Father, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us gently this morning.
Father, some of us are missing loved ones.
Some of us are missing loved ones on the other side of oceans, in fact.
Father, pour out your Holy Spirit upon our loved ones, wherever they are today.
Pour out your Holy Spirit.
Make them, help them to come close to Jesus on this, the season when we remember his birth.
And Father, we ask that you would pour out your Holy Spirit upon us
as we remember his coming into this world, born in Bethlehem,
on his way to Calvary to die on the cross, to make us your children by adoption and grace.
Father, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us.
And this we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.
Please be seated.
So one of the things which is a bit different,
if you've never been to one of our Christmas Eve or Christmas services,
one of the things which is a bit different here is because we don't have child care.
I think we have partial child care today, don't we?
So it's a bit where you guys get to act as if there's no child care.
So one of the things we do is I show some videos to intersperse with the sermon
because even though God bless me with nine children, I suck at kids' talks.
I don't know why, but I just do.
Actually, I can do sort of one, and then I can't do them very regularly.
My imagination just doesn't work that way.
So I show some videos to break things up.
And just to get the sermon sort of started,
we're going to watch a video called Jesus versus Santa.
As many of you know, this July, you folks partnered with me
to be able to go with SIM, a missionary organization,
into Angola for several weeks.
And one of the privileges I had while I was in Angola was to speak to a semi-nomadic tribe
that up until a few years earlier had been one of the unreached people groups on the planet,
unreached by the gospel.
And, you know, you folks, I'm sure, were praying like crazy.
I was praying like crazy all the time that I was there
because I had never preached with a translator before.
And when I was preaching to this semi-nomadic tribal group on the edge of the Kalahari Desert,
I had to have a double translator, one into Portuguese and one into the tribal language.
And, you know, one of the things that it really brought home to me
is that when you're trying to talk about Jesus
and you're trying to share the good news about Jesus,
it's hard to break into the cultural categories.
You only have the words that they have.
And how do you sort of take the words that they have
and their categories of thought
and try to communicate something which is just different?
And we don't tend to think of that as being a problem here in Canada.
But I think that's actually, I think it's a pretty brilliant video
that in many ways when people in our culture think of God,
they think of something really like old St. Nick or Santa,
somebody who's distant, somebody who's watching to see whether we've been naughty or nice,
somebody who we occasionally want to do business transactions
with to get good stuff.
And it's so sort of common in our culture
that there's all these expectations about what God is like
that we can sort of forget that we can think we're talking to people about God,
about Jesus, about Christmas, but we're really not.
They're interpreting and hearing everything within certain types of categories
and in certain types of just ways of understanding.
So if we think, it's one of the things, if you think about it,
those of you who are Christians who are here,
if you go back and you read the Bible, it's really interesting
because if you think about it, the Bible was written,
the New Testament was written when nobody had a Christian memory.
Like most of the New Testament was written to people
who their experience of God was idols.
And they had other categories as well,
but they had their own set of categories.
And it's really, really interesting that
how is it that the New Testament writers
tried to bridge the gap between how people thought all around them
and them trying to talk about something like the birth of Jesus
and what it means.
And so, you know, if you hear, listen with me,
read along with me for the first few verses of John chapter 1
because John, one of the original apostles,
he's going to write an intimate biography of Jesus
so that people can know Jesus.
That's what he's going to do.
And so, you know, he didn't have a computer
where he can cross things out and everything like that,
you know, just, you know, backspace and delete
and move things around, right?
He had to work with parchment.
And so every word has to count.
We don't know if he made a few little rough drafts
on scraps or on sand or with chalk or something
before he committed it to paper,
but he had to really think about this, think about Jesus.
And the first 18 verses of John's gospel,
it's known as the prologue.
John's sort of setting the stage to introduce Jesus.
And so it's very interesting that he uses categories
like light and darkness and word and enlightenment
and prophets or oracles.
It's another way of understanding what a prophet is, an oracle.
And these are all sort of categories
that people are used to in the ancient world,
whether you're Jewish or whether you are pagan.
You know, many of the people,
if you were in Rome or in Greece
or in what we now call Turkey,
you could go and you could hear a prophet
or a prophetess speak.
They would be as if they were an oracle,
channeling the very words of God.
And it was very common that you would go
and you would seek enlightenment.
In fact, in our age, when we think of it,
you know, what is the main rival
for the Christian faith in much of the world?
It is the religion of the prophet.
And in Ottawa, not many people like the prophet,
but in Ottawa, people seek enlightenment.
They seek enlightenment through yoga.
They seek enlightenment through a guru.
They seek enlightenment in a more secular way
through science, through reason,
through poetry, through good music.
It's a type of a category
by which we try to understand our lives
and seek to improve our lives,
either by listening to the voice of a prophet
or seeking some type of enlightenment.
And that's exactly,
it's in those categories and terms
that John begins to introduce Jesus.
But as soon as he does that,
he's going to mess with it
because he's going to try to get us
to realize that the problem is
how we think.
Like this just in the verse,
in verses four through nine of chapter one,
it says,
in him was life
and the life was the light of men.
Now you think about that for a second,
the light of the human race.
That just sounds exactly like enlightenment.
What we seek,
we seek the light of reason.
We seek the light of beautiful music,
of aesthetic experience.
We seek the interior light
for those of us who think
that there's some light
or some spark of the divine within us.
And then it even goes on,
it sounds just like a greeting card.
It sounds like it's just very optimistic
in the way that Justin Trudeau
could go with something like this.
Donald Trump could go with,
I suppose,
something like this.
The light shines in the darkness
and the darkness has not overcome it.
It sounds like the fact
that reason will prevail over barbarism,
that beautiful music will prevail
over things which are tacky,
that the light of compassion
will prevail over hatred.
And then all of a sudden,
when he's using these categories
of enlightenment,
all of a sudden he switches
and it's as if he's talking about prophets,
which is sort of the other way
which we,
throughout all of the religious history
that we've gone,
trying to understand things.
Look, in verse 6,
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.
So this next video,
it's a beautiful little video,
sort of talks a bit more
about how we sort of,
things happen in our lives
where we,
and in this particular case,
God is going to speak to us
by his word
and it's going to sort of
mess us up
because the problem is
how we sort of are interpreting
what happens,
not actually what God
is going to see
or God's going to do.
This is sort of
a little bit of a way into that.
If you could play the next video,
that would be great.
So,
if maybe the problem is us
and it's,
if you're here
and you're not a Christian,
one of the things
that you might find
very surprising
about Christians
is that we aren't aware
of the fact,
we Christians aren't often
aware of the fact
that we complain to God
that he doesn't act
in the way
that we want him to.
You'd think that we Christians
would just learn
to listen
to what God says
about himself
and accept it
but instead
we're sort of
always complaining
that he's not
sort of fitting
within our categories.
So,
you know,
just look at the way
John is going to
introduce Jesus
and on one hand
he's going to use
this prophet of,
these categories of prophet
and enlightenment
but he messes
with our head.
so just,
you know,
if you'd follow along
listen to,
listen to how,
what God
through his servant
John
and his word
does.
Listen to,
begin at John
chapter 1 verse 1.
In the beginning
was the word
and the word
was with God
and the word
was God.
He was in the beginning
with God.
I talked about this
last week.
It's a very strong
statement that Jesus
is God
because we're going
to see later on
that the word
becomes flesh.
It's the way
of introducing Jesus.
Two different persons
but just one God.
It's a very,
very powerful statement
but I talked about it
last Sunday.
We'll just keep going.
All things were made
through him
and without him
was not anything made
that was made.
That the word
is uncreated.
He is the beginning.
He is eternal.
In him was life
and the life
was the light of men.
The light shines
and the darkness
has not overcome it.
In verse 14
it's going to show
that this is all
referring to Jesus
but then look at this
huge jump.
How is Jesus
calls John the Baptist
the greatest of the prophets
and the last of the prophets.
Here we have Jesus introduced
and all of a sudden
we have John.
All this wonderful language
for Jesus.
Listen to how John
is introduced.
There was a man
sent from God
whose name was John.
If you could put up
the first point
Andrew
Jesus is not a prophet.
He is introduced.
He is uncreated light
made flesh.
John is going to try to say
we're going to try to think
of Jesus like a prophet
like a good man
like a good teacher.
It's a very common way.
It's a very common thing
for people to say
Christians suck big time
but Jesus was pretty good.
But John is going to say
that category is closed.
Jesus is not a prophet.
He is uncreated light
made flesh.
Continue reading with me
in verse 7.
He came as a witness
to bear witness
about the light
that all might believe
through him.
That is through
John the Baptist.
John the Baptist
he was not the light
but came to bear witness
about the light.
John the Baptist
is a witness
and the word witness
here is from the law court.
Somebody who is going
to give true testimony
in things which matter
before the courts.
And then verse 9
it could sound like
something that
it sounds like
the force.
It sounds like
Star Wars
the force.
It sounds like
the way people
talk about energy
being throughout
everything
and everywhere.
There was
verse 9
the true light
which gives light
to everyone
was coming
into the world.
And it has this
I mean if we just
stop there with the Bible
it would be like
people who love
classical music
would love this.
People who love reason.
People who love science.
People who love yoga.
People who love mysticism.
All of them
would applaud this.
It could be a greeting card
which is sent out
to everyone.
But then he goes
and messes everything up.
The true light
which gives light
to everyone
was coming into the world.
And then listen
to verse 10.
He
the true light
is a person.
He was in the world
and the world
was made through him
yet the world
did not know him.
Notice that
in verse 10 again.
He
him
to be able
to know
a person
he came
to his own
and the word
their own
means he came
to his
it's referring
to Jesus
coming to Israel
his own place
he comes
to his land
he comes
to his
his temple
he comes
to his priests
he comes
to his rituals
he comes
to his own
and his own
people
did not receive him.
So here's
if you go up
the next point
Andrew
you know
earlier
it talked about
how in verse 4
and 5
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
this text
is going to tell us
that some light
comes from darkness
I'm going to talk
about it more
in the weeks
to come
the gospel
of John
is often used
as a prime
example
by Jewish
people
as an example
of anti-Semitism
because of the way
that John
will use the word
the Jews
and we'll talk
about this more
in the weeks
to come
as we go
through John's gospel
but the one thing
I want you to understand
is John was Jewish
Jesus was Jewish
all the apostles
were Jewish
and he wasn't
anti-Semitic
in fact
what John
is saying here
is that the very
best religion
the world
has ever seen
rejects Jesus
every time
you see the word
Jews
in the gospel
of John
think of
the pinnacle
of religion
and spirituality
he uses it
as a type
of a symbol
and he's saying
in a sense
even the pinnacle
of religion
is in the way
of darkness
and there are
many people
who claim
that they've
given themselves
to the light
but light
can emerge
from darkness
just as we know
that those
who can call
themselves
oracles
and prophets
emerge not
from the true
light
but from darkness
to lead us
into deeper
darkness
or keep us
in darkness
if you could put up
the next point
Andrew
all true light
comes from God
but as John
is going to reveal
as the book
progresses
but not all
light saves
only the true
light
made
flesh
saves
all true
light
comes from
God
but not
all light
saves
only the true
light
made flesh
saves
one of the
wonderful
mysteries
in the
scriptures
made clear
in the
gospels
in the
new
testament
is this
mystery
of common
grace
there is a
light of
reason
there is a
light of
aesthetics
there is a
light of
beauty
there is a
light that
we can see
just in the
created order
there is a
light that
God constantly
shines
book of
Romans
says
there is
always enough
revealed about
God
through a
whole range
of means
that in
the last
day no
one will be
able to
stand on
their hind
legs and
complain about
God that
he did not
give them
enough information
to know about
him
no human
being will be
able to
make that
claim
but reason
does not
save
religion
does not
save
spirituality
does not
save
music
does not
save
mysticism
does not
save
yoga
does not
save
the only
thing that
saves
is the
true light
made
flesh
let's
pause
and see
another
this is a
beautiful
simple
video that
sort of
just draws
connections
it sort of
looks a little
bit like
light
which is one
of the
reasons I
chose it
it's called
silent night
what the
bible is
saying
if you could
put up
the next
point
Andrew
when it
says
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
when it
talks about
in verse
10
he was in
the world
and the
world was
made
through him
yet the
world did
not know
him
he came
to his
own people
and his
own did
not receive
him
but to all
who did
receive him
who believed
in his
name
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
as of the
only
son of
the father
full
of grace
and truth
the bible
is saying
is that
uncreated
light
made flesh
lay in
the manger
uncreated
light
made flesh
lay in
the manger
the next
point
Andrew
please
and the
bible
is saying
when it
says in
verse 9
the true
light
which gives
light to
everyone
was coming
into the
world
uncreated
light
made
flesh
died
on the
cross
to save
those
in
darkness
uncreated
light
made
flesh
died
on the
cross
to save
those
in
darkness
and
John
here
isn't
you know
it's funny
there's a lot
of debate
among scholars
about
John
how smart
he was
and how
well educated
he was
because
from the
historical
records
we know
that he
was a
fisherman
there's
debates
about how
literate
he is
I mean
I don't
know whether
he was
literate
before he
became a
follower of
Jesus
and became
a Christian
or if
just as
often happens
throughout the
history of
the world
the coming
of the
gospel
being received
into a
person's
life
creates a
desire for
learning
and a
desire to
know
and maybe
he learned
how to
read as
an adult
and learned
how to
write as
an adult
before he
was able
to write
this simple
but very
profound
gospel
but it's
not just
an academic
exercise
for John
listen again
to verse
11
the tragedy
that Jesus
comes to
his own
and his own
people
did not
receive him
but here
then verses
12 and
13
this begins
to begin
a theme
that the rest
of John's
gospel is
going to
keep going
that it's
not just
an academic
thing
it's not
just to
say how
odd of
God to
have done
such remarkable
things
but to all
who did
receive him
verse 12
but to all
who did
receive him
who believed
in his name
he gave
the right
to become
children of
God
in other
words he
gave
it's through
receiving
Jesus
and John's
going to make
that clear
throughout the
rest of his
gospel
it's
believing
in him
that he
is God
with us
that he
is God
who saves
that he
is the
Messiah
the
anointed
one
the one
promised
by God
for centuries
and centuries
that God
would send
to deliver
human beings
that somehow
or another
we have to
receive him
and by
believing in
his name
it's a matter
of trusting
in him
that if
we
receive him
and believe
in his
name
he
we become
adopted
by God
and then
in verse 13
we're born
not of
blood
and in the
original language
actually it's
plural
bloods
in other
words it's
not by
genealogy
I don't
become a
Christian
because my
parents were
Christians
I don't
make
made right
with God
because I
had the
right last
name
the right
type of
parents
nor of
the will
of the
flesh
in other
words it's
not that I
can just
declare by
myself
that God
has to
adopt me
and I
can just
declare by
my own
willpower
that by
my own
willpower
I am
going to
somehow be
born again
by my
willpower
my effort
nor of
the will
of man
in other
words an
institution
can't do
it you
can't go
and be
dumped in
some water
by some
old guy
or some
young guy
or you
can't go
through some
smudging
ceremony
or any
type of
institution
nothing
of the
will of
man
whether it's
an institution
or an
individual
neither
just by
my own
personal
one
nor by
my
heritage
none of
these things
will make
me adopted
by God
nor will
any of
these things
do what
only God
can do
which is
in some
way
create me
anew
create me
as a new
person
the inside
at a
spiritual
level
only God
can do
that
and I
cannot do
it by
genealogy
nor by
my willpower
nor through
any human
institution
but of
God
only God
can do
it
only God
God
put up
the next
point
faith
always
aims
in other
words
what the
Bible
calls
believing
which can
also be
called
faithing
it's
not just
that somehow
I have to
screw up
some type
of emotional
feeling
within me
or just
have some
type of
burst of
optimism
or
it's
nothing
like that
it's just
a very
very common
everyday
thing
that we
are always
trusting
something
trusting
in
something
hoping
in
something
and
we just
have this
category
of human
beings
that this
thing of
being able
to trust
or lean
on
it aims
at things
might aim
at ourselves
a lot
of times
I'm going
to be able
to do
this
I have
faith
in myself
but it
might be
that we
have faith
in an
institution
or we
have faith
in a
method
or a
process
but faith
this human
faith
always
aims
and
what
John
is saying
is this
thing
which aims
that just
trust
we're made
to trust
we're made
to lean
on something
we're made
to rely
on something
that what
we need
to lean
on
is
well
let's look
at this
final video
and then
I'll share
the final
point
if you could
put up
the final
point
Andrew
only God
can adopt
me and
make me a
new creation
and I can
only receive
this by
faith
that's what
we remember
today
only God
can adopt
me and
make me a
new creation
and only
I and I
can only
receive this
by faith
so what
do we
remember
you know
I used
to sort
of be a
little bit
rankled
by secular
Christmas
now I'm
quite comfortable
with secular
Christmas
those of you
who read
my blog
and I
had another
thing just
put on the
Gospel Coalition
website
and you
know
all around
us people
are celebrating
family and
hope and
optimism
and love
and kindness
and you
know what
that's we
should just
you know
we should
go ahead
and say
way to
go have
a great
Christmas
but the
thing about
us who
are Christians
is we
remember
today
this
unbelievable
great gift
this
spectacular
mystery
which is
not contrary
to reason
but when
our reason
meets it
all we can
do is
receive it
and stand
in awe
and wonder
that uncreated
life took
flesh
an uncreated
life
was laid
took flesh
and laid
in a manger
and died
on a cross
taking upon
himself
our darkness
that we
by faith
in him
that we
by faith
in him
may walk
with uncreated
light
in our
daily lives
now
and into
all eternity
uncreated
light
made flesh
we remember
that today
and we
remember it
with joy
because
I can do
my day
with uncreated
light made
flesh
who died
for me
so that I
can be
God's
child
by adoption
and grace
and his
powerful
power
could you
please stand
let's just bow
our heads
in prayer
father thank you
for Jesus
thank you
father
that
while he
spoke true
words of
you
he is not
just a prophet
he doesn't
fit into those
categories
father
but that he
is uncreated
light
made flesh
and we
thank and
praise you
father
that it
can be
hard
for us
to figure
out
what
different
types
of
lights
are true
and what
come
from you
we give
you
thanks
and praise
father
that by
keeping
our eyes
on
Jesus
uncreated
light
made
flesh
born
in a
manger
died
on a
cross
risen
from
the
dead
that
father
we
can
begin
to
discern
which
lights
are
really
darkness
in which
light
really
comes
from
you
we
ask
father
that
you
help
us
to
be
disciples
of
Jesus
who are
gripped
by this
gospel
story
and as
we are
gripped
by this
gospel
story
that we
are
learning
day
by
day
to
walk
with
Jesus
and
live
for
your
glory
father
all
these
things
we
ask
in the
name
of
Jesus
your
son
and
our
savior
amen
off
out