STAYING FOCUSED ON THE SAVIOR IN A SELF-CENTERED SOCIETY
In the aftermath of the horrific tragedy that occurred in Texas on a Sunday morning – when innocent church goers were the victims of one sin-sick crazed specimen of evil – the local sheriff called on a minister to conclude the news conference with prayer.
Across our nation, there must have been many others like me who bowed heads with tears flowing down cheeks.
In our hearts, we felt for the victims, their families and our nation. In those moments, we were unified through a prayer in which the minister did not hesitate nor politically refrain from calling upon and praying in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
As the minister concluded his prayer, there were no doubt others who, like me, thought that “there are going to be repercussions - for the public official and also for this man of God - for daring to call the nation to prayer, and for going so far as to conclude a news conference - of all things - and on television - with prayer, let alone a Christian prayer”!
Sure enough, no sooner had the news conference ended than a reporter asked the sheriff if he thought it appropriate to have a prayer at a news briefing. Later, the minister was asked if he thought prayer was what the nation needed.
That evening, and again the next morning, at least one major news network called the act of praying at a news conference into question. A network talk show host ridiculed the idea of invoking the name of Jesus Christ. A governor of a large state rejected the national call to prayer as being for rabbis and pastors, not the population in general.
In times like these – when the godless become ruthless in their agnosticism, atheism, and skepticism by publicly ridiculing Christians and openly rejecting Christ – it takes courage of conviction on the part of committed Christians to stand up for Jesus and be not dismayed by the pressures brought to bear upon professing Christians to sit down and shut up.
Under similar circumstances, in an atmosphere of hostility toward followers of Jesus who dare to bear public witness to Christ, the very first proclamation by a Christian witness, who pointed to Jesus as Savior of the world, occurred; and then, as now, not everyone appreciated his witness – John 1:26-30 . . .
“John answered them”. Who were “them”? Would you believe that the “them” were “religious” people?
Among those who came out to “investigate” John the Baptist and his teachings were a few Pharisees. Beware of “the few”!
Anywhere any proclaimer of the gospel goes, to preach or teach or witness in the name of Jesus, there will be “the few” who misjudge or misunderstand, and thereby, mistreat the messenger, and dismiss the message as poppycock.
It takes a large dose of resilience and resolution to continue on, despite the sarcasm and the criticism.
Our challenge, like John’s, is to stay focused on the One whose blood was shed for our sins, to whom we owe our salvation, and whom we serve at all costs.
To know Him is to love, honor and cherish Him - never to part ways – for, Jesus is the way to go! Therefore, let us say, publicly, with John:
“Behold the Lamb of God! His blood was shed to take away the “sin” of the world – take away that human tendency to “miss the mark” of God’s purpose.
“By His death Jesus saved all who repent of their sin from the punishment of eternal separation from God.
“By His resurrection Jesus guaranteed all - who believe and receive Him - the glory of His presence forever and forever.
“By baptizing repentant sinners with the Holy Spirit of God, Jesus sets us apart to serve Him and to be His witnesses. In light of all this:
“How can we not stay focused on Him, speak of Him, pray in His name?”
As if John knew his argument on the grounds of logic would fall flat, he goes on to tell his personal story about coming to know Jesus – John 1:31-34 . . .
Having pointed to Jesus (declaring Him to be the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world) and, having pointed out that Jesus came “before” him and any of the rest of them - in the sense that He is the eternal “Word” who was with God but became flesh - John appeals to his personal experience of coming to know Jesus – and so must we.
John, like “them”, knew about Jesus – knew about his cousin’s miraculous birth - but now that the time was right in God’s sight (as it always must be if we’re to serve the Lord effectively), John now must make a distinction between the two of them by:
Baptizing with water (the prescribed method for calling attention to the need for repentance), by pungent preaching (for drawing a crowd), by gathering down by the riverside (to set the stage for the main character to appear). John knew that he must draw a distinction - and so must we (in our own inimitable way)!
Father God erased any doubt John might have had about his role versus that of his cousin by sending the Spirit to descend upon the Son at his baptism. In various ways, God will erase any doubt any of us may have about our role vs that of Jesus.
Sometimes erasure takes the form of an experience that humbles us; at other times it takes the form of a highly visible experience that exalts Christ – the latter being what occurred to erase any doubt about who John was vs who his cousin was.
Thus testified Cousin John: “And I saw, and bare record, that this is the Son of God.”
Don’t you know that a divine revelation of the Spirit will do it every time! Will do what? Will make a believer out of you! And our witness as believers is that Jesus is the Son of God!
Was it all over for John, now that he had made the distinction between he and Jesus? No, and it won’t be for you and me - even though we point out to our own followers that they must take their eyes off of us and look to Jesus for their ultimate refuge, strength, help, comfort, guidance, assurance, hope.
Christ Jesus must be their greater Rock, and ours; on Him they, and we, must rely – John 3:26-30 . . .
One of the hardest things for people to do, I suppose, is to rise above that all-too-familiar secular way of thinking that tends to set certain individuals on a pedestal to make of them something they are not.
Did you catch how John put it? “A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.”
Where did the voice of approval of Jesus come from? From whom did the assignment of John’s role of “forerunner” come from? So obvious! So, why should there be any question about it? “I am not the Christ!”
Perhaps an illustration – painting a picture on the chalkboard of one’s mind – will help: The friend (best man) of a bridegroom keeps the bride and her entourage informed about the coming of the bridegroom, and prepares them for his coming, but the friend is delighted when the bridegroom finally appears so that he (the bridegroom) can take front and center, while he (the friend) can step aside and turn the bride and her company over to Him (the bridegroom).
May I introduce you to Jesus the Bridegroom - He who is the Christ, the Son of God – so that you may believe, and that by believing, you may have life in His name? For, you see, there is no joy like the joy of turning people over to Jesus! So,
Go. Find. Tell. Introduce. Step aside. Experience the joy of turning family, friends, anyone to whom you bear witness, over to Jesus! Amen.
