The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1961-01-06
Joy Is The Sign
Lesson for January s, 1861

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over and over again in the Gospel
by John. like cleaning threads
woven into a beautiful fabric.
These words are hard to define
They suggest rather than de-
scribe. They are poetic, in that
they convey or induce moods
rather than call up sharp clear
pictures. They may perflex the
mind but they fascinate the
heart. One of these words is
GLORY" 1t is hard to say pre-
cisely what the word means, but
we can see that in the Fourth
Gospel it is always associated
with God. 1t refers to the whole,
wonderful, indescribable, awe
compelling, overwhelming pres
ence of the living God. Now the
message Of the Fourth Gospel
can be summed up this way:
The whole life of Jesus of Naza-
reth brought the glory of God
wherever he was and whatever
he did. Jesus is quoted as look
ing back on his life (aS he was
praying in the upper room, put
ting it all into these words: II
glorified thee on earth. having
accomplished the work which
! thou gaveSt me to do the
glory which thou hast given me
have given them John H.
The Power and the Glory
The plan of Johns Gospel, for
the first twelve chapters, is SIM
pie: the author presents seven
stories about Jesus. Each one
tells about something Jesus did,
and the author calls each of
these sign, a sign of glory. The
first of these is the story of Jesus
at a wedding in a little country
town called Cana. Not to be con-
fused with Canaan One feature
OF these stories. popularity the
modern reader might call it, is
that each of them presents a
kind Of miracle. In other words,
these were acts of power. Jesus
does not appear to be under the
same limitations which hamper
the rest of us. These miracle
stories, or power-storieS, bother
many 20th-century readers. We
are more ready to believe a
miracle announced by the Ameri-
can Medical Association CT the
National Aeronautics and Space
| Program, then we are to believe
the miracles of the Bible. Be that
as it may. the least you could say
about these Gospel miracles is
this: The impression which Jesus
left on those who knew him was
such that he could not be de-
scribed in ordinary routine Ian.
guage. Only the language OF
mystery, of power beyond ordi-
nary mans understanding, car
describe what he was and did
On the other hand. the most that
can be said is this: If Jesus
Christ was really not simply &
man, but the eternal World o.
God become man, if (as the
Phillips translation puts it, the
Expression of God became a hu
man being, then he himself, BY
himself, without doing a thing
was more miraculous than any
thing he could do.
Glory, Power, Service
Yet there is something quite
strange about this after all. Il
you were making this story uI
out of your head. and began as
John does with a man whose
I, life actually radiated the glory o.
God, what would invent as the
high points, the climatic mo
ments, of that glory? You would
almost certainly not think of the
simple truth. 1t would seem q
little too simple Here is the
Number One Sign. the first op
portunity Jesus had to make use
of his great mysterious powers
What does he do with it? Of al
things. he uses it to keep a coun
try wedding party from being q
failure.
JOY Is the Sign
God is never snobbiSh. he
leaves that to foolish people. Bur
some snobs try to make God one
like themselves. They picture
Jesus in a kind of perpetually
dismal mood just because he hao
to be born and live among Sinfu,
and foolish people They aSsoci
ate God with pain. gloom. Acts
Of God arc earthquakes. tidaI
waves. cataStropheS. What one
sided nonsense. The first sign
of the divine glory that John de-
ScrlbeS is associated with 10Y To
come into the presence of God il
is not necessary to wipe all
smiles off your face. It. is true
God may be found III the Valley
Of the Shadow of Death. but he
Is also to be found upon the
mountains of delight.
BASED on outlines copyrighted
by the Division of Christian Edu-
cation. National Council Of the
Churches OF Christ in The U. S. A.
Released by Community Press
Service.)