Reflection: Our Birth

John 1:1-14

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave the power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or the will of flesh or the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.

He came down to us. He became one of us. And in this coming -- in this becoming -- Jesus Christ, Word made flesh among us, makes all things new.

Jesus Christ, New Life made incarnate among us, makes our lives new.

We've seen and heard the message of his birth as it has been swirling around us for weeks. Mixed among the messages of consumerism, perhaps present alongside decorations of Santa and reindeer, the story of Christ's birth has been present with us. The words have been read, sung, and spoken again. Perhaps we're very familiar with this story. Or perhaps the story of his birth is relatively new to us. But for all of us, we have an opportunity to hear and experience this story again in a new way.

Jesus was born - not in comfort or safety, not in a sterile or healthy environment, not in a place of honor or outward celebration- Jesus was born in a dirty holding-place for animals, in a make-shift place of necessity when his poor parents had no other place to go. And yet, somehow, in that filthy, lowly environment, unfit for any child to be born, a child was born, the very one who would be called "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." This one was found among us, and he makes all things new.

He has made our lives new. In his birth, the Word of God became flesh and made humanity new. That was true in the holy, sacred, and filthy moment. But he's also making our lives new now. In this room today are people gathered together - people who have known the sacred and holy, the miracle of life-change, sometimes right in the midst of hardship and necessity, sometimes right in the midst of filth, sometimes in situations unjust and unfit for humanity - the very humanity that Jesus came to save. They and we have experienced our lives made new.

It didn't happen only in a place for animals long ago, it didn't happen only at some past moment in our lives, but it's happening right now. Our lives are being made new right now. We are being born. Part of the message of the incarnation and of Christmas is that we are being born. Who knows? Perhaps we're being born right at this very moment.

So go ahead. Bring your hardships, your places of deep longing, your places of desperate necessity, bring your places that feel dirty and hard. Bring them to this moment - this holy, sacred moment, - and be born anew here. God knows those places. God knows them intimately. God is calling you - all of us! - into new life precisely in those places. God is giving birth to you, new life to you, transforming all of those places.

Hear the holy words again: The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave the power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or the will of flesh or the will of man, but of God.

Our birth is found in this birth, our birth and our life is wrapped up in this holy life that God revealed. Jesus comes to save us, to send us in a new direction, to give us new life in that new direction.

So be born and be turned in that direction.

In this season and in the new year that is coming, let your lives be made new. Perhaps you have an unfulfilled yearning or dream. Invite God into it. God is already there, but for your own sake, invite God into it. Even in the invitation itself, God will transform that yearning and that dream.

Maybe you want to be of service. Perhaps you want to participate in a ministry that new to you, even a bit outside-of-the-box. Enter a new time of discernment and see where God calls you and us.

Perhaps you want to express love more deeply - to the people who are most beloved to you, but also to those who are outsiders in one way or another. Be born in a way that invites and sweeps up others into the life-born richness of love.

Perhaps you want healing for your life. Maybe you need it with all there is to need. Bring those needs and those places of desperation to God. And bring them here. If you and I are being born as children of God, we're brothers and sisters of one another. In our birth, let's turn toward one another with new life and healing. Let's follow this one who was born for us.

Let's hear the good news again:

He came down to us. He became one of us. And in this coming -- in this becoming -- Jesus Christ, Word made flesh among us, makes all things new. May it be. Amen.

Renee Roederer, Director of Young Adult Ministries, and the Community at Pasadena Presbyterian Church