“The Story” Chapter 22: Birth of a King John 1:1-5,14 February 21, 2016 Title: “It’s All About ‘You’ ”

Do you believe that-that love actually is all around? It’s kind of a pie-in-the-sky, let’s hold hands and sing Kumbaya kind of question. We’re not going to do that today. But it is a question that leads us to think about our lives, our relationships, and especially, the culture that we live in. Last month, I watched how a moment during a football game removed all love in the world for some fans, to the point, that the world nearly came to an end. For pastors who are fans of the los ing team, what happened was enough to make even a preacher swear.

A few weeks ago, the were playing the . The Vikings kicker, Blair Walsh, simply had to kick a field goal to win the game. The Vikings would then go off to play in the game that, if they won, would take them to the Super Bowl. Professional athletes get paid a ridiculous amount of money for what they do and the downside is that their mistakes are for all to see. To the surprise of everyone, Blair missed the short field goal. When he missed that field goal, everyone, especially Vikings fans, had something to say about it after the game. News stations interviewed fans after the game and some said things like “Well, there’s always next year” or “we had a good season”. Then, there were the negative comments.

Chip Scoggins, wrote the following in his article that appeared in the St. Paul Star Tribune during the week following the game. An article on how certain fans lose perspective when their teams lose: Blair Walsh experienced the worst day of his professional career on Sunday. If the Vikings kicker checked his account that evening, here’s a sampling of messages sent to him:

How does it feel to let a whole entire state down in one day? Dude…you should leave Minnesota. Trust me. Every Viking fan in the world now hates you. Thank you for destroying my soul. If you could swallow a gallon of bleach, that’d be great. Those were the comments that were suitable for print.

Imagine what it was like for Walsh, with all the disappointment he felt, to answer questions from reporters after the game. What was ironic was that all the points the Vikings scored in that game were by field goals made by Blair Walsh. They wouldn’t even have been on the brink of possibly winning if it wasn’t for him. Amazing how one action can flip the switch of our emotions.

What was fascinating to me wasn’t the negative reaction from fans in the moment of loss-that’s always been a part of sports. What was fascinating to me was how extreme some of the comments were…how offensive and personal they were. We know that such comments come from a small majority of people where the vast majority of fans just accept the loss and move on. That’s what Vikings fans had to do; accept the loss, move on and prepare to face their friends who are fans.

Yet, what has been happening in sports has become more prominent in culture in regards to how people treat each other. It’s as though the boundaries in what is or is not appropriate to say are not generally defined or accepted.

Something happens that bring us to our highest levels of anger and frustration, somehow we feel mistreated, or we don’t receive what we want or we feel harmed in some way. We then allow those feelings to give us permission to say what we want with little concern for the other person. When we say what we want…we can take even more drastic measures. We get personal.

Do you know how that feels? Have you ever said a comment that went too far…it was too personal? Perhaps towards your spouse? Towards a friend? A co-worker? How about towards a referee, a coach or an athlete in a game? Perhaps towards that driver that cut you off on Clairemont Avenue or that other driver in the church parking lot?

In certain situations, rather than speak to the person face-to-face or over the phone…we say to ourselves “I’m so mad, I don’t even want to talk to them.” So we use a means to make sure we get our point across without their input. We use email, texts and social media to say what we really want to say. We type and then click ‘send’ so that person knows exactly how we really feel. Doing that makes the situation worse and in my opinion, venting over a keyboard is just childish. Be an adult and talk to the person face-to-face.

Do you know what is the most powerful word to use when you are mad at someone else? You.

You did this. You didn’t do that. Why do you always have to be that way? You are just like your mother. You are just like your father. You can’t teach. You can’t coach. How can be a Democrat? How can you be a Republican? You don’t know what you are doing. What’s wrong with you? Why don’t you just leave?

Look around. Our political system thrives on candidates not showcasing what they have done to better our country but use ‘you’ in accusing their opponent for contributing to all that has gone wrong. Parents who take less of a responsibility on their kid’s education simply blame the teacher, ‘you need to teach better.’

What happens is that our use of ‘you’ allows us to judge, to criticize, to remove all accountability and responsibility. ‘You’ allows us to be on the defensive, to point out the faults in someone else. When we do this, someone always gets hurt. Relationships are tarnished; people distance themselves from each other. Words are said that cannot be forgotten.

Thing is, this isn’t anything new. It’s been present since the dawn of creation. Remember Adam in the Garden of Eden when God asked him why he disobeyed God and ate the fruit from the tree, “The woman whom you gave to me, she gave me fruit from the tree and I ate.” (Gen. 3:12) God has been addressing it through all of the Old Testament in helping us to live where love is present. Then one man named John, at the end of his life, wrote words about God’s love that changed…the…world.

The Gospel of John was written by the apostle John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” He knew what it was like to be a part of the initial 12 disciples with only a small group of followers. He witnessed how that small group of followers slowly began to grow to the point that huge crowds would welcome Jesus, him and the disciples when they came into towns. John was close by listening to Jesus teach. He was in the boat when Peter got out to walk on the water towards Jesus. John likely cheered with the others, “Yeah Peter”. Then when Peter fell into the water, “Oh no Peter!” He saw Judas betray Jesus. He also ran away when Jesus was arrested. John saw Jesus, standing alone on trial before Pilate. John then heard Jesus’ screams while he was being flogged. He saw Jesus collapse onto his cross; watching the nails pounded into his hand and feet.

John saw it all; he heard it all; he remembered it all. At the end of his life, he sat down to write about the life of Jesus. He wrote to people who were already acquainted with the writing of Matthew, Mark and Luke. So he omits things like the Lord’s Supper and the birth of Jesus that were already in the gospels.

John begins: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” John begins with the same format as the when the Story of God began in Genesis, “In the beginning…” which re-enforces the magnitude of his words.

“In his was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness has not understood it.” The world was full of darkness marked by sin. God addressed that sin in many ways in the past…through miracles and people like Noah, Moses, and the prophets. Now, in this one verse, everything changes since God now gets personal.

“So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.” (John 1:14 NLT) God took on our form and lived on this earth with us. Imagine, the thought of it…God lived on earth.

John is saying, “We, me and many others, have seen his glory. We heard him speak. We saw him heal. We saw him die and we had breakfast with him on a beach three days after he died. The Son who came from God the Father.”

His gospel tells of how Jesus brought God into this world. A man who preached against division and exclusion with a message that all, especially women and children, were worthy of God’s love. A man who brought a message of hope for those who had nothing to hope for, especially the poor and oppressed. A man who preached that God’s kingdom was not about power but about caring for, forgiving, and loving all people.

John’s words continued until he does something remarkable in his gospel that is not the writers of Matthew, Mark and Luke did not do. John is ending his gospel and he gets personal.

“Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples which are not recorded in this book.” Hmmm…I wonder what he did. He then makes this powerful statement: “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

There is no Mary and Joseph, shepherds, a stable and angels all familiar when we recall how God came into this world in the birth of Christ.

Why did it all happen? Because of you. That’s why. Just think about it. God’s love in Christ was all for you. John wants to make sure that you know the “Why Christ was born” not “What happened when Christ was born.”

Back to my original question, “Do you believe that love is actually all around?” For John, he would most certainly say ‘yes’. That love changed my life and has changed the world. That love will overcome all guilt and sin in your life. That love still changes the world.

Do you know how that love still changes the world? Through you…your faith, your word, and your actions towards others. Here’s three things that I propose for us this week now that we have heard John’s words of God’s love in Christ: 1) Thank God for the people in your life who you love 2) Watch your words: Do they reflect God’s love? 3) Mark March 13th on your calendar. It’s my final Sunday with you and I hope you can be here!

Let’s pray… God, your love has pervaded the scriptures and we thank you for how ‘The Story’ has brought us a renewed awareness of your word. Your Word became flesh and lived among us where in your Son, our world and our lives have been changed. Lead us to reflect your love in all that we say and do today so all will know that love actually is all around. And all God’s children said, “amen.”