SCRIPTURE: John 1:1-14
TEXT:13who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. 14And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. THEME: INTRODUCTION Yesterday, on Christmas Eve, I retold the story of Christmas, Today I have a different take on the birth of Jesus, from the Gospel of John. I have been in enough meetings, where if someone doesn’t know the answer, they will:
SCRIPTURE The question is, “John why didn’t you begin your gospel on the life of Jesus with the story of his birth?” John would answer by saying, “I did, Jesus is eternal and has always been, from even before our beginning. Only his human self was born. The infant Jesus is the Creator of all things. The next question is “What?” John answers by saying, “All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being. In him was life, the life was light, the Light of all people.” Jn1:3-4 Okay let’s talk about light. We already established Jesus as a life bringer at Creation, how is Jesus a light bringer to all people? Because John the Baptist says so. We can add name dropping to our list of how some people avoid answering questions. John said so. Not me so it’s on him. So why don’t we recognize Jesus as the source of life, or light that can dispel darkness in our lives? The new people of God, are not by any blood line, ancestry, or how good or obedient they are. The new people of God are those who respond to Jesus’ love, grace and truth. Jesus’ light shines in our darkness- ‘that we are not good enough’, our darkness- ‘that makes us think we have to believe harder, or do more, or be better’. Our darkness- ‘that thinks our faith is racist instead of diverse and inclusive’. Our darkness- ‘that thinks that we have to earn God’s grace and love’. Our darkness- ‘that errors on the side of righteousness and not on the side of kindness, inclusion, generosity, humanity, or love.’ Jesus’ light shines through all of the religious crap and changes water into wine, speaks to a teacher at night about rebirth, asks for a cup of water from a sociologically inappropriate stranger, heals on the Sabbath, feeds the 5,000 with a morsel of food and refuses to throw the first stone. “9The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.” Why Children of God? Because this is not about saving ourselves, it is about Living. How we live with God and how we live with others, is about relationships. What is Jesus’ birth about? It is about our being part of the family of God, living with siblings, having extended family and lots of cousins. This is to the Glory of God. The Glory of the father’s only son, full of grace and truth. Who pulls us together as family and dispels the darkness that makes us think that we don’t belong. APPLICATION What are the marks of living as the Children of God? It is the powerful love of God; to accept, transform, forgive, renew, revive, redeem and resurrect. CONCLUSION John begins with answers to the Gospel of Jesus. First with an eternal expression of the Christ, no need to get into his birth story, as is to say Jesus is about birthing Life and light in us. Then secondly about light, showing us how-to live-in God’s love, as God’s adopted children, freed to love others with grace and truth.
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