December 2 - Advent - The world did not know Him - John 1:1-18

We live in the information age. We know more now than we ever knew before. There is more information available to us whenever we want than at any other time in history. Bytes of information flying over broadband lines and wirelessly. The internet giant guru Google has their mission to collect and organize all the world's information. They've scanned in over a million books that you can look at anytime you want.

We understand our world better than we ever have. We have better medical information. We've mapped the human DNA. We are always developing new medications. We understand weather patterns better. The amount of information we have now compared to a hundred years ago is staggering. No wonder kids are getting more homework than they have in the past. There’s so much more to know.

And it’s not just a formal education that we value. We love knowing. There’s a little pride in knowing how to do something, when most others don’t. It feels good to have the information needed to get the job done. We like to know.

But for all that knowledge, most people are still clueless about the most important knowledge there is. With the number of degrees and level of expertise, most of us are absolutely ignorant. And considering how much we value knowledge, you’d think everyone would be interested in this piece of information that we hold here.

Our love for knowledge isn’t just a 21^st century American thing. For the people that John was writing to, knowledge was priceless. There was a whole religion built around knowing the right stuff, having that bit of information that unlocked the perfect, blessed life that everyone wanted. If you just knew the right stuff, you could live forever.

So, John goes along with it. Okay, sure, if you know the right piece of information, then, yes, you do live forever. But it’s not scientific or historical or biological or geographical information. It’s person. It’s God Himself. It’s Jesus.

For the past month, we’ve seen Jesus, gotten to know Jesus better. The more we know Him, the easier He is to recognize. But so many still miss Him. He’s right here, right in front of us. He’s right out there. Anyone can know Him. And most won’t. They’ll walk right on by, walking right on towards death.

So, having gotten to know Jesus for a month, we’re going to see how Jesus is missed. As we work our way towards Christmas, we’re going to see how so many miss knowing Him. As Christmas comes, most won’t know why. They won’t know.

They won’t know that the reason for Christmas has been around since before the world began. Verse 1:

Jesus is not just someone who showed up late for the party. He was there first, before any human being breathed, before any drop of water dripped, before any star twinkled. He is, He was, He always will be. He is not something or someone to be discovered, some new information. We don’t find Jesus. Jesus finds us. Christmas, then is the Word of God becoming visible so that we catch on to the fact that He’s been there all along. But many won’t catch on.

They won’t know that the reason for Christmas is the one who made the tinsel and the wrapping paper and the needles on the Christmas tree and the snowflakes and everything else that makes Christmas Christmas. Verse 3:

It’s funny how we just assume that things are the way they are, just because. They exist, and most people never give much thought as to HOW they exist. They go through their lives never thinking about who made the cotton in their shirts and who made the rocks under their shoes and who made the oxygen flowing into their lungs. The answer, we know, is Jesus. The reason we are in the Christmas season is the same reason we can breathe. But many will never put the two together.

And they won’t know that the reason for Christmas is the only hope in this dark, dying world. Verse 4:

People are stumbling, tripping over themselves, and they think it’s normal to walk like that! They don’t know what it’s like to walk evenly, confidently. They think it’s inevitable that they go through life unsure of what will happen next, afraid of the next crisis. They think it’s normal to carry the responsibility for their lives on their own shoulders, that it’s up to them to figure out the answers. They assume that everyone just has to grope their way through life, that once you’ve figured out the answer to one of life’s questions, that 10 more questions pop up. That’s what life in the dark is like. It’s lonely. It’s frightening. It’s heavy.

And it doesn’t need to be. The light is shining, and they can’t see it. Jesus is right in front of them, and they can’t understand Him. Verse 10:

The world did not recognize Him anymore because the world couldn’t see straight. Our eyes weren’t working right. We’d gotten so used to a world blurred by sin, distorted, perverted, that when we saw the One who is true, who is righteous, He didn’t look right. He looked strange. He looked wrong.

They were expecting a Messiah who would make their lives happy. They were living very sad lives, and they wanted someone to come and cheer them up. They wanted someone who would come and take away all foreign threats, in their case, the Roman soldiers. They wanted someone who would fill their stomachs with good food. They were looking for someone who would take away the pain of life. And if that was the kind of Savior who showed up, well, Him they’d recognize! Him they’d accept! Him they’d worship!

That’s not who showed up. That’s not who had made all things. That’s not who was there from the beginning of time. He would do all of those things, eventually, but first, He came to die. And first, He came to call others to die. All of those things that people hoped for from Him, all of that great living only ever comes after the dying. It’s the resurrected life that we all want, but we can’t have the resurrected life until we’ve first died. Until we’ve let go of life. Laid down our wills, our desires, our hopes and dreams, our expectations. Until they have expired.

But once they have, that’s when things start to happen. Enemies are taken out. Foreign threats are eradicated. Or if they continue to exist, then strength and peace is given to resist and to conquer. Blessings are poured out, and if not then, assurance and comfort is given through the times when there doesn’t seem to be enough. This is the light that came into the world of darkness.

They didn’t like what He was bringing. They wanted the life without the death. They wanted the benefits without the sacrifice. Verse 11:

And yet, not everyone rejected Him. Not everyone missed the Light. Some recognized Him. Verse 12:

And that’s where we come in. We’ve been given the information about Jesus, what He’s done, who He is. We’ve been given the opportunity to know Him. And I think that most of us have recognized Him. We’ve received Him for who He is and what He requires of us. Even if we’d rather have the life without the death, the benefits without the suffering, we’ve accepted that He is the Truth, and we’ve died to ourselves. We’ve received Him, and we’ve been given the right to become the children of God. Verse 14:

We’ve seen His glory, and yet there’s always a danger that we might still miss Him. His glory, the glory of the One and Only, full of grace and truth, is just as visible and recognizable as it was when He came to earth and walked this ground.

But can we see Him? Are we recognizing Him in our community, in our world, in our church, in our lives? Can we see His glory, or are we only seeing the darkness? Can we see the good, or can we only see the bad? I don’t need to make a list of the bad things, do I? With wars and cyclones and earthquakes and famines, it’s pretty easy for us to miss the light. With struggles in our families and finances getting tighter, it’s pretty easy to doubt that Jesus is around, that He’s involved, that He’s doing anything.

But we can still see His glory, can’t we? We’re not missing Jesus, are we? We know Him. We know His promises. And during this Christmas season, we’re going to watch very carefully for Him. We’re going to notice what He’s been doing. We’re going to see His glory, the glory of the One and Only.

Just look around and see what Jesus is doing. He leads us in worship this morning. Would we be here, singing, praying, listening to Him if He, through His Spirit, hadn’t brought us here? This, right here, 9:30-10:30 Sunday morning, is clear, tangible evidence that Jesus is alive and well and at work.

We had a food drive last week. Would we be sharing our food with other people if Jesus, again through His Spirit, wasn’t acting through us? The fact that there were Cheerios and mac and cheese on that table back there is proof that Jesus is here caring and providing through us.

Look around. People are encouraging one another, with a pat on the back or a note in a mailbox or maybe just a smile. When there are tears, then there are hugs. When someone hasn’t been around church for a while, then someone gives them a call and tells them they miss them. That’s Jesus, living and acting and hugging through us.

There are people forgiving other people, even people who have done horrible things. People are acknowledging the wrongdoing, and they’re deciding not to hold it against the other person. Instead, they are loving the person. That doesn’t just happen. Any of us who have ever had to forgive someone knows how hard this is knows we only ever do it in the strength of Jesus.

We can see His glory and grace, and, verse 16:

And wouldn’t it be sad if we went through this season missing all of that grace, all of that glory. Not only is it rude to Jesus to ignore the Light who has come in to the darkness, but it really makes our lives that much harder. If we don’t recognize Him, then we will feel alone. We will grow afraid. The sorrows that come along with the joys of this season will hurt that much more, unless we can see God. Verse 18:

Get ready to see God. Look around for Him, expecting to see Him. He’s here, right in front of us, if we’ll only look. He’s here, moving, shaping, controlling, if we’d just recognize it. We can see God at work. We can see His glory. And we’ll know something. We’ll know. We’ll know what this season is all about. About forgiving and providing and supporting and encouraging. About the light shining into darkness. About recognizing Jesus when we see Him.