S’more Of Jesus And Less Of Me Series

A man told of having some friends over for a barbeque in his back yard, and they’d just passed out marshmallows and long roasting forks ready to make S’mores. At that point, 2 fire trucks raced by and stopped at a house just down the street. He and his friends and ran down the street and found the owners of the house, standing helplessly as their home was engulfed in flames. He said the owners of the house suddenly turned to them in disgust, because – there they stood - holding their marshmallows & their roasting forks, kind of like they’d come to a BBQ.

Today we’re going to talk about S’Mores. They’re a tasty campfire treat composed of graham crackers, Hershey’s chocolate… and (of course) marshmallows. They’ve become so popular that now there are… Smore pies; Smore McFlurry’s; Salty caramel bacon smores; Cookie Dough Smores; Smore Ice Cream; AND Smore cereal.

But what surprised me the most was the popularity of S’Mores amongst Christians. There’s an on-line site that noted that “S’More Jesus is a phrase often used in a religious context, particularly within Christian circles, to express a love for Jesus that is abundant and overflowing, much like the deliciousness of a s'more. It's a play on words that uses the popular camping treat to symbolize a deep and joyful connection with God.”

I even found some intriguing pictures online: “Jesus loves you S’more than you’ll know”; “No one loves you S’more than Jesus”; “Tell me S’more about Jesus”; and the saying we’re using for our sermon this morning “S’more of Jesus and Less of Me.”

Now, that’s a clever phrase. But it’s more than just a clever phrase. “S’more of Jesus and Less of Me” can be a serious issue for some folks. For example, in our text this morning we read that some of John the Baptist’s disciples came to John and they call John Rabbi, and then they say: “(Jesus) who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness — look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” John 3:26

Now, why would they say that? Because they were offended! John was their Rabbi! John has been preaching for a long time now, and he’d always had the big crowds. But now Jesus - He’s stolen the crowds. Those crowds rightfully belonged to John, and it made them mad! How dare Jesus do that!? They weren’t comfortable with the idea that there’d be S’more of Jesus… and less of John.

You know, that’s why a lot of people don’t want to become Christians. They don’t like the idea that once they get baptized there’s going to be LESS OF THEM, because they know that when they’re baptized into Christ… they’re surrendering to Jesus.

ILLUS: There was a man who came to me wanted to be baptized. I did what I often do and asked him a few questions: “Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.” “Yes” he responded. “Do you acknowledge that you’ve sinned in your life and you need to repent of that?” “Yes,” he replied. “Are you willing to confess Jesus as your Lord and Master, and are you willing to give Him control of all that you have?” At that point, I pulled out my wallet and explained that all the money in my wallet belonged to Christ; everything in my savings was His; my home, my car, my clothing – it was all His; and then I asked him if he was willing to do that… and he paused. He didn’t like the idea of letting Jesus have control over THAT part of his life and he said he wasn’t interested in doing that. Until he was ready to surrender everything to Jesus to become a Christian, he wasn’t ready to make that decision.

A lot of folks don’t mind Jesus doing HIS thing over there - they just don’t want Him doing it OVER HERE… in their lives. They’d rather do “MORE OF THEIR THING”… and not less!

Now notice – John’s disciples were annoyed that there was a lot of “S’more Jesus” going on here. But John wasn’t annoyed. In fact John declared: “I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I HAVE BEEN SENT before him.’ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:28-30

What John was saying was this: “It’s not about ME… it’s about Jesus. I was SENT to prepare the way for Jesus. I’ve spent my whole life - my whole ministry - tied to HIM. That’s why I did what I did. Therefore, I WANT there to be S’More of Jesus and Less of Me! He must increase… but I must decrease.”