Jesus - The Good News Became Flesh

Sermon Link: https://youtu.be/gip_9u538jY

Readings: Isaiah 52:7-10, Psalm 97, John 1:1-14

Do you think you would be able to hear truly good news? Let's say someone told you tomorrow that the pandemic is over. What would you think? How would you feel? I am guessing that, even if this came from a very reputable source, like a good friend, or a trusted news outlet, we would still have a lot of trouble believing it. We would still probably live in pandemic mode for a while. The pandemic is not yet over, but this experience of not being ready to believe, receive or perceive good news goes much further than this example. I have seen the same thing happen when cancer goes into remission, or when a child is healed - the patient, family and friends can hold onto the hurt to such a degree that it is like they are still living with the illness or suffering or whatever else it might be. Post traumatic stress is a lived reality of past pain living in the less painful present realities. 

This same reality can happen with us and God, where we are unable to believe, receive or perceive His good news. Just look at Israel when they are first delivered out of slavery in Egypt. They immediately start to complain and long for their old life, not realizing that God has already delivered them and is leading them into a far better life. Sure they were in the wilderness, but God was defending them, feeding them, giving them drink the whole time. The good news was in the midst of arriving and they still couldn’t accept it. Or we could look at when Israel was in the promised land. God had tried to direct them to be different from every other nation, so that they would uphold, defend one another and lift up those most in need. He even gave them a land of bounty and provision to do this. Yet, what we see in the book of Judges is massive division and selfishness that eventually leads them to wanting a king like all the other nations. You can practically look at any character in the Bible and see how they are being offered God’s Good News and yet they are unable to believe, receive or perceive it. 

The amazing truth through these stories is that even if they are only able to believe it that little bit, like as Abraham leaves his family to a new land, or as Noah builds a ark, or as Moses becomes a voice for God, or as Elijah challenges the false gods to live up to Yewah, even when these people believe a little we end up seeing this good news played out in amazing ways.

We all like good news. Oftentimes the good news that we are comfortable with is the good news we are ready for. The Raptors win, the stock goes up, we get a promotion, a baby is born and so on, but the good news from God is that the world is going to be very different, that our lives can be, that everything can be shaken and changed, because God is present and doing it. That is really good news when we look at inequality in the world, when we look at suffering and death, when we look at abuse and injustice, but that can be bad news when we are holding too tightly to our simple comforts, our goals, the fickle joys and let's be honest, most of the things we hold onto. God’s good news is offering a lot more than all our dreams and even what this world can offer, but it can be too easy to settle for the broken good we have then see what God is doing. 

A famous C.S. Lewis quote: “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies . . . because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” And remember this quote comes from a man who fought and lived through one of humanity's worst wars.

So the truth is that God is continually offering us good news, whether it's salvation, or the weight on our shoulders being broken, or redemption from our brokenness and sin, or a better world of justice, or freedom and victory to create peace but for most of history we haven’t taken it or lived into it, so what did God do, he became that good news so that we might see the good news take shape and live around us. 

 That’s what we hear in our reading from the gospel of John, that the word became flesh. God’s Good News became a child, a man, so that we might reach it, touch it, receive, perceive and believe it. In the Gospel of John, this word in Greek is Logos, which means word, reason or plan. This means that the very order of creation, the very reason behind our lives, the plan of salvation and life God has for humanity became flesh to communicate to us the thing we had such difficulty perceiving.

This is why Christmas is such a joyous time, because just as a new baby is good news that we can actually perceive, this little baby Jesus becomes a greater symbol for the new life, the new world, the new Kingdom that God has been planning and is building right now. Recreation begins, restoration takes root and redemption becomes infinitely possible. 

I sometimes think that we in all of our comforts have a harder time understanding this. Most of the time, we don’t want huge changes to our own lives, maybe a healing, or a different job, or more time, or friends, but in the past people might have been more ready for this good news. Imagine being held up in a besieged castle fort. You are starving and you have lived with the constant threat of death, enslavement, abuse and possibly worse for months. Even society within has broken down as you have eaten all of your stores, livestock and animals and the constant threat is making everyone act irrationally. Then imagine that one morning a new king arrives with an army breaking the siege and bringing much needed provisions, but what is more is he becomes your king restoring justice, hope and a free life. The kingdom does look different. Old ways, orders, positions, habits and much more will change, but at the prospect of such amazing good news what else matters as in fact this becomes part of the good news. 

We are a besieged people, hungry, in need, scared, trapped. Yet, the king has arrived. The Good News has come and the king bears his own message. This little baby is the good news of God’s promise, plan and kingdom breaking through. 

Once we realize all that this means, that the word, the promise, the plan, reason itself becoming flesh means, we should see what this means for us. First, God’s promises live, they do not fall short, instead they are working even now as God has a plan and an order for everything. Second, we can see that there is reason behind everything. The more we look at Jesus who is the word, the more we can understand that reason, that intelligence behind what is. Lastly, we can see that our words have potency and power. If Jesus is the word that became flesh, then when we share a word, we can share Jesus. We can help him to become present, we can help others literally meet him. When we read Scripture He becomes present. The God who created, ordered, loved and is shaping all things can become present simply by speaking. If we are able to receive, perceive and believe this, then we can see how this little baby being born is truly good news. And how we might share that good news by simply speaking.