"Pitching a Tent" - a Christmas reflection on John 1:1-18

And 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 (v.14).

Here is John’s magnificent statement on Jesus’ incarnation – John’s Christmas message.

Following the Gospel of Mark having nothing particular to say about the birth of Jesus, both Matthew and Luke gave us rich nativity stories from which we draw the wonderful and meaningful traditions of the miraculous pregnancy, Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem, the birth in the barn behind the inn where there was no room, and the baby in the manger being visited by wise-men and shepherds. The various visitations of angels made clear that this had been all orchestrated by God for the benefit of all humankind.

But by the time the Gospel of John was written, the Jesus-following community were ready to hear an even broader and more comprehensive concept concerning the origins of Jesus. The “Word” pitched his tent in the world. More on this soon!

But first, let’s take our minds back to “Christmas by the Lake” two weeks ago. It was great to walk away from our marquee back over towards the lake, where the scouts were selling their food, and then look back across at our great new marquee, with its prominent signage and with all the busyness of the face-painting and stress-ball making – and just appreciate the statement being made by all this.

But some may still ask, whether it’s one of us or a member of the community … ‘Why would we set up the marquee and do all this stuff”? And not just once a year at a Christmas event, but another eleven times a year at the Point Cook Market! So, let’s try to answer that question for ourselves!

The obvious answers would be along the lines of making ourselves as a church known, and to be obviously present in the community – a bit of a marketing exercise really. Then there would be likely responses like making a bit of a contribution to community events, and being seen to care. We could extend this to offering a safe and special place of gathering for children and families, where we can show that God is alive and that God loves people. We could also say that this gives us a forum through which to share our lives with our neighbours.

Thus we start to see the truth of the statements on our sign: “Your Church in Action” and “Sharing Community”. But I think there are more reasons than just these, and I hope that you’ll see how they connect with John’s Christmas vision. Setting up a marquee in the midst of a community event also shows that people don’t need to come to us where we are, where we like to hang out together for worship and fellowship (although we’d love it if they did); it shows that we will make ourselves vulnerable and go to them wherever they are, meeting with community members on their own turf. And just like Jesus, we will not be deterred by any sense of rejection. [In this way we are seen as authentic witnesses to what we believe, because we are really committed to it!]

There were many joys experienced at Sanctuary Lakes that day. But the greatest joy is the way this activity links with our text – And 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 (v.14).

God’s principle action in the incarnation was leaving his home, adopting human vulnerability, going out to where people were camped, and pitching a tent there.

Here, within all the complexity of human life, Jesus arrived through the dimension of human birth, and took up residence in Palestine. This was where all the theory concerning the extent to which God loves all the people he created was proved to be true. God’s glory was revealed in the merciful and compassionate actions of Jesus over three years of ministry and on one traumatic day just outside of Jerusalem.

How far would Jesus go to reveal God’s glory … as far as it would take! Jesus would touch people with his healing and transforming effectiveness, confound popular wisdom with teaching that would turn certain societal attitudes on their head, and become the suffering servant of all who would just believe. Jesus would also endure much temptation, rejection and abuse, such that he could certainly identify with the broad range of human need and then lift people beyond it. God, through Jesus, entered into the depths of our life, sounding the invitation for us to enter into the heights of God’s life.

Yet, given what was going to happen, would the whole notion of this transportation from Heaven to Earth be easy for Jesus to wrestle with (especially considering the difference in conditions between the two places)? Despite his strong commitment to the cause, we know from Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane that it certainly wasn’t an easy mission.

As we consider challenging options of involvement in mission today, we may be very much less ready than Jesus was to comply with God’s will.

As mentioned earlier, John’s vision and understanding was much broader than Christian theology had known before. Such concepts as we read here tend to boggle the mind, and somewhat remain a mystery beyond the limits of our intellect. But if we can just capture at least a small part of it, we will be strengthened in our faith and more resolved in our witness.

Jesus was and is the “Word”, which comes from the Greek “Logos”. This is an all-encompassing term that to the Hebrew thinker meant ‘the self communication of God’ or the idea of ‘God revealing himself’, and to the Greek thinker meant ‘the rational principle behind all reality’.

Jesus, as part of the triune community of God, was present with God and the Holy Spirit in the very act of creation. One Divine Purpose, Three Personalities, involved in the creation of humanity!! There are all sorts of implications of this, but today we’ll just follow through on one of these.

As verse 1 pointed out, Jesus “was” God (thus part of a unified whole), and also, “with” God (thereby carrying a particular unique and separate role). And it would be Jesus’ eternal role to redeem for God what became lost as the history of the world unfolded. Where people sell themselves off to life pursuits divorced from God, Jesus repeatedly makes himself available to purchase a pathway back to God for them.

The means of this occurred through one particular event on a cross 2000 years ago, yet the offer is open for all time. And so it is that Jesus has pitched a tent in our backyard offering us new life in God, undeterred by any of our disinterest. The “Word”, Jesus, keeps coming to us.

And this was all according to God’s grand plan that we can glimpse in verse 12. All of Jesus’ work of service was aimed at something that had been lost. What did God desire that we become again? What could we truly be again if we respond to Jesus??

This was not just about feeling good about ourselves or escaping the penalty of sin – much more than that! This was about the restoration of a lost relationship!!

Where the complexities of life and our subsequent poor decision-making had broken the child-parent relationship we had been created to enjoy, receiving Jesus’ gift to us and wholly believing in him restores that parent-child relationship for us for the rest of time.

To know we are a child of God gives us the ultimate feeling of value and belonging that is so desired by human beings whether they recognise it or not. This is a relationship providing nurture, guidance, protection and growth. Therein is peace … because we are connected to our creator, our future is secure, and surely with God we can reach our potential.

So let’s not forget that the baby in the manger is the eternal “Logos”, who has set up God’s marquee in our community, offering a new way of life to those struggling without hope and purpose. And where we have the opportunity, we would surely want to join with Jesus in inviting people to once again become the children of God they were intended to be.