Kahu's Manao

Second Sunday after Christmas
Sunday, January 3, 2010

The Rev. Kealahou C. Alika

“Near to the Heart of God”
John 1:1-18

I spent New Year’s Day with my sister Naomi and her family in Mililani on the island of Oʻahu. I arrived early that morning with my sister Jill who lives in Kahului.

We drove to Naomi’s home and after a brief visit I drove Jill to our cousin Pat’s home which is located about a two-minute drive away. I spent the day with Naomi and Jill spent the day with Pat.

Later that evening both Jill and I attended a family gathering at another cousin’s home. Shari’s home happens to be located about five minutes from where we both were. Jill was meeting Naomi for the first time. I was about to meet Shari and members of my biological father’s extended family for the very first time.

So Jill and I share the same biological father. Naomi and I share the same biological mother. If all of that sounds confusing, well, it is every time I talk about my family.

I had not seen my sister Naomi and her husband for quite some time. Her daughter Kiana is now eleven years old and by year’s end she will probably be taller than me.

Her son Jonathan will be moving to Hilo in a few days. I had a chance to visit with them as well as their ten month old dog Kuma. We went out to a very late breakfast at 1:00 p.m. on Friday at Anna Miller’s in Pearl City.

I saw Pat again that evening at Shari’s home. I met her earlier as well as her husband, Cliff, and their sons Darren and David.

I met my father’s three sisters and two brothers as well as numerous cousins and in-laws. It was quite an eventful day because I was meeting them and they were meeting me for the first time.

Jill and I arrived at 4:30 p.m. and with the cooking preparations that still needed to be done there was time enough to visit. I learned very quickly that the family had grown to include a mix of folks not unlike most of our island families.

Two of my cousins were of German, Norwegian and Japanese ancestry. Another cousin was Japanese and African American and another was Vietnamese. One of my aunties by marriage was Chinese, another was Lithuanian.

The dinner table included chicken long rice, egg rolls, shrimp tempura, sushi, namasu, chicken adobo, crab salad, potato salad, kalua pork, lomilomi salmon, mochi, chow mein, and rice. We spent the evening doing what we do best when we spend time with family – talking a lot and eating too much.

My sister Naomi’s household was no different. When we sat down to breakfast earlier, my sister reminded me that her son Jonathan is Japanese, Hawaiian, Portuguese, Serbian and Blackfoot and that her daughter Kiana is Japanese, Hawaiian, Portuguese, and Pilipino. The Pilipino comes from her father’s side.

Over the years I have found that there are some who feel uncomfortable whenever we talk about our island families and of the bloodlines we share with our numerous ancestors. I am not always sure why that is but I do know that we are often quick to say - “Yes, but we are all Americans” – somehow implying that diversity is a source of conflict that may arise because it seems to point to differences rather than similarities.

I would be the first to tell you I know how destructive it can be for those who may mistake an affirmation of our cultural, ethnic and national identities as a form of racism and xenophobia – that somehow we are better than someone else because of our racial, ethnic or national heritage. But as I looked at my family at Naomi’s home and at Shari’s home, I realized we are who we are – flesh and blood – varied in our experiences, each with a unique and particular story yet sharing a common ground simply because we are human beings.

Our reading from The Gospel According to John is a story about who God is – flesh and blood - made known to us in the birth of Jesus. “Who is this child of Bethlehem, and why should we care about his birth?”

It may not be the question that is uppermost in our minds this morning especially when most of us have some ambivalence about holidays spent with relatives, our over indulgence around the dinner table and the loneliness we may feel even as we are surrounded by throngs of people.

Stephen Bauman, the Senior Minister of Christ Church in New York City writes: “Dead trees need to be hauled out to the street, bills need to be paid, life resumes, and a natural yet unspoken question lingers: What was that all about, anyway?” (Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 1, Bartlett & Taylor, Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky, 2009, page 190)

Bauman points to our reading this morning for his response by noting that John declares with an eloquence we cannot ignore: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people . . . the Word became flesh and lived among us . . . grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:1, 3b-4, 14, 17b)

In other words, through the birth of Jesus we come face to face with God in human form. It is difficult for us to imagine that such a thing could be possible and to imagine what this means for us.

Bauman adds, “Seeing Jesus is the closest humanity will ever come to actually seeing God. This is John’s claim.” (Op. cit.) Or as the late Evangelist Billy Graham often said if we want to know what God is like, then we must take a good, long hard look at Jesus.

God, in Jesus Christ, is not separate from our existence as human beings, “but profoundly and intimately present. Our material existence matters.” Who we are matters.

Today is the Second Sunday after Christmas and as such we are reminded by the shepherds in the Christmas story that the good news of God’s love came to a particular people. Jesus’ identity as a Jew is significant for that reason.

But within the Christmas story we also find the story of Epiphany – a time when we remember the arrival in Bethlehem of the magi from the East. With their arrival we are also reminded that the good news of God’s love is not only to the Jews but to all people.

The Word indeed became flesh and lived among us.

As I left Shari’s home last night, I watched as Auntie Janet made her way to the door with her walker. Her son Eric was there to help along with her grandson, Matthew.

Before she could get out the door, Shari insisted that the family tradition of taking photographs be kept. So three aunties and two uncles stood side by side as the flash of numerous cameras lit up the living room. Then their sons and daughters sat down on the living room sofa, followed by the grandchildren and after that those who were now married into the family.

The birth of Jesus reminds us that there is nothing “more vulnerable and dependent than a newborn.” (Op. cit.) We know that in our own lives and in our own families we find ourselves vulnerable as well - experiencing our share of human pain and suffering. We know that God is close to “our next breath and bears the pain we bear as well as celebrates the joy in which we exult.” (Op. cit.)

That truth – of knowing that God is always near and that we are always near to the heart of God – is reason for us to give thanks this day as we gather around this table to share a meal. We are brothers and sisters to one another

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