The Word Becomes Flesh, The Reverend David R. Williams, Christmas Eve, 2006

Son of God, light that shines in the dark, child of peace, help us to come to you and be born anew this holy night.  Amen

“In the beginning was the Word.”

As a child I had a difficult time understanding these poetic words from the Gospel of John.

What could be the connection of the abstract “In the Beginning was the Word” to the enchanting pageantry of baby Jesus in the manger, Joseph, Mary, shepherds and animals, wise men and precious gifts, all with glorious star leading the way?

We love the nativity scene. We’ve seen have seen the characters illustrated and acted in a myriad of ways, and we know well emotions stirred by such unimaginable mystery. At some point in our lives we may well have been characters in the nativity story: shepherds, wise men and animals.  A few of us have been fortunate enough to have played Joseph and Mary.  And a very few lucky souls have been the baby Jesus in a Christmas pageant some years ago.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

A little girl shows up at an early pageant practice holding her Mom’s hand.  The pageant is three weeks from now.  The little girl is so shy.

This year’s pageant focuses on the animals. The great-great-grand children of all the cattle, sheep, pigs, dogs, cats, and donkeys, gather ‘round a reader who speaks of that first manger scene in Bethlehem, lo many, many years ago. The forefathers and foremothers of these animals actually witnessed the baby Jesus.  The story is unique, stirring all of the children’s imaginations.

The little girl decides to be a cat.  She soon discovers she will be reading a line in the pageant, and she is embarrassed.

“Can you read this line?” the director asks as the little girl’s head goes down.

“I never get tired of hearing that story,” she quietly reads her line.

“A little louder” the director says.

This time she says it a little above a whisper, “I never get tired of hearing that story.”

“In the beginning was the Word….”

This past week as I prepare for Christmas services, sermons and visitations, I hear Ginny and Debbie in the office talk with a young woman needing assistance.  The woman’s little girl accompanies her.  Desperate for some help with medication, the woman tells her story.

The stories we hear in the office are moving, even heart-wrenching. Very occasionally, the stories are fibs and the staff realizes we have been used. Most often, the stories are true and only begin to reflect the desperation.

All this young mother needs is $12 for help with medication.

“You just do not know how much this means,” she says, graciously thanking us.  We can have a Christmas!”  A twelve-dollar prescription opens the door for a small family to have Christmas.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

We live in yet another season of wars throughout our earthly island home. Soldiers of different nations and tribes are in conflict and perhaps dying as we prayerfully celebrate a season of joy.  We may recall that remarkable story of a Christmas season decades ago when British and German soldiers of World War I hunkered down in muddy trenches across a field from one another.  On Christmas day, they put down their weapons.  They sang Christmas carols known well by both nations even as they were now enemies. The soldiers exchanged small gifts, tokens of each other’s culture.

And the next day they raised their guns again.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God…”

Several pageant practices later, the shy little girl spoke her line as a cat ever more loudly: “I never get tired of hearing that story.”  The folks in the fourth and fifth pews might have even been able to hear her.

A daughter calls her mom.   Recently married and living in another city, the daughter needs mom’s help.  Apparently, a neighborhood group of women are having a cookie exchange.  “What am I going to do?” she says to her Mother. “I never make cookies from scratch, I’m always at work and I don’t even know these women!”

Mother and daughter laugh and chat over several phone calls about baking soda, eggs, sugar and nuts and raisins. They talk, and mom reminisces about cookie exchanges years ago. A successful cookie exchange takes place.

The daughter’s husband makes a telephone call to his in-laws.  “I want to tell you, your daughter is a fabulous cook!”

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God…”

A colorful banner is raised above the red door of the church.  A phrase of only four words tells the story of the first two Greek letters for Christ, the Savior, the Messiah.  The words around the Chi Rho design, artfully rendered by our own Betsy Gant and Betsy Baldwin, are simply Good News…Great Joy.  We know well this message from the angel to the shepherds. The most humble workers of the field will be forever changed.

The animals have assembled. Some shepherds arrive.  Joseph and Mary are in the small stable, the baby Jesus swaddled in the hay of a rough-hewn manger.

"Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which shall be to all people.”

As the pageant lights brighten, animals gather ‘round the storyteller of their ancestors at the original manger scene on the night of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. The congregation of parents, family, and friends watch and listen from filled pews. Clear and succinct, across the space of the church and beyond to the night, a voice is heard:

“I never get tired of hearing that story.”

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 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.  And the Word became flesh.”

“Son of God, light that shines in the dark, child of joy and peace, help us to come to you and be born anew this holy night.”

Amen.