December 25, 2007

The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church

December 25, 2007 - Christmas Day

Pr. Per Inge Vik                     

John 1:1-14  

A faith for Everyone

Exhortation: We have confessed our holy faith as it was shaped at the Church Council in Nicea  325AD. Listen to Bishop Bjarne Skard’s words about this Synod meeting:

”One has said that the world truly has not seen an assembly similar to this. It was church council and liberation celebration at the same time. The partakers had lived through the hardest years of church history. Crowds of them had been mutilated by the emperor’s torture specialists. It was like seeing those who have come out of the great ordeal (Rev 7).

This was before the Christian faith had come under the protection of the emperor and become the state religion in the Roman empire under Constantine. In our Sunday service we have two options for creeds. The one that is most commonly used, is “The Apostolic”. It originates back to the time of the apostles. There we say “I believe.” It is shaped to be every single Christian’s baptism– and conversion confession.

In the Nicene confession however, the words go “We believe. Because there, the whole church believes together and supports each other in our love to Jesus, and our longing to meet him. In the Nicene confession we can feel the heartbeat very clearly: “For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven.. For our sake he was crucified.. We look for the resurrection of the dead..”

Yesterday we heard as the angel stood before the shepherds in the fields, the Lord’s glory surrounded him. It is as if God made an opening in the curtain, so that the shepherds in a glimpse could see into the invisible world. And a heavenly multitude trickled through the opening and praised God, singing: Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!

Before we read the powerful words that make up the opening verses of the gospel according to John, I invite you to stand and sing the pulpit hymn, the 1st verse of number 49: ”Å kom nå med lovsang”

(Then text reading: John 1:1-14)

The earth has come forth by God’s creating word. And it is this very powerful creating word that became human at Christmas. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. Thusly the apostle reflects.

And those gathered at church council in Nicea in 325 continued the reflection: “For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven.” Not only for those who had a special interest in it. Not only for those who are responsible, both for their own life and see their neighbors and are morally conscious.

In Nicea they were fervently concerned about conveying a faith that opened salvation to all humans. They had received threats from many directions. They looked back on nearly 300 years of persecution, ever since the beheading of John the Baptist by King Herod Antipas. But other threats were just as serious as these.

They were more concerned about the threats from within at Nicea, not the outside enemies, since  different groups in the church wanted to isolate their own way of faith, and their own philosophic, religious and moral thoughts about Jesus.

The leaders at the Nicea synod knew that if one of these groups succeeded in forcing through that their own faith was the only correct one, then salvation was only for those who thought, expressed, believed and felt like them. Then the church door would be too narrow for everyone to be saved.

On one side the gospel was threatened by those who claimed that the main issue was Jesus being a good human. A model in this world. But God and religiosness was too vague to them. They wanted a practical and simple Christianity.

But if Jesus was a great human, only, then he surely could be a good model. But only those who had a strong spine, those who had good control of their lives, could take advantage of him. Such a Jesus was quite worthless to weak souls!

Then the gospel about salvation for all human beings also was threatened from another side. Some people believed that Jesus was so exalted that he was no real human, but only resembled one. “No one can really understand so much about Jesus,” they said. “We can use pictures of God. We have to put our reason aside and stretch towards what is up there, with him. Christianity is adoration,” these people claimed.

But then, if Jesus was only God, only those who were richly “esthetically and religiously equipped” could have a faith relationship to him. Those who had no sense for adoration and religiosity, would have no chance with such a Jesus!

So if Jesus was an outstanding human only, Christianity was only for men and women with a strong moral spine. If he on the contrary was true God only,      Christianity would be something for religiously well-talented persons solely.

But now it was not so simple that the church leaders could say the same as the cartoon figure Charlie Brown: “Yes please, both!” That Jesus is both man and God doesn’t only mean that he can be a savior for moral and for religious humans.

No, then he can be the savior for everyone, also for they who neither have a strong moral spine, nor are considerably religious. Also for those who feel a bit offended as the congregation starts crossing themselves or raising their hands. Briefly: For us and for our salvation he came down. 

Just as true as that God created heaven and earth, and creates every human, it is just as true that he desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1.Tim 2:4) Therefore the survivors in Nicea fine tuned the faith that was worthy of dying for:

That Jesus both was true God, the Word that everything was created by, and a true human. So real that he could suffer death and be buried. Just as the synod participants had suffered and as they had buried their executed brothers and sisters in faith.  

The gospel for today is good news for all who are gathered in the church. Regardless of how much of a success or a failure our life is. Whether sorrow and loss dominate your thoughts and mind this Christmas, or if it be gladness and gratitude that is your focus. The gospel is addressed to everybody, to you.

The word became human, and came to dwell among us, it is rendered in the Norwegian Bible. That is a good translation of the meaning. Perhaps the literal translation of the Greek text can be an extra Christmas present for you if you carry a heavy burden. That you can take this with you home from the service today:

“The word became flesh, and put up its tent among us.” Very specific and beautiful. A God that put up his tent in our midst, that is a low key God. The God close at hand, as we heard in the service here yesterday.

 One more thing: The most obvious difference between the new translation of the Christmas day gospel and the old one, is that the old text said that the darkness didn’t accept the light. In the new it is rendered: The darkness didn’t conquer it. Isn’t that nice, isn’t that encouraging to think about?

The light is strongest! Darkness hasn’t conquered the light.

Glory be...

The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church ·  924 E. 21st St, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2952 ·  (612)874-0716