A New Paradigm For Christmas
Stories
Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit
Series V, Cycle C
Object:
But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. 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. (vv. 12-14)
Stephen R. Covey, author of the best-selling The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, tells of being in New York City for a meeting. While traveling on the subway, a man and his four small children got on at one of the stops. The man sat down next to Covey.
As the train began to move, the four children began running loudly in the aisle. One grabbed a newspaper from another passenger. Another knocked over a sack of groceries belonging to an elderly woman. The entire car was in chaos because of the children.
Covey assumed the man sitting next him was the father of the children. He watched as the man ignored his children and stared out the window. Covey sized up the man as a parent emotionally uninvolved in the life of his children. The children were doomed for lives of criminal behavior.
As the children got louder and more disruptive, Covey decided he could no longer keep silent. He said to the man, "Excuse me, sir. Don't you think you should do something about your children? They're disturbing everyone on the train."
The man turned to look at Covey, then at his children. He said rather distractedly, "I guess you're right. I guess I don't know what to do. You see we just came from the hospital. My wife, their mother, died about an hour ago. I guess we're in shock."
At that moment, everything looked different. Covey had to look at the man and his children in a new light. When he listened to the man's story, he knew he didn't have them figured out after all.
Covey tells the story to explain the concept of a paradigm shift, a new way at looking at things. A huge paradigm shift is revealed in John 1:14: "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."
No longer was God some otherworldly figure who popped in to talk with Abraham or wrestle with Jacob. No, God became flesh to live among the common and least of society.
This was a new reality. People who thought they had God figured out had something else to consider. The glory, grace, and truth of God was in their midst. And all who believe would be counted as children of God.
Stephen R. Covey, author of the best-selling The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, tells of being in New York City for a meeting. While traveling on the subway, a man and his four small children got on at one of the stops. The man sat down next to Covey.
As the train began to move, the four children began running loudly in the aisle. One grabbed a newspaper from another passenger. Another knocked over a sack of groceries belonging to an elderly woman. The entire car was in chaos because of the children.
Covey assumed the man sitting next him was the father of the children. He watched as the man ignored his children and stared out the window. Covey sized up the man as a parent emotionally uninvolved in the life of his children. The children were doomed for lives of criminal behavior.
As the children got louder and more disruptive, Covey decided he could no longer keep silent. He said to the man, "Excuse me, sir. Don't you think you should do something about your children? They're disturbing everyone on the train."
The man turned to look at Covey, then at his children. He said rather distractedly, "I guess you're right. I guess I don't know what to do. You see we just came from the hospital. My wife, their mother, died about an hour ago. I guess we're in shock."
At that moment, everything looked different. Covey had to look at the man and his children in a new light. When he listened to the man's story, he knew he didn't have them figured out after all.
Covey tells the story to explain the concept of a paradigm shift, a new way at looking at things. A huge paradigm shift is revealed in John 1:14: "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."
No longer was God some otherworldly figure who popped in to talk with Abraham or wrestle with Jacob. No, God became flesh to live among the common and least of society.
This was a new reality. People who thought they had God figured out had something else to consider. The glory, grace, and truth of God was in their midst. And all who believe would be counted as children of God.
