John 1:1-18
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 men. The light shines in the darkness, but the
darkness has not understood it. There
came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning
that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as
a witness to the light. The true light
that gives light to every man 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
received 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. The
Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the
glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testifies concerning him. He cries out,
saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed
me because he was before me.'" From
the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace
and truth came through Jesus Christ. No
one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side,
has made him known.
When I was
a kid, my favorite television show was Superman. Understand, this was in the 1950s, when every
home had only one television set, received only 2 stations, and all shows were
in black and white.
Superman of
my childhood was a low tech show with simple special effects.
But he was
dependable.
Every
episode, he fought for truth, justice and the American way and at one point in
the episode, the bad guys could be trusted to try to shoot Superman.
This was
the most exciting moment of the show.
The
criminal would aim his pistol, fire off six bullets, while Superman stood there
looking bored. Bullets would bounce off
Superman’s chest.
Then the
bad guy would realize with some surprise that the gun was out of bullets, and
without fail, he would throw the empty gun at Superman.
That’s when
Superman would duck.
We could
never figure that out as kids – this man who was never afraid of bullets would
be afraid of a simple, empty gun that was tossed in the air.
What does
Superman have to fear? He’s the man of
steel.
Well, as an
adult I know now what was going on. As
an actor, it was easy for George Reeves of the old Superman shows to bravely
face the bullets bouncing off his chest.
There were no bullets. The sparks
of the bullets on his chest were added later, as an early special effect.
But when
the gun was thrown, that was real. And
the actor would, for just an instant, get out of character and duck so he
wouldn’t be hit by the fake handgun the other actor had thrown at him.
As an
actor, it was easy for George Reeves to ACT like Superman, even though there
were times when reality would creep into the series. And then he would step
briefly out of character.
As
Christians, it is easy for us to ACT like Christians, who believe in Christ,
especially at Christmas time.
But now
that Christmas is over, the world around us sets in and it is hard for us to
stay in the Christian character. And
sometimes we are not acting like Christians.
We are acting out of character.
It is easy
to act like we believe
when we
are singing songs of Christmas carols,
decorating
the tree,
setting up
the manger set.
It is hard
to stay in that character of belief
when we
have to go back to school to face the tests and lectures;
or when we
have to pack up the decorations in the attic
and go
back to work to face the boss and the routine.
It is easy
to act like we believe when we are surrounded by words and symbols of faith and
Christmas.
It is hard
to stay in that Christian character when we have to face the world of health
problems, work frustrations, and family fights.
And
sometimes at this point of the calendar year we find ourselves thinking, “What
did we celebrate Christmas for? What was
it all about?”
John’s
Gospel starts by telling us “what it was all about.” The Gospel of John doesn’t start with a
Christmas story. It doesn’t start with
Christ in a crib. It doesn’t start with
the birth of our Lord. It starts by
telling us what our faith is all about.
Jesus is the Word
John’s
Gospel begins with a poetic description of Jesus. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God.”
“What’s the
good word,” is something we often ask
and hear.
With a
word, I can make you laugh, or cry.
I can draw you closer with words
of love and grace.
And I can push you away with harsh
critical words.
I can discourage you with things
like, “What a stupid thing to do,” and “you’ll never amount to anything,”
“loser” “quit now and avoid frustration.”
Or I can encourage you. “Yes you
can, I’ll help you. I will never quit on you. You can count on me to be in your
corner.” “I WILL love you NO MATTER WHAT!”
If I can speak properly, I can
stir up almost any emotion –
determination,
patriotism,
love,
anger,
jealousy.
“In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
And what are the words that the
Word of God verbalizes?
Love.
Grace.
Forgiveness.
Back on Christmas Eve, it was easy
to believe these words of love and grace.
Can’t we stay in the Christian
character all year long, and continue to believe. Not act like we believe, but truly
believe.
Jesus is God
One of the
most important messages of John’s Gospel comes at the beginning. He is poetically talking about Jesus as The
Word. “In the beginning was the Word –
Christ. And the Word, or Christ, was
with God. And the Word, or Christ, was
God.”
At
Christmas time, we sang carols that proclaimed that Jesus was God.
But as we
move away from Christmas, it is easy for us to step out of our Christian
Character and to be more like the rest of the world.
The rest of
the world would say, Jesus was a good man.
Which he
was.
The rest of
the world would say, Jesus was a good teacher.
Which he was.
The rest of
the world would say, Jesus a real person who certainly in fact lived.
Which he
did.
However,
the rest of the world would feel more comfortable leaving out a statement that
said that Jesus was the Son of God and was himself, God.
It is easy
for some to step out of the Christian character and act like Jesus was just a
good teacher who lived long ago.
John’s
Gospel reminds us that Jesus was – and is – God.
When we
step out of that belief, we have completely stepped out of the Christian
character.
Jesus is unchanging
John’s
Gospel goes on to say, “He was with God in the beginning.”
Nothing
brings home how much our world is changing than Christmas, and nothing produces
a greater nostalgic longing for the world to STOP changing than Christmas.
At
Christmas, we see changes all around us.
Children
are growing up.
We may be
reminded once again that someone we loved has died and is no longer with us to
celebrate the holiday.
We remember
the way things used to be when we were children and we miss the past.
We may feel
overwhelmed by the changes.
And we may
long for the world to stop changing.
I don’t
think we are opposed to changes in our lives.
We need change. We’d be very
bored otherwise.
But we need
something, or someone, who is consistent in our lives. Who never changes. And Christ is that
unchanging consistency.
The Gospel
of John says, “He (meaning Christ) was with God in the beginning.”
The Book
of Hebrews tell us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and
forever.” (13:8)
The
Character of Christianity is to trust that Christ never changes. We need to stay in that character. The world may change. Christ does not.
Jesus is the Light of the World
John’s
Gospel also tells us that Jesus is the light of the world. John goes into great detail here, explaining
how John the Baptist came to announce the arrival of the light of the world,
and how John the Baptist was not the light, but was announcing that the light
would soon arrive.
Jesus is
the light of the world.
And light
is a comforting thing.
All parents
know that the best defense against the monster who lives in a child’s closet or
under a child’s bed, is light.
Turn the
light on!
Darkness is
a frightening thing.
Light is a
comforting thing.
I remember
when I was 13 years old, I had a frightening experience.
I was in
the shower and I was washing my hair with a new and different shampoo. Some of the shampoo got into my eyes and it
burned. I mean it was really very painful. I rinsed my scalp and my eyes the best I could and when I was finally able
to open my eyes, they still burned.
But more
than that, I had actually lost my
eyesight. I was totally blind. I couldn’t believe shampoo could be so strong
that it could literally blind you.
I didn’t
want to call out for help because I was standing in the shower without any
clothing on, and 13 year old boys are sensitive about stuff like that. So inspite of the fact that I am now totally
blind, instead of calling for help, I grope in the darkness until I find my
robe and put it on.
Just as I
am about to yell for help, the electricity comes back online.
I can see
again.
You see,
while I had my eyes closed, the power had gone off for just a moment, and
standing there in total darkness – I assumed the worst.
Of course,
I was ONLY 13 years old at the time and those of you who are 14 years old or
older know that is the time when your body grows faster than your brain.
But
darkness – it is a frightening thing, and nothing dispels the fear like the
light.
To live in
spiritual darkness is to live in loneliness and despair and fear – and nothing
dispels that spiritual darkness better than Jesus Christ, the light of the
world.
At
Christmas time it is so easy to be in the Christian Character and to sing songs
about Jesus being the light of the world.
We love to light the candles on Christmas Eve in the candle-lighting
services. But then it is so tempting to
go home and get out of the character of Christianity and to step back into the
darkness.
We need to
live throughout the whole year as people of the light.
Through Jesus, we have a relationship with God
Now, John
is making several points here, but he is moving all of them into one single,
important point.
Jesus is
the Word.
Jesus is
God.
Jesus is unchanging.
Jesus is
the light.
All of
these points converge into one most important point – Jesus is someone through
whom we can have a relationship with God.
During
Christmas it is easy to sing those songs of Christ’s birth and of his salvation
he brings.
But
with the Christmas season coming to an end, it is easy for us to listen to the voice of the world. And the world insists that all roads lead to
God, and that there is no difference between Christ and Mohammed or Buddha.
Actually,
the world has a point in saying that all religions lead people to God.
That is a
biblical statement. All roads do lead to
God.
Matthew’s
Gospel tells us this is true.
In chapter
25 of Matthew, Jesus tells us, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all
the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the
nations will be gathered before him…”
See – the world is right. All religions, all roads lead to God.
However, Jesus continues… “All the nations will be gathered before him
and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the
sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his
left.”
What happens after that is
judgment. Some are blessed with eternal
life. Others are not so blessed.
All religions
lead to God, but when I face God on judgment day, I don’t want to face God the
judge. I want to face God the
father. It is through Christ that I
enter that relationship and become a child of God. John’s Gospel says in the opening verses, “to
all who received him,” (that is to say,
Christ), “to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become
children of God.”
This is the
real difference of Christianity. It
means that when we find ourselves on judgment day and all of the nations are
gathered together – Christians already have a personal relationship with God.
Christians are forgiven. Christians
stand ready to receive the blessing of eternal life.
Everyone
else – well, that’s God’s business and He will deal with them as a judge.
But he will
deal with us as a loving father who deals with his children.
That is
what Christmas was all about. And while
Christmas is past, and the decorations are coming down, and the gifts may soon
be forgotten, the character of Christmas and Christianity survives throughout
the whole year.
Copyright 2014
W. Maynard Pittendreigh
All rights
reserved
Ministers may feel free to use some or all of this sermon in their own ministries as long as they do not publish in print or on the Internet without ascribing credit to the author.
