The Word Made Flesh
A Sermon by Rev Brian W. Keith

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we
beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father, full
of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

Night; a time of quiet when the bustle of the day dies down; a
time of weariness when we make ready for a restful sleep; also a time
of darkness and cold; our vision is limited and we seek the warmth of
fires and homes.

Nighttime plays a prominent role in the birth of the Lord. It was
at night in a dream that the angel appeared to Joseph giving him
reasons to marry Mary. Later at night he warned him of the danger of
Herod, and eventually informed him that it was time to return to the
land of Israel. It was in the night that the Lord was born and the
shepherds found their way to the manger. And it was in the night that
the wise men saw the star in the east, and then had the star lead
them from Jerusalem to Bethlehem where it stood over the house
where the young Child lay.

The nighttime scenes surrounding the birth and early years of
the Lord’s life depict the shroud that had descended upon the world.
Their God, Jehovah, had not been seen nor heard from in hundreds
of years. They were lost and rudderless without Him. Other than
maintaining the ancient rituals, they had little sense of who He was
and how they were to live. Hearts were growing colder from the
confusion and distortion of everything good.

Even with the few descendants of the ancient churches, some
of whose knowledge resided with the wise men, there were but scant
glimmers of light. Perhaps those wise men alone among the ancients
saw the star. Certainly its light was not overpowering. So even with
the ancients there was but little understanding of who the Lord is.
What minimal truth remained was heavily shaded because all they
had ever seen of the Lord was a representative not the Divine in its
glory (see Doctrine Concerning the Sacred Scripture 99).

But our images and memories of the birth of the Lord are not
focused upon the darkened states. Rather we remember the
multitude of heavenly hosts shining upon the shepherds, the star
guiding the wise men, and the light of day in which Simeon lifted up
the infant Lord, blessed God, and Anna proclaimed His glory to all.
For the Lord’s coming is a coming with light and with life. “And the
Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and
truth.”

One of the wonders of Christmas is the fact that the Lord is
born with light in the midst of confused and dark states of life. When
we see little but gloom and hopelessness, He comes to us. He holds
us in His hands, nourishing an inner sense of hope that we might
endure and overcome. Then His full presence with us is in the light of
the morning, enabling us to recognize who He is and how we might
walk in His ways. This is why the morning with its light and warmth
corresponds to the Lord’s coming. (see Arcana Coelestia 22, 4240e;
Doctrine Concerning the Sacred Scripture 99)

For the Lord came as the light of the world. This is His glory.
We can see it shining upon us in the truth His advent brought. For
until the Lord took on a physical form as a tender infant, all the earlier
concepts of Him were vague at best. (see Doctrine Concerning the
Sacred Scripture 99)

All of the true ideas that had existed with the ancients about
marriage, life continuing past the veil of this world, and how His
providence guides us were only misty images of what they might be.
For all truth had been filtered through the heavens. Dependent upon
the finite grasp of the angels, the glory of the Lord had shone dimmer
and dimmer into this world, until at last the vision of Him was nearly
lost.

By His birth the Lord acquired a natural degree of life. As He
put it on and gradually made it Divine, the warmth of His love and the
light of His wisdom became immediately present with all. This is the
light of the new day the Lord’s coming heralded for mankind, a light
shining in the darkness, leading to the brilliance of day. We can
sense this when we reflect upon our awakening states not those
mornings which come after too little sleep, or when we are rudely
awakened by alarms and the bustle of hurriedly preparing to rush off
to work. But we feel it in the quiet mornings when we awake
refreshed and revived when we listen to the singing of the birds and
know the dazzling sunlight portends the warming of the earth. The
light has a special quality then. With clarity we see beauty in even the
simplest things around us. And we can sense the closeness of
heaven, the closeness of the Lord’s Advent as our spirits are lifted up
to the new day. (see Arcana Coelestia 7844:2)

As the Word made flesh, the glory of the Lord can bring us a
peacefulness unlike any other. Not a peace like the quiet of evening
when we are preparing to rest. Rather it is a peace of contentment
and confidence. As the Heavenly Doctrines note, this peace is “the
very Divine truth in heaven from the Lord which universally affects all
who are there and makes heaven to be heaven; for peace has in it
confidence in the Lord, that He directs all things and provides all
things, and that He leads to a good end. When a person is in this
state, he is in peace, for he then fears nothing, and no worry about
things to come disturbs him.” (Arcana Coelestia 8455) The glory of
the Lord’s Word shines upon us when we have such assurance that
He is in charge, carefully guiding every one of our steps.

This is the state of the angels. Their unpleasant memories of
this earth have been set aside. They have no desire to leap into the
future. Rather they fully enjoy the present, sensing all the goodness
that the Lord is giving them now. For they trust in Him, knowing that
He is leading and caring for them no matter what happens.

We may taste some of this angelic peace as we celebrate the
Lord’s advent or awaken in the morning. But we enter into it more and
more as we set aside the things of this world: worry about the future,
too great a focus on natural toys and conveniences, our selfish drives
and desires. To the extent that we can enjoy earthly delights without
making them all important, that we can serve others without always
thinking about what we will get out of it, so far peace can enter our
lives. It is then that we become convinced that the Lord’s light is the
true light and most of the problems and troubles we experience can
fall away. It is then that we can glimpse the Lord and experience His
peace, His Advent into our lives.

In one sense there is nothing startlingly new or different about
this idea. Indeed, it is so simple, so fundamental, that it hardly needs
to be said. So we are affected by the Word made flesh as the Divine
flows into some of the simple truths we already know. This is one of
the reasons the Lord was born on earth that the Divine goodness
might be joined with our common sense and simple ideas of Him that
we have. (see Arcana Coelestia 2554)

The Lord’s birth itself did not reveal any radical new information
that had not been available before. In fact there would be no real
instruction until thirty years later when the Lord began His public
ministry. But His birth signaled a beginning of salvation for all
because His presence, His love for us all, was proclaimed by His
coming down among us, filling us with His good.

For us now, the Christmas story reveals His glory, the brilliance
of His Divine Human in which we may know and love Him. The Divine
as it is in Itself is far beyond our comprehension and affection, even
as it was for the ancients. So the Lord was born that we might see
His nature and have it shed light on our lives, giving us the
confidence and trust that He is always with us, always leading us in
paths of peace.

The Lord then becomes flesh and dwells among us when even
our limited, simple ideas of truth can be filled with His presence,
showing us something of His love. For the Lord’s coming into our life
is not simply to make us feel good. Yes, the Lord would have us
experience states of happiness and joy regularly, and eventually in
heaven constantly. While He may be born in our states of darkness,
His full Advent is to us in light the truth of His Word which can fill our
minds. Every time we recognize a concept as Divine, as coming from
Him and leading our minds back to His love and mercy, His advent
has occurred. Then the Word is made flesh, living, for us. We are
touched by it, we are enlightened by it, and we are strengthened by it.
(see Arcana Coelestia 8792)

This is our sight of the Lord, His birth among us. It brings us
light, and it will bring us warmth. We can embrace this light, this new
vision of the Divine, and use it to recognize and follow His teachings.
(see True Christian Religion 774) Then the truth of peace will be ours.
So let this Christmas day affect us with the joys of morning. As
its light brings a new brightness to our day, as its warmth stirs a
renewed heat in our lives, let us feel the Lord’s closeness to us. His
birth on earth was the taking on of a natural form of life that we might
know Him, see Him, and love Him. As we put off an excessive focus
on the things of this world and upon our concerns, He can come
closer to us, bringing us the peace of dawn-a peace that has within it
complete confidence in His truth, in His guidance, a complete
confidence that a heaven shall be made from this human race.
This was the reason for His coming to touch our hearts and
enlighten our minds, that He might become the Word made flesh for
us eternally. Let us behold His glory, full of grace and truth.
Amen.
Lessons: Luke 2:1-7; John 1:1-18; Arcana Coelestia 8455

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“Knowing a lot makes no difference if we do not live by what we know.”

Arcana Coelestia 1100