Grace Upon Grace

Christmas 2

Today's Readings: Jeremiah 31:7-14; John 1:1-18

Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, & the Holy Spirit. Amen.

People of God, you have been ransomed! YOU have been redeemed! God has come near, turning your mourning into joy and sorrow into gladness! Rejoice and be merry, for your life shall become like a watered garden and you shall never languish again (Jeremiah 31:7-14). The promises God made us (God’s people) have been fulfilled in Christ Jesus our Lord. The true light, which enlightens everyone, HAS come into the world and bestowed on us grace upon grace. Christ calls God Father and invites us to do the same, giving us power to fully lean into our identity as children of the Most High, born of God’s will, not our own (John 1: 1-18).

As we begin a new year, we often make “New Years Resolutions.” We set our sights on lofty goals and dreams, boldly proclaiming “New year, new me!” and leaving our redemptive hopes to our own individual will. Yet, every year we seem to forget that the New Year falls in the Christmas season.. We so quickly turn our gaze from God in Christ back to ourselves – what Luther would call “naval gazing.” There are no resolutions we can make outside of God. It is God who renews us, transforms us, and gives us endless new life full of grace and truth. We fool ourselves, and not to mention LIMIT ourselves, when we assume power that can only be attributed to God. And so, this year, I wonder how our resolutions might change if we changed our aim from OUR will, to God’s will.

We heard again this morning about John the Baptist who testified to the Light (Christ) and pointed to Christ. John knew that this Light was the light of all people – enlightening everyone and creating life. We too are called to be like John, witnessing and testifying to the light. Perhaps a resolution we could commit to might be to point to God when we see God at work in the world. Especially in a time of death and darkness like we have been experiencing, a resolution like this would not only open our eyes to finding more examples of God, but would open the eyes of those whom we share these experiences with too; therefore brightening up even some of the darkest of days.

The number 2021 does not instantly erase the last nine months of 2020.. there was no reset button to push for the universe when the clock struck 12 on January 1st.. The reality is that we are still going to experience a lot of the same grief, sorrow and darkness we did in 2020. And maybe because of this reality, you didn’t even bother making any resolutions this year anyway. In a time of so much death, it’s hard to talk about life.. And yet light is breaking through and life is God’s promise fulfilled! “What has come into being in the Word was life and the life was the light of all people” (John 1:3b-4).

God gave life to all things and promised abundant life to Abraham and Sarah and all their descendants! On Christmas God breathed life into God’s own lungs in Jesus, entering our human experience, to fulfill that promise; to remove all the barriers that stifled life and extinguished the light of the people. This January, whether you feel depleted or renewed, YOU are a child of God, a descendant of Abraham and Sarah and God’s promise has been fulfilled! LIFE has come to you and your light cannot be extinguished! You have been showered with grace upon grace that NEVER goes away, no matter how you feel or what you do.

As people of the God of life, we are never hopeless. We are Easter people! We know the power of resurrection and new life! This is the gospel we are asked to share; this is the light that lights the darkness! Perhaps a resolution we could commit to might be to share that light with all people. To be the light to a friend in darkness. To be the audacious people who dare to follow the resurrected Christ into the world, eager to participate in the works of life our Savior is constantly doing, whether anyone notices or not.

May we be the ones who notice. May we be the ones who point to Christ, the true light who enlightens all people. May we resolve to live into our identity as children of God, setting our goals and dreams in line with God’s will instead of our own.. and in that way, may we be people in awe of the life that unfolds around us, overflowing with grace upon grace.

Amen.