"The Glory of God is abundant today - let us go forth and tell about it."

Christmas Day, December 25, 2025

sermon by Intern Pastor Katie Insalaco

Intern Pastor Kaite Insalaco

Merry Christmas!

I'd like to start today's sermon by reading the gospel again but use the First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament¹. I oftentimes turn to this translation because, for me, it feels closer to the Earth and grounds me (pun intended) 😊

The First Nations Version reads:

"1-2 Long ago, in the time before all days, before the creation of all things, the one who is known as the Word was there face to face with the Great Spirit.

This Word fully represents Creator and shows us who he is and what he is like. He has always been there from the beginning for the Word and Creator are one and the same. 3 Through the Word all things came into being, and not one thing exists that he did not create.

4 Creator's life shined out from the Word, giving light to all human beings.

This is the true Light that comes to all the peoples of the world and shines on everyone. 5 The Light shines into the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it or put it out.

6-7 Into the wilderness of the Land of Promise (Judea) came a man named Gift of Goodwill (John). He was sent by the Great Spirit to tell what he knew about the Light so everyone could believe. 8 He was not the Light but came to speak the truth about the Light. 9 The true Light that shines on all people was coming into the darkness of this world.

10 He came down into this world, and even though he made all things, the world did not recognize him. 11 Even his own tribe did not welcome or honor him. 12 But all who welcome and trust him receive their birthright as children of the Great Spirit. 13 They are born in a new way, not from a human father's plans or desires, but born from above - by the Great Spirit.

14 Creator's Word became a flesh-and-blood human being and pitched his sacred tent among us, living as one of us. We looked upon his great beauty and saw how honorable he was, the kind of honor held only by this one Son who fully represents his Father - full of his great kindness and truth." (John 1: 1-14, First Nations Version)

On this Christmas Day, the gospel writer John reminds us that Jesus's story didn't start on that fateful night in the manger. It didn't even start with the angelic visit to Mary. The gospel writer takes us back to the beginning, echoing the creation story in Genesis 1 where God created the heavens and earth out of nothingness. Out of holy darkness, God created light. The gospel writer John poetically ties Jesus to this first light, the divine energy that started the universe. Its worth noting that the Greek word for "world" used by John is kosmos. I am reminded of astrophysicist Neil Degrasse Tyson's famous assertion, "The atoms of our bodies are traceable to stars that manufactured them in their cores and exploded these enriched ingredients across our galaxy, billions of years ago. For this reason, we are biologically connected to every other living thing in the world. We are chemically connected to all molecules on Earth. And we are atomically connected to all atoms in the universe. We are not figuratively, but literally stardust."² I love imagining the wild, explosive energy of God within the context of the infinite universe, pulsing with the love of Christ, and bursting into stardust that gifts every bit of creation with pieces of God's own self. Today we move beyond the Silent Night, the Little Town of Bethlehem, and Away in a Manger.

Today the story of Christ's birth radiates throughout the bigger story of God's

eternal presence in the world since the beginning and forever more. Today the story of Christmas is the story of a Creator who makes a home among us.

The First Nations translation of today is gospel puts in plain language who God is and who Jesus is. It reads, "This Word fully represents Creator and shows us who he is and what he is like. He has always been there from the beginning, for the Word and the Creator are one in the same." (John 1:1-2, First Nations Version). The text continues to teach us a few key things:

1.      God and Jesus are co-creators in the universe, mysterious parts of the same whole

2.    God's light shines through Jesus onto everyone. The First Nations uses widely inclusive language such as "all the people" or " all things" five times in 14 verses.

3.     God is not what we expect, as the "world did not recognize" God in Jesus

4.     New life emerges from faithfulness, not birthright

5.     God and Jesus who is God living among us on Earth, is "full of great kindness and truth" (John 1: 14, First Nations)

It's sometimes hard to see that great kindness and truth in our everyday gritty lives. But that is the glory of God and it shines in ways big and small upon all of us. The nativity story portrays God's glory through an army of angels and the cry of a baby but John's gospel portrays it simply as the Light of Christ. And that light shines on EVERYONE, even when the darkness surrounds us and threatens to swallow us whole. Christ's light, the light that has been in God and with God and from God since the beginning, cannot be extinguished. It took on mortal form through Jesus and made a home in and with and from creation, of which we humans are part. God is an intimate God, a God who travels with us through the darkness. Who erects God's tent among us, sharing our Earthly home- darkness and all- and stubbornly shining Christ's light on every one of us.

You may have noticed that in the middle of John's poetic envisioning of the Christ story, set amidst the ancient creation story and pointing to an honorable future, he shoehorns in a tidbit about John the Baptist, who our gospel writer calls the Witness. While it may seem a little out of place, it's our instruction. It's the law to the gospel made manifest through Jesus. The First Nations translation names John the Baptist, "Gift of Goodwill" and tells us that "He was not the Light but came to speak truth about the Light". And I think that's our Christmas gift.

This instruction to go out and bear witness to God's glorious light. So I'm going to tell you a story where I witnessed God's glory recently.

A few weeks ago, I was at my daughter's high school swim meet - there were a few hundred people there as it was with three Portland Public high schools. Anyway, sometime during the meet when my daughter was waiting for her race and I was chatting with the mom friend beside me, I felt a shift in the energy of the room and looked around. The swimmers were all done in their lanes except for one kid - a kid with Downs Syndrome. That kid was way far behind but had the attention of every person in that auditorium. I watched as all the high schoolers stopped messing around and faced the pool giving him their full attention. To a person, the couple hundred other swimmers cheered for this kid, whooping and hollering and jumping up and down on the pool deck. The adults all stood in our seats. And when that kid touched the wall finishing his race, the place erupted. It just went wild. And I thought, "There it is. There is the glory of God living among us. I am so grateful to have witnessed it." And now I get to tell you about that light. What a gift.

I invite you to tell your own story of witnessing God's glory as a way to celebrate this Christmas calling. Would anyone care to share where they've witnessed God's glorious light shining here among us?

Friends, this Christmas Day isn't the end of a season but the beginning of a new era. After today's service, when we've gone home to our Christmas traditions, remember your stardust. Those pieces of God's explosive light that comprise your very atoms, the Light of Christ that can never be dimmed, and the call to bear witness to it all. The glory of God is abundant today - let us go forth and tell about it.

¹ Wildman, Terry M. First Nations Version - an Indigenous Translation of the New Testament: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament. Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 2021.

² Tyson, Neil Degrasse. "A Quote by Neil deGrasse Tyson." Goodreads.com. Accessed December 23,  2025.

https:/   /www.goodreads.com/quotes/  484586-the-atoms-of-our-bodies-are-traceable-to-stars-that.