Then Jesus Came Calling
John 1:1-13

OPEN: The story is told of two men riding a tandem bicycle up a steep hill. After much effort they finally made it up to the top of the hill. The front rider said “Wow, that was a tough ride” to which the second rider replied “Sure was if it hadn't. If I hadn't kept the brake on, we might have slipped backwards.”

Seriously there is a true story told and this is what our sermon will be about this evening or be focused on. I will start with this and end with this thought. There’s a true story told about a plastic surgeon who had a patient that had been injured in a fire. The patient had attempted to save his parents from a burning house, but he couldn't get to them in time... and they died. His own face was burned and disfigured. And (as sometimes happens when overwhelmed by such tragedy) the man felt guilty because he had failed to save his parents - and he believed that his pain was God's punishment. As a result, he refused help from anyone, including the doctor. And he wouldn't let anyone see him—not even his wife.

When the wife went to talk with the Doctor, he told her “I can restore his face.” But of course the problem was, that he repeatedly refused treatment and the doctor wasn’t sure what to do. The wife looked at the physician and said, “That's why I have come to see you. I want you to disfigure my face so I can be like him! If I can share in his pain, then maybe he will let me back into his life.”

Our text this evening is from John 1:1-13. The title of our lesson is Jesus Came Calling.

APPLY: Our text tells us that God had a similar problem. The Gospel of John starts out by introducing Jesus. We’re told that Jesus was The Word of God. In fact, He wasn’t just the WORD OF GOD, He WAS God. He was God in the flesh.

But then we’re told there’s this... problem: “(Jesus) was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own... did not receive him.” As we see in John 1:10-11

Now, why you might ask wouldn’t they “receive Him”? Why would these people NOT want Jesus??? Well, the answer is revealed JUST A FEW verses earlier in John 1:4-5: “In (Jesus) was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in THE DARKNESS...”

Now darkness is normal. At night... I like Darkness. I can turn off the lights and sleep. Darkness is a good time to rest. But extended lengths of darkness can mess with your mind

ILLUS: In Alaska, the nights can go on for ... well, days. There’s a city called Barrow - it’s the city farthest North in Alaska - and there - the nights can go on, and on. I have not been there, but I understand they can last for 67 days. And what they’ve found is that many of people who live in Alaska suffer from something called S.A.D. an acronym for Seasonally Affected Disorder. It’s a disorder where people suffer from depression because they’ve been in the dark so long.

Realizing how much this effects people, neuroscientists at the University of Pennsylvania experimented with rats, keeping them in the dark for six weeks. They found that the animals not only exhibited depressive behavior, but they also suffered damage in brain regions known to be underactive in humans during depression. (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/down-in-the-dark/)

In the same way, S.A.D. causes depression in people who’ve been in dark places way too long. It robs them of their enthusiasm, they hope, their joy, their pleasure.
I believe God knows that. And so, when God talks about the TRUE darkness in people’s lives, He uses darkness to describe the effect that sin has in our lives.

For example, Colossians 1:13 says “(God) has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son”

In Ephesians we’re told that “at one time we were darkness, but now we are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light... Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose demons. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.” Ephesians 5:8, 11-12

What does Paul say when Jesus had commissioned him? We read in Acts 26:18 “to open (people’s) eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in (Jesus).”

You see, sin created darkness in our world. And that darkness - the darkness of our sins - had robbed us of God’s love.

ILLUS: Do you remember, in the book of Genesis. Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden and it seems that God would regularly come down and walk with them and talk with them. That’s where the writer of the old Gospel hymn got his idea for his song.

“I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses. And the voice I hear falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses. And He walks we me, and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own. And the joy we share as we tarry there; none other, has ever known."

Think about what that would be like—the peacefulness of being in the garden. In Hawaii it seems that they show tropical scenes of waterfalls and plants. You think of a paradise, a place where you can rest.

You think of God walking and talking. Can you imagine how wondrous it would be in a garden like that with Adam and Eve? A beautiful garden. An untouched world. And God spending time... with you. Just walking and talking with you as if you were most important person in world.

But it didn’t last for Adam and Eve, did it? They ate of the fruit, they realized they’d sinned, and they tried covering their nakedness with leaves. And then... God came calling.

And what did Adam and Eve do??? (THEY HID) “They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God ...” Genesis 3:8

And people have been hiding from God ever since. That’s why John 1:11 tells us “He came to his own, and his own... did not receive him”. Why? They Were Hiding!!!! They knew their sin, and their sin made them uncomfortable around Jesus.

Now to be fair, everybody is just like Adam and Eve. We all know we’ve sinned, and so our 1st impulse is to try to cover our sin. But somehow everyone realizes - deep inside - the leaves they try using just aren’t cutting it. We may THINK our leaves can make it so God won’t notice our sin, but when God gets too close to us, we can get uncomfortable.

I remember when I was younger for some reason there's just you know something happens and you felt like you had to try to cover up you didn't want anybody to know you come up with a story. But then the more you try to tell people and reason your way out the deeper you get into your story and you start to realize that maybe it doesn't make sense. Things don't quite mesh, and you know that you get deeper and deeper as they say where it would have been easier to come straight forward and to own up to that and to change from it.

A lot of people in the world today. I think try to hide or cover up things from God. They get deeper and deeper and they get over their head. Before we became Christians, we may not have wanted anything to do with Him. We may not have believed God loved us as we were.

That’s why John tells us... “his own did not receive him.” These folks had gotten used to covering their sins with their own stories, their own lies, their own lifestyle, their own makeshift leaves. Some had tried to cover their nakedness with religious behavior by their good deeds and righteous attitudes. Folks like the Pharisees thought their own self-righteousness would cover up their own failures. But we know that Jesus came calling... and they rejected Him.

And some folks (like the Priests) thought their blood lines and their influence with powerful people would impress God - I mean – they were PRIESTS after all. And they had their religious titles and garments to keep them covered. But then Jesus came calling... and they rejected Him.

But there were many folks who just didn’t even bother thinking God would care for them. They were losers anyway – sinners/ prostitutes/ tax collectors. And they believed... God wouldn’t want them, so why bother pretending they could cover their sin. But then Jesus came calling.

Do you know why Jesus spent all His time focusing on the sinners/tax collectors. They were the only ones not hiding behind their fig leaves!!! These folks had NEVER thought they were fooling God. They knew they walked in darkness and they hungered for the light. They were the only ones who didn’t reject Jesus, because He didn’t reject them!

But now –the folk who DID reject Jesus (the religious and self-righteous) did so because of their sins. Their sins had cut them off from the love and forgiveness of God. They knew God hated sin and so, the idea that God could love them anyway was tough to accept. They were uncomfortable around Jesus because they were really uncomfortable around God. That’s why they did all the stuff they did. That’s why they tried to be sinless on their own and tried to reason on their own. That’s why they clung to their own religious behavior and their own titles and their own clothing. They HOPED God would see their leaves and be pleased, and then He wouldn’t notice the sin that lay beneath until Jesus showed up.

ILLUS: It’s kind of like when you’re driving down the road. You know the speed limit is 60 mph... but you’re kind of in a hurry, and everybody else is driving faster. So, you do too! You’ve set the cruise control. You’re listening to the radio. Talking to your spouse, having a good time. You feel comfortable and at ease... all is right with the world. I’m sure that we have all don that. BUT then –you see this police car setting off to the side of the road. What do you do??? Well, you slow down to give the impression you were never speeding. Suddenly your sin is obvious, and you know you’re doing wrong by your reaction.

In the same way – when people see God setting off to the side of the road - they realize they’re doing wrong and so they try to avoid Him. Someone once said: “Some people can't find Jesus the same way a thief can't find a policeman.” That’s why people can’t find Jesus. Their sins make them uncomfortable and so they try to avoid him, just like a thief would avoid the police.

Have you ever been late somewhere especially at work and then you try to avoid the boss because you knew you were guilty and yet you tried to avoid? I know as a coach there were kids our head coach when I started there, Bob was very particular about you better be on time. And he called the black line and kids report practice and they had the line up on the black line and we would it down the field. There were often kids that would maybe be coming in at the last minute and you could often see them quickly trying to run on the perimeter trying to avoid running directly at the coach. Maybe he wouldn't see them as they ran the perimeter trying to come in from the side to hide their guilt. We know in life we've done that.

There are many that try to avoid God and Jesus but Jesus we know comes to confront.

ILLUS: Years ago, an aging non-Christian said this about his experience at church: “I go to church. There's a guy... nailed to a cross and dripping blood, and everyone's blaming themselves for that man's torment, but I said to myself, 'Forget it. I had no hand in that evil. I have no original sin. There's no blood of any sacred martyr on my hands. I pass on all of this.”

But this person has a problem. Without that man nailed to that cross, Jesus, he or anyone else has a prayer for salvation. He has no way to deal with his sin. You see there’s a lot of people who think God is setting up speed traps. Like this individual they think that this Christianity thing is all about God waiting by the side of the road... waiting to catch them in their sin and write them out a ticket to hell. But that’s not what Jesus is all about.

We’ve all heard John 3:16. In fact, I’m sure many of us can quote it: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”

Now, do you know the next verse - John 3:17? Most folks don’t. It goes like this: “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

You see, Jesus didn’t come to condemn us and destroy us. He came to salvage man’s sinful nature. To bring us out of our darkness. To restore us to God’s love.

Now... how did He do that? In Philippians 2:6-8 it says: “though (Jesus) was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Jesus came to earth to suffer as we have suffered. To feel pain like we feel pain. To be an example to us.

CLOSE: Do you remember the story at the beginning of the sermon? A man felt guilty because he believed that he’d failed his parents. And his guilt shut him off from any form of help or love. Do you remember what the wife asked the doctor? She asked “I want you to disfigure my face so I can be like him! If I can share in his pain, then maybe he will let me back into his life.”

Now, of course, the doctor refused to do that, but he was so moved by her love that he went to speak to the husband. Knocking on the man's bedroom door, he called loudly, “I'm a plastic surgeon, and I want you to know that I can restore your face.” There was no response. So he called out again: “Please come out.” Again there was no answer.

Then, still speaking through the door, the doctor explained what wife had wanted him to do. “She wants me to disfigure her face, to make her face like yours in the hope that you will let her back into your life. That's how much she loves you.” There was a brief moment of silence, and then, slowly, the doorknob began to turn. (In the book “This is Christianity” by Maxie Dunnam”. Surgeon: Dr. Maxwell Maltz)

That’s the story of God reaching down to folks like us. He became like us in the hopes that we’d let him into our lives. That’s how much He loved us.

We know the words of Jesus Come unto me all that labor and are heave laden. All that are burdened with cares of the world come unto me lay them at my feet. Take on my yoke or my burden. We know that Jesus expects things God expects things. An obedient heart. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved. We know that we need to hear God's word in the hearing it we know that we are a sinful nature, but we confront our sins instead of hiding from God. We acknowledge that we have sin and we repent of it.

Then we confess that we believe that Jesus is the son of the Father. We are buried with him in baptism to walk in newness to strive to walk a better way. You try to read from God's word and follow what God has wanted us to do.

But now we know that most of us have already made the decision to accept God's love. We realized that God could fix what was damaged in our lives and we became Christians but there is a lot of people out there who haven't done this yet. And most of the time it's because they don't want to get too close to God. They don't want to risk having their sins revealed in his presence. They may be good at covering up their guilt and their shame but all the same they would just as soon not risk taking this chance so they continue being damaged and deformed by their sin because they can’t imagine God loving them enough to forgive their pain.

The only person who may be able to convince them otherwise is someone like you or like me who has experienced His healing His forgiving heart firsthand.

We've got a great message. We have to remember not to keep it to ourselves.

We know that Jesus says go unto all nations teaching them all these things that you are commanded. We know that we need to be light. In the Beatitudes in Matthew Chapter 5: Let your light so shine before men that they might see your good works and glorify Him. We know that that is what we need to do.

We know that Jesus came to forgive us of our sins.

You give us a way to cover our sins to be forgiven and to try to work stronger to overcome those things that tempt us.
We know this evening we have that opportunity whether it’s being baptized or to ask for the prayers of the congregation. If there is anyone in need this evening of the invitation, will you not come forward us together we stand and sing.

Based on a sermon given
by Jeff Strite