Readings for the Day:
Sermon:
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Often we are asked if we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That relationship is important. You have certainly heard me speak a great deal about the importance of it these past 2+ years.
To be in relationship with another means getting to know that person. So, who is Jesus?
The beginning of the Gospel according to John tells us just that. Jesus isn't just some guy who was chosen to serve God. He's not a separate creation God made to redeem the world. Jesus is the Word. The Word was there in the beginning. All things were made through the Word. And the Word not only was with God, the Word was God.
And, as John tells us, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. This Word which is God actually became human and lived with us in this world. That Word is Jesus.
Again, Jesus isn't just some guy who was chosen. Jesus is God Himself in the world. Knowing that changes everything. Jesus isn't just a person for us to follow. He is the creator and redeemer of the world.
Knowing this also tells us a great deal about God. God didn't just leave the work of redeeming everyone to someone. God did that work Himself. God came down and got into the nitty gritty of the world. He rolled up His sleeves and got His hands dirty, so to speak.
It also means that the sacrifice needed for our sins was God Himself. God was willing to take that burden on for us. God, a being beyond time and space, immortal and invisible chose to die so that we wouldn't have to.
The only reason anyone would do something so crazy is out of love. And that is the depths of God's love for us. He loves us so much that He chose to become mortal and visible. He loved us so much to choose to do something that He never had to do, to die.
This is the kind of person that Jesus is. One willing to do the work that any of the rest of us might delegate to someone else. He is a person of tremendous compassion for each and every being in this world.
If we are to be in relationship with Jesus, then we are called to do the same. We are called to continue His work in the world and share that love with everyone else. Only then can we actually be renewed to right relationship with God and one another. Only then can the world become truly whole. Only then can we experience the kingdom of God not just in heaven, but right here in this world now.