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there is nothing more difficult than retelling en old story in a

tener, {Yet it is

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not impossible, |" new twist, a new angle, any number of techniques
can be employed to make theold become new | the peal danger, however,
is that the point or thrust of the story can become dulled through

constant repetition.| Children have their favorite stories stories they

would have us read _to them nigntiy | But it ig not_long until the relation-

Ship between reader and listener changes, feemjione of wide eyed recipient ar
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all wise revealer of great mysteries, to one gf careful critic and dconer )
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the child focuses his attention on the matter jof eXact repetition of
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the words he has heard so_many times,
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This is the first obstacle to retelling the Christmas story.] We

have heard it so gery many times that the impajc t has largely been dissapate
a WiLL > ——e
The thrust; that which we call “Goodnes:" or "good tidings of great joy"

is lost and we find ourselves with a fixation jon one or two of the

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stories secondary details.

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The second ostacle to getting at the bear of the matter is the fact

—_—_—————

that there are other stories being told at this particular time .| The

general tempo of life is greatly increased during December | Harried, busy

people find it difficult to keep in touch with) their families--let alone

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listen to a story they've heard Bri Simultaneously with the story,

a thousand voices are shouting in the market place. \ averyone is

celebrating and I'm still not convinced that most know what they're
———— ‘7 ns i es

celebrating.

Finally, the Setails of the story i&self EE are so warmly anpealing

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that they too become a diversion.| There is no,more heart-warming scene

than the nativity with sweet smelling hay anc ¢eattle lowing. | For a

brief moment the whole world smiles benevolently at a new born baby.—
iene eel —_— i

and then goes on about its wey as if he gidn'tlev

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ally exist,

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nese are 4 few of the problems we ecnounter 2s we look sesin to
Ts Ih aa . cera ee ty aes " + ee 7 — ~ =
a Ls tls = © Cdugn ian Eu iF LncuUm~penL up a
bite: combi seh mith
Tmt In + Ait, os ee ee rh. Gtmoe othach. 3 “ _ :
. maine —— peel
TOU . = oth of the bal 2e & J &
oo Se : 3 —~
di i a 1 e . Pes a% a, 4
Le hs ag a ES ~ S ble LUPO GC LiOl BO Wi Le
Pt a 7 a) Le ae Te a Boe he hae $ ie r .# mei peas a _ a P
qospel Jonn.\ ne nicivity is not mentioned; there are no shepherds
yor Wsemen; ol in 2 very real sense it is the| most importent Christmas
fda

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story of 11. I chose this text because, in the final eanlysis, we

are not celebrating the birth of a baby 2lone; we are celebrating the

ie identity of that child; who he was, what he became, and what

aid.\ ‘s Christians we are primarily concerned with what is "good"
—_—_ ————" é
h

ta
oy
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irth over and above 311 other births, \ ana so we find our-

selves asking the question of the incarnation. | wnat does it mean: tha t
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Jesus was born in Bethlehem? Over and above the tenderness of the manger
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what does it mean€

It is interesting to note that the autor of the 4th Cospel chose to

preface his acount of the good news by introduding his readers to two
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Acc AMD
Ged + tie Use
ideas-—Tha. Wom aid Sea,

The book begins" ("tn the beginning was the Word,

and the woed was with God, and the word was Goq.") The Greek, here rendered

“word! actually denotes far more than a spoken jnoise or a written

combination of retters.| The Greek is Logos, and it means the active,

——-

self-expression of cod. | J. B. Phillips, in hig translation of the N.T.
—————

reads: ("At the beginning God expressed himselfj That pesonal expression,

that word, was with God and was Goa.”) I've always felt that this is a

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little closer to the original intent. \ In the beginning, in the cosmic act

of creation, God A-mighty expressed himse1s. | It was no mere spoken word;

it was an act; an act that was 4 part of God himself.

We ought to be able ito comprehend nis. \ der rtainly God has given

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us the means of expressing ourselves, in lmany ways other than words.

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ergat nen.| But likewise,

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Great literature is the self expression 9

Breat art is 8a form of self exoression. | On canvas the artist pours

————

forth his feeling), his view of the world; he dommunicates

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by expressing

—

hinses.\ The deep melancholy of his sixth Ssymohony tells us a lot about

Peter Tschiakowsky.\ The vibrant joy of the Water Mysic, or the Messiah
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fives us George F, Handel's view of life These are 1 >S men express

themselves; in the Biblical sense they are worlas || when Winston Churchill
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wanted to rally the beleaguered population of iLondon he didn't just

talk to them; he went out among them--and in de doing he spoke more

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eloquently than he ever could over the radio. | When Pres. elect Kisenhower

wanted to show the nation and the world that we were deeply committed to
——

the people of S. Korea, he didn't use the rostirum of the Un or coast
ak, sak
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to eoast oy bis got on a plane and flew to Kroet .| {gain his action wes

eloquent. \|In the Biblical Sensehe "spoke,"

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I wasn't very old when someone told me thé time honored proverb:
feo Ae Ss

("actions speak louder than woras.") In other words,communication takes

place when we act.| We express ourselves far mbre effectively by the

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way We act, than the words we speak,

———4

This is what the author of the 4th Gospellis saying about God.| He
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is an expressive God! he communicates through the things he does begin

with anaabion. | This self exporession. this word, is not separate from

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[os
pe

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God, but is inextricably aprt of himse1s.| The lauthor is laying the
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theological foundation. | God is one who is known through his acts; for it
aes
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» communicating Gad,
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is his nature to be 2®n actine

iia ake established this much about thg nature of God, the author

goes on to make an awesome elain| ("ana the wond became flesh and dwelt

——_.

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emong us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as

—_—_——.

of the only Son from the Father.) For a moment put yourself in thes

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lace of the second century Greeks who first read this passage.) A

oa
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sophisticated Greek you would have no trouble uo to this point. Having

—_

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2% Greek ohiloso

read the grea ee phers you wuld believe in one God,

abstract God--but nevertheless as

be)

ingle God

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neopls

—____,

Ant)

You would know about

the vo the Ewast who also believed in one God, 2nd since the book

was about one of them you wauld be mildly interested .\ You might be a

little surprised by the onening assertion that |Gcd speaks and acts and

expresses imaes | ‘n intelligent man could sde that this might be true.
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But then your eyes encounter the fantastic ela .im, the enormous claim that
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the word beeame flech; that God expressed himsalf through the life of 4

man; thet in Jesus of Nazareth, a Jewish earventer executed some 7O years

momust either vidlently reject it--or pa
would be no middle ground.

te we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ lat
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ere peiterating the claim made in the first chapt
ets Meat Niptinee F i ae
not at all certain that we ever see the
fewer an entire civilization mprks the bi
!
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everyone feels good in side about baby Jesus. \ iBu
beyond Betnlehem to the rssertion thei

enormity of that

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elaim

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rth _ date with a great flurry;

how many are going

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the Christmas celebration itself has caused if to fade into the back-
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ground .| THis La my conce rn, this morning; that we, 4s confessing Christian
7 — SS Rs
know just what it is we are shouting and singing about.
—.—
Selita
The incarnation, the word becoming flesh, is no easy concent to
anaeae Rotiete
comorehend, \ Once we hive stated it, and placad it at the center of our
Christmas celebfation, we are faced with the groblem of understanding
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God has given us_minds; he has given us the gift of reason\ eee

and above his other a we have the ability use logic; we can
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see that two and two alwsys add up to four and we can derstand way «\ We
—__.,- —-__— i Aaa
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snow that red is red and green is sreeg. \ We é know that God is God and man
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is man--and no one can be poh. | And yet this jis what the fourth Gospel

is saying bout Jesus--and this is what we are) Saying 28 we lebrate his
(aie ——

birth, | the Word was God--and the word was made fl sh3\ God was incarnate
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in the flesh and blood of hummity, in the parthfu r life of Jesus of

Nazereth, | If we do not realize the illogical om we are making, the

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ata ("

not logica

eric ia Neitzhe poked fun

is nearly stoned by
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I am in the fa theb and the fatherin ne.)

able

to

The incarnation is
accept net. | iney have
reason, assuming of cour

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nave found it lacicing..|
a little here and there
into this category many
we cannot comprehend; we

in our

nea * into place

And

Christianity

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the result +——eemlimesy is always

| But men = never been

taken the doctrine, mepauees it by their own
se, that God must abide by human logic, and
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And so the incarnation! has been compromised, bent

I think we

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that there

so that gall

\ We
are suspicious of anything that doesn't fall
\ we lack a healthy

waebered down version of

we

ean understand it}

don't like to feel

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some thij

thinking. erse of the mysteriou:

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The birth of Jesus, instead of ¢xploding into our conscious

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i oe “ de Po - = + ~ 4 es “i aan e foe as 2. *
Game With all the power and mystery of God, @ffects us rather like |
pt emcee

sedative tablet.

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The news that Christ is born, insteed of sahking us

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out of self cent

red lethargy, makes us feel sentimental .| Instead of
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experiencing awe at the word made flesh we stand before the nativity and

tts ql by
say “isn't that cute,”
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/ The whole message of Chra&stianity; the entire history of the Christian
—_—_—_———— j i

/ church--begins with the brith of 4 chi a3) with the word made flesh.

Tete thesinearnatiscn thet distinguishes Gheistienitsfrom 7h-+¢he—_other

pel Lions —of the world.

|
| Let us, this Christmes, see that we cannot explain what happened;

——

we cannot understand it; our reason--our logic takes us so far and it will

go no further.| The miracle of Christmas lies heyond human reason; for it

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is an act of eo. | Ruther than smiling down at the tender stable scene--

God was there; God was acting. God was revealing himself in a way he
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are Sayin4
had never done before, \ sn s0, understanding what we-~meen, seeing the

\ enormous claim we are making, let us aporoach the event ibg@lf with a

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| true assessment of our inabilities.| Let us, in the words of Paul ?Behold
Se snes enna Wma ans

a mystery" and like the wisemen, fall on our knees in humility. Aurey

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