Marching Orders
(Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; John 1:1-14)
RSV John 1:1-14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light. The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.
I think there is no better way to begin Advent than with these verses from the gospel of John. I believe this is one of the most beautiful and theologically significant statements in all of the New Testament. What we just read is known as the Prologue to the gospel of John. And it is a beautiful message of who Christ is -- the Word made flesh -- the Word who has always been; the Word, who participated in the creation of all that has ever been created. That same Word is the Light that has shone into a darkened world on our behalf, giving new life to all of God's children. In just a few short verses the power, the majesty, as well as the comforting presence of Jesus Christ is laid out for us.
But nestled within this beautiful passage is a rather peculiar verse that I want to look at this morning. Listen again to verse 12 of the prologue to John.
But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,
To all who receive him -- they are given power to become children of God. Now that has always struck me as odd. And I think what seems so strange about it is that I have always been taught that we are already children of God, simply because God has created us. I still believe that to be true. I still believe that we are all part of God's good creation and God calls us children.
So, what does the author of John mean when he talks about becoming a child of God!? And how can we possibly have the power to do that. The writer implies that somehow there is more to becoming a child of God than a simple biological birth.
It also seems as if the writer of John is saying that becoming a child of God involves a lot more than simply recognizing who our maker is. I think he is saying that the process of becoming a child of God involves discovering what our maker would have each of us do. In other words, being a child of God involves what we do with our lives. In fact, I think the author is saying that doing the will of God is actually a family trait whereby we can recognize our brothers and sisters.
Think about your own earthly family for a minute. As a child of a mother and father you share a lot more than simple biological connections. The roots of your family very run deep into every part of who you are: physically, emotionally and spiritually. So, it is more than just the way we look on the outside. Our family traits also influence our behavior; the way we laugh, the tilt of a head, the way we walk and talk. Many of these things are the result of our families - and a lot of these traits are learned from our parents, we aren't just born with them.
I can think of my own family and tell you that there are a lot of traits that I share with my mother and my father, not all of which are physical. The way I love to tinker in the workshop, my mechanical tendencies, and my love of history, all seem to be straight from my Dad. But I also share a lot with my mother. My love for art and architecture and my… ability to shop - that comes straight from Mom!
You may have heard the expression, "you are your mother's daughter, or you sure are your father's son." I usually hear that after I have done something, which reminds people of my parents. Certainly, people make connections with us through our appearances, but and our actions often send an even louder message of who we are and where we come from.
I am sure that you have heard the old (and rather peculiar) expression, "spitting image". In fact, I think we talked about it in one of our Sunday School classes a few months back. It comes from a Gullah expression. Gullah comes from a combination of English, some West Indies, and some African expressions. And it is still spoken in some pockets of the lower part of the state. Some of the Gullah expressions have crossed over into our everyday language. "Spitting Image" is one of those expressions. This expression doesn't really mean spitting image. It is hard to try and make sense of that. Actually, "spitting image" is a shortening of spirit and image.
This expression was used when a Gullah-speaking person would look at a newborn child and say, "that child is the spirit and image of his father." Or "She is the Spittn' Image of her mother." Over the years, "spirit and image" or "Spi'it 'n Image" have become "spitting image." And we still use this expression to talk about family resemblances.
Well, that is what we are talking about today. We are talking about being the Spittn' Image of our Heavenly Father and what all that means. Just like with our earthly families, the resemblances go beyond simply our physical appearances. The ways that we act toward one another, the way we treat the world, the way we act in our personal lives - should also bear a strong family resemblance. We bear the birth mark of our creator and our actions as well as our physical appearances broadcast our family heritage. Jesus said later in the Gospel of John, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." People will know by the way we act and by the faith we have that we are God's creation, part of God's family.
So… we say we are children of God. Do our actions really bear a family resemblance? If we are to be the Spi'it 'n Image of our Heavenly Father, what are we supposed to be doing? How are we supposed to behave? I believe the author of the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah gives us a very good concise list of family traits - things that "children of God" should exhibit. I guess you could say these things should be part of our spiritual DNA.
Isaiah 61:1-4 The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion-- to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, to display his glory. 4 They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.
In this passage, Isaiah starts off by recognizing who he is and who his God is. He recognizes that he has been anointed by the grace of God, chosen to do something; first of all to bring good news to the oppressed - to those who are still in bondage to this world, maybe to those who don't even know that they have a heavenly creator. Then, he sees part of his divine family heritage is to help bind up the broken hearted. To comfort those who are in distress, to be a real friend to those whose lives are in turmoil.
Next, he sees the importance of proclaiming of liberty to those who are captive. Throughout the history of our faith and the faith of the Jews, release from bondage has always been a vital component. The Lord has proclaimed and purchased our freedom so, we as children of God, also continue to shout liberty. For we have been set free as well.
Isaiah also recognizes that children of God are called comfort those who mourn; to give people hope even when the worst has come true. We don't lose faith even in the face of death. In fact, because of our faith we proclaim victory over death. Even in the most agonizing moments of loss, we can be and should be a comfort to others. That is part of who we are.
We are also children of praise. We do not live timid lives with weak spirits. We are children of God!! We are a people who should boldly proclaim the good news of salvation and freedom. God has created us for this - this is part of being a child of God.
And, finally Isaiah says that we will build up the ancient ruins. Even though we see the devastation of many generations, we don't have to lose heart, because we know the Lord is our creator; the Lord has anointed us and will give us the strength to rebuild what has been lost.
All these things mark us as children of God. To proclaim, to uphold, to preach, to comfort, to give, to provide, to praise, to build, to repair...all these are part of our spiritual DNA. This is part of who we are. And we are the "spi'it 'n Image" of God when we take these traits seriously and do what God has called us to do.
We have all been given power to become just like that - children of God, as the gospel of John tells us. But it is not on our own power that we can make this claim. It is the power of the Holy Spirit, the same power that anointed and chose the prophet Isaiah. Certainly we are children of God because God has created us, but we become children of God as we live by the Spirit that has recreated us…recreated us to be shining lights of God's redeeming love.
But back to my original point: becoming children of God implies a process, doesn't it? And even though we desire to be good children and do the things that our Heavenly Father has created us to do, we have to understand that developing into disciples is a lifelong process. Just like when we were born, we couldn't walk, or talk or even see very well. But as we grow we learn these things and we take on more and more of our family's characteristics. It is the same with our spiritual family. It is a process that takes our whole lives to grow into. And the process involves prayer, the study of God's word and a quiet listening heart to see where God would have us use the gifts we have been given.
Through God's Spirit we have been give the power to grow into strong and healthy disciples of our creator. My prayer is that when others see us and the things we do in this world they will recognize the family we come from and say, "You know, they are the Spi' in' Image of their Father." Amen.