June 16, 2019 – “Heroes of the Faith: John Points to Christ” by Rev. Cody Sandahl
Lay Reader = Matthew 3:1-6, 11-17
In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 2“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’” 4Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, 6and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
11“I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” 13Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
Introduction
We are still in our series looking at the heroes of the faith, the women and men of the Bible who had a character trait or did something that is worth copying today. Last week we saw how Gideon was terrified to do what God asked him to do…and yet he found a way to shrink the problem down to a size he could handle.
This week we are jumping into the New Testament for our hero: John the Baptist. And don’t worry, I’m not asking you to copy John’s camel hair wardrobe. And I’m not asking you to copy John’s locust and honey diet. No, this week we are looking at the defining characteristic of John: his fingers. He was always pointing away from himself, and pointing to God and Jesus.
Just a quick reminder: John comes a little before Jesus. He starts baptizing people in the River Jordan. He became very famous despite his best efforts.
John’s kind of like the restaurant owner who got tired of worrying about bad reviews on Yelp, so he gave people a discount on their pizza if they’d give him a dreaded one star review. But instead of tanking his business, his anti-Yelp campaign made him more famous and successful. John did that with his fame. He was strangely dressed. He was in the middle of nowhere. He spoke hard truths and asked people to change their lives. And yet his impact was like a large stone dropped into a pond – it ripped throughout the region and even around some parts of the broader Roman Empire.
Listen to how John is viewed by the religious leaders, and how he responds to their views and their questions.
John 1:19-36
19This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” 21And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” 22Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’” as the prophet Isaiah said. 24Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” 26John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, 27the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” 28This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.
29The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ 31I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.” 35The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!”
You’re Amazing
Well I spent many a night in my formative years watching the pinnacle of American television also known as The Simpsons. In The Simpsons, Mr. Burns is an evil businessman who owns the local nuclear power plant. And he suddenly realizes that he doesn’t have much money left. So he comes up with a plan to get it all back quickly. And his advisors tell him that whatever plan he comes up with, it will surely be a good one because he, Mr. Burns, had created it.
He tells his advisors they need a get rich quick investment strategy. “Good idea, sir!” We need quick-growth industries like hay and ladies hats. “Good idea, sir!” We need something with a little pizazz like flammable powders. “Good idea, sir!”
Every idea that Mr. Burns has is almost guaranteed to lose him money, and yet everyone responds with a nervous, “Good idea, sir!”
How would you be different today if everyone just told you how amazing you were?
I recently heard an interview with Anna Fifield about her book on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The full title is, “The Great Successor: The Divinely Perfect Destiny of Brilliant Comrade Kim Jong Un.” How’s that for a title? In the interview she recounted the story of his eighth birthday party. And like most eight-year-olds, he was presented with a custom-tailored military uniform that gave him the rank of general. And again like most eight-year-olds, his birthday party was attended by actual military generals, and they were bowing down to him and saluting him as their superior officer. That birthday party marked his official status as the heir to the regime. If anyone had told him “no” before then, they surely didn’t say “no” after that.
How would you be different today if everyone just told you how amazing you were?
Here’s what the Jewish historian Josephus wrote about John the Baptist. He writes that John was a “good man, who had commanded the Jews to exercise virtue.” He says, “crowds [came] to him, for they were greatly moved by his words.” He says that the ruler Herod, “feared the great influence John had over the masses.” Sounds like John was pretty amazing, right?
How would you be different today if throngs of people flocked to hear you speak? What if rulers and nations trembled at the influence you wielded? Would you be just the same as you are today? Or would some things be different?
John had people telling him, “You’re the Messiah! You’re the chosen one! At the very least you’re the great prophet of God!” And John’s response? “[there is] one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” Another way to put that might be, “I’m not worthy to be his butler.” John, this amazing man, this world-shaker, this crowd influencer, isn’t a grand ruler in the kingdom of God. He says he’s not even worthy to be the butler – that’s how big a gap there is between him and Jesus.
“You’re amazing, John!” “You’re so eloquent, John!” “Look how many likes you have on Facebook, John!”
“I am just one who prepares the way. Someone greater than me is coming.”
John may have been amazing when he was baptizing people, but I find his ability to point to God when he is so lavishly praised even more amazing.
I think I’ve shared before what happens when you tell kids they’re smart? It makes them more likely to cheat! Because they want to keep being viewed as smart! When we only hear we’re amazing, we tend to become less amazing. But John overcomes that by pointing away from himself and pointing to Christ instead.
So when people tell you you’re amazing, how can you, like John, point to Christ instead of yourself? How can you remind yourself of how you’ve been blessed rather than how you’ve triumphed? How can you point to Christ working in others, not just yourself? How can you remember that your achievements are only lasting if they build Christ’s kingdom, not your own? John’s ability to point to Christ in the midst of praise and fame is worth copying today.
You’re Terrible
On the other hand…not everyone said that John the Baptist was amazing. Most people said that. But there were a few who said the opposite. A few who said, “John you’re terrible.”
The priests, the scribes, the Pharisees, and other religious leaders who felt threatened by John’s popularity and John’s message of life transformation through baptism – they thought John was terrible. They told him he didn’t have the religious authority to baptize. They told him it was blasphemous to baptize people who were already Jews instead of Gentiles who were converting to Judaism. They demanded answers from him – “tell us plainly who you are!” In our text today, they demanded an accounting from John, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
In other words – justify your existence. Justify your ministry. Justify your actions, because you’re terrible.
How would you be different today if everyone just told you how terrible you were?
Or I bet some people here only tell themselves how terrible they are.
A man went to a circus and noticed that the elephants were tethered with only a single flimsy rope on one leg. The powerful animals could clearly break their tether at any time…but they didn’t. The man asked the trainer about it. The trainer replied that when the elephants are younger, that rope is strong enough to actually tether them. So they become conditioned that the rope is unbreakable. And even when they’re older and more powerful, they think it’s impossible because that’s how they were conditioned.
If that kind of negative narrative has stuck with you, why has that narrative been so persistent? Why have you kept it around – whether intentionally or unintentionally? And, this is key, how does that negative narrative compare to who you are at your best? Because even if that negative narrative is true some of the time, if it’s not true all of the time then it’s not your true narrative.
John does this when the religious leaders tell him he’s terrible. He says he’s just a servant of one far greater than him. Instead of fighting them based on his own abilities, he points to his place in God’s narrative. In other words, instead of believing the negative narrative of the religious leaders, he reminded himself of who he was in God’s eyes. That’s who he is at his best, and that didn’t match up with the negative things the religious leaders were saying about him.
In the same way, you are part of God’s narrative. God sees you through different eyes than the world sees you – and different eyes than how you see yourself. At your very best, you are a child of God. You are a son or daughter of the Most High. You are a sister or brother of Jesus. You have the Holy Spirit of the Living God inside you! Jesus says that you’ll do greater things than he did! That’s who you are at your best! Does that fit with the negative narrative in your head? Does that fit with the negative narrative that others say about you?
If you’re hearing how terrible you are, remember that God sees you through eyes of love.
Our son Charlie loves to draw, but his developmental delays don’t exactly translate to beautiful works of art. Now, a year ago he could barely draw anything other than a circle. But a few months ago he drew a circle and then put a line through it and below it. He put two other circles next to the head. And he exclaimed joyfully, “Ears!” Now that I knew what to look for, I could actually see a stick figure emerging.
Now he sometimes narrates little stories while he’s drawing. “It’s Dada.” “It’s Mama.” “House and windows!”
I’ll admit, however, that if I didn’t tell you to look for the stick figures you might not see them. By any objective measure, those squiggles have no value. But Charlie is so proud of his stick figures. And that makes us proud of him. And that’s priceless.
Your life may look like a mess of squiggles. Other people might think you’re just a mess. But God sees the stick figures in there. God sees you with eyes of love. That’s who you are at your best, not just your worst. That’s part of your story, too. Believe it.
When the religious leaders attacked him, John said, “I’m with that guy!” When people attack you, remember that you’re with that guy, too. You may not understand it. You may have trouble believing it. But for some reason, Jesus is very fond of you. John’s ability to point to Christ in the midst of a negative narrative is worth copying today.
Summary
Sisters and brothers, one of the things that made John so noteworthy was his ability to stay grounded in the most important narrative of his life – his narrative with Christ. When he received overwhelming praise, he stayed grounded by pointing to the one greater than himself. When he received attacks from jealous leaders, he stayed grounded by pointing to the one who was truly at work within him.
If you’re receiving praise right now, how can you remember that you’ve been blessed?
If you’re receiving negativity right now or judgment, how can you remember that the Creator of the Universe sees your squiggles and notices the stick figures and is proud?
Either way, point to Christ, not yourself. John showed us that’s a pretty good strategy no matter what life is dishing right now. Amen.
