John 1:1-14 - “God’s Story” - Christmas Eve

The Gospel according to St. John chapter

John 1:1–4

1 verses 1 to4.

In the beginning was the word and the

word was with God and the word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

All things were made through him and

without him was not anything made that

was made.

In him was life 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 that light but came to bear

witness about the light.

The true light which enlightens 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 the children of God, who were

born not of blood, not of the will of

the flesh, nor the will of men, but of

God.

And the word became flesh and dwelt

amongst us.

And we have seen his glory. Glory as of

the only son from the father full of

grace and truth.

What does the word mean? The word means

literally it's a story. It's a creation

of proclamation.

That's what it means in the logos or in

the Hebrew it meant a it's about a

story. And it says here that in the

beginning there was a storyteller.

And he told a story that's called

creation. And we all think through

stories, don't we? That's how we go

through life. We've looked through the

world through a narrative lens. And this

God created this creation not as a

stagnant thing, but as a living story.

And it was meant to be good.

We were meant to be good, ordered. This

story was meant to have make sense.

And he did something incredible.

He chose human beings to be part of this

story, to be part of the creative act.

He made us in his image.

Isn't that incredible?

We became part of God's story. And not

only that, we were to continue telling

God's story in this creation.

It's a good story.

What went wrong?

Well, what went wrong is the truth that

we hear

all the time nowadays.

Well, that's your truth.

That's your story. Have you heard that?

What happened was we decided we no

longer wanted to live under his story.

We decided we'd rather be in the terms

of the temptation. We would rather be

like God. We'd rather take over. Thank

you very much. you've done a good job

storyteller. We're going to put in our

story now.

And here's the problem that happened is

we're really bad storytellers.

We our stories are full of violence and

hatred.

They're full of abuse.

And if you look at the history of this

world, it's pretty hard to argue

that we whatever we create about the

truth of our world, these stories,

they're damaging.

And what you see in the Old Testament,

people say to me, Emry, the Old

Testament is very violent. I said it

actually would be an 18A rating if it

was a movie.

It's because it's trying to point out

that we're really bad storytellers again

and again and again. And God keeps

trying in these Old Testament to reach

out to us and say, "Let's tell this

story, right?" Tries it with the

prophets, tries it with the law,

but we can't do it.

I had a a young man I was at corrections

and he was a very troubled young man and

we had to keep our eye on him all the

time. He got away from us and he had

done some serious crimes. And so when he

came back to the facility, I asked him

where he had been. And he knew he was in

trouble. And he said, "Well, I got hit

by a 5-tonon truck."

He didn't have a mark on him.

So I said to him, "That's a really bad

story."

That's like us. We tell these incredibly

bad stories. And the worst part about it

is our world celebrates it. Do you know

what his counselor actually did after I

told him it was a really bad story? She

called me up and said I was I was

stepping on his truth,

on his story.

And that's how the world works right

now. And everything is a mess right now

because we're such bad storytellers. And

the worst part about it is we all tell

each ourselves different stories about

what's important, who's important, and

why it's important. And that's what the

news is all about.

When somebody won't mention names, a

certain politician says it's fake news.

Well, they're all fake stories in the

sense of they're somebody's opinion.

And by the time we get to the first

century, second temple period, let me

tell you, the Jews were telling a

terrible story about God. And the Romans

were telling an even worse story about

the gods.

And if I was the storyteller and the

author, I would have thrown the book

away and started over. Wouldn't you?

And then it says, "The storyteller

took on flesh."

That's incredible.

The author of the story came into his

story.

The author of the story, tabernac, it

says, tented amongst us, hung out with

us

for one purpose

and one purpose only, so that he could

redeem us as storytellers.

He came amongst us and he showed us what

the story was supposed to be by being

truly human. And it's incredible when

you think about it that the creator of

heaven and earth came. I like Augustine

of Hippo.

He was created of a mother whom he

created. He was carried by hands that he

had formed. He cried in the manger in

wordless infas infancy. He the word

without whom all human eloquence is

mute.

The storyteller came in.

The word came in to be known.

Now,

I was talking to a young mother the

other day and she was telling me how

excited she is because her child is

starting to use words.

And I smiled knowingly cuz I remember

being at that stage where your kids cuz

she's right. You finally get to know who

this person is and you get to learn

their story. I also smiled because she

clearly didn't have teenagers.

Sorry, teenagers.

But the beauty of that is she wants to

know her child. She wants to know her

story. She wants to know the words.

Well, our God came in and he wants to

know us and he wants us to know him and

he want came in the form of Jesus Christ

so we would get the story correct. And

the most incredible point is he never

forced that story. He let us continue to

live our false narratives even to the

point where we put the storyteller on

the cross

and he did it for us and then he

conquered death. And you know what he

said by doing that? There's a new story.

There's a new story and this time you

get to be a part of it and I'm going to

live in you if you believe.

This Christmas,

I think about this and I'm blown away.

I think about this God who came in with

the story. I think of people who don't

like to say Merry Christmas because it's

assuming we have the right story.

Well, we do.

We do have the right story. We're not

telling the right story out of

ourselves, but we know the right story.

And here's the most incredible thing.

All you have to do

to be part of this story for eternity,

are you ready for this? Is believe.

Listen to these words in John.

But to all who did receive him, the

storyteller

who believed in his name, he gave the

right to become children of God. Little

storytellers.

Why? who were born not because of your

bloodline,

not because you try hard enough the will

of the flesh, nor of the will of man,

but of God.

This Christmas, I invite you to go back

and remember that the storyteller came

back.

He came back for you and to embrace

that. Remind yourself of that. And then

through this new year, don't make what

do they call them? Resolutions.

except one. I'm going to live like the

storyteller

because he brings life.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you that you

came into our world,

that you brought the truth, the word,

the story

to live by,

and that story is a relationship with

you.

We pray, Father, that you help us lay

down our stories that go against you,

embrace you,

and that even this Christmas, you'll

breathe on us and surprise us in new

ways about who you are. Amen.