Peace Lutheran Church, Otis Orchards
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen
There are certain things that awaken within us the deepest
fears—primordial fears, fears that go to the depth of our very being.
A friend of mine, sleeping in a tent during a safari in
Africa, woke up to the roar of a lion, not far away.
Primordial fear.
A doctor’s diagnosis of a life threatening disease likewise
can awaken within us that same deep dread.
Primordial fear.
Simply becoming increasingly aware of our aging also stirs
those deep seated fears within us.
Especially if it involves a hard choice like going to a nursing home
with little hope of ever living at home again.
Primordial fear.
Dr. Karl Albrecht, in an article in Psychology Today
identifies the five fears we all share, as being:
1.
The fear of extinction, which is more
than just a fear of death, it is a fear of simply ceasing to exist at all.
2.
The fear of mutilation, of losing part of
our body and minds, of being less than fully human.
3.
The fear of a loss of autonomy—this may
take many forms, from becoming disabled, or imprisoned, or as I mentioned
above, having to move into a nursing home for the rest of one’s life.
4.
The fear of separation, the fear of abandonment,
rejection, and loss of connectedness; of becoming a
non-person—not wanted, respected, or valued by anyone else.
5.
And finally, the fear of humiliation,
shame, or disapproval that threatens the loss of integrity of the Self.
These represent the dark side of our life.
Primordial fear.
And then there are those other things that awaken within us
quite a different response.
Primordial hope.
These are the things that all people share because they are
part of our true nature and essential to our very being.
Instead of a lion’s roar, it is to behold creation in all
its beauty, or a lover’s tender touch, or more than anything else, I believe—a
baby born, full of life and the potential of all things good.
This is what awakens within us that hope and joy that makes
life so meaningful.
·
We hope for life, lived to its fullest.
·
We hope for health.
·
We hope for freedom to be all that we can be.
·
We hope for love, and a sense of belonging.
·
We hope to be accepted for who we are.
A child is born.
Hope abounds.
The dark night of our deepest fears, meets the dawn of
life’s richest gifts.
I’m thinking of this tonight for two reasons:
First, because this year our life has been blessed with the
birth of our first grandchild, Jasper.
And like all parents, or in our case parents, that birth had
an effect.
We were awestruck by the gift of life.
We rejoiced with every word about his health.
We anticipate all that he might be.
We experience the depth of human love and family.
And with great joy, we embrace to new reality of being “Oma
and Opa”.
Primordial hopes.
The wonderful side of life that we all long for and thrive
in.
It came to us this year, as a
gift of a child—our dear Jasper.
“The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a
land of deep darkness--
on them light has shined.”
on them light has shined.”
“For a child has been
born for us,
a son given to us;”
a son given to us;”
“to you is born this
day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord”
It’s no accident that
God chose to come to us as a babe in Bethlehem.
Because babies to powerful things, for us.
Christmas.
A time of hope.
Not fear.
Of light.
Not darkness.
But it’s not simply
about the baby, and all the wonderful feelings that are brought about by such a
child.
It is about what God
was doing in Christ Jesus.
In the Gospel of John,
it is written:
“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.”
And “to all who received him, who
believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born,
not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.”
This is the mystery of Christmas.
God became a human child—
That we
might become children of God.
God was born of the flesh, that we
might be born of the Spirit.
God was born from below, that we
might be born from above.
St. Athanasius, in a statement
that sounds more controversial than it is, put it this way: “God became man, that men might become gods.”
At the end of John’s Gospel, he
recalls Jesus’ final prayer with his disciples:
“As you, Father, are in me and I
am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have
sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they
may be one, as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become
completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved
them even as you have loved me.”
As the Father loves Jesus, so
also, the Father loves you.
Each and every one of you.
The Bible talks about our human
origins, as living “according to the flesh”.
The Bible speaks of our divine
origins as living “in the Spirit”.
This is the thing—
Those primordial fears that haunt
all human existence, they are all the eventual outcome of living in the flesh,
our mortal existence.
We will cease to exist.
We will lose our body and minds.
We will lose our autonomy,
And
we will feel abandoned and humiliated.
There is a reason why all people
fear these things—
Because
they are part of this life, as humans.
However, the hope that is within
us, is a hope that is ours, not because we are born of the flesh, but because
we are born of the Spirit, from above.
In Christ is our Hope, our life,
our health, our freedom, love and acceptance.
Christ was born of an earthly
mother,
That
we might be born of a heavenly Father.
Jesus, went to the Jordan River to
be baptized by John the Baptist.
When he came up out of the water,
the Spirit of God descended on him, and God said:
“You are my son, the Beloved; with
you I am well pleased.”
These are the words that the
Father now speaks to you and me, as children of God:
“You are my child, my beloved,
with you I am well pleased.”
And the angels sang:
"Glory to God in the highest
heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"
Amen
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