"Moving into the Neighborhood"

Pastor Laura Guy

March 1, 2009

Here's an instant replay of what happened in worship:

We heard a reading of John 1:1-18 from The Message, in which Eugene Peterson tells us that "The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood."
We thought about how John is different from the other Gospels. For example, Mark begins his story at Jesus' baptism. Luke begins his story with the events leading up to Jesus' birth. Matthew begins with Jesus' genealogy. But John begins his story at the beginning - of everything. And he tells us that God's Word was there at the beginning, creating. That same Word has now taken on flesh and has come to live among us. This is the incarnation of God. But unlike deities in other mythologies who became human so they could trick or harm people, God became flesh so His Word could reveal Who He is.
We tried to comprehend why a God who knew no limits would choose to limit Himself to a human body, a human life. The reason, John says, is to show us the way to the Light.
We watched a video that provided a metaphor for incarnation. In the video, stranded horses during a flood are too scared, tired and weak to move to safety. People try to get them to leave and move toward a nearby pasture, but the horses don't trust these two-legged creatures and their strange wooden vessels. Some horsewomen realize that horses instinctively follow their own kind, so they bravely ride out to the stranded horses and lead them to safety. (You really should watch this video. It's amazing!)
We thought about we often stay stranded and scared, afraid to trust what we do not understand. But God sent His son into the world to be one of us and show us the way to freedom.
We thanked God for moving into the neighborhood and helping us find our way out of our darkness.
We shared communion around the table of love.