Here we are!

The sun rose yesterday. Planes did not fall out of the sky, the economy did not crash and the world did not come to an end. The ancient writer of Ecclesiastes had it right.

"The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun." [Ecc.1:9]

Well… he had it right as far as the daily turning of the earth upon its axis and the rising and setting of the sun.

And yet, in another way the writer had it oh so wrong!

Our gospel reading speaks of a "new thing under the sun" that is an amazing, unique thing. An event so powerful that it has the potential to bring new life, hope and joy to all who embrace it.

The Word, which is God, becomes flesh and comes to take up his dwelling in the midst of people like you and me. In the most profound way, we can say, "God has moved into our neighborhood!" Perhaps you have never thought of John 1:14 in these terms, but listen closely. "The word became flesh and lived among us…"

***

The issue of who is moving into the neighborhood stirs up a lot of interest – doesn’t it? A construction firm begins work on a new dwelling in your neighborhood. What happens? One of the first questions you hear (or ask) is, "I wonder _________" [Can you finish the question?] " I wonder who is moving in…. or how much that house cost…."

My family recently went through a move. Two minutes after the "For Sale" sign went up on our front lawn, the phone rang. After that call there were two more calls within fifteen minutes. "Who’s going to move in?," was the foremost concern on our neighbor’s minds. (As though we were psychic) A couple came to look at the house and when they left, one of our immediate neighbors called and said, "You’d better not sell your house to them!"

There was a general sense of anxiety in the neighborhood until the house finally sold to a retired couple. You could sense it in the air, "Whew! I’m glad that’s over."

The new couple was received.

Some people are not so fortunate when they move into a new neighborhood.

I read another one of those familiar articles in a newspaper a while back – you know – the one about how people in a neighborhood get all worked up because someone or something is coming to the neighborhood they don’t like. "Go back to where you came from," the note tied to the rock that came flying through the living room window said.

Now – think with me about something for a few moments – you would suppose, wouldn’t you, that the Lord Jesus would be well received if he were to move into a new neighborhood in our town. Surely there would be no concern about property values or anxiety about who was next door if it was Christ who was moving in – would there?

Think about this for a moment.

"How would you feel if you knew that Jesus Christ was going to move into the house next to yours?" [Give them a moment to reflect]

Folks, I would love to stop right now and have an honest discussion about what is going through your minds. (Or would I?)

I asked this very question some years ago at a church council meeting and there was a long silence. Finally broken by the chairperson of our Board of Deacons. "It would be nice for the children," he said. He was tentative with his answer and his brow was wrinkled up in "heavy thinking" mode. I have a hunch his mind was doing a "double take" on how he would feel when it came time to sell his house. Resale might be a problem if potential buyers learned that Jesus Christ lived next door.

***

I confess to a little "tongue in cheek" here, but the reality is – unlike the nice retired couple who bought our home – Jesus was not well received by everyone. Listen once again, "He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him."

There is something almost unbelievable about this line in John’s gospel. In the 24^th Psalm the ancient and well known affirmation is, "The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein." [Ps. 24:1]

Although we live in a very changed world from the one Jesus came to, I wonder if the reception would be different. Would "his own people" accept him today?

When Jesus first entered public ministry and spoke in his hometown synagogue of Nazareth, the end result was that the people of his hometown – his parent’s friends and neighbors tried to take him out of town and throw him off a cliff. They rejected him because they didn’t know who he was.

However, if he came to our town, would he be welcomed or would he be rejected because we do know who he is? As the man said, "It would be nice for the children if he came,  -- but would you want him living in the house next door? How would that affect your lifestyle?

I have a feeling that all of us would do a bit of squirming and fidgeting if we did some serious reflection on this question. Undoubtedly we would welcome him to our town – after all we are Christian people. But right next door?

Why does that make us just a little uneasy?

Perhaps a brief story will help. Some years ago a young man came to our church with his fiancé. His discomfort with being at church was so obvious, it was almost comical. I pictured a small puppy who didn’t want to go anywhere being taken for a walk. The puppy’s feet don’t move as the master drags it along the sidewalk muttering, "You are going for a walk!"

The couple had come because the young woman had grown up in the church and they wanted to get married. The "bride-to-be" had not been back to church for some time and her mother, who was a regular attendee, said there was no way she was going to call the pastor on behalf of the couple. "You go to church and then ask about your wedding!" she told her daughter.

"Rick too?" the girl asked with a bit of panic, "Rick can’t stand church!"

Now as they stood at the door after worship, the young woman asked, "Pastor, could we meet with you some time? This is my fiancé Rick and we would like to get married." Poor Rick looked like a mouse cornered by the cat. His eyes darted about as though looking for the nearest exit. My mischievous streak prompted me to engage in a little more conversation than usual. This guy was soo much fun.

We did meet. And Rick turned out to be a very likeable young man from an unchurched family. He had been to a church "once or twice" with a friend and said, "I believe in God and all that… and when we get married, I want to have a family. Both of us would want our children to go to Sunday School, but I’m just not ready for church yet."  (You know this guy -- right?)

"And why is that Rick?" I asked.

"Well, I’m not a very religious person and to be honest, I’m just not ready to give up all the things in life I enjoy."

Sound like anybody you know?

Rick is one person who for sure wouldn’t want Jesus Christ to move in next door. His idea of Jesus Christ is that old twisted version of John 10:10 "I have come that their lives might be tiresome and that they might have monotony to the full."

[I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.]

The idea is that if Jesus Christ were to move into our neighborhood, he would come with a stern attitude and a heavy handed judgmental spirit. Combined with the authority and power of God, his presence would have a chilling effect on life as we know it.

This is just one of any number of notions about who Jesus Christ is and what he is all about in our non-christian culture. It calls to mind a button I saw. "How much fun can I have and still go to heaven?"

***

You and I are not so uninformed about the person of Christ. But, there is that "edge" with the notion of Jesus moving so close to us. And if we should happen to be a mite uncomfortable with his moving into the house next door… here’s something essential to consider. To receive Christ means that he moves – not into the house next door – but into my house! He moves into the center of my heart and soul.

That is the central message of the lesson from John’s Gospel. Jesus came into the world which belongs to God and was rejected by his own people. But… for those who did receive him there was an amazing turn of events.

***

There is a turnkey phrase in our scripture today that points us to the heart of what it means that the Word became flesh and came to dwell in our midst. "But to all who received him…"

• He gave us power to become children of God
• Of his fullness we have all received

When we welcome Christ into our lives, we become "family" in a whole new sense. We discover, for one thing, that when Christ is present there is great joy, not gloom – celebration, not condemnation. To receive from the "fullness" of Christ is to receive the heart of what life was meant to be – it is life filled with promise, potential and richness. It is a lie from the pits of hell that a relationship with Christ is life-denying or life-defeating.

Whatever our young friend Rick had come to believe about the Christian life, it was not the Christian life John’s gospel is talking about.

As a matter of fact, each one of the lectionary texts today speaks about the joy that comes when "God moves into the neighborhood." Jeremiah speaks of how the people will sing and dance when the Lord brings about the divine plan for Israel’s life. Through the prophet God says, "I will turn their mourning into joy!"

Rick had somehow bought into the opposite idea – that somehow God would turn his joy into mourning.

The letter to the Ephesian Church affirms that receiving Christ means that God, in Paul’s words, "Has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing." The passage goes on to say that his means we have:

• A sense of family and connectedness with God and each other
• Forgiveness for every failure that condemns us from within
• A sense of knowing what our lives were meant to be
• An assurance that we belong to the family of God for time and eternity

***

No… the world did not end yesterday and no new, radical thing happened when the new century started. The most radical thing that ever happened to our world took place long ago when God moved into our neighborhood!

The most amazing things happened for you and me, not based on anything in the outside world, but begins in our internal world when we receive the One who desires to move into our lives!

With all the focus on the new century and the edge of the new millennium, the Christmas of 1999 has quickly faded into the background. Many preachers will be using the Epiphany readings today. Here’s a plug for staying with the "Second Sunday after Christmas."

It is the incarnation which ties the ages together. The texts for the Second Sunday after Christmas are filled with praise for the fullness of God’s blessings. There is a sense of completeness and perfection of the divine intent for God’s people. The Word becomes flesh and the glory of God is revealed in Jesus Christ. The letter to the Ephesians speaks of the fullness of blessing that comes to those who are "in Christ."

As the coming of Jesus Christ into the world ties together the themes of promise and fulfillment in the whole of scripture, so also the heart of the Christian message holds the ages together. With all the change and the rushing of time driving our world today, the message of our texts provides a still place for our spirits.

The beginning verses of John call to mind the creation verses of Genesis. In the beginning was the Word (which became flesh) and the letter to the Ephesians points to the destiny of God's people. Jeremiah and the Psalm of the day offer praise to the God who redeems Israel and calls praise from our hearts.

John 1:1-18

The Word of God is the force behind creation.  With words, God calls the worlds into being. The writer of the Gospel of John connects the "logos" with creation and with the Word become flesh bringing light and life to the world.  In the creation story, God commands the light to shine and breathes life into Adam who was made from dust.

Those who receive Christ as light and life (v.12) experience creation or re-creation as children of God. The work of God in Genesis 1 is the work of God the Word in John 1. The power of the Christian story of the Incarnation in that God does not remain distant from and unconcerned with this creation and its inhabitants, but rather comes to dwell in our midst.  The love of God is so radical as to allow the created one to accept or reject the Creator. Such a love and such a God is worthy of all the praise the accompanying texts portray.

Instead of writing off the creation run amuck as "not worth the trouble," God comes as redeemer to make right all that went wrong.  Verse 12 is rightfully connected with 3:3-8 when Nicodemus comes in the night (when it is not light) to ask Jesus (who is the light) how one might inherit the kingdom of heaven.  The Ephesians passage is an exposition of this "inheritance."

Jeremiah 31:7-14

In this passage, the "weeping prophet" looks at God's final plans for Israel as though with a telescope.  God's divine intent is for the fulfillment of the promise of Israel. This is a more complete picture of Jeremiah 29:1, "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope."  Though directed at Israel, these words speak to any person who turns their life towards the Lord.

So also the words of verse 13 provide the basis of a meditation on the meaning of hope for our lives.  What does God want for us when we find ourselves in a time of terrible trial and unspeakable grief?  "I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow."

The word is not just for Israel, but for all to hear.  As Israel languishes in exile, there should be no gladness on the part of her enemies. "Hear the word of the Lord, O nations... He who scattered Israel will gather him..."

"With weeping they shall come..." (v. 9)  There is ever a longing in the heart of God that the people of Israel (and of the church) would realize how deeply sin had scarred who they were meant to be.  When they finally come to realize and experience the redemptive work of God -- when they come to actually know God as Redeemer -- they weep in genuine repentance for their rebellion.

All that Israel sought (all that we seek) to fulfill their deepest desires could never compare with the God who created them.  Finally...  "My people shall be satisfied with my bounty, says the Lord!"

A natural question is, "Why were they not?"   "Why are we not?"

Ephesians 1:3-14

The blessings we have received through our redemption in Christ are described as, "...spiritual blessing in the heavenly places..."  There is a parallel between Jeremiah and Ephesians as though Jeremiah were describing in a physical way what Ephesians speaks of in a spiritual way.  The end result is the same.  When we discover God's purpose for our living, we discover that which leads to rejoicing and praise.

God's plan for the fullness of time is to, "...gather up all things in him..." according to Ephesians.  Jeremiah spoke in terms of, "He who scattered Israel will gather him..." 

There is an affirmation in this text that God's divine purposes are immutable.  We who have received the incarnate Word and have believed are, "...destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will..." (v.11)  In other words, God's sovereignty is not abrogated by the sinfulness of persons and the redemptive heart of God is not thwarted by human choice. The problem of divine intent as over against human free will is resolved in the redemptive love that overwhelms the rebellious will and elicits surrender.

Who would not love a God who loves so outrageously?