Sing Aloud And Live The Power

Texts: Jeremiah 31:7-14, Ephesians 1:3-14, John 1:1-18

We are in the beginning. January – the beginning of a new year. 2011 – the beginning of a new decade. It is not an absolute beginning. This is a re-beginning or a beginning again. The beginning that the writer of the Gospel of John is talking about is an absolute beginning. It precedes the Genesis account of creation by telling us that The Word was in the beginning with God and that not one thing came into being without The Word. Toward the end of the passage we understand The Word to be the person of Jesus Christ, but as we think about this baby whose birth we just celebrated and imagine him being The Word that spoke creation into existence, time flip-flops on itself and we come face to face with the enormity of Mystery and Eternity.

In the recorded words of John the Baptist in our gospel passage we hear the struggle of grasping with what feels to me like the cyclical nature of eternity. The Baptist says, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” The Word, who is creator and so precedes, is also the successor of John the Baptist, but by The Baptist’s admission, in his succession The Word as Jesus is also preeminent. Eternity is not about time never ending; it is about being outside of time entirely. The Word, as Jesus, slips into time after creating time and experiences time as well as being human. Verse 14 states this as, “The Word became flesh and dwelt amoung us.” In addition, we are offered the experience of eternity if we receive the glorious mystery of Jesus being in the world and also being The Word who brought the world into being. Verse 12 says, “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 or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.”

Jesus, who is The Word, gives us power to become children of God. How cool is that? This is a re-beginning, a birth not of blood or by our own will, but a birthing from which we enter into the cycle of Mystery and Eternity. We also read in Ephesians that God “chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.” While The Word was with God and being God, before all things came into being through The Word, we were already being enveloped into the cycle of Mystery and Eternity by the intent of The Beloved. Doesn’t that blow your mind?

We understand time – January 1st through December 31st; 2010 transitions to 2011. We age year by year; watch our bodies change shape; marvel at the growth of the children around us; and observe nature transition from season to season. We experience linear time. Some days feel longer than others. As we age each year seems to go faster. Still, things seem to progress from one year to another. We come to count on it even when we don’t like it. But these ancient words that shape our understanding of God and ourselves tell us that there is so much more to Life in the larger sense. This linear existence is created just like we are. God lives outside of time and invites us to participate in that existence … and not just invites us, but created us with that in mind.

We often think about our eternal destiny in terms of our death, but I believe that we are given power to become children of God for today as well. The scripture does not say that we would someday have the power to become children of God, but that we have been given this power. In Ephesians it says we are blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. We are called to participate in the cycle of Mystery and Eternity today.

But what does that mean? What is this power we are said to have received? What is the mystery? How can we live out of time, in eternity, even as we live in this world guided by linear time? I would love to be able to tell you that I have the answers to these questions, that I have studied the scriptures and can now point you to The Right Answer. Some claim to have definitive answers to questions like these … but I am not one of them. The very nature of Mystery resists the notion that there is one right simple answer. Our concept of Eternity is limited by our immediate immersion in linear time.

Because I do believe that there are answers to these questions I’ve decided to approach this the way we typically approach solving mysteries … by looking for clues. Here is what I’ve found in today’s readings.

When Jesus walked the earth, his glory is said to be “full of grace and truth.” Through Moses came the law, but through Jesus came grace and truth. Jesus lived at the crossroads of linear time and eternity. In doing so he made God known to us. We are destined to be children of God and we are bestowed with the glorious grace of God through the Beloved, who is Jesus. The riches of God’s grace have been lavished upon us. Through Christ, the mystery of God’s will to gather up all things in heaven and earth is made known to us. We are marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit to the praise of God’s glory, which is full of truth and grace. This is just a sampling from the Gospel of John and from Ephesians. There are more references to grace, glory, and praise.

It seems to me that when the Word who became flesh and lived amoung us, whose glory is grace and truth, who was in the beginning with God and who is God gives us power to become the children of God -- at least some of that power is to live in, be filled with and lavishly share grace and truth for the purpose of gathering up heaven and earth (which I understand to be eternity and finite time) to the praise and glory of God. In addition, since Jesus is sharing his power as God with us it makes sense to me that part of that power is the power to share, and what feels important to share at least in this context is the grace and truth that we have received so that heaven and earth might be gathered up more fully to the praise and glory of God.

Gathering together heaven and earth, or time and eternity, cannot be limited by the restrictions of time or earth. Using our power as children of God we must reach outside of time, into the Mystery, into the beginning … the absolute beginning, and begin again within the framework of our linear life. Beginning again and again as we gather together all things in Christ speaks to the cyclical nature of the intersection of heaven and earth, but it isn’t just a linear loop. Out of the clues I find that our linear loops weave in and out of time. The grace, truth, and glory of God that fills us reaches toward eternity while our minds, bodies, emotions tug us toward this linear existence. This power that we have been given enables us to walk like Jesus walked, as beautiful created beings in a brilliant construction we call time while we contain the glory and truth of The Word to the praise of the eternal God.

Here is where I hear the voice of the Beloved in the passage of Jeremiah that we read. “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” Everlasting love. Eternal love. A love that provides grace in the wilderness. A love that says, I will build you again. We will begin again. You will pick up your tambourines and dance for joy because of the way I share my love with you. Sing aloud! Shout for joy! Dance!

The words of the prophet Jeremiah say that God will gather together those who were scattered. Those who are lame and blind, and those who are pregnant and in labor will be gathered together. The strong and cunning aren’t mentioned. The generals and the wealthy aren’t mentioned. We assume those folks are included, so the prophet makes it clear that among those gathered will be the blind and the lame, as well as the women who are pregnant. In other words, those who are considered unclean, undesirable, or vulnerable are given power to be children of God not secondarily but right along with those who are powerful, wealthy, and healthy. All will be lead down a path by the brooks of water where they will not stumble. All shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion and be radiant over the goodness of the Lord. Everyone will dance together, everyone will find comfort, everyone will be filled with joy.

The prophet Jeremiah says, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.” The gospel of John says, “to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.”

I say, sing aloud people of God and live the power that you have received as children of God. Live in grace and truth. Lavishly share the grace and truth with which you have been gifted. Know that all: the healthy and the sick, the weak and the strong, the poor and the rich are loved by God and are gathered together in Christ. Sing aloud and live your power as children of God to begin again and again and again, remembering that you are empowered by The Word, from the absolute beginning to begin again in the now of time. Sing aloud, walking and dancing at the intersection of eternity and time, living in the cycle of mystery. Sing aloud to the praise and glory of the name of God.