Our Sermons

Bible Passage: John 1:14
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  December 25, 2018

When I was in high school, one teacher taught us about Abraham Lincoln.  Mostly, it was the usual mix of historical events and anecdotes, but I remember the teacher concluded by saying that if we were to remember one thing about Lincoln it should be that what made him so effective was his power to communicate. I don’t think I quite understood that at the time. Growing up I had always heard about his hard work, honesty and other virtues, but never communication. Yet now, years later, I’ve begun to understand what my teacher meant. Lincoln wasn’t the only hard working man in America, he wasn’t the only honest soul. But he had the ability to extend these qualities, to inspire others and communicate the strengths he had which made him an excellent president. It was all about communication.

Communication is important in every facet of life. Every sign on the road, every app on your phone, every word printed in the Bible is communication. The success or failure of every team, every company, and, yes, every family, is based on communication. Our relationship with God is even based on communication. And that is why Christmas is all about communication. God wanted to make sure that the message got through, and so he communicated his love in the clearest way possible—he came down to earth. So this Christmas day as we celebrate the incarnation, we will explore the beauty of God’s physical communication. St. John sums it up in just four words, “The Word became flesh.”

“The Word” which became flesh certainly refers to Jesus. But why would John call him the “Word?” It’s unlike any other title we have for Jesus. Well in the 14th chapter of this gospel Jesus himself said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well.” And as you read through the Gospels, and especially John’s, there are many more times when Jesus explains that he has come so that we can know the Father. As he says in John 8:28: “I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.” (Also John 1:14-18; John 5:30; 5:37-47; 8:28-29; 14:6-10; 17:4-6; 17:20-26, just to name a few. Jesus is more than just the go-between, he is the means of communication.

That idea is what’s behind this title. John calls Jesus “the Word” because his purpose in coming was to restore communication between us and the Father. What God had to say to us was not only what Jesus said, but who Jesus was and what he did. Think about it, Jesus is the embodiment of God’s whole message, the fulfillment of all his prophecies, the central subject of both his Old and New Testaments. Calling Jesus “the Word” is a perfect title because he is, literally, God communicating himself.

Did you ever learn the communication diagram in school? There are a lot of variations but the one I learned had a person called the “Sender” on one side and another called the “Receiver” on the other. In the middle was a long arrow from the sender to the receiver and that line was called “the message”. And then there was the “noise” or “interference”. These were a bunch of jagged lines that crossed over the message and interfered with the communication. There’s a tragic line in the beginning of Genesis, one of the saddest verses of the whole Bible in my mind. Adam and Eve fell into sin and right after Genesis 3:8 says that God was walking in the garden in the cool of the day and he called out to Adam and Eve. Think about that: God used to be able to walk around in the Garden of Eden freely communicating with Adam and Eve. They could have walked with him and talked with him, enjoyed his company, sat at his feet. But once they sinned that line of communication was cut. The relationship was ruined and God could not live with them as before. They were banished from the garden and sin has interfered with the ability to understand God’s message ever since.

Even today sin interferes with our ability to clearly hear and communicate with God. It’s not hard to imagine the jagged lines when we see how Scripture is often twisted and discarded. Just look at Christmas! Sin has warped the message of Christ’s birth into a celebration of materialism! Originally gift giving was meant to represent God’s gift of Jesus to us. But how often doesn’t that get forgotten as we rip open our presents? It’s sad to say, but often the real message gets muddled, even for Christians. For many, it’s become just a time to be with family or a time to be nice to everyone. And as for the Christmas story? Well, maybe we’ve heard it too many times and the message has lost its luster, like a joke in a chain email or a sappy commercial you’ve seen a thousand times. Sin has interfered big time in the communication of God’s message and Christmas is just one of many examples we could cite. Sin causes us to doubt God’s promises. It causes us to twist his words. It causes us to close our ears to God’s clear command and worst of all, to miss the call of his earnest love. Sin is why God needed to come down and deliver the message to us, himself.

John tells us that the Word became flesh. Isn’t it interesting that John chose the word “flesh”? John doesn’t say, “The Word became a man,” or “the Word got a body.” He chooses to say it more tangibly.  He wants us to know that Jesus had bones and muscle, blood and skin He wants us to grasp the reality of Jesus’ humanity. This is so important. Why? It’s all about communication.

It is kind of humorous how many easily communication can get messed up when you’re texting someone. I once texted a friend and asked him if he wanted to go to a movie. He agreed and suggested a time. It worked for me and I texted back “sounds good” with a “.”. He replied, “We don’t have to go if you don’t feel like it.” Well after that I just called him on the phone and confirmed that I invited him and did certainly want to go. Texting is great, but it isn’t the purest form of communication. Phone calls don’t qualify either. Anyone who’s been in a long-distance relationship can tell you that it isn’t the same as being together. Or if you’ve ever tried to call a customer support line for help, you may know that it can be hard to communicate over the phone! Skype or facetime are wonderful but it still isn’t the same as being with somebody! The truth is that you never really understand a person until you meet face-to-face and look them in their actual eyeball. You need to shake their hand and spend time with them. You need to observe them and see what makes them tick. You need to be with them in the flesh. Only then can you truly understand them.

The God who created us knows this and that’s why he sent his Son to be born in the flesh. The birth of Christ at Christmas was the most effective way to communicate his message to us. God didn’t just say he loved us, he lived it, he came down to earth. He expressed himself as our loving God by becoming an actual human baby in Bethlehem. The Word became flesh! Jesus took on humanity…to know us, to relate with us; be tempted with us; to feel our pain, to suffer with us, and ultimately to die for us.

This is what John experienced. One of the first things you learn about the Bible is that there are four Gospels—four different accounts of the life of Jesus. What we sometimes forget is that only one of them, the Gospel of John, claims to be an eyewitness account. John’s account of his participation in Jesus’ ministry, his memories of life with Jesus, are all his own. As one of Jesus’ closest disciples, John lived with Jesus; walked with him; he saw him sleep on the ground, he listened to him speak day after day, he watched him pray. He saw him get tired and hungry; he experienced, firsthand, his power and compassion. And specifically John, only John, was the disciple that had the courage to stand at the foot of Jesus’ cross. He saw the deep channels the whip had carved out of his skin; he saw the blood flow from the nails in his hands and feet, he saw him die with his own eyes. John saw him in the flesh. This is what moved him to write his Gospel and to spend his life in service to God. And, through eyes of faith, it is this in-the-flesh communication that allows the Word of God to convince our hearts still today.

The Word made flesh, God born as a tiny baby for us, is the scream of love loud enough to break through sin’s interference so that we can understand the forgiveness and love of God. Christmas is about communication. When you look at a nativity scene today, don’t just see the wise men and the shepherds; don’t just see Mary and Joseph and the angels. See the beginning of the purest form of God’s communication. Don’t just see a swaddled baby; see the Word made flesh, the glory of God full of grace and truth!

Do you know what they say the first step of successful communication is? Careful listening. You’ll always be able to hear the noise of sin in this world and in your own head, but listen carefully and you’ll be able to hear something else. The strains of the angels’ song still echo, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.” Listen to the love and grace God communicates to you through his Word and Sacrament. Listen today as he gives you his very body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins. Listen as he comes in the flesh to assure you of his love. Listen carefully in the coming days and reflect on your Savior’s birth and all that it tells you. Ponder with Mary and treasure this clear message in your heart: “The Word became flesh.”

Amen.