling us with wisdom and grace. Helping us to be the people we are created to be. People n whom and through whom God’s Word takes flesh.