Beginning of New Year: Opportunity to revisit John 1 and look at these verses in a little more detail.
Two words for 2025. Glory and Grace!
1. GLORY
‘The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth’
What is it that makes someone glorious?
Is it their power, their success, their achievements? Is it being in the New Year’s honours list? Is it a remarkable victory or getting a book published or creating an acclaimed piece of art? Is it the ending of a concerto, when all the different themes are brought together in a magnificent climax, or of the fulfilment of a lifetime of effort? Is it the acclaim, the love, the awe of millions?
It is very hard to define what it is to be glorious. It is one of those terms that we sort of know what it is, but we cannot really describe it. It is about radiance, awesomeness, fulfilment, achievement, joy, love all wrapped up in one.When you look at something or someone who is glorious, and you hate it or fear it or are overwhelmed by it, you cover your face. When you look at someone or something that is glorious, and you love it, your face shines.
John writes that those first eyewitnesses see the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ.
That is a staggering claim
In the Old Testament people could not see the glory of God and live.
The only person who gets really anywhere close to it in the Old Testament is Moses. In Exodus 33, Moses asks to see the glory of God. He does not completely realize what he is asking for, because God replies that he will show him his glory, but that Moses cannot see his face, for no-one can see his face and live. And so in Exodus 34, God hides Moses in a rock and passes by. God declares his name, and his goodness: five characteristics - compassion or mercy, graciousness, patience, steadfast love and faithfulness. And Moses worships God[There is an extremely helpful study of Exodus 34:6-7 produced by the remarkable Bible Project https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/character-of-god-exodus/]There is, if you like, the revealed part of the glory of God - his name and his character; but there is the true glory of God which is, certainly in the Old Testament, out of our reach: the face of God. So it is staggering when John says, 'The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory'.So how do they see his glory?They do not see the glory of God fundamentally in a celestial sound and light show (like the glory of the planet Venus a couple of nights ago) - although there is a moment when Peter, James and John see Jesus transfigured, shining with the radiance of the son. Peter writes later of that experience and says, 'we were eyewitnesses of his majesty'. But interestingly John does not mention that in his gospel.
They do not see the glory of God in a vision of the worship of millions of angels in heaven, although John does have a vision of something like that later in his life.
They see the glory of God in Jesus: in who he was, and in his birth, life, death and resurrection.
They see the glory of God in a baby born in a cowshed, laid in a manger and wrapped in cloths. A few minutes ago in this service we echoed the song of the angels when announcing Jesus’ birth to the shepherds, ‘Glory to God in the highest and peace to his people on earth’.
They see the glory of God in a traveling preacher and wonder worker. In a man nailed to a cross, dying in agony. And, of course, in his resurrection.
John describes seven signs that Jesus does – and they each reveal aspects of Jesus’ glory: he turns water into wine, he heals the official’s son, he sets free a man paralysed for 38 years, he feeds 5000, he walks on water, he gives sight to the man born blind and he commands Lazarus to come out of the tomb.So, when he turns water into wine, John writes, 'Jesus did this, the first of his signs .. and revealed his glory' (John 2:11). And just before he is about to raise Lazarus from the dead, the seventh sign, Jesus says to his followers, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God” (John 11:40).
The real glory, however, is not the works of wonder, but the relationship of the Father and the Son. That is where we see the heart of the furnace that is God.
John writes, ‘We saw his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son’.
We see the glory of God when we look at the love of the Father for the Son and the love of the Son for the Father. It is a love which longs for the glory of the other.
The Son so loves the Father that he seeks glory for the Father, even if it means he has to die. Just before he goes to his death, he prays, ‘Father, glorify your name’.
He seeks glory for the Father through his words and works, through speaking the words the Father has given him to say, through doing the deeds the Father has given him to do. He gives glory to the Father not only by praising the Father but by his life lived in complete love, trust, dependence on and obedience to the Father.
And the Father seeks the glory of the Son. We see that from the very beginning, at the baptism of Jesus, when the voice from heaven says, ‘This is my Son, my beloved with whom I am well pleased’
Jesus prays before he dies, “Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world”. (John 17:24)
The secret of Glory is this. It is gained not by grabbing it for yourself but by giving it to the other. The Father is glorious because he gives glory to the Son. The Father is eternally glorious because he eternally gives glory to the Son. The Son is glorious in his giving glory to the Father, and incidentally, in longing for us to share his glory.
And we become glorious, not by claiming glory for ourselves, but by giving glory – loving, praising, trusting that which is glorious.Glory is fundamentally relational. We share the glory of the thing or the person that we give glory to. It is like the supporter of a football club whose team have just won the championship with a final second goal. And in the acclaim and the praise and the worship, the supporter turns to her friend and says, ‘we won!’. She shares the glory of the team to whom she gives glory to.
Last week we were on a walk, and at the top of Herrings Lane, David – my brother in law – and myself, witnessed something you don’t often see. We are pretty certain that we saw a young man proposing to a young woman. He was certainly holding something small in his hand and giving it to her. They were caught up in the moment, completely blind to us. They only had eyes for each other. And at that moment their faces were radiant. We see glory in the face of the lover when they are looking on the one they adore. Their face shines. They become glorious in giving glory
Or we think of the face of the mother that shines when she looks on the child she has just given birth to. She may physically be a wreck (she has just given birth) but as she looks at the new born child she does not exult in her achievement in giving birth, but in the new life that she holds in her arms. And she becomes glorious as she gives glory.
This is one of the reasons people get it so wrong when they say that God is a tyrant who wants, who needs, people to worship him, to give him glory. No. God is eternally glorious because he is the eternal Father of the Lord Jesus and he eternally loves his Son, and he is glorious because he gives life to us and he loves us. He is glorious because he gazes on us with love. And we become glorious when we respond and give worship to him.
That is why we are told that Moses' face shone when he met with God.
It is why, when Stephen has been sentenced to death for proclaiming Jesus, and is about to be stoned – looks up to heaven and his face, we are told, is like the face of an angel.
When we give glory and praise to the one who is most glorious, radiant, awesome, loving then we become like him: we share his glory.
2. GRACE
Grace is the constant through these verses.
“We have seen his glory, glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth”
“From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace”
“The law indeed was given through Moses: grace and truth came through Jesus Christ”
Grace is about giving – extravagant, extraordinary, undeserved giving.
Grace cannot be separated from glory. Grace flows out of glory, and glory is made known in grace. The more we give, the more glorious we become
And God cannot be outdone on giving."Who", says the Psalmist, "has been able to give anything to God"
He has given us life. He has given us this world. He has given us each other. He has given us all things.
And when we rejected his gift of love, and lived as if this world is all that there is, he gave us his own eternal Son who was part of his eternal identity. He gave us part of himself.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son”
And Jesus the eternal Son came to us to make known to us the Father, and the love of the Father.
“No one”, says John, “No one has ever seen God. [But] it is God the only Son, who [has seen God, who does know God], who is close to the Father’s heart, has made him known”.
The Father gives his son for us, and whoever is prepared to receive Jesus as God’s gift of love to us, as God giving part of himself for us, is given everything!
He or she is given the right, the power to become children of God – to share in the same relationship that Jesus has with him.
He or she is given forgiveness, the Holy Spirit, the power to begin to change, participation in a new family, with a new purpose and destiny, and the hope of sharing in the life of the future.
He or she is given the opportunity to become like God, to share in the glory of God as we begin to give.
It is all grace – all undeserved gift.
It is not law.
Law was a gift of love from God, to be received as a gift of love, to show us the right way, the good way, the 'God' way to live.
But people came to treat the law not as a gift of God but as a test that they had to pass, something they had to achieve. If we fail the test, well then we have no excuse if bad stuff happened. But if we pass the test, and most of us rather assume that we pass the test, then God owes us good stuff. Law had become about deserts. I’ve been good, I’ve followed the rules – so the universe, God, owes me good.
It is Santa taken to the extreme. Santa with his good list and naughty list. If you are good you will get presents. But if you think about that, they then stop being presents, gifts and become something that we have earned.
The only problem is that there really isnobody who can really say that they should be on the good list. We are all sinners, we are all messed up. Or, in the words of a great book I would recommend by Elizabeth Oldfield called ‘Fully alive’, we are all f-ed up
But grace is different. It is not law. It is not about deserts.
Grace is about God giving us out of love what we do not deserve.
It is about God giving f-ed up people, sinners, men and women like you and me second and third and fourth chances.
It is God throwing the book at us – but not the book of condemnation. It is the book of blessing, that declares his love for us, and his giving us of Jesus.
The law came through Moses; grace and truth come through Jesus Christ.
On one occasion CS Lewis walked into the common room of his Oxford college. His colleagues were arguing about what distinguished Christianity from the other religions. They asked Lewis what he thought. "That", said Lewis, "is easy! Grace".
Most of the religious or political or ideological systems that we build are dependent on law. Most of the clubs that we establish are dependent on law. You have got to do something in order to become a member.
Christianity is dependent on grace.
Have you noticed that the only rite that Jesus requires if someone is to become part of his people, is to receive the gift of baptism? You allow someone else to throw water over you as a symbol that you are willing to receive God’s forgiveness. And it is completely free.
So glory and grace. They are woven together
Would it not be wonderful if we could put as a believing community, and as individuals, those two words at the center of all that we do this year? Glory and Grace
We become a glorious people, not by claiming glory for ourselves, but by giving glory to others – and by giving glory to the God who loves us
I remember many years ago watching the testimonies of two singers. One was Dana, the winner of the Eurovision song contest for Ireland in 1970, and who still performs. The other was Madonna. They were both asked if they prayed. Madonna said, ‘Yes I pray. I gather my crew around me before I go on stage and we pray, ‘God make them love me’. It was all about her. Dana said, ‘Yes I pray. I pray, ‘God – whatever happens in this performance – will you be glorified’. It was all about him.
We become glorious when we give glory to others.
And we become a gracious people when we begin to glimpse what it is that we have received from God as the undeserved gift of his love. Everything. And it is then, as we see his love for f-ed up me, that we realize we have nothing to prove, and nothing to lose, and we can begin to show that love to others – even if they, no because they, do not deserve it.
It is then that we begin the journey of learning to become extravagantly forgiving and abundantly giving and (it is a made-up word) deep-whelmingly full of praise.
We give God glory and we become glorious.
