Advent - John 1:14 - ADVENT 3-Emotions of Christmas: Apathy & Awe

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This Christmas season, we are considering our hearts together to allow the Christmas

story to engage with and shape our deepest emotions.

It's a story we've been reading about and singing about already this morning.

As we've been talking about how it impacts our hearts, we've talked about our longing

and hope, our grief and comfort in the Christmas story.

This morning, we're going to look at a slightly different pair of emotions, apathy and awe.

Apathy and awe.

We're going to do that this morning as we look at John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

John's account of the Christmas story, you may know, focuses a little bit differently

from angels and shepherds and wise men.

John takes a little bit more philosophical and theological look at the incarnation.

As the Son of God comes, John explains the significance of that and he goes all the way back to creation

in order to do it.

We're going to look primarily at verse 14 this morning, but let's read the whole glorious prologue

to John's Gospel.

John chapter 1, verses 1 through 18.

John 1:1–18

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 the 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, 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.

And 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.

The grass withers, the flowers fade.

These words of our God will stand forever.

Let's pray together and ask for His help as we look at them.

Father, thank you for the joy of celebrating the gift of a Savior.

As Ron has already helped us remember, we are needy people.

Far off from you by nature.

Father, you have come to bring us near.

We thank you for this, your Word, that shines light on us,

that we might understand what you were doing at Christmas.

What was happening, that we might see how that should impact us.

Father, by your Spirit, would you make Jesus glorious in our eyes.

He is great and awesome with our hearts.

I see just a glimpse of that this morning through your Word.

We ask it in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Most of you know that I'm not typically a big social or cultural critic.

But I have talked with enough people, love talking with people.

I've talked to them enough to realize that apathy is on the rise in our culture.

I think most of you would probably agree with that.

It may be apathy in regards to politics for many, in many different ways.

Maybe apathy in regard to religion.

Men, increasingly, we're apathetic towards religion.

More and more in our culture are happy to be identified as having no interest in religion at all.

We've created a new category, the nuns.

N-O-N-E-S.

The nuns.

They widely outnumber the N-U-N-S.

That's how religiously apathetic our culture has become.

Maybe it's apathy toward institutions in general.

That you have this real sense of, you can't make me care about anything.

At least anything beyond myself.

A friend in my generation, as we were talking recently, said,

oftentimes the attitude that he and many of our contemporaries have is,

give me a reason to care.

Maybe you felt that way before.

Give me a reason to care.

Why should I care?

I think part of that apathy that we're seeing grow in our hearts and in our culture

is that we're hard to impress, aren't we?

We're just not wowed by anything anymore.

Even things that would perhaps seem impressive,

we're so skeptical about because we're slow to trust.

Everyone seems to have an agenda.

Maybe it's not as impressive as it looks on the outside.

But regardless, it's tough to astonish us.

Many of us have seen the sun rise and set beautifully over amazing landmarks

in multiple different continents.

We've been there.

Some of us have grown up in the spectacle that is Disney World

is an annual experience through our childhoods.

We're used to being overwhelmed by the amazing.

It's all around us.

If we haven't actually gotten to go somewhere to see these incredible things in person,

we've flipped through jaw-dropping, man-made and natural wonders

while lying on the sofa holding our phones, right?

We've seen it all.

The saturation of the information age where it's always available to us

and we can get everything

means that not only have I seen pictures of all the amazing places I could ever want to go,

but I've also heard all the beautiful music by the most gifted musicians

that I could ever want to download.

I've seen all the amazing stunts in the videos,

the incredible things people can do.

I can even become numb to the wonder of sexuality

because the perversions of it seem almost ubiquitous just a click away.

It's hard to amaze us.

It's very hard to leave me slack-jawed, honestly.

I don't stand in wonder often.

Can you think about the last time you remember being truly awestruck?

Just absolutely stopped dead in your tracks by something you saw or felt or heard?

Can you even remember the last time that happened?

Do you remember ever or lately being in awe before God?

Truly just marveling in a worship service

or with your Bible open in front of you

while contemplating the love of God for you.

You see, John tells us that the story of Christmas

is just that jaw-dropping, magnificent, and awe-inspiring.

That's what John's saying in this passage,

but we often miss it.

You know as well as I do that you've gone through many a Christmas season

hearing the story, singing the songs

without anything really grabbing your heart

and moving it from the apathetic state

where we often find ourselves

into a great sense of worship or awe

or something that transforms how you live.

Next year is often the same.

It may be the younger generations

that are known for our apathy,

but I think those of us who've been in church the longest

have a good case of it too.

We've become very apathetic.

Just like the young people,

we are hard to impress.

And partially because of information overload.

We know the story, right?

We know what happens at Christmas.

The incarnation of the Son of God.

God becomes man.

In fact, we know that it's amazing.

We know that.

We know it should cause us wonder and awe.

And we know so much

that it is so easy to keep that up here

at arm's length from our hearts

and just know that it's true.

Have we perhaps lost our sense of wonder?

Our ability to marvel,

our compelling motivation

for utter heartfelt worship of our God.

John says in words that may not shock you,

but were something utterly earth-shattering

to his original audience

as he describes the incarnation.

He begins, perhaps not as unexpectedly,

talking about the Word, the logos,

which a variety of philosophical perspectives,

popular at the time of John's writing,

they would have understood that

as the original principle of life

or the source of all things,

depending on their persuasion.

Even if you were a Jew in John's audience

and had read your Old Testament,

the Word would be well known to you

as part of God's powerful speaking things into being.

His power in creation that He speaks

and things happen, right?

So they're reading along thinking,

yeah, this makes sense.

The Word, who's God,

He's in the beginning

and creation is happening

and things are coming into being,

but then God shatters all of their categories.

No Stoic philosopher,

no Gnostic expert,

no Jewish rabbi would have skipped over verse 14.

It is intended to be startling

and awe-inspiring,

to evoke anything from us but apathy.

Verse 14,

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.

The Word became flesh.

Wait.

It's not possible.

Just picture these people reading it,

flipping back to the beginning of the chapter.

Hold on, did I miss something?

Don't I have this right?

The Word is God.

The Word created the world.

Yep, I'm good with that.

I can fit that into my thinking.

But the Word became flesh?

God became man?

In the fullest and truest sense,

as plainly as John could possibly mean it,

that's quite a claim.

How could that be?

If that's true,

nothing else would be more important.

If that's true,

all my categories for approaching life

are challenged.

It's all up in the air.

If that's true,

it changes everything.

It can't be ignored.

We talk about the wonder of the incarnation,

but here it is,

just in that one verse,

in an unmistakable way,

Christmas says,

the Word became flesh

and dwelt among us.

the immaterial became material.

The completely holy other God

lived with and ate with

unworthy sinners.

The perfectly pure God

dirties His feet

in the dust of the earth.

The one who is eternally satisfied

in Himself

hungers

and hurts.

The Almighty God

who's worthy of all praise

endures

mockery,

scorn.

The infinite

is contained

in the finite.

The God who is so big

that He creates

the entire universe

and all the solar systems

is contained

in less than a little pinprick

in one planet,

in one country,

in one manger.

Picture it.

You're in front of your TV

and you're part of the movie.

You're in outer space

and you can see the planets lined up

and all of a sudden

it starts zooming in really fast

it zooms in

and there's one planet

there's earth

and there it is

where are you going to be?

There's one country

there it goes into Bethlehem

to the manger.

The one who stood outside

of all of it

who started all of it

is held

right

there.

The Word

became

flesh

and dwelt

among us.

That means

all those things

are happening

in that one

moment

in time.

The words of the

beautiful Christmas carol

by Frank

Houghton

Thou who was rich

beyond all splendor

all for love's sake

becamest poor.

Thrones for a manger

didst surrender.

Sapphire paved

courts

for stable floor.

Thou who was rich

beyond all splendor

all for love's sake

becamest poor.

Thou who art God

beyond all praising

all for love's sake

becamest man.

stooping so low

but sinners

raising heavenwards

by thine eternal plan.

Thou who art God

beyond all praising

all for love's sake

becamest man.

Y'all this is not

someone

showing up

and being seen

somewhere you would

never expect

to see him.

This is much

much more than that.

This defies

all categories.

This crosses

all of those

boundaries.

For the first time

in the history

of the universe

deity and humanity

are together

in the same

person.

The word

became flesh

and dwelt

among us.

Then John says

what's the result

of that?

We have seen

his glory.

Glory as of

the only son

from the father

full of grace

and truth.

No one has seen

God

verse 18 says

but Jesus

has made him

known.

He in human

flesh

has revealed

to us

divine

glory

veiled

in flesh

the Godhead

see.

Hail

the incarnate

deity.

He's full

of grace

and truth

revealing

the glorious

heart

of the God

who introduced

himself to

Moses as full

of steadfast

love

and faithfulness

grace

and truth.

I want to

invite you

this morning

to just

wander

with me

for a few

minutes

through the

gallery

of God's

glory.

Picture

yourself

as it were

in an art

gallery

just

wandering

through

and catching

glimpses

of God's

glory

in the face

of Jesus

Christ.

If you're

wondering

what I'm

doing in

the next

few minutes

at which

point I'm

on

I know

I usually

have points

there are

usually three

of them

I'm not

on

point two

or point

three

that's what

we're doing

I just want

us to

wander

together

and gaze

at some

glimpses

of God's

glory

look

together

and see

it begins

certainly

at Christmas

at his

birth

it is

indeed

the glory

of the

God

of all

creation

that is

due

to this

baby

in a

manger

in Bethlehem

hosts

of angels

come to

proclaim it

listen

when God

has something

important to

tell people

he sends

usually an

angel

to deliver

a very

important

message

hosts

of angels

show up

singing

glory to

God

in the

highest

gloria

in excelsis

deo

shepherds

race to

the manger

and leave

glorifying

and praising

God

for what

they have

seen

sometime

later

to be

historically

honest

wise men

foreign

dignitaries

who searched

for the

child

upon

finding

him

fall

down

and

worship

and offer

him gifts

of gold

and frankincense

and myrrh

we have

seen

his glory

John

says

it's not

merely at

his birth

of course

as we

look back

and walk

through the

gospels

through the

life of

Jesus

he demonstrates

the amazing

character

and glory

of God

God's grace

and truth

as you read

through the

gospels

one scene

after another

Jesus is

revealing the

glory of God

while teaching

with unparalleled

authority

and touching

the sick

and the

diseased

we see him

walking on

water

and walking

long dusty

roads to

reach the

next town

that needs to

hear the good

news

he reveals the

father's glorious

heart by

feeding thousands

miraculously

more than once

and by finding

the lost

the least

the left

out

and showing

the gracious

heart of God

to reach

even to them

to love

them

think of just

some of the

people

that Jesus

encounters

in the

gospels

tax collector

Zacchaeus

the Samaritan

woman

at the

well

the sinful

woman

anointing

him

and wiping

his feet

with her

hair

the demon

possessed

man

Jesus

graciously

finds

all of

them

and they

encounter

this

God

man

full of

grace

and truth

and the one

thing you can

count on

every time

you read an

encounter with

Jesus in the

gospels

they don't

leave

unchanged

no one

encounters

Jesus

and leaves

unchanged

of course

the glory

of God

if we're

looking for

the glory

of God

his gracious

and undefiled

character

it's perhaps

most evident

as he goes

to the cross

where he's

lifted up

but not to be

worshipped

but rather

to die

the God

of life

who gives

breath

to all

of creation

in the

person of

Jesus

will now

face death

itself

the Lord

of life

expires

the eternally

living

one

dies

all for

love's

sake

for you

he dies

things

but there's

something

about

Christmas

isn't there

about the

incarnation

of the

son of

God

that seems

to be

prominent

in every

look back

at the

glory of

God

and the

rest of

the scriptures

when you

leave the

gospels

and start

to see the

scriptures

reflect on

the glory

of God

never leaves

out the

very beginning

of Jesus

coming

to be

born

all the

great

new

testament

Christ

hymns

we're just

going to

marvel at

a couple

of them

this morning

the word

became

flesh

and we

have seen

his

glory

Colossians 1

we read

together

earlier

he is the

image

of the

invisible

God

the one

who makes

the father

known

who makes

the

invisible

visible

the

intangible

tangible

and not

just like

some

imperfect

replica

some

knock off

copy

made to

kind of

pretend

or look

like

no

he is

so

perfectly

God

that if

you have

seen him

you've seen

the father

if you know

Jesus

he says

you know

the father

perfect

holiness

in

human

flesh

he's the

firstborn

of all

creation

the baby

in the

manger

is the

ruler

the one

in charge

of not

just the

animals

gathered

around

him

not just

the people

who are

there

mother

father

shepherds

but of

all of

creation

most of

which is

completely

unaware

of his

presence

after all

he created

all of it

but even

more than

that

all things

were created

through him

and

for

him

he's the

reason

that all

of it

exists

in the

first place

that tiny

baby

that most

of creation

stands

entirely

unaware

of

that

shepherds

of all

people

race to

worship

is the

highest

glory

of all

of creation

its

greatest

purpose

the reason

for its

existence

is right

there

verse 17

in him

all

things

hold

together

Ron and I

were marveling

about this

earlier this

week and he

said to me

Jesus

the baby

in the

manger

is the

glue

of

the

entire

creation

he's being

held by

his

mother

but the

power of

his will

holds

all of

creation

and every

single

molecule

together

and Mary's

holding

him

verse 19

in him

all the

fullness

of God

was pleased

to dwell

of course

that means

in the

person of

Jesus

right

but think

because of

that

where does it

mean that

all the

fullness of

God was

pleased

was delighted

to dwell

in

Bethlehem

with

us

God

God didn't

just send

a message

to earth

he didn't

just send

a representative

he sent

his very

self

fully

God

fully

man

he sent

his very

self

on the

mission

to reconcile

us

to him

unbelievable

incredible

in a

manger

God

himself

contained

Josiah

Condor

wrote

some

beautiful

words

to a

hymn

you're

probably

not

familiar

with

that

captures

some

of what's

going

on

here

thou art

the

everlasting

word

the

father's

only

son

God

manifestly

seen

and heard

and

heaven's

beloved

one

worthy

O

Lamb

of

God

art

thou

that

every

knee

to

thee

should

bow

in

thee

most

perfectly

expressed

the

father's

glory

shine

of

the

full

deity

possessed

eternally

divine

true

image

of the

infinite

whose

essence

is

concealed

brightness

of

uncreated

light

the

heart

of

God

revealed

but

the

high

mysteries

of

thy

name

and

angels

grasp

transcend

the

father

only

glorious

claim

the

son

can

comprehend

throughout

the

universe

of

bliss

the

center

thou

and

son

the

eternal

theme

of

praise

of

this

to

heaven's

beloved

one

worthy

O

Lamb

of

God

art

thou

that

every

knee

to

thee

should

bow

you'll

hear

many

similar

themes

in

Hebrews

chapter

one

long

ago

at

many

times

and

in

many

ways

God

spoke

to

our

fathers

by

the

prophets

but

in

these

last

days

he

has

spoken

to

us

by

his

son

whom

he

appointed

the

heir

of

all

things

through

whom

also

he

created

the

world

he

is

the

radiance

of

the

glory

of

God

and

the

exact

imprint

of

his

nature

and

he

upholds

the

universe

by

the

word

of

his

power

after

making

purification

for

sins

he

sat

down

at

the

right

hand

of

the

majesty

on

high

having

inherited

is

more

excellent

than

theirs

just

one

thought

while we

wonder

here

in

Hebrews

1

he

is

the

radiance

of

the

glory

of

God

the

most

glorious

shining

of

the

glory

of

the

most

glorious

being

of

all

it's

like

saying

baby

Jesus

is

the

brightest

ray

of

the

light

of

the

sun

the

holiest

thing

about

the

most

holy

one

the

bluest

of

all

blues

you

can

imagine

the

most

glorious

shining

of

the

glory

of

the

most

glorious

one

where

is

it

where

do

you

find

that

great

glory

in

heaven

right

in

the

throne

room

of

God

no

in

little

Bethlehem

the

radiance

of the

glory

of

God

has

come

to

earth

with

us

God

has

held

nothing

back

last

one

Philippians

chapter

two

another

beautiful

Christ

him

Christ

Christ

Jesus

who

though

he

was

in

the

form

of

God

did

not

count

equality

with

God

a

thing

to

be

grasped

what's

going

on

at

Christmas

y'all

what's

happening

very

God

of

very

God

has

determined

that his

deity

is not

something

to be

clung

to

tightly

he's

loosened

his

grasp

on the

glories

of heaven

why

you know

why

don't you

why did he

let go

of the

glories

of heaven

so that

he could

cling

tightly

to

you

he

came

here

for

you

he

loosened

his grip

on the

glories

of heaven

so he

could

cling

tightly

to

us

glory

incredible

why

we don't

deserve

that

and yet

he

loves

us

that's

what's

happening

in the

manger

in

Bethlehem

see him

there

seemingly

so

weak

and helpless

but

powerfully

grabbing

hold of

us

in love

grace

and

truth

you want

to know

what God

is like

that's

it

that's

what he's

like

he's

full

of grace

and truth

moving

towards you

at your

lowest

and your

weakest

sacrificing

his glory

for your

glory

and Paul

continues

he made

himself

nothing

taking the

form of a

servant

being born

in the

likeness

of men

and being

found in

human form

he humbled

himself

by becoming

obedient to

the point

of death

even

death

on a

cross

therefore

God has

highly

exalted

him

and bestowed

on him

the name

that is

above

every

name

so that

at the

name

of

Jesus

every

knee

should

bow

in

heaven

and on

earth

and under

the earth

and every

tongue

confess that

Jesus

Christ

is Lord

to the

glory

of God

the Father

what a

glorious

savior

worthy

of all

praise

because he

is the

glorious

one

and he

has given

himself

to us

see

there is

one last

thing

I don't

want you

to miss

this morning

as you

look at

the

baby

in the

manger

the

word

became

flesh

and dwelt

among us

and we

have seen

his

glory

we have

seen

his

glory

stop

for just

a minute

and ask

yourself

some of

you have

read

the

Bible

the

Old

Testament

what

happens

when we

see

God's

glory

when a

man

beholds

the glory

of God

he

dies

right

every

time

in the

Old

Testament

that's

the

concern

there's

a

poignant

scene

in

Exodus

33

where

Moses

asks

if he

could

see

God's

glory

Moses

says

please

show

me

your

glory

and

God

says

I'll

make

all

my

goodness

pass

before

you

and

will

proclaim

before

you

my

name

the

Lord

Yahweh

and I'll

be

gracious

to whom

I will

be

gracious

and will

show

mercy

on whom

I will

show

mercy

but

he

said

what

you're

asking

Moses

there's

a

but

but

you

cannot

see

my

face

for

man

shall

not

see

me

and

live

the Lord

said

behold

there's

a

place

by

me

where

you

shall

stand

on

the

rock

and

while

my

glory

passes

by

I

will

put

you

in a

cleft

of the

rock

and I

will

cover

you

with

my

hand

until

I

have

passed

by

then

I

will

take

away

my

hand

and

you

shall

see

my

back

but

my

face

shall

not

be

seen

if

we

see

the

fullness

of

God's

glory

we

die

right

Jesus

has

come

as

the

fullness

of

God's

glory

it

couldn't

be

clearer

the

radiance

of

God's

glory

we've

seen

it

but

what

happens

we

don't

die

he

dies

so

that we

can

live

wonder

of

wonders

unimaginable

to anyone

up to

this

point

in

time

that

you

could

behold

the

glory

of

God

and

live

and

it

happens

person

after

person

and

John

testifies

and

says

we

have

seen

his

glory

because

we

are

hidden

safely

in

the

baby

who

came

to

die

in

our

place

we

behold

God's

glory

and

we

live

the

wonder

of

the

incarnation

is

that

God

becomes

man

precisely

to

die

for

men

I

think

that's

why

you

may

have

noticed

that

it's

not

just

Christmas

it's

not

just

the

incarnation

that

plays

prominently

in

every

one

of

the

Christ

hymns

we

read

this

morning

the

incarnation

and

the

crucifixion

are always

there

together

they're so

connected

in these

New Testament

hymns that are

praising his

glory

it's because

the cross

is the goal

of the

manger

right

and the

cross

destroys

apathy

two

two

two

thousand

years

ago

well

attested

in

various

histories

a man

hung

on a

cross

and died

and you

can't be

apathetic

about that

event

it's

too

horrific

to stay

apathetic

about

either he

deserved

to die

as a

criminal

or he

really

was

there

taking

your

place

saving

your

soul

revealing

God's

glory

to you

full

of

grace

and

truth

the

Roman

soldier

witnessed

the

crucifixion

and said

surely

this

was the

son of