Coming Back to Life

John 1:1-14

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

14 And 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.

Rev Michael Vanacore | Fort Washington Collegiate Church | 12/27/2020

On Saturday, Dec. 5, many of us were awakened by the news that a fire had destroyed the sanctuary of our sister congregation, Middle Collegiate Church. I first heard about the fire from Rosa. I had called her up on my way home from my morning walk in the park. "Did you hear?" She asked. "Hear what?" I responded. "About the fire at Middle!" Shocked, I sent Reverend Damaris a text. She called me back a few moments later from in front of the still-smoking building. Within the hour, Rosa and I, along with a cadre of folks from FWCC, were on our down to the Lower East Side.

I cannot describe the experience of standing there on Second Avenue, of looking up through the empty windows of that burned-out facade, and seeing only sky. The members, staff, and ministers of Middle were gathered--some weeping, some working, and all grieving. I cannot explain the feeling of standing there because...how do you describe something that big, that holy, that beautiful just gone?

The prologue from the Gospel of John is the perfect message for the moment we are living through--as a church, as a nation, and as a world.

“In the beginning was the Word, and Word was with God, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...All things came into being through him...What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”

The central message for us today is that, even in the face of overwhelming devastation, loss, and even death, God is still with us, and God is bringing us back to life.

Friends, it has been a hard year. On this last Sunday of 2020, we are drawn to survey the landscape of this past year. As far as the eye can see, we perceive the over 300,000 people who lost their lives from this disease. The more than twenty five percent of U.S. adults who say that they or someone in their household lost jobs because of COVID-19. The veritable tsunami of evictions that threatens to engulf our neighbors just as winter strikes.

But more than what we see, as church people, it is what we feel that impacts us the most. We all know someone who has lost a job, lost a home, or even their life this past year. I myself have lost two grandmothers--matriarchs of my family, and companions of my soul. Because we are church people, because we feel the pain of others so profoundly, because we love God so passionately, because we believe in God’s justice so ardently--these losses hurt us that much more.

And yet, the Gospel reassures us, God is still there. God has always been there. “He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.”

No matter the extent of our alienation--from one another, from our wholeness, from our freedom, from our love, God is there to heal our hurt, and all of creation with us, and bring us back to life.

On the morning of the fire, Rev. Amanda, the Executive Minister of Middle Church, asked Rev. Damaris, our Senior Minister and the President of the Collegiate Churches of New York, to lead us in prayer. As we stood before the rubble and ash, Rev. Damaris made us a promise: that Middle, like a Phoenix, would rise again. And in that moment I was struck, because I had heard Middle described in that way two years ago, long before this dreadful fire: as a Phoenix that had risen from the ashes.

Friends, in the midst of the crises that have engulfed us over this past year, it can be hard to believe that resurrection is possible. But on that Saturday morning, I saw it. I saw it in the confident and reassuring laugh let out by Rev. Jacqui as she talked with the Fire Captain. (I was later told that she was negotiating with him to save Middle’s Liberty Bell, which is older than the one in Philadelphia). I heard it in the voices of Middle’s members, who stood on that cold sidewalk and sang, “God of our weary years, God of our silent tears…” And I saw it in our own members, who made the long trip down from uptown to bring love and solidarity and muffins and coffee to the community at Middle. With all of these acts, both large and small, even in the midst of devastation, we both realize and prefigure the greater resurrection that is to come.

And so, as we stand here on this last Sunday of 2020, let us turn our eyes away from the past and look together towards the future.

In recent days, I have watched the first doses of the vaccine go out across the country. I am excited about this vaccine, because it offers me the first real, concrete hope that life as we know it could return. That we could worship together in this beautiful sanctuary. That we could travel to places that mean so much to us. That we could once again enjoy the presence of our loved ones.

This vaccine, together with many other factors on both a national scale and in my personal life, have conspired to truly change the way I feel these days. These days, I have felt a stirring in my body, a new fullness in my breath, and a quickening in my spirit. And I know from my conversations with many of you that you feel the same. It is almost like we are coming back to life.

This is the story that our Gospel lesson tells us this morning. The story of resurrection in the face of death, victory in the face of defeat, love in the face of hate, hope in the face of despair, and the light of life that redeems us all. This is the story, not only of our beloved sister church, but of our entire faith. Not only of our personal lives, but that of our entire country, even our entire world. We are coming back to life. Let it be so. Amen.