John 1:(1-9) 10-18
1/5/2003
Last February, Larry mentioned he would like to have a digital camera for his birthday. For those who don’t know, a digital camera differs from a regular camera in that with a digital camera, you can see the picture immediately after you take it and erase it if you don’t like it. Also, with a digital camera, you can “send” the pictures to people by plugging the camera into a computer and downloading the pictures out of the camera into the computer, then using the internet to “send” them. Larry’s brother, who lives in Arizona, had been sending us pictures over the internet and I knew Larry wanted to do the same. So I got him a digital camera for his birthday. In November, I began writing news stories for our local paper and they told me any pictures I take for them must be with a digital camera so I can just e-mail the pictures with the article. So I asked Larry to show me how to use his camera. He didn’t know how! He’d had this camera nearly a year and never took the time to read the owner’s manual to learn how to use it! (In all fairness, he did know how to plug it into the computer!) So reluctantly, I sat down one afternoon with the camera in one hand and the owner’s manual in the other and in a matter of an hour or so, I learned how to use the camera.
How many of you see yourselves in this story? Not many of us want to be bothered with weighty manuals. While it’s certainly true, as the apostle John says, that “In the beginning was the Word” (1:1), in this day and age at the dawn of 2003 there aren’t many people who want to take the time to read any words at all.
Americans today are buying the most sophisticated computers, the coolest digital cameras, the sharpest video game systems, automobiles that can keep you from getting lost, cell phones that you can play games on or even see who you’re calling, and then ... and then we forget or simply refuse to read the directions. Or we only use the features on our device that we can figure out without having to consult the manual.
Some of us never read the directions because we say, “It’s too time-consuming and I’m impatient.” Or, “I’d rather watch someone else doing it, and then I can ask why.” Or, “I’m a hands-on person; I learn by doing.” Some of us would rather pay to take a course to learn how to use our new computers than do learn on our own from the detailed manual.
Reading the manual. For many, it’s not gonna happen. The implications of this trend are disturbing, in both our economic and spiritual lives. Failure to read the instructions makes products more expensive, because manufacturers have to provide toll-free help lines to provide simple answers to simple questions.
Q: Why doesn’t my washing machine start?
A: Because the lid is not closed.
Q: Why won’t my computer printer work?
A: Because it’s not plugged in ... because there is no paper in the printer.
And who, you might wonder, is paying for people to sit in corporate call centers and answer these questions? We are. We are also paying, through higher prices, for all the perfectly good products that get returned to manufacturers because purchasers simply cannot figure them out. In preparing for today’s message, I discovered something about myself. In my file cabinet, I have a file marked, “Household Manuals.” For years, when we get anything new that has an owner’s manual, I file the booklet, theoretically so I’ll have it when Larry needs it. (Ha, ha.) I wanted to show you a variety of owner’s manuals, so I took these out of the file (hold up a stack of manuals). Here’s the one for the digital camera, our computer, our new air conditioning system we had installed last summer, Larry’s cordless drill, our TV, our 12 year old stove, washer and dryer, my old boom box, a carbon monoxide detector, our refrigerator (this one is still in plastic, obviously no one ever read the second page!), our WindTunnel vacuum… 3 more manuals for vacuums that are either broken or given away, a nice sewing machine manual (hmmm. I wonder what ever happened to that sewing machine??), and another computer manual (I sold that computer 3 years ago). Whoops. I guess owner’s manuals aren’t much good if you just file them away and never look at them again. Ignoring instructions is turning out to be a high-priced habit. For some people, no amount of clearly written instructional material is going to make a bit of difference. For the rest of us, however, reading the manual, taking it off the shelf, is essential - as consumers and as Christians. It is in the owner’s manual called the Bible that we can find answers to so many frequently asked questions, such as:
• What should I be doing with my life?
• How can I make a fresh start?
• Where’s the guidance I need for happiness in my relationships?
• What’s the point of the day-to-day grind I’m experiencing?
• How can I make the best use of the time and money and talents that I have?
• Where’s the evidence of God in this world?
• Why do really nasty things happen to innocent people?
• Is there more to this life than I can see?
The Bible contains stories and letters and prophecies and commandments with answers to these questions, and it rewards our attempts at careful and prayerful study of its 66 books. Certain lessons are much better learned through Holy Scripture than through personal trial and error. But the Bible is big, let’s face it - it’s an enormous owner’s manual, containing over a thousand pages in most translations. There’s just no way that we can master it in a single sitting.
We need a user-friendly version. Fortunately, God knew we would need that. John tells us in the very first verse in the first chapter of the book he wrote that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (1:1). Now if you read this yourselves in your Bibles, you will notice that the word, “Word,” is capitalized, like a name, like something other than just a word.
This pre-existent Word of God was part of the very creation of the world, and brought both life and light into our midst. Listen to some more verses in this first chapter of John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. 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, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:1-5) And then in the next few verses, John explains his own presence: “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.” (John 1:6-9) Notice that it was so important to John for his readers to know that John was not the light, that his sole purpose was to testify to the light, to tell others about the light, that he says twice, that he came to testify to the light.
In verses 10-13, John has more to say about “the light.” “He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.”
Best of all, in verse 14 “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.” The Word (capital W) of God became human in Jesus Christ and lived among us, so that we could see the perfect grace and truth of God at work in human life. In Jesus, God’s Word is not only 66 books spread out over a thousand-plus pages; it is also a living, breathing, loving, forgiving, healing, teaching, leading, guiding, correcting, consoling, challenging and comforting human being.
Jesus is not a Word we sit down and read. Instead, he’s a Word we watch and hear and imitate and follow. No form of instruction could possibly be more user-friendly.
To follow this Word-made-flesh-made-human is to accept that Jesus is at the heart of our interpretation of Scripture. When someone tells you, “The Bible says this or that…” does his or her definition conform to the teaching, activity, example, life, death and resurrection of Jesus? If so, then it’s a correct interpretation, and a valid form of instruction. If not, then it’s gotta go.
Pick a difficult problem, any difficult problem: capital punishment, abortion, welfare reform, war with Iraq. Then plug in a popular solution, and ask yourself, “Does this solution conform to the example of Jesus Christ? Does it support his greatest commandment to love the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind - and to love your neighbor as yourself? Does it spread the love given by God, commanded by God and shown by Jesus?” If it fits the life and teaching of Christ, you’ve got a winner.
It is certainly true that there aren’t many people today who are willing to slow down long enough to read the fine print of various owner’s manuals. And it’s equally true that there aren’t many among us who are going to take the time to do a careful study of the rules and regulations of the Old Testament books of the law. Verse 17 of today’s scripture says, “The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
That’s why we need the Word made flesh, made human. That’s why we need someone to come down and pull us out of trouble, save us from our sins, lead us by the hand and inspire us to follow the way of God. In our word-avoiding world, we need a picture, an example, a Light. Now we have it: Jesus Christ the Lord.
“Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets,” says the writer of Hebrews. Those Old Testament days were the age of instructions, the era of detailed how-to directories. Hebrews 1:2-3 explains, “But in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word” And John puts it this way, in the last verse of today’s passage: “No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son (Jesus), who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.” (John 1:18) In the coming of Christ, we have now been given a far more wonderful and user-friendly guide: the flesh-and-blood Son of God.
The Almighty dwelt among us! The plan was so exceptionally simple and unimaginable, most of his own people missed him. The Creator took the form of the created. The High and Lofty One came down as the most lowly of the humble. The King of Kings became a suffering, unhailed servant. The Glorious Mighty One took on simplicity and weakness. (See Source List, Mark Roth)
To find the answers to life’s questions, we can do no better than looking to God’s Son. He is the reflection of God’s glory and the imprint of God’s very being. Heir of all things. Creator of worlds. Sustainer of all.
• When we are searching for direction and guidance, he can lead us.
• When we are desperate for forgiveness and new life, he can fill us.
• When we are hungering for meaning and insight, he can satisfy us.
• When we are looking for holiness in the swirling chaos of current events, Jesus can reveal himself to us.
To all who receive him, according to the gospel of John, who believe in his name, he gives power to become children of God (1:12).
Reading the manual still works with digital cameras and computers. When there’s a power outage in your day-to-day life, there’s only one thing to try, read the Perfect Owner’s Manual, the Holy Bible. And plug into Jesus. “He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13)
Please pray with me:
Father, Come to us and shine your light in our darkness. We have seen your glory, full of grace and truth. From your fullness we have received blessing upon blessing. Help us learn how to testify to your love. Amen.
Benediction
May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from His glorious power. May you be prepared to endure everything with patience while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. And may the light always shine in your darkness. May your ears always hear the Word. And may the glory of the Father’s only Son be known to you now and forever. Amen.
Sources: Mayer, Caroline E. “Why won’t we read the manual?” The Washington Post, May 26, 2002, H1. -Mark Roth, “The Word, made flesh, dwelt among us,” Christian Light Publications, 1991, anabaptists.org/clp/wordmade.html.
