Dr. David D. Young
January 13, 2008
Job 23: 1-17
John 1: 1-18
"When Matter Really Matters"
(Incarnation)

Have you ever had someone ask you, "What’s the matter?" It depends on how the question is asked if one is to really get at the matter.

"What’s the matter?"
(said sensitively)

"What’s the matter?"
(said angrily)

"What’s the matter?"
(said quizatively)

"What’s the matter?"
(said matter-of-factly)

In the first case, "What’s the matter?" (said sensitively) the questioner senses that you might be sad, upset, hurt, frustrated or out of sorts.

In the second case, "What’s the matter?" (said angrily) the questioner is expressing his or her own irritation, anger, resentment or frustration about something you have or haven’t done. Like when one of my kids has done something I didn’t like and I said, "What’s the matter with you?" (said angrily).

In the third case, when the question is asked inquisitively, "What’s the matter?" the questioner may simply want to know what the issue or topic at hand is.

And finally, in the fourth case when the question is asked matter-of-factly in a scientific setting, "What’s the matter?" the questioner wants to know the make up of a particular material, to know the elements or substance of which something is made.

"When Matter Really Matters." But, what’s the matter with matter? Nothing, according to the Bible. It’s how matter – the stuff of this here earth – is perceived and used that makes all the difference. And that’s what we’re here to explore this morning.

This winter we are dealing with Christian foundations – those elements, those concepts which inform our faith.

"And the woman took of the fruit and ate and she also gave some to her husband…"
- Gen. 3:6

Last week I dealt with the notion of "the Fall." And today we will look at the theological idea of the Incarnation. We did that briefly on Christmas Eve – but that was such a whirl – and we can reflect more deeply now that the Christmas commotion is over.

How is it, in the kind of world we live in, that we can know, feel, and live out of a real sense of God’s presence? Bruce Springsteen, who is also known as "The Boss", wrote these words as part of his extremely popular album "Born in the USA":

I had a job, I had a girl,
I had something going mister in this world.
Got laid off down at the lumber yard,
Our love went bad, times got hard.
Now I work down at the carwash, where,
All it ever does is rain,
Don’t you feel like you’re a rider on a
Down-bound train.

And young people have felt the beat of his guitar and swayed to the poetry of the Springsteen anguish for years. "Yes…yes…I feel like I’m a rider on a ‘Down-bound train’."

The issue for them as it is for all of us is meaning. What is the meaning – the stuff and substance of this thing we call life? And how does God’s presence fit within it? That’s our question this morning.

For you see, the mood of confused anguish is not reserved for 21st century men and women alone. Pat Larrabee read to us from the book of Job. Job knew a reality similar to that of a down-bound train.

And so in chapter 23 he cries out,

"Oh, if I only knew where God was – I’d sure like to ask him some questions." "Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him; on the left hand I seek him, but I cannot behold him; turn to the right hand, but I cannot see him."

Where is God to be found in this world of struggle – when we bump up against meaninglessness time and time again. Our world is fraught with violence, war, tragedy, pain, persecution, distortion, confusion and suffering. Yes, we live in a time when many feel they are riding on a down-bound train.

"When Matter Really Matters"

Let’s return now to our New Testament scripture lesion. Here, in the words of John, we find one of the most amazing and awesome claims that has ever been communicated.

"The word became flesh and dwelt among us."

Did you really hear the signaling significance of those words? They are so familiar and yet so fantastic!

It’s my favorite birth narrative. It’s a cosmic story that goes beyond our understanding. In creation God spoke and matter came into being. God said, "Let there be…and there was…" And that same word which called reality into being – became flesh - taking on the frailty and life we know.

The word of all creation as Jesus Christ becomes crucial in our re-creation. For he was both human and divine. And that has been a contradiction to non-believers for centuries. To those of us who by faith believe we see it as a paradox – two seemingly opposed truths that hold together. The eternal becomes temporal, the transcendent becomes present, the word becomes flesh. These do not fit rationally but then faith is not entirely rational.

Author, Stewart Brand, helps make the distinction,

"There’s a difference between a contradiction and a paradox. A contradiction stops things. A paradox makes them grow."

"The word becomes flesh and dwelt among us."

That’s a paradox that makes things grow in a world of down-bound trains.

Silas Marner in George Eliot’s novel is described as having no purpose in life. "His life had reduced itself to the mere functions of weaving and hording, without a contemplation of an end towards which the functions tended."

Friends, I have to tell you that there is nothing sadder then those who have invested their life only in things and then find themselves on their deathbed confused, anxious and without resources for coping.

Dr. Carl Jung, the noted Swiss psychiatrist, quoted one of his patients as saying: "If only I knew that my life had some meaning and purpose, then there would be no silly story about my nerves." Jung then comments that "the central neurosis of our time is emptiness."

Matter can really mess us up with meaningless in the long run. And yet, matter is not bad in and of itself – it’s the perspective. Why is it that so many of us spend so much time on things – on stuff: taking care of all our stuff, planning how we will use all our stuff, worrying about all our stuff – that we have little left to spend on that which is important?

Here’s a tongue and check prayer on materialism:

Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray my laptop all to keep. I pray my stocks are on the rise, and that my analyst is wise. That all the wine I sip is white and that my hot tub’s watertight. My paddle tennis won’t get too tough, that all my sushi’s fresh enough.

I pray that my cell phone still works, that my career won’t lose its perks. That traffic won’t make me late and my condo won’t depreciate. I pray my health club doesn’t close and that my money market grows. If I go broke before I wake, I pray my Volvo they won’t take.

"When Matter Really Matters"

"In him was life – and the life was the light of all."

When God takes form in the stuff of this here world we are given sight – if we will but see – for the light is still shining on in the darkness. John is telling us that in God’s clearest word for us in Jesus Christ life and light hang together. That is, an abundant life and a true light that enlightens everyone.

A few years ago, Karen Taylor, age 16, recounted a moving experience that happened to her in a piece we might call two tears for a suitcase.

An old man sat at the train station clutching a battered suitcase. His clothes were patched, and in places even the patches had worn thin. I wanted to do something for him, but did nothing. A tear came into my eye. He must have seen it because he smiled. "Would you like this suitcase? It’s not very good, but it’ll be better than that bag you’re carrying."

He offered me, a well-dressed girl with a shopping bag full of new clothes, the only thing in the world he could call his own. I loved him then. I wanted to hug him because he cared. "I don’t need it," he said. "I don’t have anything to put in it." "No, thank you," I said, and walked away. And then, another tear came to my eye. He, godforsaken, was God in human form.

Why is it that we mistake so much of the stuff in life for life itself? For you see, true sight is a gift of God’s light. With focused sight given by God’s light, then, we can recognize our true identity.

For in verse 12, we read,

"To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God."

Our birthright is that we are made in the image of God. And as with children, ours is an ongoing growth process. Our faith inheritance is not arrival, but growing toward the fullness of the stature of Christ, even in a world of down-bound trains. Our identity as children of God is one of becoming. We are matter that matters because we are God’s.

Snoopy is sitting on top of his doghouse with his typewriter and Linus muses, "You know what Herman Melville said? He said, 'To produce a mighty book you must choose a mighty theme.'" Linus leaves, and after a long pause Snoopy begins typing, "The Dog!"

Our mighty book is the Bible and in it we know of The God who took on matter that matters in Jesus Christ. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son." Our worth is given to us by God and not by anything we do on our own or anything we own.

Have you ever been at a dinner party and felt like you didn’t have a very good seat? One such lady was somewhat disturbed to find herself seated at the left of her host instead of at the right where she thought she should have been. "I suppose" she said, "that it isn’t easy for you to always seat people in their proper places." "Oh," said the host, "I find that those who matter don’t mind, and those who mind don’t matter."

When we try to enhance our worth we are worrying about that which doesn’t really matter. What matters is our identity as God’s growing children.

Well, when matter really matters we are given sight to recognize our identity of more fully becoming God’s own and we are met in the gift of incarnation, where mystery meets meaning.

"The word became flesh, full of grace and truth. And from his fullness have we all received, grace upon grace. No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known. In the person of Jesus we meet the mystery of God and can embrace the deepest meaning of our life."

D.H. Gilliatt rightly observed,

"Nature does reveal the wisdom and the power of God, but love can be revealed only through a person. Hence the necessity for the Incarnation."

Even with all of the attention focused on the world scene and politics, my guess is that millions upon millions of us will distract ourselves three weeks from today to watch the Super Bowl. And I’m reminded of the marvelous story of three year old Luke who watched football games with his father, and was fast picking up the meaning of the referee’s signals. He demonstrated his skill one Sunday morning at church when the minister raised his hands for the benediction, and Luke shouted "Touchdown!"

Perhaps in a sense, when a minister raises his or her hands in benediction, it is a sign of God’s blessing the earth with peace and presence, stemming from the event of Christ in which God did "touchdown" upon the earth.

"For God so loved the world that he touched down upon it, thru his beloved son who dwelt among us full of grace and truth."

This morning I would like to offer a key formula for life. Matter that expresses genuine love really matters. Matter that expresses less, is less. Matter that expresses genuine love really matters. Matter that expresses less, is less.

"When Matter Really Matters!"

Life and light in Christ produce sight.

"In him was life and that life was the light of all."

And thus, we can recognize our identity of becoming.

"To as many as received him and believed in his name, he gives the power to become what you already are in part God’s very own child."

And when matter really matters – we are met with the gift of incarnation – where mystery meets meaning.

"And the word became flesh and dwelt among us."

For inasmuch - Christ has made God known to us – and embodied God’s love for us – as no other could.

For inasmuch, Christ has made God known to us, and embodied God’s love for us as no other could. In closing, these words of T.S. Eliot, in his Four Quartets,

But to apprehend
The point of intersection of the timeless
With time, is an occupation for the saint
No occupation either, but something given
And taken, in a lifetime’s death in love,
Ardour and selflessness and self-surrender.

For most of us, there is only the unattended
Moment, the moment in and out of time,
The distraction fit, lost in a shaft of sunlight,
The wild thyme unseen, or the winter lightning
Or the waterfall, or music heard so deeply.

That it is not heard at all, but you are the music
While the music lasts. These are only hints and guesses.
Hints followed by guesses; and the rest
Is prayer, observance, discipline, thought and action.
The hint half guessed, the gift half understood, is Incarnation.

Thanks be to God, who in Jesus Christ, draws us to life beyond every down-bound train, especially in these difficult days because in him, matter really matters!

Amen