Long before God gave us the gift of Jesus, God gave us the gift of His word. As we heard in John 1:1-2 it says in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. So before the worlds were even created, God and his word were united. They were joined together as one, but God didn’t keep his word to himself, God shared his word, God spoke and when God spoke - things happened. When God spoke – life happened.
In Genesis 1:3 it says, God said, let there be light and there was light. When God spoke, when God shared his word, the process of creation began. When God said, let there be an expanse between the waters – there was a sky. When God said let there be land – the waters of the sea drew back and there was dry ground. When God said, let the land produce vegetation – plants grew. When God said let there be lights in the sky at night – stars and planets were formed. When God said let the oceans teem forth with life – all kinds of fish began to swim and when God said let there be animals – there were animals of all shapes and sizes and colors that began to walk on the land, and when God said let us make mankind in our image – we were created, men and women were formed. When God spoke, when God gave the gift of his word – the world came into being. God’s word brought forth life. But the gift of God’s word didn’t end on the 6th day of creation, God didn’t remain silent – God continued to speak and his word continued to bring life.
While we don’t know how it happened, there were people like Noah, Abraham, Moses and David who all heard God’s voice and they spent their lives trying to be faithful to what they heard. They knew if they followed God’s word – they would be blessed and experience all the fullness of life. But God didn’t just speak to a chosen few, God spoke to everyone. When God gave the 10 C and the law God was speaking to all the people and God gave the people direction on how to order their lives so that they could experience all the blessing God had to offer. God said that if the people followed his word and obeyed his law, they would be blessed, that’s what it says in Psalm 1.
But the people weren’t always faithful; they didn’t always delight in God’s law or follow God’s word and yet when they got off track, which was often, God didn’t remain silent; God continued to speak and he shared with his people both words of warning as well as words of hope. Through the prophets, God’s word continued to give the people direction, but those words also gave hope that a new day would come when God’s love and power would emerge victorious. God’s word through the prophets gave the people strength to keep going when everything around them seemed so bad. So from the very beginning, God’s word was bringing forth life. The gift of God’s word created life, it sustained life and it gave life direction, but God’s word was so full of life that it could not be contained in the sound of a voice, or in the gathering of letters on a page, the gift of God’s word needed to breathe and move, so again from John 1 we hear that the word became flesh.
In the person of Jesus Christ, God’s word became a living breathing human being and the word of God dwelt among us. In Jesus, God’s word lived with us and spoke to us and touched our lives. Through Jesus, God’s word laughed with us and cried with us and instead of telling us how to live, the word of God showed us how to live and how to love. Thru Jesus the word of God gave us a clear example of how to live life in such a way that we would be blessed.
So God’s word is truly a gift and it’s not just the words of the Bible we are talking about, it is the life example of Jesus and the testimony of those who saw and heard and experienced Jesus. But after Jesus ascended into heaven and was no longer walking this earth with us God did not remain silent; the gift of God’s word continued to be given through the Holy Spirit. In Hebrews 4:12 it says, the word of God is living and active. So the word of God isn’t just what we find written on paper, it is alive and moving in us and in our world. Through the Holy Spirit God’s word still speaks to us in so many ways, we just need to take the time to listen. It is amazing to think that the God who created the universe has shared his thoughts with us and it’s amazing to think that the God who set the worlds into motion so many centuries ago is not silent today but still speaks and gives as a gift words that bring direction and meaning to our lives. We don’t have to try and figure out what God wants from us or what God wants for us – we can read it in God’s word, we can see it in the word made flesh – in Jesus, and we can hear it in depths of our heart through the Holy Spirit if we will take the time to listen.
God’s word is a gift and while our focus in this season is on the word made flesh as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, my hope is that we will take the time to receive God’s word in all its forms. Now when we receive any gift the first thing we have to do is open our hands and receive it. We need to open our hand and hearts and minds to receive the word of God and the prophet Isaiah gives us some direction on how we should receive the gift of God’s word. Look again at Isaiah 2:3, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways. The first thing we see here is that God wants us to receive His word together. It says; let US go up to the mountain. He will teach US his ways. Receiving the gift of God’s word and learning God’s ways are not just an individual exercise. While personal times of reading and devotion are important and while the HS often speaks to us personally in the silence of our hearts, we are also to receive God’s word together.
It is important for us to receive God’s word together because we have a lot to learn from one another. There is faith and wisdom that comes from experience and we need to learn from the experiences of one another. There are insights into God’s word that you may have that others need to hear, or there might be insights that others have that you need to hear and so we need to come together and share our faith and our knowledge and our experiences and our understanding of how God speaks and what God has said and what God is saying today. The gift of God’s word isn’t just a personal gift – it is a gift given to the community and so God calls us to come together to listen and to learn.
Not only do we need to come together, but we need to come together and receive God’s word in a place set apart from all the distractions of the world. Again the prophet Isaiah said, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. God called his people to leave the busyness of their lives and the noise of the world to go to the mountain not because the mountain was the only place God would speak, but because the mountain was set apart from the activities of life. The mountain was a quiet place where people could still their hearts and lives and open the ears to hear what God had to say. The mountain and the house of the Lord were holy places, they were places set apart from daily life so people could gather together to listen and learn.
If for no other reason, this is why it’s important for us to come together to worship. When we gather together in these moments, we have the opportunity to leave behind some of the stress and activity and noise of life so that we can focus in and hear what God is trying to say. We have a moment or two here to be still and quiet, and in the presence of God and among God’s people – receive the gift of God’s word. God is still speaking. Through prayer, songs and silence God’s word still brings life but we have to quiet our hearts and lives enough to be able to hear.
As we receive this gift of God’s word we need to remember that it was also given to us for a reason. Look again at what Isaiah said, so we may walk in his paths. And then look down verse 5 let us walk in the light of the Lord. God gives us the gift of his word so that we can follow him and the reason God wants us to follow him is because he knows that it is only walking in the light of his word, walking in God’s will that we find life. Remember, the word of God always brings life – it was God’s word that created life and it is still God’s word that brings life today and it brings life by helping us see how to live. When we learn how to apply the word of God and when we follow the example of the word made flesh in Jesus and when we hear and follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit, we begin to experience the life God wants for us.
God’s word is a life giving gift and it’s not just a gift for this season, it is a gift for every season, and a gift for every day, but it is a gift we have to be willing to receive. Will we come together this Advent to receive the gift of God? Will we come to the house of the Lord in order to listen and learn? Will we open our eyes and lives to the word of God made flesh in Jesus and will we follow the example he set for us? God’s word is a life giving gift; it is the lamp unto our feet and the light unto our path, so let us receive it with joy and in this season let us work hard to listen.
