He had seen the
future, and he didn’t like it one bit. So he set out to change it. By changing
himself. See, Ebeneezer Scrooge knew that he had made bad choices in life. He
had been so driven to succeed that he had driven away anyone who cared about
him. He loved money more than people so he had turned his back on anyone in
need. He did not actively hurt them, not physically, anyway. Words were his
weapon of choice. Words and indifference. Scrooge did the most damage to others
simply by choosing not to see them. But, one Christmas, his eyes were opened.
He saw clearly all that he had been missing. All the joy. And all the
opportunities.
Scrooge had the power
to make a lot of people happy. He had the means to make them happy. He had
opportunities to make them happy. He had LOTS of opportunities to make a
difference, but, for most of his life, Scrooge had failed to take advantage of
any of them. Unless something changed, and changed quickly, all that money that
Scrooge had accumulated would simply be wasted. It did not bring him joy, and
it did not help anyone.
Not until love
was born in Scrooge. Love was just a word. A notion. An idea. And one that
Scrooge scoffed at, to be honest. Until it was born in him that Christmas. But
once love WAS born in Scrooge, he donated a huge sum of money to charity, bought
a prize turkey for the Cratchit family’s Christmas dinner, gave his clerk a
raise and pledged to help the struggling family. When love was born in Scrooge,
he helped Tiny Tim get the medical care that would save his life. In fact, the
reborn Scrooge spent so much time with the Cratchits that he became like a
second father to the frail child. That Christmas, love took on flesh in
Scrooge.
That’s what
Christmas is all about: Word taking on flesh.
The first
chapter of John’s gospel tells us that the Word of God became flesh when Jesus
was born. The Word had always been there. With God. The Word was there when
everything came into being. In fact, everything came into being THROUGH the
Word. Without the Word, nothing would have ever existed. Not one tree. Not one snowflake.
Not one shooting star. All things came into being through the Word. All things
and all people.
One day, God
said, “Let us make humankind in our image.” So we were created in the image of
the Word. And God led humanity through the Word.
Over the years,
God had a lot of good words for the people. Words like victory, love,
faithfulness, joy, gratitude, righteousness, equity, peace and justice. But,
when you’re living by faith in a God you cannot see, it can be easy to doubt.
To get discouraged. Or give up hope.
So the Word took
on flesh. At Christmas, the Almighty God, the One who created all things and
rules all things, the Lord God Almighty came into our world as a helpless
child. God came to us as one of us. The Word took on flesh in Jesus. So we
could finally see for ourselves what God is really like.
The Gospels are
full of stories of the Word made flesh. In Jesus, we can see the Word at work
in the world. We don’t have to figure out what it means to love. Jesus shows us
when he heals a man who had been sick for 38 years. We don’t have to figure out
what it means to forgive. Jesus shows us when he does not condemn a woman
caught in adultery. We don’t have to figure out what it means to serve. Jesus
shows us when he washes the feet of his followers. The Word took on flesh.
There are a lot
of good words in us. And God calls us to let those good words take on flesh.
It’s not enough to say, “You can trust me.” God calls us to embody trust. To be
trustworthy.[i]
It’s not enough to say, “Peace be with you.” God calls us to embody peace. To
be peacemakers. It’s not enough to say, “I am a Christian.” God calls us to
embody Christ. To be Christ-like. That’s what it means for the Word to take on
flesh in us.
And amazing
things happen when the Word takes on flesh. When the Word takes on flesh in us,
it becomes real for those around us.
Early this
spring, a desperate situation turned deadly when Philippine security forces
fired on a peaceful demonstration of 5,000 farmers who were asking for rice.[ii]
The hungry people got bullets from the government, but were offered compassion
and shelter by Bishop Ciriaco Francisco and other members of the Spottswood
Methodist Mission Center. The bishop’s decision to offer sanctuary to the
starving families put him in danger, and he was threatened with arrest. But he
was adamant. “…it is a sin to deny them food,” he said.
The protesters
were blocking Quezon Boulevard, a major road that runs in front of the
Spottswood mission center, which is the home of the bishop’s office. When the
violence broke out, protesters poured into the center, and the compound was
surrounded by police. The violence left three dead and 18 severely injured.
Close to a 100 people were wounded, and scores were missing. The center
sheltered thousands of women, men and children for three days.
The province of
Cotabato, where the farmers live, was under a “state of calamity” due to El
Nino phenomenon, a weather condition that destroyed crops. The farmers were
starving and were asking for 15,000 sacks of rice.
“The farmers
gathered for three days in front of the National Food Authority warehouse
hoping the governor would listen to their cries,” Bishop Francisco said. “But
her heart was callous and she did not listen.”
However, the
farmers finally received rice from non-government organizations, private
individuals and religious groups. They got help because words like “compassion”
and “justice” took on flesh in Bishop Francisco. The Word took on flesh, and
countless lives have been forever changed.
That’s what
happens when the Word takes on flesh. Lives are changed. Life changes. And we
move ever closer to the future God envisioned for us so many years ago. A
future of endless peace when the Son of God is seated on the throne, and his
authority grows all the time.
It's simple, really. The future changes when we change. God has given us
so many good words, words like peace, justice, righteousness, salvation, comfort,
redemption, power, life, light, healing, wholeness, joy. What good words are
within you just waiting, waiting to take on flesh?[iii]
O holy Child of Bethlehem,
descend to us, we pray; cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the
great glad tidings tell; O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel![iv]
[i]
Parker J. Palmer. “When Words Become Flesh: Risking Vulnerability in a Violent
World.” Published Wednesday, December 23, 2015 on the On Being with Krista
Tippett website at www.onbeing.org.
Downloaded December 23, 2016.
[ii] The story of Bishop Francisco is told by Kathy Gilbert in “Philippines bishop honored for sheltering poor.” Published
December 15, 2016 on the United Methodist Church website at www.umc.org/news-and-media/philippine-bishop-honored-for-sheltering-poor.
Downloaded December 24, 2016.
[iii] Palmer.
[iv]
Phillips Brooks. “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” The United Methodist Hymnal.
Nashville: The United Methodist Publishing House, 1989. 230.
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