JOHN 1: 1-3
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”
GENESIS 3: 1
“And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring[a] and hers;
he will crush[b] your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
Jesus story did not begin in the four Gospel accounts of his life in the New Testament. John told us in the opening lines of his account that Jesus was there in the beginning. The first Biblical sign that Jesus would interrupt human history is in the third chapter of the Old Testament. There, when all seems lost in the account of humanity’s fall and the enmity that has now broken the intimate relationship between humans and God, God hints.
In that garden scene, humanity’s belonging, vocation and inheritance are all lost. In the nativity scene we see the fulfilment of that hint from Genesis 3. The Word has become flesh to put all that is broken back together again and to find all that was lost. From Genesis to John and beyond, to us right here and now, The Word has been writing the story. Advent invites us to invite The Word to write us back into a story bigger than our miniscule little lifetimes.
In the beginning was the Word
And the Word started the story
He crafted the set
Chose the characters
Gave them their places
The story moved like the planets and the oceans
And the Author said that it was very good
But the characters were dissatisfied at being characters
And one day reached beyond themselves
To become Authors and story tellers themselves
And Reaching to be more
They ended up less than the characters they were meant to be
And sent the story off in dark, selfish, violent, deadly ways.
Instead of the author tearing up the story
And getting rid of his characters
To begin again
The author deep love influenced the story
He sent stories and poems and wise words
But the characters didn’t listen much
And when they did
They didn’t listen for very long
All seemed hopeless
And then...
The Word became flesh
And interrupted the story
And we shouldn’t have been surprised
That the author of Word
Didn’t come matter of fact
But stranger than fiction.
The Word became a character
And moved into the story
Immediately the darkness and violence sought him out
But the characters who played his parents fled with him as refugees
And so the Word led the story in another direction
Towards another ending
Brighter and more hopeful and eternal
Himself dying in his own story
To turn the story around.
The Word that set the story off in the beginning
Who was born into the story and died in the story
We thank you for inviting us into the story
Let us into your story
That we might be those characters
Who help you the Author write a redemption story.
Author write us our parts in your story
Word made Flesh show us the way to live the story
Spirit give us the power and courage to make the Word flesh in how we live out our stories...
Forever and ever
Amen