From Him We Have All Received Grace and Truth
Sermon text for January 4, 2009:
John 1:10-18
Preached at Eagle River Presbyterian Church, Avon, Colorado
Today is the last Sunday in the Christmas season. In some ways knowing that may seem beside the point. We’ve already celebrated Christmas day. We’ve returned the gifts that didn’t fit, or that we just didn’t like, and we have either rejoiced or mourned over the bowl games that were played just a few days ago. But according to the church calendar this is still the Christmas season.
The Christmas story in the Gospel of John is very short and different from the birth accounts in other gospels. He says simply, “and the Word became flesh and lived among us ... from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace ... grace and truth came from Jesus Christ.”
Sometimes I wonder how we experience grace. For example, is there is any place in your life which is truly grace–full? Is there any place without the pressure to perform, or to conform? Do you have anywhere where you are completely at home and comfortable?
My guess is that for most of us these kinds of places are extremely rare, and to be cherished. I think that most of you will understand when I say that we are almost always under pressure to live up to someone else’s expectations, and we fear what will happen if we fail. Sometimes the consequences of not living up to expectations are severe. We might lose our jobs, and perhaps even face some kind of legal sanction. Sometimes not living up to expectations might mean a frown from a loved one that melts us on the inside. And even sadder, many of us are not even comfortable with ourselves. We are too fat or too skinny, too opinionated or too passive. Maybe we judge ourselves to be failures in God’s eyes. Graceful places are hard to come by. It is hard to find relationships in which we are accepted. Period. No questions asked.
Scriptures teach us that before time began, God existed in at least three different expressions: Creator, Word, and Spirit. He tells us that these expressions are so intimately related to one another that they do not exist separately. So for example even though God is Creator, nothing was created apart from the Word. The Book of Genesis tells us that in creation, the Spirit of God “hovered over the face of the deep”.
God saw when people began to leave our mark on the world, creation was too confrontational, too judgmental, too wrapped up in guilt and shame. But God’s vision for humanity looked very different. In Jesus Christ, God re-created the world as a graceful place where believers find love and acceptance just because we are. John’s Christmas story says, “And the Word became flesh and lived among us … full of grace and truth.”
In Emmanuel God became as close as the next door neighbor, or the person sitting next to us in the pew. In the new creation God chooses to embrace us before judging us. Love replaces condemnation; grace and acceptance replace guilt and shame. This is old news, yet we still struggle. Maybe God accepts us, but surely not others that we know. Not that man! Not that woman!
In our house the family room is what I like to call the “’No’ Free Zone”. In the family room our grandchildren can do pretty much what the want without being judged. They cannot do things that are dangerous and they cannot be defiant. But other than these things the children are accepted just as they are. Just because.
My prayer for you this morning is that each one who comes through the door of God's house, enters into a “’No’ Free Zone;” a place of grace and acceptance; a place where mercy and grace fills each and every heart. If this sounds good to you then take a deep breath and heave a sigh of relief. We no longer live under judgment. We are free to love one another because in Christ Jesus we have experienced grace, truth and love.
Copyright © 2009 by Dwight R. Blackstock
John 1:10-18
Preached at Eagle River Presbyterian Church, Avon, Colorado
Today is the last Sunday in the Christmas season. In some ways knowing that may seem beside the point. We’ve already celebrated Christmas day. We’ve returned the gifts that didn’t fit, or that we just didn’t like, and we have either rejoiced or mourned over the bowl games that were played just a few days ago. But according to the church calendar this is still the Christmas season.
The Christmas story in the Gospel of John is very short and different from the birth accounts in other gospels. He says simply, “and the Word became flesh and lived among us ... from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace ... grace and truth came from Jesus Christ.”
Sometimes I wonder how we experience grace. For example, is there is any place in your life which is truly grace–full? Is there any place without the pressure to perform, or to conform? Do you have anywhere where you are completely at home and comfortable?
My guess is that for most of us these kinds of places are extremely rare, and to be cherished. I think that most of you will understand when I say that we are almost always under pressure to live up to someone else’s expectations, and we fear what will happen if we fail. Sometimes the consequences of not living up to expectations are severe. We might lose our jobs, and perhaps even face some kind of legal sanction. Sometimes not living up to expectations might mean a frown from a loved one that melts us on the inside. And even sadder, many of us are not even comfortable with ourselves. We are too fat or too skinny, too opinionated or too passive. Maybe we judge ourselves to be failures in God’s eyes. Graceful places are hard to come by. It is hard to find relationships in which we are accepted. Period. No questions asked.
Scriptures teach us that before time began, God existed in at least three different expressions: Creator, Word, and Spirit. He tells us that these expressions are so intimately related to one another that they do not exist separately. So for example even though God is Creator, nothing was created apart from the Word. The Book of Genesis tells us that in creation, the Spirit of God “hovered over the face of the deep”.
God saw when people began to leave our mark on the world, creation was too confrontational, too judgmental, too wrapped up in guilt and shame. But God’s vision for humanity looked very different. In Jesus Christ, God re-created the world as a graceful place where believers find love and acceptance just because we are. John’s Christmas story says, “And the Word became flesh and lived among us … full of grace and truth.”
In Emmanuel God became as close as the next door neighbor, or the person sitting next to us in the pew. In the new creation God chooses to embrace us before judging us. Love replaces condemnation; grace and acceptance replace guilt and shame. This is old news, yet we still struggle. Maybe God accepts us, but surely not others that we know. Not that man! Not that woman!
In our house the family room is what I like to call the “’No’ Free Zone”. In the family room our grandchildren can do pretty much what the want without being judged. They cannot do things that are dangerous and they cannot be defiant. But other than these things the children are accepted just as they are. Just because.
My prayer for you this morning is that each one who comes through the door of God's house, enters into a “’No’ Free Zone;” a place of grace and acceptance; a place where mercy and grace fills each and every heart. If this sounds good to you then take a deep breath and heave a sigh of relief. We no longer live under judgment. We are free to love one another because in Christ Jesus we have experienced grace, truth and love.
Copyright © 2009 by Dwight R. Blackstock
posted by Dwight Blackstock | 6:50 AM
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