05 Jan Sermon – Sunday, January 5, 2025
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Think about all that that one single sentence says. In the beginning, the Word was with and also was God. I can think of nothing else in the universe that is both “with” as in the company of or beside, while at the same, being the same as or “one with”. Parents, children, spouses and companions may come or go with us, but they are not at the same time, the same as us.
In these verses, John describes a male persona who he refers to as Him. He was there in the beginning and through Him all things came to be. Without Him not one thing came into being. These statements are the basis of Christology, a branch of theology. If you recall, the suffix -ology just means the study of, so theology is the study of the nature of God. Christology, therefore, is the study of Christ and concern for who Jesus is.
Christology asks questions like: What was Jesus’ origin? How did He exist in relationship to God the Creator before becoming human since Jesus also identifies fully with humanity, not only divinity? What is the significance of all that Jesus does during his earthly life beginning with a choice to become incarnate? John writes, “What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
These statements speak to Jesus’ purpose: which primarily was to offer hope. This hope was demonstrated through many acts of healing which helped to set individuals and systems on the road toward full equity and the one-time act of salvation. John was the first witness sent by God to testify to these things being true so that all might believe in the true light which enlightens everyone when Jesus comes into the world.
This isn’t a promise made hundreds of years in advance or made with ambiguity. We know for a fact that Jesus came because John states, “He was in the world, and though the world came into being through him; the world did not know him. Jesus came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.”
Now it’s clear that John’s intention is to write a historical narrative about Christ devoid of proofs like those we insist upon: birth certificates, licenses, SSNs and the like, records kept in safe places or found online in public archives. What I’d really like to highlight is the fact that “the Word became flesh and lived among us, and because of the Word became flesh, we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.”
On a recent overnight shift as the on-call hospital chaplain, I was paged to participate in what’s called an Honor Walk. Are any of you familiar with that term? If you’ve had a loved one die in a VA hospital you know what I’m talking about.
During an Honor walk for patients and family members who’ve decided to give the gift of life through organ donation, many members of hospital staff line both sides of the hallway. Corridors leading from a Critical Care ICU unit are full as patients and family who wish to take part are escorted through the double doors of the OR Dept with utmost dignity.
I witnessed a great degree of compassion and care being afforded the person whose anatomical sustainability had been declared irreversibly lost due to circulatory system death with absence of respiration. At that point, any treatments are no longer considered beneficial and may possibly extend a person’s suffering.
As the individual lay flat on the operating table and was prepared for surgery, in that circumstance more than any other previous moment, the impact of God becoming incarnate struck me to the core. I witnessed an entire room full of medical professionals acknowledging the sacredness of the human body.
As I listened to nurses, surgeons, other physicians and technicians communicate their hopes and concerns, I was in awe of their level of shared understanding, mutual trust and respect. They knew that the business at hand was precious and miraculous to all. No one failed to recognize the precious gift of life.
As the team attempted to retrieve the first organ for transplant, it was necessary for skilled human hands to displace other internal body parts, as needed. Viewing the human body from this perspective brought the awesome reality of God’s choice to become incarnate to the deepest part of my comprehension, to the furthest reaches of my soul.
I began to talk to God saying, “You chose to become one of us. Full of these very same miraculous parts: heart and lungs, intestines and blood, skin, liver, teeth and hair. You chose to see life through eyes like ours, to breathe from earth’s atmosphere like us, to suffer and die as this patient has. Who in the world would do that? What other God chose to become one of us and would willingly allow his body to be likewise manhandled, to have his feelings hurt, to experience the sorrow as this person’s family has.”
I can think of no better analogy which is able to show you about the unique relationship our God has to us or to convince you of the special relationship Jesus chose to have between humanity and divinity. Jesus began life choosing to identify with us through and through, from the womb to the grave, one hundred percent.
And as it was in the OR that night, shed blood proved that it was not only a symbol of death, but of hope with potential for bringing new life. Life could go on and literally be transplanted from one individual to another. Nothing would be wasted if it would prove useful. Gift of life is not the only organization devoted to connecting recipients in need to a suitable donor. Connecting recipients in need to a suitable donor is the core of Christianity.
Yes, I am suggesting that all Christians should consider becoming organ donors if and when the time comes, inhabiting our own bodies is no longer an option. If we believe in Jesus’ name, we have the power to become children of God, not born of blood or the will of flesh or man, but of God.
Never have I seen human flesh be at once in its most humble and vulnerable state hanging in the balance between life and death, become at the same time elevated to realms of glory. Not unlike Christ, one person who became flesh and lived among us gave from their fullness so that others may receive, grace upon grace. I’m not saying that we can give in the exact same capacity as Jesus did, but we may give according to one final act of great capacity: We, as a person of human origin may still contribute much after suffering the loss of life for ourselves.
As is often the case, this gift of life scenario unfolded over a few short days after the patient and family suffered multiple sudden devastating events. Jeremiah the prophet wrote, “Thus says the LORD, with weeping they shall come, and with consolations I will lead them back.” As the patient was pronounced dead, I imagined them being led by the LORD “to walk by brooks of water in a straight path in which they shall not stumble.” I imagined that they would be able to connect somehow with the grandchild still developing in its mother’s womb because God said, “I have become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.”
Because of this patient’s forethought, their family was encouraged to be brave and unselfish. Both the spiritual life of the deceased and of the donor recipients would become like a watered garden, and they shall never languish again. Remember that God experiences time all at once, not in linear fashion as we do, so at the time Jeremiah wrote what he did, Jesus had already experienced life as a human was able to relate to them/us and say, “I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.”
Surely becoming a donor of any kind is valuable, but today I think Jesus makes the case for donors who donate body parts: tissue, corneas or other organs. Becoming incarnate for someone else turns mourning into joy, brings comfort and offers gladness for sorrow.
With regard to the gift of life, most of us will be eliminated as likely candidates for one reason or another. But more of us are eligible than you think and those willing to participate are rarely outspoken about their preferences. We have been instructed to call out, “Save, O LORD, your people, the remnant of Israel.”
Perhaps you might hear God saying to you today that it is possible to save other people by donating the remnants of our own lives. The stuff we don’t need/can’t use anymore still holds value to others. God’s aim is to bring people from the farthest parts of the earth to receive from him. There are donors all over the country desperately waiting, the blind, the burned, those with children who wish more than anything that they could continue parenting, along with those in labor or undergoing surgery and might need a blood transfusion.
How will you make the incarnation evident and meaningful for yourself and also for others so that Christ’s incarnation is not only experienced personally, but seen as miraculous and as the sacrifice it truly was? Let us pray.
Dear Lord, with humble gratitude we inhabit our bodies and cherish life. Help us realize the magnitude and gravity of you becoming one of us in the flesh and of experiencing everything we have or ever will. Unite us into one body of belief able to visibly demonstrate love and care for others in tangible, life-giving ways. In your holy name we pray, Amen.