Reflection on John 1:1-18

“No one has ever seen God.” There it is, right there; John lays it right out for everyone to see. “No one has ever seen God.” This truth is painfully real to those who have lost hope and stare out at night to the stars, seeing only the vast emptiness stretches between the stars. If no one has seen God, how do we even know there is a God? And, even if we knew there was a God, how would we know what God is like? After-all, the Bible itself states that “No one has ever seen God.” All we can see are the things around us, and the vast spans of emptiness in between.

“Is God good?” The man laid his question right out on the table. The man sat in the break room; struggling with the reality of unaffordable medical bills and the imminent loss of his job (his medical condition and his poor job performance were intimately connected). “Why is this happening to me? Is God good, or is God like the one I read about in the Old Testament who punishes harshly? I must have done something wrong. I must be doing something wrong right now!” He put his head in his hands and muttered, “I wish God were more like Jesus. I could deal with a God like that.”

“No one has ever seen God.” I am sorry if past doubts are starting to churn once again as you read, but sometimes the Bible does not allow doubts to remain dormant forever. John, of all the gospel writers, is very concerned about truth, and the only way to see truth is to allow doubt to rise up from the pit where it was asleep so that it may be confronted anew.

That said, I am pretty certain that this doubt is not just me or John bringing up bad memories. Christmas Eve is usually great, but it is always followed by the truth that it was celebrated without a certain someone, or ot was not as festive as we remembered it to be.

Perhaps, doubt does not rear its ugly head this time of year for you. Certainly though, your neighbor is not so lucky as to walk away unscathed. And, you will not be so lucky in the future. Sooner or later, doubt rises from the pit and threatens to overpower us once again. If only it could be slain for good and we would be free from the questions and the stabbing chest pains that come with them! Unfortunately, doubt does not work that way. Doubt is an ever-present companion, asking the hard questions. “Is God there?” “Is God good?”

As a pastor, I have the opportunity to talk with lots of church going people. Not simply those within this congregation, but from everywhere. They seem to be able to seek me out. Rarely, do I even get a peaceful plane ride.  Each time I sit down in my seat I try to decide whether or not to tell the person next to me that I am a dentist. I imagine that no one wants to talk to a dentist. I would not want anyone staring at my teeth. If you are a dentist, let me know if I am wrong. However, everyone wants to talk to the pastor. It seems like every person who rides planes wants to tell the pastor about how God hates adulterers and fornicators and how people like that deserve the punishments they get from God, because pastors will most certainly agree with a kind, fake smile. If you see that smile from a pastor, it means “I would rather be talking with a dentist right now.” These people definitely believe that they have seen the face of God and know for certain what God is about.

But, the god that they know is the same god that the struggling people sitting in the break room fear. This god, the god of unbendable laws, is the reason the people in the break room do not go to church. They are not certain that such a god is good.

John would assure those in the break room that “no one has ever seen God,” especially not those who claim to know what God is up to. And, John would remind those who think that they have seen God that it was Moses who came bearing the unbendable laws. As for God, “no one has ever seen God.” John continues, “It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made God known.” Only Jesus is close to the Father’s heart. Only Jesus knows what God is up to. Jesus has not seen God, Jesus is God…Emmanuel, God with us.

The law, as understood by the religious, says that adulterers should be stoned to death. But, this is not the heart of God. Of course, God does not like adultery, but, when an adulterous woman is dragged out in the street to be crushed with huge slabs of stone, Jesus runs up to her, faces her accusers and says, “Whoever is without sin, cast the first stone.” The heart of God is one of mercy. The heart of God is the same heart we see in Jesus.

The man in the break room declared, “I wish God were more like Jesus. I could deal with a God like that.” And, the answer to that man is; “God is like that. Whenever you are dealing with Jesus, you are dealing with the heart of God.” When Jesus forgives the sinner, heals the sick, and cares for the poor, God forgives the sinner, heals the sick, and cares for the poor. Jesus shows us exactly what God is about and what God is up to in the world.

I look forward to the day when I sit on the plane and am pleasantly surprised to hear from the person in the seat next to me that God has healed the sick, cared for the poor, and turned the life of an adulterer around. That would be a nice conversation. That would be a conversation that speaks truth about God. No fake smile needed.

 
All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.