Series: “Encounters With Christ”
"John the Baptist"

I'm beginning a new series of messages called "Encounters With Christ". All of the sermons will be from John's gospel, and will feature interactions various people had with Jesus. Tonight we'll begin with John the Baptist. When we call John "the Baptist" it doesn't mean he was a Southern Baptist (Baptist denominations weren't around then!), but he's called that because his ministry was centered on baptizing people. We'll be looking at John's encounter with Jesus described in the third chapter of John's gospel, but before we do let's get a little background information on John.

John's parents were a priest named Zechariah, and his wife Elizabeth. They were up in years, and had had no children. But then an angel appears to Zechariah, and says his prayers have been heard, and that they're going to have a son. "The angel said to him, 'Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord'" (Luke 1:13-17).

He has been given a special mission from God. He will have the spirit and power of Elijah. Through the Old Testament prophet Malachi God said He would send Elijah to pave the way for the coming of the Lord: "Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes" (Malachi 4:5). John the Baptist is that Elijah figure who will prepare the way for the Messiah! John lived in the wilderness. He was a rustic figure, very much in the rugged mold of an Old Testament prophet. Matthew 3:1-5 says,
"In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.' This 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." Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan."

Notice what John wore: a garment of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist. In 2 Kings 1:8, Elijah is described as "a hairy man, with a leather belt around his waist". Notice what he ate: wild honey (hmmm), and…..locusts (ugh!) Grasshoppers. Nancy and I were at one of our son's high school soccer games, and sitting in the bleachers around a number of students. The weather was warm and one of the students had caught a grasshopper. He was kind of showing off, as kids do, and teased his classmates about eating this grasshopper……sure enough, he opened his mouth, put the dear little critter in, and proceeded to swallow it. That was John's dinner!

John was becoming well known for his preaching and his baptizing people. In fact, it says,
"the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the
Jordan" (Matthew 5:3). People flocked to John! But after a while Jesus begins His ministry. The first time John describes their meeting each other, this is what happens: "The next day he (John) saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, 'Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world'" (John 1:29). In other words, Jesus is like a sacrificial lamb offered for the sins of the world. John goes on to say, " I'm baptizing you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

The next day Jesus walks by John again: "The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, 'Look, here is the Lamb of God!'" (verses 35-36). Later on there is another encounter between Jesus and John: "After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he spent some time there with them and baptized. John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim because water was abundant there; and people kept coming and were being baptized - John, of course, had not yet been thrown into prison" (John 3:22-24). Jesus and His disciples are baptizing in one place, John in another, and people are still coming to John.

But something begins to change: "Now a discussion about purification arose between John's disciples and a Jew. They came to John and said to him, 'Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing, and all are going to him" (verses 25-26).

How does John respond? "John answered, 'No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven" (verse 27). Jesus wouldn't have this success unless God gave it to Him. John recognizes his role and destiny: "You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, 'I am not the Messiah, but I have been sent ahead of him'" (verse 28). Then, John answers those who say, "Look, everyone is leaving you and going to Jesus", by saying, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).

Do you see what's happening here? For a while, John is on center stage - an immensely popular preacher with a huge following. But now his cousin Jesus comes on the scene. People are leaving John and gravitating towards Jesus

How would you have dealt with that? John could have been jealous, envious. Or bitter and resentful. But he wasn't. Note how John responded:

1. He was humble. Even though God appointed him to one of the most prominent roles in history - being the forerunner of the Messiah - he didn't let it go to his head. He was willing to work in the background so the focus could be on Jesus.

During and after World War II many of our troops came home with severe mental disorders caused by the trauma of war. C. M. Ward, a noted radio evangelist, visited a special hospital where veterans with some of the most severe disorders were kept. An old Army surgeon was on staff there. C. M. Ward interviewed the surgeon and said, "Doctor, General MacArthur and the others are getting all the headlines. They don't even mention people like you." The old doctor said, "Mr. Ward, I don't care one bit about that. If I can have one boy meet his mother and say, 'Mother', that will be enough for me."

Being humble means you're willing to "fly below the radar screen" and be ok without always being recognized. Many of us recognize the name of Todd Beamer. Todd was on Flight 93 that crashed in western Pa. on September 11th, 2001. He was one of those who overtook the terrorists and prevented that aircraft from reaching Washington, D.C. I read that in 1992 Todd Beamer made a list of the values and characteristics with which he wanted to identify his life. One of his major goals was this: "I want to fly below the radar screen." Isn't it ironic that on 9/11 this humble Christian young man and his fellow passengers were on the radar screen of this nation as an example of selfless heroism.

John the Baptist was humble. Did you hear about the preacher who had a wonderful sermon on humility, but was waiting for a large crowd before preaching it? Jesus once said, "All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted" (Matthew 23:12).

2. John the Baptist was at peace with his role. Right from the start he made it clear that he was not the Messiah. He only pointed the way to Him who was to come. He was content not to be the center of attention. The antithesis of this would be the Hollywood awards ceremonies, where you have an auditorium full of celebrities with supersized egos! Where every actor or actress wants to bask in the limelight and be seen as the most clever or the most beautiful.

John's place was to get off center stage. He not only was at peace with it, he
delighted in it! That's what John was saying when he talked about the bridegroom and the friend of the bridegroom. "He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled" (John 3:29). The "friend of the bridegroom" had a unique place in a Jewish wedding. He arranged the wedding; he took out the invitations; he presided at the wedding feast. And he had one special duty: to guard the bridal chamber. He would only open the door when in the dark he heard the bridegroom's voice. Then he could leave rejoicing because he had brought the lovers together. In the Bible, Christ is the Bridegroom, the Church is the bride. John's purpose was to bring them together. And when that task was done, he had fulfilled his role, and that gives him joy!

Are you satisfied to be in the background? To play second fiddle? To let others get the glory and recognition? Are you able to find joy and satisfaction being in the place God has carved out for you? John was!

3. And finally, John could celebrate the success of others. How do you react when a co-worker gets a raise or a promotion? Jesus and John were family (cousins) - how do you respond when a relative makes more money than you or seems to have better fortune in life? Romans 12:15 says, "Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep." Sometimes it's easier to cry with those going through heartaches and sorrows
than it is to be happy about another person's good fortune (especially if life stinks for us at the moment!).

How do we respond, for example, when another church is growing or thriving more than us? LCBC (Lancaster County Bible Church) is now probably the biggest church in our area. We have lost some people to that church. And to be very honest, it's hard to swallow sometimes. Church consultant Reggie McNeal talks about mega churches like this that "cannibalize" other churches - getting most of their people from other congregations rather than people who didn't already have a church. In some ways I appreciate what LCBC is doing - not getting stuck in traditions that are no longer relevant. And several times we've gone to them for help and advice and they've been very gracious (such as advice on setting up our bookstore). But there are times when I drive by that church and feel a little resentful that some of our people are now going there. Just the other day I drove by after taking Nancy to work, and I felt some hostility. And I said, "Forgive me, Lord", and I
prayed God's blessing on that congregation.

John could celebrate the success of Jesus, as people were now flocking to his cousin. I had a church history professor at Wesley Seminary in Washington, D.C. His name was Dr. Chandler. He was an older man nearing retirement. Although he was a noted scholar on John Wesley and Methodism, he was not a dynamic teacher - solid, but even a little bit dry at times. On the faculty was another church history prof named Dr. Goen. Dr. Goen was also very knowledgeable, but he was a gifted lecturer and an engaging speaker. One day in class the older man, Dr. Chandler, talked about this young up and coming star on the church history horizon. He spoke of what a bright future he had, and how fortunate the seminary was to have him, and how Dr. Goen would one day take his spot heading up that department at the seminary. But he spoke without a trace of bitterness or jealousy. And I looked at this gracious and humble man of God with deep respect and admiration. John the Baptist was like Dr. Chandler.

Do you remember the story of King Saul in the Old Testament? He was a great warrior, and king. And then David came along, and slew Goliath, and outdistanced Saul in his military heroics. The people would sing, "Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands" (1 Samuel 29:5). And Saul became so jealous of David's success, that he developed an obsession for killing David. How different from John the Baptist.

In the 1998-1999 NBA season, David Robinson, a frequent all-star and veteran center for the San Antonio Spurs, learned to share the limelight with a new rising star, Tim Duncan. San Antonio won the NBA playoffs in 1999 with Tim Duncan as the Most Valuable Player of the finals. In Sports Illustrated, the veteran David Robinson reflected on what it was like for him. He said, "I can't overstate how important my faith has been to me as an athlete and as a person. It's helped me deal with so many things, including matters of ego and pride. For instance, I can't deny that it felt weird to see Tim standing on the podium with the Finals MVP trophy. I was thinking, Man, never have I come to the end of a tournament and not been the one holding up that trophy. It was hard. But I thought about the Bible story of David and Goliath. David helped King Saul win a battle, but the king wasn't happy because he had killed thousands of men. He only thought about David having killed tens of thousand. So King Saul couldn't enjoy the victory because he was thinking about David getting more credit than he was. I'm blessed that God has given me the ability to just enjoy the victory. So Tim killed the tens of thousands. That's great. I'm happy for him."

As people were turning away from John the Baptist and following Jesus John's greatness began to shine. He was humble…..he was at peace with his role…..he could celebrate the success of others.

I think that John gave us a great motto for Lent…and for life. He said of Jesus, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). Isn't that a great motto for Lent!

As we begin a 40 day journey towards Easter, let Jesus increase, and you yourself
decrease. Take time to pray and let His Spirit permeate you . Read one or two of the
gospels - or all four. A chapter or two a day. And let the words of Christ and the words about Christ captivate your thoughts and desires.

This is a great motto for Lent. Say it: "He must increase, but I must decrease." Not only for Lent - it's a great motto for life. He must increase, but I must decrease.

Harry L. Kaufhold, Jr.
Sermon preached at Lititz United Methodist Church
February 6, 2008 (Ash Wednesday)

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