Unexpected Advent (Part 1): John 1:1-3 // Word

An audio recording of the sermon from Sunday, December 1st, is not available. A transcript of the sermon is available below.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

(John 1:1-3)

The Power of Words

Information. Identity. Imagination. All of these come from words.

Did you know that M&Ms get their name from the two founders. Forrest Mars was the son of the Mars company founder and Bruce Murrie was the son of the Hershey company founder and they teamed up to make a groundbreaking kind of chocolate candy. The candy coating on the outside kept the chocolate on the inside from melting -- it was the first of its kind. Their slogan was “Melts in your mouth, not in your hand.” Mars & Murrie’s special candy would eventually become the candy isle staple that are M&Ms.

Another fun fact: Did you know that the movement of a computer mouse is measured in mickeys per second? As in Mickey Mouse? That’s not a joke -- that’s the actual measurement of mouse movement! I love it when science and tech folks have a good sense of humor!

I’ll give you one more -- Did you know that the name Black Friday does not refer to the dark chaos that often ensues on the busiest shopping day of the year. Neither does it refer to the economy moving into “the black,” as in the accounting term for profit rather than “the red” of debt. Rather, the first time the phrase “Black Friday” was used was in 1951 by the Glenn L. Martin aircraft company comparing the Friday after Thanksgiving to the “Black Plague” because all the workers would call off for a sick day. They used this phrase in an announcement that they would officially be giving that day as a paid holiday.

So, M&Ms, mickeys per second, and Black Friday -- Maybe you knew some of these facts already, but if you didn’t, now you do. Thanks to the wonder of words, you now have information that you didn’t have before!

So, words give us information, but they also give us identity. Our first concrete memories coincide with our development of language. No one can recall the first few years of their life, but once language skills develop experiences can be recalled and retold and memories develop and through our memories we begin to develop our understanding of who we are -- our identities. This is true individually, but it is also true for humanity as a whole. The concrete study of history and culture begins with language. Everything before language is known as prehistory and is generally an archeologist’s best guess about how things happened. But with language, history is recorded and various cultural identities develop.

Words are truly powerful -- they carry information, they form identity, but perhaps most powerfully, words are the means for imagination. Words do not only offer us bare facts, or help us recall things that have happened. They also give us a way to imagine things that have never happened. In this way, words are creative -- they create things that haven’t existed before. Anyone who’s read a bedtime story knows this -- with the words “Once upon a time,” you find yourself entering a whole new world. Does anyone else here enjoy reading novels? I love reading stories of adventure and fantasy -- entering and exploring new worlds. Some of you know that I’m a Lord of the Rings fan, but something that is remarkable about J. R. R. Tolkien is not just the story that he told about hobbits and elves and wizards and dwarves and a ring and a giant floating fiery eye. The story is classic -- but in the back of the book, there are several appendices where Tolkien also wrote an entire history of middle earth (where it all takes place) and he created a whole new alphabet and language for the elves! I mean, he truly created an entire world! It’s remarkable. And all of this with words.

The World that Words Create

We all experience so many words every day -- whether information, identity, or imagination. There are traffic signs telling us how to drive; news reports telling us what’s going on; there are forms to fill out and emails to send; there are conversations both casual and deep; text messages and phone calls; and the wide world of social media; there are song lyrics that we sing along with; tv shows and movies that we watch; books that we read… And amidst all of these words with their informative, identity-forming, and especially imaginative potential for creation, I can’t help but wonder: what kind of world is being created? With every text message and tweet, every email and conversation -- what kind of world is being created by our words? Is it a world of anxiety and anger? A world of constant motion and competition? A world where we need all that noise to keep our fears at bay? What kind of world is created by our words?

But then, what kind of world was created by God’s words? Tolkien may have created a remarkable world in middle earth, but God created all things -- the heavens and the earth! Not with the words “Once upon a time,” but rather, “Let there be…” When God spoke, what kind of world was created? Well, the story in Genesis says again and again that it was good. Psalm 33 reflects on the creation story and declares, “The word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does…” and then goes on to say, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth… For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.” God speaks and what kind of world springs forth? One that is good and right and true.

The Way Words Sound

But the question is not only what God’s words create, but also how do God’s words sound? After all, we all know that it doesn’t only matter what we say, but also how we say it. A child may be taught to say please and thank you, but won’t be praised when they say it with a reluctant tone and a roll of the eyes. “I’m sorry! Okay!?” is quite a different thing than “Okay… I’m sorry.” It’s not just what we say, but how we say it that matters. And with God, we know what he said in creation, and we know what kind of world his words created, but I wonder how he said those words. The more I reflect on it, the more I think that the booming voice we usually think of -- “Let there be!” -- may not be quite right. I wonder if it was more of a whisper than a shout. There’s nothing in Genesis to say one way or the other, but this passage in John has some clues.

In the prologue of John we see that the Word of God is not just letters on a page, but a person. “In the beginning was the Word… He was with God in the beginning…” Throughout all of scripture we can see what God has said, but to fully know how he said it we must look to this person -- to Jesus. This is what our opening reading this morning from Hebrews meant when it said, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son… [who is] the exact representation of his being…” (Hebrews 1:1-3) You see, God did speak in the beginning at creation, he did speak through Abraham and Moses, through Elijah and Jeremiah, but God has spoken most clearly through Jesus Christ, his son.

When the Word Came

So, why a whisper instead of a shout? Well, isn’t that how the Word of God came into the world at the culmination of Advent? When the Word became flesh to dwell among us it was quiet and obscure. When Jesus was born, it was not in a palace with a great audience, but in a stable with farm animals. There was no royal nationwide decree, just an announcement in a dark field to a few shepherds. This is how the Word of God enters the world.

In this, we discover a surprising truth -- that God is always speaking, but never in the way we expect. The darkness of the beginning was caught off guard when God spoke light. Moses in the wilderness was caught off guard when he came upon a burning bush. The nation of Israel was caught off guard when the little shepherd boy David came forward to fight Goliath. And then there’s Elijah -- do you remember his story in 1 Kings 19? It says, “The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” (1 Kings 19:11-12)

You see, the voice of God is a whisper, and we see this most clearly in the quiet, humble arrival of Jesus. His birth was the most incredible thing to have ever happened in the history of the world, yet the night that it happened no one knew but his parents, a few shepherds, and a stable full of animals. This is what the Word of God sounds like.

God is always speaking, but never in the way that we expect. And this is still true today. The voice of God still whispers. We can hear it in the Spirit who lives in us as he guides us into all truth. We hear it in small mustard seeds of faith. We hear it in a stage stacked with cereal boxes, in bags full of food. We hear it in daily acts of love and service. We hear it in the quiet ache of the Spirit and the Bride who say “Come, Lord Jesus, Come.”

Listening for the Whisper of the Word

This Advent, I want to create some space for us to pause and listen for the quiet voice of God. For us to hear the whisper of the Word. This is the busiest and possibly the noisiest time of the year, but within it there is an invitation to quiet down, draw near to God, and listen.

One resource for this is an Advent prayer book that we will be using through the next month. This book contains daily scripture readings that connect with the themes we will be reflecting on each week and also daily prayers that have been written by your very own church members. Many of you contributed to it and I believe that all of you will be blessed by it.

Another way that I want to create space to pause and listen is here in the service. I’m going to aim to preach a little bit less and give us all a little more space for quiet reflection. So go ahead and pause now get into a posture of prayer…

O Lord, amidst all the noise, help us to hear the whisper of your word.

What is the word that you most need to hear from God right now?

What is the word that the world most needs to hear from God right now?

Lord, help us to hear your voice and to faithfully speak.