He spoke up for the most vulnerable, and he challenged his followers to feed the hungry and visit the imprisoned. He called out injustice in his own community and in the government. He was executed as a political criminal because of his teachings, but his life made an impact, then and now. Some view Jesus as a reformer and dissident, an underdog and ally. It seeks to answer our questions of who we are? Where did we come from? And, where are we going? With hope we search to find that which stretches and invites us to think or move or pray in a direction that will draw us into some uncharted territory of our souls.
It is a quest for the ultimate truths of life. This is precisely what the world of religion is. At this time of Christmas we ask why did Jesus come? How might the story of the one who would be called Messiah guide and illuminate our paths today?įrom the beginnings of civilization humanity has sought meaning. What an amazing figure in world history! For 2,000 years the man, Jesus, has never been forgotten. When they arrived at their destination they knelt and worshipped the baby Jesus, realizing at that moment their fates were not ruled by the stars, but by this God Incarnate who created them. They likely studied astrology and other mystical practices. Scripture gives very little information about the Magi except they came from the East bearing gifts. They travelled together to the land of Israel to see the baby Jesus. Long ago there lived three wise men called kings. More personal than all the things we desire, more unique than the opinions we have acquired, more vital than the expertise we can display, the epiphany of God in us. In the beginning there was the WORD the WORD was in the presence of the HOLY ONE, and the WORD was the HOLY ONE. The light of grace is the fabric of creation and seeks us all. There is no one else we need to be to accept the recipients of such love. There is nothing we need to do to earn grace. Through grace - God’s pure love, freely given. Life teems with questions: What is love? What is mind? What is life? What is existence? How do they come to be? From where do they emerge? What is this Source of all - sense of the beyond the knowledge of that which cannot be known, the wisdom of mystery, the understanding that we do not understand? What is it to truly see? To know? And so, we light candles on Christmas and Chanukah. And then that thought exploded: the epiphany of God in us. The Divine flows through all life and shows itself in many guises. Throughout his gospel, John goes on to explain that this one who is the Logos of God was a personal entity who lived and taught among his creation. The Greek word LOGOS, translated WORD, is used in the gospel of John as meaning "divine expression." Unlike the Greek notion of the Logos as a logical impersonal ordering force, the Apostle John declares that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14) in the man of Jesus. In Greek philosophy and theology, the Almighty ordered and gave the world form and meaning. As the Creator of the World, God was present in the beginning. Who and where is the One we need?įive hundred years before Christ came into the world, the Greek philosopher Heraclitus described what he envisioned as a universal strength which governs the universe. But God continues to be a word loaded with opinion and emotion. In this new year, in this new decade, in this new beginning, what should we do? In these times we have seen a theological change of immense proportions as we describe the Ultimate not in our traditional theological language, but in terms of human dignity and unity, charity and goodness. A light greater than the fear of war, political disgust, fires in Australia, injustice of every making. In the Word was life, and that life was humanity’s light - a light that shines in the darkness, a light that the darkness cannot overtake. Through the Word all things came into being. “In the beginning …” You know what comes next. The Messiah arrived animating our faith and illuminating our soul - once again, only to leave many with the problem of God. Over, and but a memory is the season when the boundaries grow thin between the possible and the impossible when a single star in the night sky becomes a world’s chance to be. It is only days since the holiday lights have been extinguished and decorations put away.
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