And the Word became flesh and bdwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Can you hear the excitement in John’s voice? The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory! He sounds like a character on some Christmas T.V. special who saw santa claus. Of course this is actually real. John is a real person. And He really saw something – someone far greater than Santa Claus. He beheld the Word made Flesh. He beheld God in our skin, a beating heart, a smile, a tear. He saw it. He touched it. He tasted it. He experienced God in the flesh! He beheld His glory.

It seems that most adult’s desire during Christmas is to behold the glory of Christmas once again. We strain our minds to remember or recreate the day when we looked at the Christmas tree with wonder. We remember how awesome it was in the past, receiving gifts that magically appear under a tree. staring at the first snow flake and marveling its intricate design as it lands upon your nose.  Movies and evening specials attempt to rekindle the childlike passion of beholding the glory of Christmas.

But every year we mourn our loss of wonder and we complain about how the Christmas comes and goes so quickly. How we have no time to enjoy it. erma bombeck says, ‘there is nothing sadder than to wake up Christmas morning and realize you aren’t a child!” Oh, how we so desperately wish to behold the glory of Christmas again!

Oh, to be John for goodness sake. He was there. He saw him, he touched him, he heard him, he even tasted him on Maundy Thursday. He beheld his glory.  You can hear the excitement in john’s voice as he penned these words. Wouldn’t you like to have that sort of excitement today= this Christmas! Like a child again? As we are troubled by finances- our health – our broken relationships.

But what does it mean, when John says, ‘he beheld His glory? ‘ What did John and the disciples behold? An adorable manger scene? Hosts of angels on Jesus side defeating the devil and his legions?

What glory did John behold?  Sure, he witnessed the transfiguration and the resurrection and the ascension into heaven. But he also beheld the Pharisees mocking Jesus as he taught. John saw Jesus hanging out with the lowlifes around town, talking for hours with a prostitute in public – inviting one to eat with him at a party! He embarrassing himself, embarrassing the disciples. And of course John saw the Word made flesh treated like vermin, spat on, whipped and hung on the cross.

And even consider the first Christmas. It wasn’t some cute scene. They were in a cave where animals belonged. Mary and Joseph didn’t want to be there. They wanted to be in an inn, but there wasn’t any room for them! Mary didn’t look at Joseph and say, ‘o how romantic, we’re in a barn’ it was gross.

                                  

But these things too are what John was referring to when He said, “The Word became flesh and we beheld his glory!”

What greater display of God than a weak vulnerable baby laying in a feed trough, amidst cow manure and sheep slobber! This is what John is so amazed about! The Word took on flesh and dwelt among us!  Not in the wealthy district up town, not in the clouds miles above of us, but among us!

 Not among the best of us either; the cleanest, the smartest, the riches, the nicest. He came plop down into the muck and mire, the crap and urine, the blood and guts, the sin and disease! The manger scene is really a picture of the final scene of Jesus life – rejected by the world, wrapped in swaddling cloths, perfumed with frankincense and myrh, lying in a cave,  with his mother crying over his dead body!

The Glory John beheld is that God took on flesh! God took on flesh and our sin and when He was crucified – you were crucified. When he was punished you were punished! And when He rose from the dead – you rose from the dead! That is the glory of Christmas! Merry Christmas.

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory!   John excitedly tells us!

But we want to behold his glory too? Don’t we? Especially during Christmas.

The bookshelves in libraries and bookstores are full of people who experienced the glory of God, near death miracles, a woman goes to heaven and comes back, a fellow teaches meditation steps to channel God. Or perhaps you have been to a Christian worship service where they play cheesy mood music on a keyboard while the praise band leader closes his eyes an sways back and forth, saying, “o father god!’

So many people desperately desiring to see the glory of God, straining their eyes, spending their money, like we desperately make ourselves happy with Christmas presents and decorations.

All the while the glory of the Word made flesh is still dwelling among us.

Right here.  In Cadillac. At Emmanuel. A man is burdened by guilt because of the awful way he treated his wife – and confessing to the pastor, he is told, “Jesus paid for that sin too! You are forgiven!”

A woman watches her husband suffer from cancer and die – and she doubts and she wonders whether she will see him again and a sister in Christ points her to Jesus promise in baptism and the hope of the resurrection

A church full of messed up people and all sorts of personalities, actually works together – not perfectly – and sometimes quite dysfunctional – but most important they do it under His forgiveness. Lo I will be with you always!

You see the Word still dwells in the world today.  And His glory still shines for us to behold it and marvel at it.  That same Word made flesh that chose to dwell among the dirty and down trodden, in the hay and manure. You want to behold his glory? You want to be a child again? Hang out with Jesus church!  You will see amazing things among ordinary broken people!