John 1:10-18<\/p>\n\n\n\n
January 26, 2003<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before Christmas, I bought myself a present. I now have a Cambridge Soundworks Megatheater 505 Home Theater In-A-Box System with surround sound from all five channels and a thunderous bass. It has 450 watts of power! The system produces bass so low that you feel it. Our neighbors downstairs complained that they were trying to sleep!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But before I was able to experience what it was like to be fighting in the Star Wars\u2019 Attack of the Clones<\/em>\u2014The Party\u2019s Over scene, I couldn\u2019t figure out how to set up the system to work. I connected all the wires according to how they were color-coded (not very helpful when you\u2019re color-blind), plugged the DVD receiver and the sub-woofer into the wall, separated the five speakers\u2014everything set to be blown away. But I couldn\u2019t figure out how to integrate our old TV with the Megatheater system!<\/p>\n\n\n\n There in the box was the \u201cUser Manual.\u201d It didn\u2019t even say, \u201cUser-Friendly Manual!\u201d I knew I didn\u2019t have a High Definition or Enhanced Definition TV, but did I have a progressive scan or interlaced component video outputs? So I called Dan, our 21st<\/sup> century son-in-law! We were watching movies that night!<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are buying the most sophisticated computers, the coolest digital cameras, the sharpest video game systems, the snazziest hybrid cars, the most versatile cell phones and handheld organizers, and then we forget or decline or simply refuse to read the directions. For some of us, we want to read the manuals but we can\u2019t understand them like we can\u2019t read Chinese!<\/p>\n\n\n\n These owner\u2019s manuals, care guides, trouble-shooting web-sites, how-to directories are just too much trouble for most impatient consumers these days. Forget the manuals, I just want to feel the depth charges exploding all around the U571 submarine! In this day and age at the dawn of 2003, there aren\u2019t many people who want to take the time to read any words at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marketing experts, customer service consultants, and corporate executives agree that people have an aversion to reading full instructional manuals. People would rather have you show them how something works, set things up for them, and only call for service when something goes wrong. When was the last time you looked under the hood of your car?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The implications of this trend are both disturbing and costly. Failure to read the instructions makes products more costly because manufacturers have to provide toll-free help lines to provide simple answers to simple questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q\u2014Why doesn\u2019t my washing machine start?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A\u2014Because the lid is not closed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q\u2014Why won\u2019t my computer printer work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A\u2014Because there\u2019s no paper in the printer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are paying higher prices for our goods because we don\u2019t have the patience to read the manuals. And when perfectly good products are returned to the manufacturers because the purchasers simply cannot figure them out, we pay even higher prices! When we ignore instructions, it\u2019s becoming a high-priced habit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As consumers, we may be willing to pay higher prices and not read the user manual, but as Christians, we can\u2019t afford to not read the manual. Our manual is the Bible. We can find answers to our many questions in the Bible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Questions like\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n *What should I be doing for the rest of my life?<\/p>\n\n\n\n *How can I make a fresh start?<\/p>\n\n\n\n *During this time of unemployment, how can I use this time to be closer to God?<\/p>\n\n\n\n *Where\u2019s the guidance I need for happiness in my relationships?<\/p>\n\n\n\n *What\u2019s the point of my day-to-day grind at work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n *How can I make the best use of the time and money and talents that I have?<\/p>\n\n\n\n *Where is God in the wake of a possible war?<\/p>\n\n\n\n *Why do really nasty things happen to innocent people? <\/p>\n\n\n\n *Is there more to this life than I can see?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Bible contains stories and letters and prophecies and commandments with answers to these questions. And when we have carefully and prayerfully study its 66 books, we receive the rewards of answers that are far better than if we tried to find answers to our life\u2019s questions through trial and error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 2003 annual theme of \u201cWord to Works,\u201d is on Bible Study and Social Action. We have selected Jeremiah 15:16 and Micah 6:8 as our theme verses\u2014\u201cWhen your words came, I ate them. They were my joy and my heart\u2019s delight. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we understand God\u2019s word for us, we will be filled with joy and purpose to serve the Lord in a quest for justice, mercy, and to humbly follow God with our lives. So throughout this year, we hope that you will participate in a weekly Bible study on Sunday and during the week in regional Bible study groups. Imagine what it would be like to consume God\u2019s word in your lives that it begins to make a difference in how you see yourself and the world around you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the Bible is an enormous owner\u2019s manual, containing over a thousand pages in fine print. There\u2019s no way that we can even come close to understanding it just in a one year time. For most of us, even a lifetime is not enough. We need a user-friendly version. <\/p>\n\n\n\n John\u2019s gospel begins with, \u201cIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God\u201d (1:1). This pre-existent Word of God was part of the very creation of the world, and brought both life and light into our midst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Best of all, \u201cthe Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father\u2019s only son, full of grace and truth\u201d (1:14). The Word of God became human in Jesus Christ and lived among us, so that we could see the perfect grace and truth of God at work in human life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Jesus, God\u2019s Word is not only 66 books spread out over a thousand-plus pages; it is also a living, breathing, loving, forgiving, healing, teaching, leading, guiding, correcting, consoling, challenging, and comforting human being. In Jesus, we have a \u201cUser-friendly customer servant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus is not a Word we sit down and read. Instead, he\u2019s a Word we watch and hear and imitate and follow. No form of instruction could possibly be more user-friendly. It\u2019s like how Dan showed me how to operate my home theater system and now all I have to do is to imitate what he\u2019s taught me. As the \u201cUser-Friendly Customer Servant, Jesus himself comes to you to explain what the problem is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To follow this Word-made-flesh is to accept Jesus is at the heart of our interpretation of Scripture. Does a particular interpretation conform to the teaching, activity, example, life, death and resurrection of Jesus? If so, then it\u2019s a correct interpretation, and a valid form of instruction. If not, then it\u2019s gotta go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We can pick any difficult problem that is facing us today\u2014capital punishment, abortion, welfare reform, gun control, racism. Think about a popular Christian solution that claims to solve this problem. Now ask yourself: \u201cDoes this solution conform to the example of Jesus Christ? Does it support his great commandment to love the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind\u2014and to love your neighbor as yourself? Does it spread the love given by God, commanded by God shown by Jesus? If it fits the life and teaching of Christ, you can be sure that you have a solution!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even though our emphasis for this year is to value the importance of Bible study, we are not going to have the time or interest to carefully study all of the Old Testament and New Testament books. That is why we need the Word made flesh. That\u2019s why we need someone to come down and pull us out of trouble, save us from our sins, lead us by the hand and inspire us to follow the way of God. In our word-avoiding world, we need a real user-friendly customer servant\u2014Jesus Christ the Lord!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of you have been hearing me speak out against the US government\u2019s plan to go to war. When the UN\u2019s Weapons Inspection\u2019s submits its report tomorrow and if the US decides to go to war against Iraq, the destruction and death will be so devastating that the hype and battle of Super Bowl XXXVII is child play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are talking about real men and women using real bombs and missiles against real children, women, and men. And as far as I can interpret the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, Christ died so that we may live to find peace and reconciliation with all brothers and sisters in the world. Going to war is not the answer according to the Jesus\u2019 commandment of us to love our neighbor as ourselves. Going to war does not spread the love given by God, commanded by God and shown by Jesus. Going to war does not fit the life and teaching of Christ. It is not a solution to the problems that we have today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The writer of Hebrews said, \u201cLong ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets.\u201d This was the age of owner manuals, specific instructions, and detailed how-to directories. But \u201cin these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God\u2019s glory and the exact imprint of God\u2019s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word\u201d (1:1-3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the coming of Christ, we have been given a far more wonderful and user-friendly guide: the flesh-and-blood Son of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To find the answers to life\u2019s questions, we can do no better than looking to God\u2019s Son. He is the reflection of God\u2019s glory and the imprint of God\u2019s being. Heir of all things. Creator of worlds. Sustainer of all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I might think that setting up a mega-home theater system is a difficult challenge. But our lives are even more complicated and complex than any electronics that we might buy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For us to find answers to our own life\u2019s problems, we need to plug out lives into Jesus Christ. Sure, we can read all of the self-improvement books and manuals that we can find but the only power source that will turn your life around and make you operate right is Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Albert Einstein is probably one of the most brilliant minds of the twentieth century. When he taught at Princeton University, it wasn\u2019t unusual to spot him strolling across the campus without one of his socks or both of his shoes. He was the typical absent-minded professor. There is one story of how the university switchboard received a call asking for Dr. Einstein\u2019s address. The operator said, \u201cI\u2019m sorry, but Dr. Einstein had made it clear to us that we are not to give out his address to anyone.\u201d \u201cBut,\u201d the voice said after a short pause, \u201cthis is Dr. Einstein.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is important to know who you are. It is even more important to know who Jesus Christ is and why Christ, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. We may have this aversion to know the Word of God. We may even have Albert Einstein\u2019s absent-mindedness and not know where we are sometimes. But what is important is that against all of this opposition to God\u2019s Word, God has sent Jesus Christ, our \u201cUser-Friendly Customer Servant\u201d to save us and save the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To find answers to life\u2019s questions, we can do no better than to look to God\u2019s Son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we are seeking answers for today\u2019s controversies, Christ can teach us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we are searching for direction and guidance, Christ can lead us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we are desperate for forgiveness and new life, Christ can fill us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we are hungering for meaning and insight, Christ can satisfy us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we are looking for holiness in the swirling chaos of world events, Christ can reveal himself to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we are trying to figure out how to set up our complex lives, plugged into the only power source for us up to act justly, love mercy, and to walk humbly with God, Jesus Christ, our user-friendly customer servant is here to show us the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To all who receive him and believe in his name, according to the gospel of John, Christ gives them power to become children of God (1:12).<\/p>\n\n\n\n We probably will still need to read those user-friendly manuals to learn how these sophisticated electronics work. We will still need to read the Bible as an excellent way to find answers to our many questions in life. But when it comes to knowing in full confidence what God would have us do in all of the problems we face in the world today, we need to look only to Jesus Christ who is \u201cthe father\u2019s only son, full of grace and truth\u201d (1:14).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let us pray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Merciful Lord God, sometimes we are too busy to pay attention to you. You have given us your Word, and we do not notice. We do not heed the example of your Son, so we go astray. You show us the path we should take, and we ignore you. Stop us in our tracks, O God. Bring us back to your way, and keep us faithful in following you. Help us to look to Jesus Christ who is the living Word. In Jesus\u2019 name we pray. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" John 1:10-18 January 26, 2003 Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco. Before Christmas, I bought myself a present. I now haveBible Manual<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
Word Was God<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
Threat of War<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
My User-Friendly Customer Servant<\/h6>\n\n\n\n