Those of you who read the
newsletter may remember that I had planned to do a Christmas sermon series
based on some of the minor characters in the Christmas story. As I’ve thought about it, though, it seems
like that might be a better thing to do in the context of the Christmas Eve
service. So instead, we’re going to take
a different tack. What we’re going to do
is look at how the different gospels treated the coming of Jesus. And we’re going to start with the gospel of
John. And when we look at how John deals
with this, and really think about what John says, I think it’s some of the most
incredible stuff there could possibly be.
First, as you noticed from what we read, John does not
deal with Jesus in the context of the birth story. John starts before the birth of Jesus. In fact, John starts at the very beginning of
time. John refers to Jesus as “the Word”
and tells us that “the Word” was with God from the beginning. In fact, “The Word” was God, from the
beginning.
But why does John refer to Jesus that way? Why does John call Jesus “the Word”? I mean, we know the Bible is the word of God,
but why is Jesus “the Word”? What does
that mean, to say Jesus is “the Word”?
Well, if you look in the Old Testament, that phrase “the
word of God” shows up a lot. When you
look at the books of prophecy, many of which we just looked at in our sermon
series on the Minor Prophets, it’s always described as “the word of God came
to” whatever prophet we’re talking about.
Psalm twenty-nine talks about how powerful the word of God is. God, just by speaking, breaks the cedars,
twists the oaks, shakes the desert, strips the forest bare.
The word of God is powerful. The word of God is strong. “The Word” is how God acts. In fact, John goes on to say exactly
that. It’s through “the Word” that all
things were made.
So when John
refers to Jesus as “the Word”, John is telling us something about Jesus. He’s telling us that Jesus is powerful. He’s telling us that Jesus is strong. He’s telling us that God is about to act, and
God is going to act through Jesus. And
Jesus is going to come to earth: “The
Word” became flesh, and made his dwelling among us.
But Jesus was
more than that. Not that this would not
be enough, but Jesus was more than that.
Listen to this: “in him was life,
and that life was the light of all people.”
Think about
that. Life is in Jesus. And that life is the light of all
people. In other words, there is
something of Jesus, something of God, in each person. There is something of Jesus in you. There is something of Jesus in me. There is something of Jesus in everyone: our friends, our enemies, people we know,
people we don’t know. Everyone has
something of Jesus in them, because life is in Jesus and that life is the light
of all people.
And listen to
what John says about this light. He
says, “the true light that gives light to everyone…was in the world, and… the
world 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 of God.”
If you and I
believe in the name of Jesus, we have the right to become children of God. Think about what that really means. We refer to Jesus as the Son of God. If we are children of God, that means we,
too, are sons and daughters of God. That
means that, in the eyes of God the Father, you and I are just as important and
just as loved as Jesus himself. The
Apostle Paul says something similar in Romans, Chapter Eight: “we are God’s children [and] if we are
children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.”
Is that not
awesome? I sure think it is! You and I are heirs of God and co-heirs with
Christ. To God the Father, you and I are
the equal of Jesus Christ himself. We
don’t have the powers of Jesus, obviously, but God the Father sees us the same
way that God the Father sees Jesus. If
we believe in Jesus, you and I are just as special, just as important, just as
cared about, and just as loved, as Jesus himself is.
That just
strikes me as incredible. We talked last
week about how, when we start to get an idea of who God really is, we cannot
help but feel reverence for God. But
now, we see that this same God, this God who is greater and more powerful and
more holy and more righteous and more everything than we can ever imagine,
looks at us, as weak and as puny and as flawed and as sinful as we are, and
considers us just as valuable and as significant and as precious as Jesus
himself, and loves us just as much as Jesus himself. That thought just blows me away, really.
And yet,
there’s something else in this passage that’s at least as important, if not
more important. Remember how life is in
Jesus and that life is the light of all people?
Well, listen to this: “The light
shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
The darkness
has not overcome the light. The darkness
will not overcome the light. The
darkness cannot overcome the light. The
life that is in Jesus, the life that is the light of all people, the life that
is that light that shines in you and me and every other person who believes in
Jesus Christ will not and cannot be overcome.
The darkness will not win. Jesus
will win. And if we believe in Jesus,
you and I will win, too.
Do you believe
that? Do you really believe it?
It can be hard
sometimes. It really can. Because when we look at the world, sometimes
it seems like it’s getting darker and darker.
There’s a lot of bad stuff going on in the world. You don’t need me to go through the list of
it. All you need to do is turn on the
news. And if you don’t want to turn on
the news, just go online. There’s a long
list of bad stuff that’s going on in the world.
And some of it’s really serious. And
it can seem like the darkness is going to win.
It can seem
like that in our own lives, too, of course.
We’ve talked about that before, but that feeling of darkness is a very
present reality for some people. Maybe
some people sitting out here today. And
if you’re going through that, you don’t need me to go through a list of it,
either. And in fact, sometimes this time
of year, around Thanksgiving and Christmas, can make things seem even darker,
because it seems like everyone else is celebrating and you’re not. Things can feel really dark in our
lives. And it can seem like the darkness
is going to win.
But it’s
not. Because no matter how dark it seems
like it’s getting, the light is still shining.
The light of life, the light of Jesus, is still shining. It shines in every person who believes in
Jesus. It shines it you. It shines in me. It shines in millions and millions of people,
all over the world. And it will keep
shining. And the darkness will not
overcome it. That’s a pretty awesome
thought. That thought just blows me
away, too.
This is the
first Sunday of Advent. We’re starting
to get ready for Christmas, for the birth of the Savior. Christmas is a lot of things, but one of the
things Christmas is, is the fulfillment of a promise. It’s a promise that was made in the
beginning, because Jesus Christ, “the Word” was there in the beginning. It’s a promise that those of us who believe
will be children of God, will be just as cherished and valued by God the Father
as Jesus himself is. It’s a promise that
the light of life, the light of Jesus, will always be there. And it’s a promise that Jesus’ light will
shine in us, too, if we believe.
So as the
Christmas season approaches, and as we get busier and busier, and as life gets
more and more hectic, and as we hear about more and more bad news—because
that’s what the news is, all the bad stuff—and as we start to get more and more
worried that everything is falling apart, remember the awesome promises of
God. Remember the awesome promises of
Christmas. Remember that you are a child
of God. Remember that if you believe in
Jesus Christ, then the light of life, the light of Jesus, is in you. And the darkness can never overcome that
light.
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