“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1 RSVSCE) St. John’s Gospel, read at the Daytime Christmas Mass, begins with the most important relationship that exists. We soon learn that “all things were made [created] through him, and without him nothing was made.” (1:3) St. John reminds us that through the Word, all things were created, and he says, “in him was life.”(1:4) These very first principles revealed by St. John are critical for us to understand God, creation, and the Good News of the Gospel.
We start by learning that before time, space, or this universe existed, there was the Word, who was with God and was God. The Word is another name for the Son, which is the second person of the Trinity. We soon will learn about the incredible thing that the Word, the Son, has done. We next learn that God created, and not merely the Father, but the Father and the Son create together. We learn from Genesis that the Holy Spirit was present at creation too, because we hear that he breathed over the waters–he sent his Holy Spirit into creation. Now, we also hear that “without him nothing was made.” If God is not present, there is no creation. Things are, in fact, unmade when God is not allowed to be present. St. John reaffirms this, saying “in him [the Word] was life.” So, on the opposite side of things, without him–without the Word–there was no life.
So let’s summarize: before anything we can comprehend existed, the most important relationship, between the Word and God, existed. Through the Word, God created and gave life to all that is, and all things that life share in his life. If you think a little bit, this is why in Genesis we hear that everything created was good, because it shares in the life of God.
But there is a problem. If everything was created so good, then what happened? We can look around and see things are not, well, good. If we move a few verses later in St. John’s Gospel, we hear, “There is one who enlightens every soul born into the world; he was the true Light. He, through whom the world was made, was in the world, and the world treated him as a stranger. He came to what was his own, and they who were his own gave him no welcome.” (John 1:9-11, Knox) Not good is, I think, not strong enough language to describe what has happened. The Word, who is also the Light, the Son of God, came into the world that was created through Him, and the world treated him as a stranger. His own creation rejected Him.
Humanity, created in the image and likeness of the good God who made all that is, rejected the creator and the source of all life on behalf of the whole universe.
Let that sink in.
That is worse than not good. That is worse than bad. That is, quite possibly, the worst thing to happen in the existence of existence.
Because if the world has turned away from life, there is only one place it can go. The world has turned to death.
Humanity saw the good and amazing things created by God. And it chose death.
Humanity was created in the image of God who is life, and chose instead to throw away that image, to pursue the lower things, to become more like death.
That’s why the world is so. screwed. up. Because countless human beings have chosen death instead of life. Money, power, fame, and sin instead of virtue, holiness, and life with God. We, humanity, has chosen to bring disorder and destruction to God’s beautiful creation instead of allow his order and life to reign.
So that’s pretty bad. So bad, in fact, that the Son looked upon creation, and saw that what had happened was not fitting and unworthy of his Father. The Father did not deserve the disorder and depravity that attempted to take hold of creation, and so out of love for his Father, the Son resolved to enter into creation and make things right. To bring order where there was disorder, to recreate what had been destroyed. St. Athanasius wrote, “Truly this great work befitted the goodness of God. For is a king constructed a house or a city, and it is attacked by bandits because of the carelessness of its inhabitants, he in no way abandons it, but avenges and saves it as his own work, having regard not for the carelessness of its inhabitants but for his own honor.”1
Humanity, the careless inhabitants and caretakers of God’s great creation, then, did not deserve salvation. But even more than this, God did not deserve to have his creation wrecked by humanity’s carelessness. And so, St. John tells, that “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us and we saw his glory.” (John 1:14, Lectionary)
Even though creation treated him as a stranger and gave him no welcome, the Word became flesh anyway. And this is what we remember on Christmas day. That today, God began his work to destroy the power of sin and death, to save creation from the chaos that humanity had allowed Satan and his minions to create, and to redeem, once and for all, those who choose to follow him. We do not celebrate some weak baby being born today, even though it looks like it. We celebrate the all-powerful God who created all that is coming down into creation to set things right. I remember as a kid never wanting to hear from my dad, “don’t make me come in there.” Well, this is that. Except it’s God. And he ended up having to come here to fix things.
Because God is not a weak God. He does not create and then step back, like some clockmaker. He will not allow humanity to continue down the path of corruption. He will not allow Satan and his minions to continue destroying his creation. He will not allow all that is good to be defiled by the stain of sin and the stench of death. That is not good enough for him. A weak God would have neglected his creation and left it to rot and fester and destroy itself. But we do not have a weak God.2 We see a cute baby in a manger. The reality is that God has launched an invasion of his own creation to redeem it and set things right, and tonight/today, well, this is D-Day. And the enemy doesn’t even know it is about to be utterly destroyed.
So tonight, with all this in mind, we are presented with a choice. St. John writes, “to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.” (John 1:12, RSVSCE)
Will we receive him into our hearts? Will we choose to believe in his name? Will we allow him to empower us to become children of God?
God claimed us as his own at our baptism. He opened the door to salvation for us through his Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension. He joined us to the Body of Christ so that we might rise with him.
Will we accept the invitation?
Will we cast away the greed, jealousy, anger, and hatred that this world demands of us?
Will we reorder our lives so that God comes first, always and no matter what?
Will we recognize that discipline and virtue are not constraints and shackles, but are the road to freedom from the true shackles of sin, which drag us down closer and closer to death?
Will we decide to take the Word that came down from Heaven seriously and follow the Gospel he gave us?
St. John writes, “In [the Word] there was life, and that life was the light of men. And the light shines in darkness, a darkness which was not able to master it.” (John 1:4-5, Knox)
That baby whose birth we celebrate tonight/today is the source of life and light. And he conquers the power of sin, death, and darkness with ease. For him, the Cross was nothing, but for us, it is everything, because on that Cross he triumphed. He has called us to restore God’s creation, to bring that which is sacred back into the world and setting our families and our civilizations back in right order.
Humanity has, once again, forgotten this call. The Good News has been forgotten and ignored. A culture of death is surrounding us, where murder is celebrated on a daily basis, whether of our enemies, of our children, or of those who are inconvenient. A culture of depravity is surrounding us, where filth and vulgarity are everywhere and we are encouraged to follow our base and animal instincts.
We Christians must remember our mission. We are to bring life and light to the world. It will cost us everything. But it is the only way that we will find life.
Tonight there is one question for each and every one of us to answer. It is the only question that matters:
Do I choose to follow the light or be overcome by darkness?
In other words: Do I choose life or death?