Weekly Liturgy : December 29-January 4
- John
- Dec 29, 2025
- 4 min read
John 1:1-18
The Message
1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6-8 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9-13 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15-18 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
REFLECTION
from John
Father Gregory Boyle says of Homeboy industries, “We’re always trying to be the front porch of the house that everybody wants to live in.” I love this metaphor.
I read Jonathan Foster write of the Incarnation of Christ, “This could be the hope of the world. Not that God sent his son to die so he could fix the separation in a technical sense, but that God sent his son to show us the fallacy of such a notion in the first place. Whatever separation is, it’s not something God is doing.” I love this thought.
Both ideas were in my mind as I sat with a member of our community last week, a man without a home to call his own. As he grieved the loss of his friend’s son, he lamented how powerless he felt: “All I could do was give them a hug and say I’m sorry,” he said, “and then I sat in the corner of the room like a rock with nothing to give.”
But is this not the very act of Christ?
I think we tell ourselves a story that says our own homes are dark and broken; homes no one would choose to enter. It’s God’s house that we are striving to enter, that Jesus holds admission tickets for.
But John’s version of the story is that God showed up that we might see that our homes are God’s home all along. Ours are the front porches God wants to cross in order to hug us - and indeed God does - before planting Godself in the corners of our rooms.
What if faith were less about getting our ticket into God’s house, and more about trusting God’s promise that we are already good enough for God to dwell within us? What if the work we are called into is less about convincing others to join our ticket lines, and more about learning to see God already dwelling in them too?
I suspect we might encounter this “light,” that John says we tend to miss. Maybe we’ll even experience a new kind of family that begins in the very heart of God.
PRACTICE:
Outward Mindset Application
Are you waiting for anyone to do something in service of your needs? Consider what that other person might be waiting for you to do first, in order for it to be safe and worthwhile to do the thing you are waiting for.
Non-Violent Communication Question of the Week
When you make a request of someone to do something for you, consider if your requests meet these criteria:
Time-bound (there’s a deadline).
Realistic (the other person can actually accomplish the request)
Specific (everyone can agree if the request gets met or not)
Pathways toward Centeredness
Intellection (loving God by pursuing knowledge):
Pick up a non-fiction book that looks interesting to you. Begin reading it this week.
Questions for Reflection
Is it easy or difficult to believe you are good enough for God to want to live within you? Are their moments or contexts that make it easier? Or more challenging?
Who is someone (or a group of people) that you inclined to believe are separated from God? Can you practice believing God is already with them?
“Liturgy” refers to the habits and practices humans use to form community around shared values and meaning. At Church at the Park, we desire to be a community of practice, becoming people who see the world through the eyes of the marginalized, making meaning through the lens of pain and suffering, and committing ourselves to non-violence in a wounded world. This weekly email is intended to provide pathways of practice for becoming the type of people who embody these values.
Many of our reflections on each week's text come from other sources. If you're interested in reading more of what inspires us, here our our two favorite reflections.
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