12/4/60

Scripture: John 1: 1-14

Text: John 1: 3; “All things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made.”

What an age in which to be alive! More than a year ago, I watched what appeared to be a swift-moving star, rising swiftly to a point above my home. Our family saw it cross the sky and continue down toward the horizon on the other side of our home. It was a man-made satellite, one of the Russian sputniks; so we were told. Last summer, I joined my son-in-law and daughter in looking for, and then seeing one of the American-made balloon satellites, “Echo,” cross the skies above Berkeley, California. A few nights later, during the long train ride home from the west, members of the train crew, and passengers on the station platform, could see the same satellite crossing the sky above the midwestern city where the train had stopped for a change in locomotives.

Not so many years ago, one could read what appeared to be speculative articles, in science magazines, about the possibility of getting into outer space, or even taking trips to the moon. Now we see a little of this sort of thing coming to pass, and we hear reports which make it appear that human life will, in a short time, be exploring the reaches of outer space beyond the earth’s atmosphere. What was formerly read as scientific fiction, is now in process of becoming cold, hard fact. Man moves into a new era of history.

But, breath-taking as these possibilities appear, the astronomers have been making yet greater discoveries. Looking through telescopes that are increasingly efficient, they have long since discovered that neither our earth, nor our sun, nor even our galaxy (the so-called Milky Way) is the center of the universe. In fact, we are learning that our sun, with its planets, has what one great astronomer calls “a very undistinguished location in a faint spiral arm of a quite ordinary galaxy.” This astronomer, Dr. Harlow Shapley of the Harvard University Observatory, continues to report: “We must get used to the fact that we are peripheral. We move along with our star, the sun, in the outer part of a galaxy that is one among billions of star-rich galaxies.”

So, at the very moment when we are feeling inflated over man’s accomplishments and probable feats in the space about our earth, we are almost infinitely deflated by the knowledge that our whole earth is such an infinitesimal speck in a universe whose bounds we can not even imagine. We live, then, in an age that is, in some of these respects, new and different from any other time in man’s history. This produces an uneasy feeling in many of us. Among other considerations, we wonder if the expanding discoveries of the astronomers, and the new power that man is exploring may in some way damage or upset our religious faith!

We are fascinated by what we see. And we are not at all sure that we like what we see! A century ago, Robert Browning could picture Pippa passing down the street singing: “God’s in his heaven -- all’s right with the world.” But now, contemplating the satellites orbiting about the earth, with promise of more to come, some are tempted to cry, “Man’s in God’s heaven, and all’s wrong with the world!”

Let us think together, then, about a question which many are asking in one way or another: What does man’s breakthrough into space, and our new understanding of the universe, do to our belief in this universe’s God? The first chapter of the book of Genesis says: “God made the firmament --- and God called the firmament Heaven.” [Genesis 1: 7, 8]. Well, the particular kind, or location, of Heaven pictured in the mind of the writer of Genesis at the time of his writing may seen to have evaporated. But let it always be remembered that the genius of Genesis is its religious perception of God. It is this which makes it “holy scripture.”

As to man’s perception of the world in which he lives, that has been unfolding through the ages; and it continues to unfold. Previous to our time, you see, our world appeared to be the only world worth considering. As far as man could tell, Earth was the inhabited planet. It was supposed to be a unique and special place in which God was carrying out His daring and wonderful experiment of creating a race of spiritual beings in His own spiritual image --- a race only a little less than the angels, with whom God could have loving and creative fellowship.

Man has believed that he was particularly dear to the Creator. The Psalmist, looking upon his world, and certain that he was at the center of it, could say:

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers,

the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

What is man, that thou art mindful of him: and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels,

and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands .... [Psalms 8: 3-6a]

But now a sane and sober astronomer like Professor Shapley is telling us that there are billions of universes like ours; and that there must be myriads of planets like the earth, all circling around their suns. And there is the high possibility that many of them may sustain life; some of them could conceivably be the abode of even higher forms of life than any which we can imagine. It may be that man is a “special” and in important ways “superior” being, compared with other forms of life around him on this planet. But whether he is unique in the universe is a highly speculative question.

To say the least, it appears highly probable that we are not alone in the universe. It may very well be that other worlds like ours exist, and other living beings as fully developed, or even more highly developed intellectually, could inhabit some of them. We cannot be clear in our answer to the inquiry which these speculations raise.

As a result of this new perception, some earnest believers ask searching questions about Jesus and the place we give him in the Christian belief; as well as questions about mankind generally. Has Jesus too been “downgraded” in the infinitely expanded view of the universe now held to be our home? Could it be that we are arrogant and unrealistic to continue to make him the center of our religion and the key to our understanding of all that exists? If Jesus is the “special,” the “only-begotten” son of the Father, does this not leave all those possible inhabitants of other worlds “out in the cold,” without the witness which we have received? What are we to make of his words like these: “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father [John 14: 9] -- No one cometh unto the Father Except by me [John 14: 6] --- No man knoweth the Father except the Son and him to whom the Son chooses to reveal him”? [Matthew 11: 27]. After all, our religion had its beginnings perhaps a couple of thousand years ago, and was originally designed for an understanding which assumed a world quite different from that which we now perceive.

Of course the Russians have had their say in answer to such questions. Not long after the launching of their first Sputnik, they released a statement to the effect that now, since man had penetrated the heavenly regions on his own, it could be conclusively demonstrated that there were no angels, nor was there any God there. All this was supposed to prove that man, himself, is supreme. That argument may appeal to some minds, but not to the intellectual capacities of even the best Russian leaders. We are still compelled to ask ourselves seriously: “What do these things mean?”

The Christian religion still has clear and convincing answers to the questions posed by our new understandings of space. Our religion has a viewpoint that is wonderfully timeless and continually relevant. It comes home more unmistakably than ever before in this new era of human history.

Years ago, the discovery that the sun and not the earth was the center of the solar system simply opened new vistas of God’s power, and more glorious visions of His creation. Our “space” revolution has the same effect today.

1) For one thing, if there are other inhabited areas in the universe, as astronomers now suspect, our idea of the grand overall planning of God --- our understanding of the vastness of His creative power --- these are greatly expanded. When we consider the heavens in the light of these discoveries, we stand in reverent awe before the Creator. The greatness of God becomes much clearer.

Further, now that man prepares to take his first halting steps into outer space, our understanding of his potential, both for constructive achievement, and for destructiveness, is broadened. “What is man that thou art mindful of him?” Well, he is a creature that can perhaps do far more than once we thought he could.

But, as he flies into outer space, he will still be the same man. Great power has been bestowed upon him. But wisdom? -- who can say? More than ever, he needs real wisdom about living in addition to his knowledge of the universe about him. The more man learns, and the more he achieves, the more potentially dangerous he is to himself and to others around him. The greater his power, the greater becomes his religious need. We come to this, then, that the message of Jesus about God’s love for us and the demands which He lays upon us, is more significant and more urgent than ever before! Repentance, humility, love for God and neighbor, faith commitment -- these things are still vitally necessary. In this direction lies abundant living.

2) In the second place, it is well to remember that the truth about God, and about His incarnation in Jesus, has never been considered to be a purely earthly matter. It has never been the private possession of human beings to the exclusion of other possible beings elsewhere. The Bible and the historic creeds have held that Jesus is the embodiment of God’s creative and redemptive love that existed long before there was any universe at all, and naturally, long before there was any race of humans on our little planet. In Jesus, we discover an eternal “Word,” the creative purpose of God. As John puts it in the prologue to his gospel, “All things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made.”

Therefore, we can believe that, if there be other worlds upon which God has seen fit to place other intelligent, cognizant beings, He can reveal the same truth there and perhaps in a comparable way, that He has revealed here in Jesus -- and probably has done so. Some years ago a religious thinker put it this way: “Jesus defines, but does not confine, God in His relationship to the created world.” [Norman W. Pattinger]. God has surely not left Himself without witness anywhere. But as for this world upon earth, the Word of God is in Christ.

We have come to that season of the year which is called “Advent.” At this season we turn our thoughts to the coming of Jesus, and we focus our attention, with awe, upon this event and all that it means. Advent, which culminates in the Christmas celebration, reminds us that God cared enough about us and our world, to provide the means of bringing His presence and power right into the course of man’s existence.

Someone has put it vividly in these words: the earth is the “visited planet.” In Christ, God’s eternal Word “became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory -- full of grace and truth.” In Christ, the pattern and purpose of God’s entire creation becomes plain. “In him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities, or authorities -- all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together -- For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” [Colossians 1: 15-19].

How this purpose of God -- this love for His creatures and this desire that they be His children -- is conveyed to any other intelligent beings that may inhabit other planets is really, after all, an academic question of no great importance to you or me. The important matter, as always, is not what does God have for someone else to do (we can leave that up to Him!) but rather how do we respond to our visitation, here and now.

Do we receive him? Do we accept the truth that Christ reveals about God and man? Or do we reject him as did so many of the influential folk of his day? “He came to his own, and his own people received him not. But to all who receive him, who believe in his name, he gave power to become the children of God.”

Peter became inquisitive about what another disciple was required to do and John’s gospel records the answer given by Jesus: “If it is my will that he remain, what is that to you? Follow me!” “God so loved the world” (this little planet and its people) “that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” And that same God, surely loves, and makes provision for, all his creation.

The really pertinent question for us this morning concerns the love for us which he pours forth in Jesus. Have we accepted it? Do we rejoice in it? Are we committed to it? That is the way to be really at home in this astounding universe.

We hear much of a popular slogan to “put Christ back in Christmas.” It is an arresting thought, but is a kind of upside-down way of looking at things. It is a little like telling people to go to church this week “to find strength for your life.” Or like saying that the family ought to pray together so that it will stay together -- as if our strength or our family were the chief end of man. “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever!” In a proper sense, we have nothing to do with putting Christ back into Christmas. He is there, because God put him there! It is for us to come before his presence with awe, with rejoicing, with dedication, and with commitment to his way.

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Delivered in Wisconsin Rapids, December 4, 1960.