Dear Friends in Christ,
“And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we
have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full
of grace and truth.” John 1:14
These are the words that John uses to speak of the coming of our God into our world as a human being. The Advent season is the time of the year when we focus our hearts and minds on the “incarnation,” which is the theological word for God taking on flesh and becoming human.
These words are from the beginning of the Gospel of John. They are John’s birth story of Jesus, minus all the characters of the nativity we expect at Christmas, but nevertheless the result is the same. “The Word became flesh and lived among us.” God enters into our world as a human being in order to be with us. Another way of saying this is that “God came and pitched His tent in our neighborhood.” God chose to become one of us, and placed Himself right in the middle of our everyday life.
That’s pretty amazing. It is a deeply intimate and personal claim that assures us of God’s commitment to us human beings. God not only goes where we as God’s people go, but he goes as one of us. He becomes a human being and dwells with us. This is very different for God, something God has never done before.
We should really get to know this God who would do such a thing. Throughout this season of Advent as we prepare for our Christmas celebrations, let us welcome Christ into our lives anew as we decorate, bake, cook, gather with friends and family, read scripture and worship. In this way may our God clothed in flesh fill our days with “grace and truth.”
God bless our days in Christ,
Pastor Loren
