Surprised by Christmas – “What’s in the Box?” 

Christmas is a season of good things, and part of that is the simple joy and surprise of unwrapping the gifts under the tree. In many ways, that is the real Story of Christmas. Two of the four gospel writers, Matthew and Luke, tell the story of Jesus’ birth. A third gospel writer, Mark, skips his birth altogether. John, on the other hand, doesn’t tell us how Jesus was born, but instead tells us what it meant. And he does so in a beautifully surprising way – like a special gift opened on Christmas morning.

1.  Surprised by Approachable Power (1 John 1:1)

• There’s perhaps no more powerful way to describe someone than to say that they “existed from the beginning” – i.e., that they have always been, and will be forever. That someone – Jesus, “the Word” – has defeated every foe he faced and therefore holds all the power and authority of Almighty God.
• But John continues his introduction of “the Word” in a surprising way, writing that “we saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands” – in other words, the all-powerful, timeless “Word” was also approachable and knowable like a human friend.
• We’re generally not comfortable with the idea of an all-powerful-yet-approachable God. We tend to think of God as one or the other, making an image of God in our minds that we can be comfortable with: either an all-powerful, somewhat arbitrary and frightening God who has the right to do whatever he wants, or a God who is all-loving, gracious, and forgiving (an approachable Mr. Rogers…).
• Interestingly, later in his gospel John describes Jesus this way: “He came full of grace and truth.” Jesus, “the Word,” came as the full image of God: one who is all-powerful, eternal and righteous, but who’s also approachable, knowable and loving. That’s why we can love and worship him: he is an approachable Power. And Jesus’ approachable power is the beauty and surprise of Christmas.

2. Surprised by the Power of Grace  (1 John 1:2; 1 John 2:1-2) some text
   • As John continues his first letter, you can almost hear his surprise at the approachable nature of the eternal powerful “Word.” This Jesus, with the Father (and sharing his power) “from the beginning,” chose to become the atoning sacrifice we needed to save us from our sin. And because of his eternal righteousness he can offer us grace when we sin. John was surprised by the power of this grace.
   • As humans, we’re wired to believe we have to be “good enough” to be accepted by a perfectly good and holy God. Even our Christmas traditions reflect this – “The List” of the naughty and nice – and our understanding of God can be like our understanding of Santa Claus: that he’s keeping a “list” of our good and bad deeds, and one day we’ll get either “presents” or “coal” for how we’ve behaved.
   • The surprising power of grace answers that worry. Jesus’ sacrifice for us, and the grace his sacrifice allows, is the only “good enough” we need in order to please God. His grace makes us “good enough.”
3. Surprised by the Power of Life and Joy (1 John 1:3-4) some text
   • John goes on to explain that Jesus is the source of life itself, and the source of real joy. His message about “the Word” is that real life – the full life of joy and peace and purpose – is found only in him. 
   • Christmas is the “season of catalogs,” all promising happiness and joy if we’ll just buy the treasures offered inside. But we should know better, because real joy can only be found through the fellowship with God that’s possible through Jesus, and in the full life that fellowship offers us. That’s the surprise of Christmas: that Jesus came as a baby to our world just so he could be with us and give us full life.

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE

These passages may provide additional insights related to the subject of this week’s message. All verses are NLT unless otherwise noted.

1 Chronicles 29:11-12; John 1:14-18^NIV; Romans 3:20-24; Ephesians 2:8-9; Colossians 1:15-17; 1 Peter 1:8

Video of the Week: Chara / Joy by the Bible Project

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

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1. What was your best Christmas surprise growing up? What made it so special?  

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2. Which “image” of God would you say you’re most prone to holding in your mind: an all-powerful, righteous, perhaps somewhat arbitrary and frightening God; or the “Mr. Rogers God” who’s always loving, gentle, kind and “nice”?  Explain your answer. 

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3. Which of those “images” of God do you think most people associate with Jesus?  Why do you think that is?

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4. Read John 1:14^NIV. John writes that Jesus came “full of grace and truth” – i.e., 100% grace and 100% truth.  As “grace” and “truth” (i.e., justice) might be considered to be opposites of each other, how is it possible that Jesus could be “full” of both?  

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5. Many people live by a “good enough” theology – the idea that the goal of religion is to make us into good people – good enough for God to accept us.  What’s wrong with that theology?  Isn’t “being good” a good thing?

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6. What tends to rob you of your joy at Christmas time?  What are some things you can do (or not do) this year to keep the joy from being sucked out of you?

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