Just the Right Word

Well, good evening.

Let me invite you to turn once again in the Pew Bibles,

this time to John chapter 1, verses 1 through 18.

John 1:1–18

That's page 833 in the Bible in front of you.

John chapter 1, we're going to look at verses 1 through 18.

John 1 · chapter mention

Let me read the Gospel of John for us.

And the life was the light of men.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John.

He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through him.

He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world was made through him.

Yet, the world did not know him.

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name,

he gave the right to become children of God,

who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,

nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

And we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father,

full of grace and truth.

John bore witness about him and cried out,

This was he of whom I said,

He who comes after me ranks before me,

because he was before me.

For from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.

For the law was given through Moses.

Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

No one has ever seen God.

The only God who is at the Father's side,

he has made him known.

One of the great struggles of any writer or any speaker

is to find just the right word to get across to your audience

what you want them to feel and know.

Mark Twain once said,

The difference between the almost right word and the right word

is a really large matter.

Tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.

Maybe you can relate.

Have you ever struggled to find just the right word?

Whether composing a tricky email at work

or having an awkward conversation with a family member?

We get a lot of those around this time of year, don't we?

Or maybe writing a note of thanks to your friend.

How do you capture what's in your mind and heart

and really get it across?

It can be tough.

Often, we hope for the lightning

but end up with little more than lightning bugs.

Well, the Gospel of John begins by telling us about a word.

But this word, at long last, is the right word.

The word that brings life and light.

For this word is the word that does something

that no other word has been able to do.

This is the word that makes God known.

Look again at verse 18 if you have it open.

At first, John in verse 18 sounds like a good skeptic.

No one has ever seen God, he says.

God, after all, is God.

And if God is God, the infinite creator of all things,

we shouldn't just expect to see him around

like some other object, right?

Like we see a chair at Ikea.

Imagine a play by Shakespeare.

You know, no matter how long Hamlet searches and searches

in his literary Denmark,

he's never going to meet Shakespeare.

He's never going to run across Shakespeare in his play

like he meets Rosencrantz or Guildenstern.

And so, John says,

it's the same with God.

No one has ever seen God.

And when you think about it,

at the same time,

that hasn't stopped human beings

from talking a lot about God, has it?

And struggling to find the right words to describe God.

Just think of all the words that we use.

Infinite, eternal, holy, omnipotent.

These words sound like lightning.

But who's to say that they're not just lightning bugs after all?

No one, after all, has ever seen God.

But what if,

what if God chose to make himself known?

What if God had just the right word to say

that would communicate all he is to us?

What if in this world,

flickering with lightning bugs,

God himself would send the lightning?

And that's what the opening of John's gospel is all about.

And that's what Christmas is all about.

That word has come.

The perfect word.

A word that from all eternity was with God.

A word that from all eternity was and is God.

And when the fullness of time had come,

a word that became flesh and dwelt among us.

When I was in middle school,

the internet was relatively still a new thing.

And I remember in computer class,

after about 10 minutes that it took to dial up to the internet.

Remember when you had to dial up to the internet?

After logging in,

we would send emails to students in other parts of the country.

Sort of like electronic pen pals.

And of course, we take that for granted now, don't we?

But what an amazing thing.

We can share spoken and written words with people across the globe

in a fraction of a second.

And that's wonderful because there's so much that words can actually do.

There's so much of ourselves that we can share.

But imagine, what if after years of writing,

after years of messages traded across impossible distances,

suddenly you meet your correspondent,

your friend in person,

in the flesh.

You see, friends, the reality is God had been speaking

for thousands of years.

At many times and in many ways,

God spoke through means of prophets and dreams and visions

and oracles and written words.

But on Christmas night,

the word became flesh.

God arrived in person.

In Jesus Christ,

the word himself was present for all to see,

for all to hear,

for all to know.

No one has ever seen God,

but then the word became flesh

and dwelt among us.

Shakespeare, as it were,

wrote himself into the play.

The one who had sent letter after letter after letter at long last,

crossed the ocean of eternity

and dwelt right in our midst.

And the result of this,

John says,

is that it's like light shining in our darkness.

Light that darkness cannot overcome.

And in verse 14,

John uses a very particular word for this light.

He uses the word glory.

Now, in the Old Testament,

when Moses longed to know God,

Moses asked God for a glimpse of his glory.

And so God hid Moses in the cleft of a rock

and the side of a mountain

and then passed by.

And Moses didn't see God,

but in that moment,

God spoke

and God proclaimed himself

to be compassionate and gracious

and at the same time,

just and righteous.

In other words,

the glory of God

is that he is a God of perfect justice

and perfect compassion

at the same time.

And now,

in Jesus,

John says,

we can see

this perfect justice

and perfect compassion,

this divine glory

in human flesh.

Now, most of our experience

is of one or the other,

isn't it?

Either justice

or compassion.

Either the sentence of the law

or the leniency of mercy.

We usually have one or the other.

But read the Gospels for yourself.

Consider how Jesus

is able to interact always

with justice

and with compassion.

whether it's with a skeptical disciple

like Nathaniel

or whether it's with a marginalized outsider

like the Samaritan woman

at the well

or whether it's with a fearful

but curious religious authority

like Nicodemus

or whether it's with a pair

of grieving sisters

like Mary and Martha.

There is always in Jesus

this perfect justice

and compassion.

But the greatest display

of Jesus' glory

will be seen

at the end of his ministry

where in his own person

the full justice

and the full compassion of God

will be displayed.

But at that moment

it won't be

from a throne

amidst kings.

And it won't be

in the temple

amidst the priests

and the religious authorities.

And it won't be

surrounded by

admiring onlookers.

No, the light

of the glory of God

in Jesus

will shine

most brightly

in the darkness

of the cross.

Because there

the justice of God

against human sin

and the mercy of God

for human sinners

will both be taken up

and fulfilled

when Jesus speaks

his final word

from the cross.

It is finished.

Finished.

The word

is spoken.

The light

has come.

But tragically

as John's prologue

tells us

here in verses

10 and 11

our natural response

to this word

and to this light

will actually be

to reject him.

He was in the world

and the world

was made through him

yet

the world

did not know him.

He came to his own

and his own people

did not receive him.

How strange

and broken

we human beings are.

When the word

is spoken

we close our ears

and when the light

is shining

we shut our eyes

rejecting the one

who is life itself.

and yet

this is not

how it has to be.

Verse 12 says

but to all

who did receive him

who believed

in his name

he gave the right

to become children

of God

who were born

not of blood

nor of the will

of flesh

nor of the will

of man

but born of God.

Do you see

what John is saying?

The ancient church fathers

used to put it like this

they said

the son of God

became a son of man

so that sons of men

could become

the children of God.

The incarnation

opened up

a new reality

for us humans.

The reality

that we can not

just know about God

but that we can

know God

and even more

be known by God

as his sons

and daughters.

That is that we can

be reconciled

to him.

And what that means

is that Jesus

isn't just

God's word

to us

but Jesus

has to become

our word

to God.

What do I mean

by that?

If you were

to meet God

what words

would you say?

What words

would you speak

to God

in order

to be

accepted

by him

to know

his life

and favor

to enter

into his light?

What would you

start talking about

in that moment?

Would it be

your intellectual

rigors?

Your moral

accomplishments?

Your family

background?

Your religious

observances?

words

will flicker

like a lightning

bug

and then

go dark.

The only

word

that we can

speak

before the

presence of

God

is the word

God has

given to us.

The incarnate

Son

our Lord

Jesus Christ

Christ.

To those

who received

him

who believed

on his

name

he gave

the right

to become

children

of God.

And so

friends,

brothers and

sisters,

the good news

of Christmas

is this.

not just

that God

has spoken

his word

to you

in Jesus

so that

you might

at last

truly know

him

and what

good news

that is

that we

can know

God

but that

this word

can become

your word

as well

so that

in Jesus

you might

join God's

family

and know

his life

and light.

Finally

the right

word

now that

is

lightning

and the

darkness

has not

and will

not

overcome

it.

Let's

pray.

Lord Jesus

how familiar

to many

of us

this time

of Christmas

is.

Lord how

often we've

read some

of these

texts before

and yet

we also

acknowledge

that for

some of

us here

tonight

these things

are brand

new.

God we

ask that

you would

open our

eyes and

our hearts

to receive

this word

afresh

that Jesus

has come

to show

us God

what you

are like

and to

bring us

home to

your family.

Oh Lord

would this

Christmas time

be a time

of relishing

and enjoying

and perhaps

even grasping

the truth

about Jesus

for the first

time.

we pray

all this

in his

name.

Amen.