Saturday, December 28, 2013

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Althnough this sermon was preached in Year B, it is the end of the Prologue to St. John's Gospel, and so is approp[riate for every First Sunday after Christmass.  Merry Christmass! Happy New Year!  Perren



The Law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

The Torah was the center piece of Jewish religion.  Torah means “teaching,” but Greek version of the Old Testament translated Torah with the word “Nomos” which is the usual Greek word for law.  And so for nearly 2500 years it has been referred to as “The Law.”

The Law, (or Teaching), given by Moses, contained all the rules needed to make it possible for people to live together in peace with their God and with each other.  If only each person would obey the rules, all would be perfect, and peace would prevail all over the earth.  The punishments - as they saw it - of the Jewish people came from the fact that they did not obey the law, either by deliberate action or by accidental misstep.  If only they would obey the Law, life would be fine and perfect.  Obeying the law defined the People of God.

But in any case, they looked to the Law to save them.

To save them from what?  What was the problem that they faced?  Why did they find a need for a Law?  What were they trying to accomplish?  The answer, in part, lies in the Epistle to the Galatians.  Underneath all the legal language Paul uses there, particularly in the 3rd chapter, there are at least two important things: First, our relationship with God is messed up, and needs to be restored.  Because of this fact, our relationship with each other is also messed up.   These two things, relationship with God and relationship with each other are fundamental to living together with peace and justice on the earth, here and now.  The Law can point you in the right direction, says Paul, but the Law cannot restore the relationships.

Yet not only the ancient Jew, but people in every time and in every age, have tried to make law, or some other icon, and use it in order to take away from us the responsibility that is of the very nature of the creation itself.

Again and again we search for, and hope for, something external to ourselves that will remove from us the responsibility of making decisions about our relationships.  One of the great disappointments of those of us who worked in the Civil Rights movements in the 60's is that the passage of laws giving legal status to equal rights for all people (not just black and white) - one of the disappointments is that even where the laws are obeyed, it is often done with a precision that requires an extra piece on the law.  Instead of treating all people with the same respect and honor that we would expect for our selves, many people see how far they have to go to be obedient to the law, and then not go any farther.  Others actively study the law to see what they can get away with legally.  And while this is a great curse on our society in the matter of civil rights for all kinds and groups of people, this attempt to obey the law just enough to avoid getting indicted, it is equally true in other areas of our life.  Without meaning to offend anyone who is trying to do the right thing, one of the duties of tax attorneys is to find what are improperly called loopholes in the law; the same is true of anti trust, and securities.  Now I hope you see the real problem with obedience to the law.  It has no heart; no generousity, no love.

The Law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. John, or whoever is the author of the Fourth Gospel, tells us that Law is not sufficient, because it takes away from us our own responsibility; it removes us from the essential nature of Creation; it keeps us from Truth.  When you look at the Greek of this passage, you will see that indeed the law was given through Moses - was given, is the verb.  But the next part of the sentence is quite different: Grace and truth. The word for grace is χαρις, the basis of the word for self giving love, or, as the Revised Standard translates the word, steadfast love.  And the word for come is the verb to be born: thus another translation might well be, “but love and truth are born in Jesus Christ.”  It all reads, then, The Law was given through Moses, but love and truth are born in Jesus Christ.

Some of you may have heard of the late Dr. W. Edmonds Demming.  General MacArthur brought Demming to Japan after World War 2 to teach the Japanese how to develop their economy.   Many people are not aware that Dr. Demming was not only an Episcopalian, but a very active and devout member of St. Paul’s Parish K Street in Washington.  Dr. Demming clearly understood what the Evangelist is talking about here.  In fact,  he made it the basis of his managerial instructions to businesses all over the world, especially in Japan. Individual responsibility and personal commitment are fundamental to successful businesses, to successful manufacturing, and to fundamental living together.  The Fourth Gospel teaches us that: Dr. Demming teaches us that.  People are not cogs in a machine.  Each is a fully independent person, each with his or her own individual responsibility for excellence each step of the way.  People and businesses and schools that work this way will be successful.  Why? Because this is of the very essence of the universe that God has created.

Love and Truth are born through Jesus Christ.  Listen to St. Paul:  “When God gives you the Spirit and works miracles among you, is it because you keep the law?  Or is it because you have faith in the Gospel message?.”

You see, it is not in some external thing that salvation can be found; it is not in the Law given through Moses; not even in law given through the Church or religious rules; Salvation is found  in the Love and Truth born in the person of Jesus Christ.  Again, St. Paul: It is through faith that you are all children of God in union with Christ Jesus; baptized into oneness with him, you have all put on Christ Jesus like a garment: there is no such thing as Jew and Greek, slave and freeman, male and female: you are all one person in Jesus Christ.  Love and Truth are in Jesus Christ, and it is in our humanity that God came to show us this fundamental truth of nature.  See how important the translation used in the Liturgy really is.

God’s love is so great that he not only became one of us, but even then he asked our cooperation, not only with the fact of the incarnation itself (Mary could have said “No thanks.”), but at each stage along the way, God asks our cooperation. For love and truth are born of the person of Jesus Christ.

Listen to the words of St. Gregory of Nazianzus, who died in 389: “Christ is born: glorify him.
Christ comes from heaven, go out to meet him.
Christ descends to earth: let us be raised on high.
Let all the world sing to the Lord; let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad, for his sake who was first in heaven and then on earth. . .  The things of old have passed away; behold, all things are made new.
He who has no mother in heaven is now born without father on earth. The laws of nature are overthrown, for the upper world must be filled with citizens.  He who is without flesh becomes enfleshed; the Word puts on a Body; the Invisible is seen; he whom no hand can touch is handled; the Timeless has a beginning; the Son of God becomes the Son of Man– Jesus Christ, the same yesterday today and forever. . .  O strange conjunction!  The Selfexistent comes into existence; the Uncreated is created.  He shares in the poverty of my flesh, that I may share in the riches of his God head.

My sisters [and brothers] God asks your cooperation:– go from this place filled with his love and truth; through you let truth and love be born into that place where God has placed you as witness to the new life of Resurrection; for it is Resurrection Life that is born into the world –

through Jesus

through you!

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