We Need A Little Christmas
“Because I Love You”
John 1:14
12/22/19
Intro:
Last weekend, Jenny and I got away for 24 hours without our children (thanks to the help of many of you). Sadly, we could not recall the last time we had done this, but in the lead up to this getaway I asked Jenny a series of questions to help me determine where we would go and what we would do. Prior to these questions I had done plenty of research, so, I was fairly confident that once I got her answers that a particular place would come to mind and I would book the room and start packing. However, to my surprise her answers to the questions did not really fit into what I had researched. As I listened to her, it dawned on me:
My family has had quite a full fall. With both of us starting new jobs, the boys at 2 different schools, sports, friends, and all the things that make up our life – the thought of getting away was not so much about “doing a bunch of things” at this stage in our life – it was more about having some rest and a “pause” from life. So, pause we did – and I can report that when we checked into our hotel in Glendale and they read on my license that we had come all the way from Pasadena – we all had a laugh!
But, it is not just us who live full and fast lives. I know for certain that some of you are home from college or grad school and the first thing you did was sleep. You needed the pause. You needed the rest. Some of the excitement that many have for next week might have more to do with some time off from work more than what you might be eating on Christmas Day.
Life needs pause. I think often “the pause” comes when we experience extraordinary love. Be it the pause we feel when someone we love (or ourselves) gets married, the pause (or the haze) that comes from having a child, or even the pause that comes when someone we love passes away. And those pauses have hit our church community this past year and even the past week with the passing of both Celeste Coleman and George Terzian. And we are still grieving the loss of so many.
Even with death, it is these experiences of extraordinary LOVE that allow us to pause… to reflect, to enjoy, the grieve, to soak in the fullness of what is happening in ways that define what life is all about.
… and today, my prayer is that the Scriptures would help each of us find pause. In the midst of all that is “Christmas”, that today, we might pause from all you have to do, all you have to get done, and the places you have to be – and in this space – simply PAUSE today and find rest and hope in the Scriptures.
Because what we will see, is that this pause is one connected to extraordinary love…connected to intimacy – and if we can embrace the pause and soak in the message of the text, what we really might experience is what we all need… a little Christmas.
Text:
Would you please stand for the reading of God’s Word.
John 1:14
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.
Sermon Body:
Let’s remember why John has written this book:
But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John 20:31
John is writing so that anyone who hears his story would believe in Jesus. The entire book pushes toward this purpose. What we have been focusing on this Advent season is the Prologue to the entire Gospel, 18 verses. This is where the story gets framed…the stage gets set…and what John is doing is trying to draw the reader to want to know more about this Word, Jesus.
These first 18 verses should cause us Pause… they seek to cause us to hear somethings about Jesus that invites us to want to know more. The past 3 weeks and in just 13 verses, we have seen John introduce us to Jesus as the Word, Jesus as light, Jesus as life.
We have seen that there were some who “saw” him and some who could not. To those who did see him, John says, they have become children of God…
These are the claims that have caused plenty of pause over the years – and as we look at a new verse today, I pray it causes pause for you as well.
The text today is the climax verse of the entire prologue. Meaning, if there is just one verse to know, and really understand it is what we have read today in verse 14.
There is a trap in preaching that I need to call out… a verse like 14 is deeply meaningful and important that this message could easily become a time to enhance our brains full of Biblical trivia and compelling facts.
For instance, the WORD. There is so much that can be said about what it means that Jesus is the Word, in Greek, the logos –there are plenty of Biblical rabbit trails we can begin (and should) about this… the Word being rational reason, or wisdom personified, or the redemptive spoken acts of God…
The main truth is that verse 14 is the pinnacle of what John has been writing. It is his thesis and we need to hear what it is and for today we need it badly – because this verse is not simply trivia, or Bible facts… this verse is Christmas.
And do not worry, we will talk about more about the WORD in a moment, but beyond this -
There are 3 truths about Jesus we can see in verse 14. There are more than 3, but these are the 3 that the Spirit has led me to focus on for us today given our series and given it being December 22nd.
Fact number #1, Jesus Became
- Jesus Became
The Word became flesh
Jesus became human. The Word became flesh. Let’s unpack this some. To do this, we need to go back to verses 1-3:
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.
From these verses, what can we know about the Word, about Jesus?
Verse 1: Jesus was with God
Verse 2: Jesus was God
Remember that John teaches us that Jesus has always existed. Verse 3 will affirm this and go deeper to make sure we know that:
Verse 3: Jesus was not made.
Jesus does the making. So, when our Christmas narratives see the birth of Jesus as the beginning of Jesus – we are making a huge mistake. The birth of Jesus is the incarnation, it is not the start of Jesus, it is not the making of Jesus – it is the Word becoming flesh.
Why the use of Word? To best understand 14, what we need to see is that the action, the creating action of God is the Word of God, which has always been Jesus. So - throughout the Bible, God speaks and things happen. In Genesis, In Isaiah … God’s creation, God’s Rescue, God’s Revelation – all his known as his Word. The Active Agent of Creation, God’s self-disclosure of himself in this world is his Word, and this Word has a name, his name is Jesus and that Word became flesh we read in 14.
Jesus is God and Jesus was with God, and Jesus made everything that has ever been made – now this Jesus has become flesh.
When I was learning Greek, I would come up with funny ways to jog my memory. The word for flesh in Greek is Sarx – and I would say it and pretend I was naked. This isn’t just a creative way to remember the word, the word itself carries that same kind of risk and scandal. It use here is shocking…
For one, it says that God is not just some force or principle out there in the universe. God is not some light within all of us. God, who is distinct from us and from this universe, became flesh. It was not just a god in a human body like a spirit in a machine, no, John speaks SARX, of becoming flesh.
God became human. God wasn’t pretending to be human, he wasn’t teleporting into a human body, but Jesus became human. This is a huge shift – God had always sought relationship with his creation. He always interacted with human beings. He even revealed himself to Moses and to others – but always as Spirit. Always in a temporary way, a way that could not be touched as we can touch one another. Always at a limited distance and now in what we see is that Jesus who has always existed as Spirit, now became human.
This is worthy of a pause. When Moses received his limited view of God in Exodus 33, the people paused and worshipped. When we realize that Jesus has become flesh – it serves as such shocking information, we ought to pause too. We ought to worship as well.
Jesus became. The Word became flesh.
Truth #2, Jesus Lived.
- Jesus Lived
and made his dwelling among us
The word for "dwelling among us" literally means "tabernacled" or "lived in a tent." This is a very intentional choice of language for John… John is calling to mind something very familiar to the Jewish readers. After Israel left Egypt, God had Moses set up a tent so that, Exodus 25:8, "I may dwell in their midst."
In that tent, we read, God often manifested Himself in a shining cloud and the Jews called that cloud, "the glory." He could not be seen. His glory was veiled by a cloud. But it was there and He was present. God was journeying with them. They could see the tent and knew that the tent and cloud was a sign of God being with and near his people.
And they would take this tent with them wherever they went. Where they went, God would go. A physical reminder of God to the people of God.
Truthfully, that tent veiled God in many ways…there were elements of God being intangible, of God being symbolic… but nonetheless, the God of the Bible was never an aloof transcendent deity out there just conducting His own heavenly business, distant from earth and humaity. God was there with His people. In their hardships and hazards, God was with them.
Now as we read back in verse 14, can you see how this tabernacle language elevates that history into a new day? The God who has always been with his people – is now not just found in a tent… not just symbolic, but now in flesh and blood.
The Word became flesh and dwelled among us… Canvas tents aren't necessary anymore. The tent is now the flesh of Jesus. That flesh was now near, close to us, proximate with us. No longer was God limited… now in flesh, full and tangible.
This is worth a pause. A God that sets up to dwell, to tabernacle with his people in the flesh.
This is Christmas. Christmas is about a God who came in flesh to be with you and me, and not just a visit or a sign… a real life, heart beating human – both fully God and fully man.
Story: My Step-Dad Ben.
When we came to live with us, our house changed. His presence was not a “time to time” or occasional thing for me anymore. He came into our home, and everything changed because of his presence. It caused me pause – someone was here who was not before. It was disruptive. His presence was disruptive in all the right ways.
Jesus has moved in. He has come to dwell among us. He is real, he is present, he is here and when we awaken to this truth, the change that comes will be disruptive in all the right ways.
Let this cause you to pause this week, this Christmas.
The final truth for today, is #3 Jesus Revealed.
- Jesus Revealed
We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth
I was with Greg this week and we were talking about the text. He was convincing when he suggested that he reads this next portion as an “explosion”.
“we have seen his glory!!!!!”
“the glory of Jesus, the Son of God!!!!!!!”
“and he is full of grace and truth!!!!!!!!!!!”
This reads as a testimony! This is not a theological paper for John, this is real life stuff. This is him communicating that Jesus revealed himself to John and John saw him! John saw his glory!
This another scandal in the verse – one that might cause pause and asks us to push forward for more understanding…how can that be? ...more story… I want to hear more! … more about Jesus… there is so much more to understand!
Jesus revealed himself and his glory to other flesh. Jesus was not invisible nor was he obscure. Jesus revealed. The word glory refers to the visible manifestation of God's presence and power. Jesus was not a philosophy or a subject to study – he was the Word that became flesh…and John saw him. He touched and experienced the revealed Jesus as both God and man.
Because Jesus reveals…When you look at Jesus, you see the face of God. When you hear Jesus teach; you hear God teach. When you come to experience Jesus; you experience God. In Jesus we see God – because Jesus reveals the glory of God.
That glory has not been limited to John, Jesus is still revealing… he is still causing pause in people’s lives…
Story: Facebook Friend from High School. He has seen the glory revealed in Jesus.
In 2 weeks, we will have baptisms declaring that all this is real, and that like John, people are still seeing the glory of God in Jesus!
This is Christmas, the Word becoming flesh and that Word revealing the glory of God?
Have you experienced this from Jesus?
What does all this mean?
Application:
Jesus is bigger than a Christmas story or tradition
Jesus is here. Jesus is real. He is not a story, he has a story. And his story invites you to be part of it.
And he, like he did with John, is revealing himself to all. All of creation is exploding like John, “I have seen his glory!!!!!!!!”
My Story of Glory:
Divorce, Injury, Heartbroken, Failure, Death – I have seen the glory of God!
Yours?
Jesus is up close and personal
Jesus is not a distant God.
Jesus is not a God we work to get near, but a God who gets near us. Jesus tabernacles in us… he sets up among and in us. He is here. His love for you motivated his incarnation. His desire to be in relationship with you caused Christmas. All of this, for you, for me, for all of creation…every single person that has, is, or will be... Christmas is about the Word who becomes flesh and who is up close and personal… and his becoming human is able to help us understand something incredible about him….
He gets us… he gets it.
Jesus gets it
Jesus knows what it means to be human, He understand our pain. He wasn’t visiting flesh, he became flesh. Jesus is more than proximate with us, he is intimate with us. The intimacy of Jesus is an intimacy of understanding our emotions and experiences and he identifies with us in all of it. Jesus gets it. Jesus gets you – and he wants you. He loves you. He isn’t turned off by your humanity, your flesh – he came to redeem and rescue us as us.
This is why Christmas is so powerful – the Word became flesh – and is near us in all of our flesh… he gets it and he isn’t going away.
Conclusion:
What is worth a Pause in your life? Moments of extraordinary love…Christmas itself?
When the Word Became Flesh…
The Abstract was made Concrete
The Invisible was made Visible
The Intangible was made Touchable
This is what Christmas is, Christmas is a celebration of the moment that the Word was made flesh!
And when you think about it, he could have come any way he wanted… – but he became flesh. And this fact has changed the world, this fact has changed lives, this fact has changed my life…
I want to help us PAUSE, and have chosen a song for us to so that might help us reflect on the Extraordinary Love of God in Jesus – the reality of how Jesus came into this world…
(Winter Snow Song)