Duoble ++ good - preached by David Burkhill-Howarth
John 1:1-18 In the beginning was the Word ? and the word was the message ? and the message - was not easy to understand! In his futuristic novel, ?1984?, George Orwell explores the control of people?s thoughts by a repressive, totalitarian, state. The leader, Big Brother, orders the simplifying of the language, so that within a short period of time it?s only possible to think what he wants you to think. You can?t talk about, you can?t develop, you can?t spread, ideas which are alien to the Party line. An heretical idea is literally, and practically unthinkable. There is no way of doing it. The words no longer exist to explain what you want to say. So in Newspeak, as the language being developed in 1984 was called, what?s the opposite of good? Is it bad ? no, it?s ungood. What?s the word for something worse than bad, it?s plus-ungood, and very, very, bad ? terrible- is double-plus-ungood. And of course it?s the same construction for good; good, plus-good, double-plus-good. You can see that all possible interpretations, ambiguities and finesse have been removed from even such a basic concept as good and bad. Not to mention the destruction of rhyme, rhythm and poetry. But I ask you. ?Mr Kipling does make double-plus-good cakes.? It doesn?t have the same ring about it, does it? But even if we retain the richness and complexity of our beautiful language, and the freedom to use it as we will, don?t you often find yourself struggling for a way to describe something. To encompass it, so that it reaches your audience with all the nuances, and overtones, and shade and light, with which it exists in your own brain and consciousness. When we communicate even the simplest of concepts, we?re bounded by our background, our learning, our clarity of thought. We also make preconceptions about our listeners or readers, and try to pitch our communication accordingly. In conversation we make use of feedback such as raised eyebrows, frowns or even a yawn, and hopefully modify our delivery accordingly. But on paper or in email, however important our message, we can only write what we want to get across, and hope for the best. And John did that when he wrote the Prologue to his Gospel. ?In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.? Is John's message clear and easy to understand, or, after 2,000 years, is it open to misinterpretation? Do we really know what was in John?s mind when he wrote those words? Ambiguous or not, John?s Prologue made a unique contribution to Christianity. It reveals the Word of God not merely as something from God, but as a distinct person within the Godhead, dwelling with the Creator before creation began, and acting as a divine agent in that creation. ?The Word became flesh and dwelt among us?. That is the gospel of John compressed into eight words. The creative power of God, the wisdom of God, the Holy One himself became a human being and dwelt among us. That is the central message of Christ ... the core mystery of Christianity ... what we Christians call, the "Incarnation" ... ?God with us - Emmanuel?. But the eternal co-existence of Jesus with God is difficult to understand, as we know that Jesus was fully a man, as well as believing that he was fully divine. John reduces the Gospel of Christ into profound prose, or is it poetry? Yet in his reducing, John does not diminish the Gospel. His introduction does not compress Jesus, but entices us to ask more ... who is this word of God for whom all things are made? Who is this true light? Why would God wish to become a human being? That last one in particular is a good question. Why would God become a human being in Jesus? Why would God enter into this world and live among us ordinary people? Why would God not stay outside of human reality ... away from the inhumanity, the suffering and confusion? Because human living is certainly a challenge ... and the older one gets, the more one realizes that most people are really just flying by the seats of their pants. What is the right thing to do? What is the best course to take? Or maybe we don't even ask the questions, and just let life carry us along from one thing to the next, with neither plan nor reason. We walk in the darkness more than we like to admit. For most of us, there are no voices from God telling us for certain what God wants. John?s Gospel is a theological reflection on the life of Christ. By the time he wrote it, during the sixty-odd years since the resurrection, there?d been an increasing realisation in the fledgling Christian community that Jesus was divine. John describes him as the second person of the Godhead. So as God wasn't born, as God was there from the beginning, Jesus must also have been there from the beginning. Back in Genesis, at the beginning of creation, whenever God spoke, God used words, something happened, something good happened. God said, ?Let there be light!? And there was light. God said, ?Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters!? And there was. On it went; culminating in ?Let us make man in our image.? And so the very first human being, Adam, was created by God's word ? in God?s image. As we come forward in time to John?s Gospel, God's message is even more dramatic. This time, God's words are Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Word of God, and has all God's characteristics and powers, and love and compassion. The Word has been ?made flesh?. But that level of complexity was quite difficult for the people of John?s time to understand - it still is! | So John uses words as poetry, rather than prose, to make his point. And instead of talking about Jesus in explicit terms, and maybe limiting our understanding because of that, he talks instead about ?the Word?. He leaves his readers, then and now, to understand his message at whatever depth they can comfortably manage. Ambiguity for the sake of greater understanding. Think of 1 Corinthians, 13. ?At present we see only puzzling reflections in a mirror, but one day we shall see face to face. My knowledge now is partial, then it will be whole.? to hear Christ, is to hear God; to look at Christ, is to look at God; to talk with Christ, is to talk with God.
Unfortunately, it's only on reaching the end of John?s gospel that we really begin to understand that when he speaks about ?the Word,? he?s referring to Jesus. Perhaps his Prologue should be at the beginning and at the end of his Gospel to get the maximum benefit from it! As time goes on it becomes increasingly difficult, for numerous reasons, to understand exactly what was meant by some parts of the Bible. And unfortunately, most theologians leave us even more confused because of the exclusive language and rarefied concepts which they use to explain it to us ? and then we in turn use, only half understood, to explain it to others. But it becomes increasingly important that the Gospel, the ?good news?, because that?s what Gospel means, - the good news of Jesus Christ, is interpreted for each generation in terms that can be understood and accepted. Old-fashioned words, strange sentence constructions, and impenetrable concepts don?t win Christianity any converts. And why? Because those good, those perfectly reasonable, those very ordinary, people out there don?t understand what we?re talking about! However, it?s not the first time that the word of the Lord has been a problem to people. There is a tradition of Jewish rabbis, that when Moses brought down the Commandments from Children rarely hear Bible stories over and over again in the family, the church, or the school setting. They no longer grow to love and remember the parables, the miracles and the Beatitudes by careful repetition and sympathetic explanation. Only in very few cases are their parents church-attending, Bible-reading, hymn-singing role models. We now have huge numbers of people to whom religion, and God, and Jesus, and spirituality are utterly unknown words, let alone concepts. If we want future generations to know anything at all about the Word of God, then we need to find modern words to tell them about the Gospel. And ways which will interest them, inspire them, and introduce them to Christ. But it?s not just the task of the clergy and lay preachers; it?s the task of every committed Christian to be able to talk, to chat away, about their faith; in terms which other people will understand. As one bishop once said, we need to be ?gossiping the Gospel?. It?s such a good phrase that most bishops have now laid claim to inventing it! We don?t have to dilute the Christian message; we just have to use some simplifications and modernisations of the message in order to spread the Kingdom. We need to use the language of the playground, the idioms of the football terrace, and the relationships of the television soap opera. And as television becomes the only source of knowledge for more and more people, we must re-learn how to give them our good news. We must give them the Gospel, not just in the words, but in a form which they expect, that they can cope with, and they have some chance of grasping. A television newsreader or reporter talks at three words per second; and a clip out of a speech or discussion, a ?sound bite? as it?s called, lasts about fifteen seconds, say about 35-40 words all told. Some people believe that we can?t get the message of Christianity over like that. Christianity?s too deep, it?s too complex, it?s too special. Really! How about; ?God is eternal?. ?Jesus loves me?. ?Jesus saves?. All said in a second or less, and in words which are perfectly understandable by today?s audience. Modern listeners may not grasp all the nuances of the phrases, but at least they recognise the words. Each one is a discussion starter; and from discussion, comes understanding, and from understanding, hopefully comes acceptance. And if your audience can spare a fraction longer; how about ?Christ died for me?. ?Father, Son and Holy Spirit?. ?The word became flesh and lived with us?. You can even fit the Lord?s Prayer into a normal length sound bite! So we must learn the Christian Newspeak. We must simplify our message and improve our delivery to help understanding. In the ancient Hebrew, the symbols used for ?word? (dabar) meant something of great power and potency. The word was not merely uttered syllables, but something which signified force, and thrust, and compulsion. Indeed, as Isaiah said (55:11), ?The word of God goes forth and will not return until it accomplishes its end.? John wrote his Gospel to tell us that ? ?Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing; you may have life in his name.? And in anyone?s language that?s a double-plus-good sound bite. Amen |