During Sunday school, a pastor, who was teaching the adult class, selected a middle-aged couple to act out the burning bush scene from Exodus 3. He asked the husband to supply the voice for God and his wife to read Moses' lines.
All went well until they got to verse 15. The wife, as Moses, mistook her husband's dialogue for her own and read, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—‘”
The pastor interrupted her. “Wait a minute. You're not God.”
Without missing a beat, her husband deadpanned, “I've been trying to tell her that for 18 years” (Laura Lee Allen, Daytona Beach Shores, FL, Christian Reader, “Lite Fare;” www.PreachingToday.com).
We laugh, but there are some who have too high a view of themselves, and that usually leads to a fall (Proverbs 16:18).
Somebody once said, “If you don’t toot your own horn, nobody else will.” But is that true? Do you get ahead by tooting your own horn, or is there a better way to greatness and true success?
Jesus said of one of his contemporaries, “among those born of women none is greater than John” (Luke 7:28). He was talking about John the Baptist, the last of the great prophets and the forerunner of the Messiah Himself.
So, how did John the Baptist achieve true greatness? Did he toot his own horn, or did he find another way? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to the Gospel of John, chapter 1, John 1, where we see how John the Baptist, or how any of us, can achieve true greatness.
John 1:19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” (ESV)
The religious leaders hear about a new preacher in the Judean wilderness, and they’re curious. “Who are you?” they ask John. Now, if John ever wanted to toot his own horn, here is his opportunity! After all, he is just starting out in ministry. This is his opportunity to establish his credibility. This is his opportunity to pad the resume and tell the important people who he really is. After all, their endorsements could open some big doors of opportunity and influence.
For example, John could say, “You remember when Zacharias the priest was struck dumb in the Temple? You remember that the angel told him he was going to have a son, a great son, a son who would be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb, a son who would go forth in the spirit of Elijah, a son who would be the forerunner of the Messiah Himself (Luke 1:13-17). Well men, I am that son!” That’s what John the Baptist could have honestly said. Instead…
John 1:20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ” (ESV).
John told them he was not the Messiah.
John 1:21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No” (ESV).
The Old Testament prophet Malachi predicted the coming of Elijah as a forerunner to the Messiah (Malachi 4:5). And Moses predicted the coming of another prophet like him. But John denies that he is either of them.
John 1:22-23 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said” [in Isaiah 40:3] (ESV).
When forced to give an answer, John simply says, “I am a voice.” That’s all, just a voice. Jesus Christ is the Word, the Living Word of God. I’m just a voice, here to tell you about that Word. I’m just a voice, here to prepare the way for the Lord.
John 1:24-25 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” (ESV)
If you are nobody special, why then are you baptizing people? You see, Jewish priests baptized Gentiles who wanted to convert to Judaism. Here, John (a lay person) is baptizing Jews! Why?
John 1:26-28 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing (ESV).
John was baptizing Jews, because he knew they needed to repent as much as the Gentiles. They needed to recognize their own sin and change their attitudes about the Messiah, a person they do not yet know.
This person was born six months after John. He is younger than John, but John says of Him, “I am not worthy even to untie his shoes.”
In Jesus’ day, a disciple did everything for his master except untie his master’s shoes. A servant did everything for his master, which included untying his master’s shoes.
Jesus said of John, “among those born of women none is greater than John” (Luke 7:28). John said of Jesus, “I am His unworthy servant.” That’s how John the Baptist achieved real greatness, and that’s how you achieve real greatness, as well. Like John…
HUMBLE YOURSELF.
Diminish yourself. Lower yourself. Consider yourself just “a voice.” Consider yourself just “an unworthy servant,” of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
“If you work hard, good things will happen… to someone else.”
That’s the motto of the All-Joes Team. Each year USA Today honors overlooked and often unappreciated football players by naming them to what the newspaper calls its All-Joes Team. They have been doing it since 2011, celebrating men who sacrifice their egos for the good of their team.
“You have to know your role,” says William Henderson, fullback for Green Bay's Ahman Green. “I'm there to create a cavity for Ahman to get through and to protect the quarterback from bodily harm.” Guess who gets the accolades when Green runs for 1000 yards? “People don't respect the position,” says Henderson.
But their teammates notice. Fullback Mack Strong blocks for Seattle's Ricky Watters, and Watters depends on him. “Mack does all the dirty work in the run game,” Watters says. “He does everything. I mean, if the goal posts fell, I wouldn't be surprised to see him go over there and hold them up.”
As a result of being named to the All-Joe team, some players have gone on to further glory. Previous All-Joes have made it to the Pro Bowl, including Washington defensive end Marco Coleman, New York Jets receiver Wayne Chrebet, and Seattle offensive tackle Walter Jones (John Turney, “Larry Weisman’s ‘All-Joe’ Teams,” Football Journal, 9-8-20; www.PreachingToday.com).
That’s how you climb the ladder of success. You go down the ladder of service.
It’s the example Jesus Himself set for His followers. He told them: “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:43-45).
If you want to achieve true greatness, 1st, humble yourself. Then 2nd…
EXALT THE SAVIOR.
Elevate Jesus Christ. Magnify the Lord and make Him look great in the eyes of others. That’s what John the Baptist does.
John 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (ESV).
John declares that Jesus is the Lamb of God! It’s an expression that was familiar and yet amazed his Jewish audience.
It was familiar, because every year, at Passover, each Jewish family brought a lamb to the Temple. It commemorated the time when the shed blood of a lamb protected them from the death angel in Egypt (Exodus 12). Also, during the year, the priests sacrificed two lambs in front of the Temple every day, one in the morning and one in the evening. On top of that, people brought lambs to the Temple when they sinned as sin offerings. Leviticus 4 says the sacrifice of a lamb makes an “atonement for sin” (Leviticus 4:35). That is, it covers the sin of the one who brought the lamb. Sacrificial lambs were familiar to the Jewish people in John’s day.
But John’s description of Messiah as the Lamb of God would have amazed them. You see, they were familiar with men bringing lambs to men (priests), but John declares that GOD brought a Lamb to men! The Jewish people were familiar with the lamb’s sacrifice covering their sin, but John declares that God’s lamb takes away their sin! And lastly, the Jewish people were familiar with priests sacrificing lambs for other Jews, but John declares that God gave His lamb for the whole world, not just Jews, but Gentiles, as well!
Amazing! Jesus is the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
That means He is a wonderful savior! Jesus is the one who delivers people from sin and death.
When pastor and author J. D. Greear lived in Southeast Asia, a Muslim asked him why God would need somebody to die in order to forgive our sin? The Muslim said, “If you sinned against me, and I wanted to forgive you, I wouldn't make you kill your dog before I forgave you. Why would God require some kind of sacrifice to forgive?”
J. D Greear answered him:
Choosing to forgive somebody means that you are agreeing to absorb the cost of the injustice of what they've done. Imagine you stole my car and you wrecked it, and you don't have insurance and or the money to pay for it. What are my choices? I could make you pay. I could haul you before a judge and request a court-mandated payment plan. If you were foolish enough to steal my $1.5 million Ferrari (No, I do not actually own a Ferrari), you might never pay it off, and you'd always be in my debt.
But I have another choice. I could forgive you… What am I choosing to do if I say, “I forgive you”? I'm choosing to absorb the cost of your wrong. I'll have to pay the price of having the car fixed… You have no debt to pay—not because there was nothing to pay, but because I paid it all. Not only that, I'm choosing to absorb the pain of your treatment of me… I'm choosing to give you friendship and acceptance even though you deserve the opposite.
This is always how forgiveness works. It comes at a cost. If you forgive someone, you bear the cost rather than insisting that the wrongdoer does. And that is what Jesus, the Mighty God, was doing when he came to earth and lived as a man and died a criminal's death on a wooden cross (J. D. Greear, Searching for Christmas, The Good Book Company, 2020, p. 52-53; www.PreachingToday.com).
He bore the cost of our sin and chose to give us what we don’t deserve—His friendship and acceptance.
Jesus is the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! Please, believe it for yourself! Trust Him to take away your sin.
Ron Lee Davis, in his book A Forgiving God in an Unforgiving World, tells the true story of a priest in the Philippines, a much-loved man of God who carried the burden of a secret sin he had committed many years before. He had confessed and turned from that sin, but still had no peace, no sense of God's forgiveness.
In his parish was a woman who deeply loved God and who claimed to have visions in which she spoke with Christ and he with her. The priest, however, was skeptical. To test her he said, “The next time you speak with Christ, I want you to ask him what sin your priest committed while he was in seminary.” The woman agreed.
A few days later the priest asked, “Well, did Christ visit you in your dreams?”
“Yes, he did,” she replied.
“And did you ask him what sin I committed in seminary?”
“Yes.”
“Well, what did he say?”
“He said, ‘I don't remember’” (David H. Bolton, Anaheim, California. Leadership, Vol. 6, no. 3; www.PreachingToday.com).
When you confess your sins to Jesus, asking Him to take them away, that’s what He does for you. He doesn’t just cover your sins, so He can peek under the covers every once in a while and remind Himself how bad you were. No! He takes them completely away, choosing to forget them forever!
Please, let Him do that for you! Trust Him to take away your sin. For He is a wonderful Savior.
More than that, He is supreme. He is the best there is. That’s what John says of Him.
John 1:30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me’ (ESV).
Jesus was born six months after John. In that sense, He came after John, but Jesus was before John. He ranks above John, because He existed long before John’s parents conceived him. Jesus, as God, existed from all eternity past. Now, John didn’t know that Jesus was God until the day He baptized Jesus.
John 1:31-33 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit’ (ESV).
John says, “I baptize with water”—that gets you wet. Jesus, on the other hand, baptizes people with the Holy Spirit —that changes your life.
Jesus is supreme. He ranks above all, because He is the eternal God, whose Spirit transforms every believer.
Rabi Maharaj, a Hindu, tells the story of attending church for the first time as a teenage boy:
“The small group of Indian believers met in a very run-down house, but there was something very special about their worship. The small song leader held up her tambourine, then she hit her hand with it and a new chorus had started. Over and over the words were repeated, and soon I had joined in. It was hard not to be enthusiastic if what this song said was true!
Wonderful, wonderful, Jesus is to me!
Counselor, mighty God, Prince of Peace is he.
Saving me, keeping me from all sin and shame.
Wonderful is my Redeemer—praise his Name!”
Maharaj says, “No one had started to preach, but already I had learned so much. What a contrast between the relationship these Christians had with Jesus and the ritualistic appeasement of the gods at Hindu ceremonies! I had never heard anyone say that a Hindu god was “wonderful” or a “counselor.” Certainly no one would sing like that about Shiva, about Kali, his bloodthirsty wife, or about their favorite son, Ganesha, half-elephant and half-human! And they called Jesus the Prince of Peace!
“The words of that simple chorus were burning themselves into my heart. Jesus would not only save, but he would keep me from all sin and shame. What good news! These people must have found it to be true or they wouldn’t be singing with such enthusiastic joy” (Rabi R. Maharaj and Dave Hunt, Death of a Guru, Harvest House Publishers, 1984, pp. 124-127; www.PreachingToday.com).
Jesus is indeed wonderful, far above any other god. He is a wonderful Savior. He is supreme.
And He is sovereign. He is the Son of God. He is King of kings, the Ruler and Master of everything. That’s what John says of Him.
John 1:34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God” (ESV).
In Bible days, “Son of God” was a title for the kings of Israel. In 2 Samuel 7, God told David regarding his descendant who would rule on his throne, “I will be a Father to him and he will be a son to Me” (2 Samuel 7:14). In Psalm 2, a coronation psalm, God says to the new king of Israel, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you” (Psalm 2:7). Later in this same chapter, in John 1:49, Nathaniel says of Jesus, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” You see, Nathaniel understood that to be the Son of God was synonymous with being the King of Israel.
So Jesus is King! In fact, He is more than just the King of Israel, He is King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 17:14; 19:16). Jesus is sovereign over all.
Susan Kimber from Brea, California, was tired of struggling with her strong-willed, 3-year-old son, Thomas. So she looked him in the eye and asked a question she felt sure would bring him in line: “Thomas, who is in charge here?”
Without missing a beat, that Sunday-School, born-and-bred toddler replied, “Jesus is” (Susan C. Kimber, Brea, CA, “Heart to Heart,” Today’s Christian Woman; www.PreachingToday.com).
That little boy had it right! You may think you’re in charge at times, but only Jesus is King. Only Jesus is the Sovereign Lord. So submit to Him! Resist trying to maintain control and give up all control to Him.
If you want to achieve true greatness, humble yourself and exalt the Savior.
In his book Leaders Eat Last, Simon Sinek says he found himself amazed, even a bit humbled, by the character of the men and women in our armed forces. He assumed, “These are just a special class of people. They’re better than us.” Then, while working in Afghanistan, a military base came under rocket attack when he was there. That’s when he discovered what really made them great. He writes:
The rank of office is not what makes someone a leader. Leadership is the choice to serve others with or without any formal rank… Leaders are the ones who run headfirst into the unknown. They rush toward the danger. They put their own interests aside to protect us or to pull us into the future. Leaders would sooner sacrifice what is theirs to save what is ours. And they would never sacrifice what is ours to save what is theirs. This is what it means to be a leader.
A Marine Corps general put it simply: “Officers eat last.” Then Sinek watched as the most junior Marines ate first while the most senior Marines took their place at the back of the line. What's symbolic in the chow hall is deadly serious on the battlefield: Great leaders sacrifice their own comfort—even their own survival—for the good of those in their care (Simon Sinek, Leaders Eat Last, Portfolio, 2017, page 116; www. PreachingToday.com).
There you have it—Leaders eat last. To get to the front, start at the back. Follow the lead of your Savior, who came not to be served, but to serve.
