Henrietta United Church of Christ
Rev. David Inglis
Labor Sunday
September 6, 2009
“ The
Word at Work”
Scripture: John 1:1-5, 10-13
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things came
into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has
come into being 4in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.
5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. . . .
10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the
world did not know him. 11He came to what was his own, and his own people did
not accept him. 12But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he
gave power to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood or of the
will of the flesh or of the human will, but of God.
Sermon:
“In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God.” This “word” wasn’t the kind of word
you can read in a book or e-mail to someone. “Word” here is an attempt to
translate the Greek word logos, which was their word for the creative
force that brought the cosmos into being, ordered it into a cohesive whole, and
continually animates it and gives it life. We express ourselves in
words. God expresses God’s divine nature in part through the Word this
creative life-giving logos.
John identifies
this logos with Christ. He’s not saying
that Jesus was present as a human spirit from the beginning of
creation. He’s saying that the same mysterious divine power that creates
all things, that brings things to life, that calls us to life in all its
fullness, and that opens the door to eternal life, was incarnated, or embodied,
by Jesus. Jesus incarnated this creative power with so much grace and
truth that everyone who received him (let Christ’s love and truth go to
work in their lives) and who believed in his name (humbly acknowledged
and revered his identity as a manifestation of God), received the power to themselves
become children of God. If we become children of God in this sense, it
means we are growing into God’s likeness and image, so that we begin
incarnating God’s creative, renewing, life-giving power in our own lives.
I’ve been
reading a book that Bobbie McKay left for us entitled Reflections on the
Christ by David Spangler. David Spangler is a living example of a
child of God, in this sense. Not only does he reflect on Christ, but his actions and words reflect the
all-embracing love, deep truth, creative vision, and empowering hope of the
Christ, of the logos of God. As some of you read in the September
Newsletter, he wrote:
The Christ may
be considered as being the soul of the universe, the synthesizing, guiding,
evolving energy and presence that links the spirit of God with the life
manifesting through the infinite variety and complexity of forms that make up
creation as we know it.1
Or as John put
it, “All things came into being through him, and without him, not one thing
came into being. In him was life, and the life was the light of all people.”
David Spangler put it this way:
Within human
consciousness, what we call the Christ is the presence of the self-conscious
force of life and evolution and revelation, linking the life of the part with
the life of the whole...and acting as a transmitter of that energy of more
abundant life, of wholeness, to all other forms of consciousness and life.2
He’s saying
that when we link our intention and gifts to the good of the whole, to the
development and well being of the other beings
around us, we ourselves are incarnating the Christ, the Logos, in the
world around us. The life that is the light of all people is being
transmitted through us. That’s what it means to be a child of God.
This is Labor
Sunday, which is a good time to step back from our daily labors and reflect on
our work from the perspective of our faith and calling. As human beings
in this world, we are always incarnating or embodying some kind of energy or
other–greed, pride, fear, resentment–or a Power bigger than ourselves. All of
us do work of various kinds, weather we’re paid for it or not. In the
work you do, how might you incarnate this divine power that brings life and
growth, vision and hope, order and wholeness into the world?
How about your work as a parent, grandparent, or important person in the life
of a child? If, even after a whole summer of the kids being out of school,
you keep trying to draw on a love that’s deeper than your frustrations
and disappointments; if you keep recognizing and encouraging the child’s
gifts and potentials as they emerge and develop; if you find ways to nurture
their capacity for wonder, joy, creativity, reverence, discovery, and
generosity; if you give them the rules and structure they need with firmness,
fairness and forgiveness until they find their own inner wisdom–then you are
incarnating for them the living loving Word, God’s Logos, that helps
them grow and unfold like a flower blossoming in the warmth of the sun, with
roots that are deep enough to sustain them through the droughts and storms. And
when we all do that together for the kids who come to our church, we
really see them blossom, don’t we?
If
you have a job you go to every day, what do you incarnate there? You can
see people incarnating a lot of greed, jealousy, deception and manipulation in
the workplace. But if you make honesty and responsibility the foundation of your work, you are fully engaging
yourself with reality. God’s power is always working within everything that’s
real, bringing forth higher levels of order. If you incarnate integrity and
responsibility, you will be a powerful force for creating more productive and
more sustainable structures, practices and procedures in your work place.
If you teach,
guide or mentor others in your work, you are incarnating the living Word that
calls forth people’s potentials and helps people develop their
gifts for the benefit of the world.
If you devote
your work to serving the true good of your customers or clients, or of humanity
or creation, you are incarnating the living Word that is evolving higher and higher levels of harmony and order.
If you work to
build bridges of understanding, appreciation, cooperation, or caring between
people in your work, you are incarnating the Love of God that dances in that mystical space where people’s hearts, minds
and spirits open to each other.
Now what about
the work you do for the church? Most of
you are helping with the Fall Fair in some way. If you feel like it’s
just one more obligation on a full calendar, you might incarnate resentment or harriedness as you do your duty. But you could also
recognize that God’s divine logos is at work,
even in seemingly mundane things like selling stuff for a parking lot
project. You can open yourself to the exhilarating energy that comes from
being a part of a big project that gets so many people working together for a
good cause. That’s God’s logos we feel, knitting us together
into one body moving together in harmony. And the parking lot expansion is a
concrete way–or maybe a gravel way–of inviting
God’s logos to continue developing and growing this church, and
bringing more people into this body who need the wonderful spirit we share
here, and who in turn will build this body with their gifts.
Gene Edward Veith talked about one way of recognizing our calling:
Finding our
vocation is not just "finding my lifework," nor even "finding
what God wants me to do." Finding our vocation is largely a matter
of finding where God is, the God who hides in our neighbors, in ourselves, and in the world. Once we notice the Hidden God
at work in the workplace, families, the community, and the church--and when we
realize the part we play in God's design–we have found our
vocation.
Our lives can
pulse with purpose when we recognize that God’s logos
is working everywhere, calling all things to life in all its fullness,
beauty, glory, and dynamic harmony. And as children of God, we ourselves
can be servants and agents of this life-giving power to nurture growth, create
new things, overcome barriers, build community, and help the world around us
reflect the kingdom of God.
We are always
incarnating something. How might you incarnate the living Word, the
creative, life-giving Logos of God, in your family, in your work, and in
Christ’s church?
____________
1.
Spangler, David, Reflections of the Christ Mind, Findhorn Publications, Findhorn, Moray, Scotland,
1978, p. 22.
2. Ibid.