¡§Me Church¡¨ video:
¡§Imagine a church where every member is passionately, whole-heartedly and recklessly calling the shots.¡¨
(A woman says) ¡§I work a busy week and when Sunday rolls around, I¡¦m tired. How about a church service that starts when I get there?¡¨
No problem ¡V when you arrive, we begin!
(A man says) ¡§Financially, my wife and I don¡¦t give a lot to the church. But we¡¦d sure like to know who does.¡¨
Alright, if you join now, you¡¦ll know what every person gives, in detail.
(An older woman says) ¡§When I¡¦m in the church service, can my car get a buff and a wax?¡¨
Not just that, but an oil change and a tune up!
(Kid says) I¡¦d like a pony!
Hey, just look in your back yard.
Me Church, where it¡¦s all about you.
Funny video that skewers contemporary church culture. We laugh, but how about us? Can¡¦t we relate just a bit? We want to be comfortable and we want things the way we want them. Let¡¦s face it, most of the time our lives are lived as if it¡¦s all about me.
Our Scripture today was about John¡¦s imprisonment. And we know from Mark 6, his imprisonment ultimately resulted in his death at the hands of Herod. But let¡¦s go back a step or two¡K what do we know about this man? Let¡¦s look at Matthew¡¦s description of his ministry:
Matthew 3:1-6, 11-15
1In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea 2and saying, ¡§Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.¡¨ 3This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
¡§A voice of one calling in the desert, ¡¥Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.¡¦¡¨
4John¡¦s clothes were made of camel¡¦s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. John Said:
11¡§I baptize you with„T water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.¡¨
John the Baptist. Or, the Baptizer. A wild man running around wearing camel hair and eating bugs. I wonder how he fit in when he visited the synagogue on visitor¡¦s Sunday? How would he fit in here? This guy was out on the edge ¡V following God, risking for the Kingdom, preaching a message of repentance that surely got him in lots of trouble with the nice, proper, religious authorities.
Isaiah had prophesied about one who would make straight paths in the wilderness for the Messiah. He was the first to recognize Jesus as he came into his earthly ministry.
He seemed to have the proper perspective on Jesus¡¦ ministry versus his own. John¡¦s ministry had become something of an event. You can well imagine that folks were turning out not just to get baptized, but to watch the spectacle. This guy was a preacher and an afternoon¡¦s entertainment all rolled into one.
And the Scriptures tell us that he had accumulated disciples, even before Jesus did. He had a following. And yet, he kept the focus off of himself.
In John 3 we see an interesting encounter where the ministries of John and Jesus collide:
22¡KJesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized. 24(This was before John was put in prison.) 25An argument developed between some of John¡¦s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26They came to John and said to him, ¡§Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan¡Xthe one you testified about¡Xwell, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.¡¨
27To this John replied, ¡§A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. 28You yourselves can testify that I said, ¡¥I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.¡¦ 29The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom¡¦s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30He must become greater; I must become less.
Wow. What a perspective. We look at John and we can certainly say that he didn¡¦t think the work of the Kingdom was all about him. As another translation puts it, John says, ¡§He must increase, and I must decrease.¡¨
Last night Jen Perry and I returned from Lake Champion, a Young Life camp about 3 hours from here. There we spent nearly a month working with 45 college kids who were serving the Lord at camp, reaching out to nearly 700 junior high kids, 700 urban high school kids, and 50 teenage moms along with their babies in 4 different camp weeks. Hope came along with Jen and was a big hit at camp, as you can imagine. Cliff came up on the weekends as he was able.
And I hope that you will take a minute to appreciate Jen for what she did this month. She worked herself to the bone, never got a good night¡¦s sleep, dealt with some great college kids and some difficult college kids, and did an unbelievably great job. And what she did made it possible to proclaim the gospel to 1500 teenagers. Please thank her for stepping out on a limb and putting her faith and her gifts into action.
Working with Jen was great, and we saw incredible fruit this month as hundreds of teenagers accepted Christ and hundreds more were touched by the Gospel. But I can tell you, the toughest thing for me this month was to keep the focus off of me. My needs. I¡¦m tired. I¡¦m frustrated. I¡¦m hungry. I¡¦m going to shoot this college kid or this staff member if they rub me the wrong way one more time! I¡¦d love to say that the month was totally altruistic and all about serving Christ. But if I¡¦m honest, more often than I¡¦d like to admit, it was all about me.
I had my own disciples. Camp staff who appreciate me and college kids who thought I was pretty cool even at nearly 50 years old. And as much as I know that Christ must increase and I must decrease, that¡¦s a hard thing to practice.
John preached the gospel. John engaged in ministry. John knew his role. John recognized Jesus as the promised Messiah. And John pointed his own disciples to Jesus. So, what do we make of this passage in Matthew 11? How is it that John is now asking whether or not Jesus is the promised one?
Well my friends, when you think it¡¦s all about you, take heart. I think John had his own moments when he thought it was all about him, too. The crowds are gone, people have abandoned him, and things really look bad. He has offended both the King and his wife by challenging their marital status ¡V saying that Herod was sinning by taking his brother¡¦s wife. And there really doesn¡¦t appear to be much hope of being released on parole.
So he sends his own disciples to Jesus to ask a question. ¡§Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?¡¨
The word that John uses here to describe Jesus here is striking. In Greek word is Ho erchomai, or ¡§the coming one.¡¨ It is a messianic term. He asks, ¡§Are you the one who was to come?¡¨, meaning, ¡§are you the Messiah?¡¨ Didn¡¦t John proclaim exactly who Jesus was at his baptism, saying, ¡§Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the word¡¨? How is it that he can now send his disciples to ask Jesus if he is indeed the ¡§coming one¡¨?
John had really been about the business of the Kingdom, baptizing, preaching, challenging both the religious and civil authorities, and heck, he was Jesus¡¦ cousin! So would it have really been too much to ask for Jesus to get him out of prison? Matthew recounts that John had heard what Jesus had been doing. Performing miracles. Healing people. Casting out demons. Teaching with authority. Yeah, Jesus, that¡¦s all great. But remember me? Your cousin? I¡¦m in prison!
I have read commentaries that suggest that John didn¡¦t quite comprehend Jesus¡¦ priestly mission. Or that John sent his disciples with a rhetorical question for the benefit of his disciples. There are lots of possibilities. But I guess I¡¦m not smart enough to opine in some theological direction. To me, John is in prison, his cousin is doing miracles, and now John wants to know how this abundant life that Jesus promised is going to apply to him. We were talking about John¡¦s imprisonment and death while at camp this month and one of our staff said, ¡§John didn¡¦t know how much he had to decrease!¡¨
I think we run two dangers on opposite poles when we talk about our life with Christ. One danger is that we make it out to be an ascetic, spiritualized kind of life, full of discipline. Like eating oatmeal for an eternity. Not much fun, but it really is good for you. And I think there is just too much of Jesus¡¦ teaching on the abundant life and God¡¦s desire to give good gifts to His children for us to regard it that way. There is nothing wrong with having fun walking with Christ, despite the message you hear from some folks. I am reminded of the definition I once heard of a Puritan: Someone who is deathly afraid that somewhere someone is having fun.
Reaction of folks when they find out I¡¦m a pastor¡K John Smiraglia,
¡§I¡¦d go to his church¡¨. When you are tied into your creator, have a mission, have power and authority, and are free from guilt, why wouldn¡¦t you have fun?
But the other pole is just as dangerous. Follow Jesus and your life will be great. Engage in ministry and Jesus will reward you. Somehow we end up believing that it is all about us.
John sent his disciples with a question. And Jesus responded. He said, ¡§Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 6Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.¡¨
What exactly was Jesus saying? I think he was trying to communicate at least two things. First, he references the prophecy in Isaiah 35 that pointed to the coming Messiah.
Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, ¡§Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.¡¨ Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Jesus makes it clear to John that he is indeed the Messiah. John had not been wrong about that. And the Jesus¡¦ ministry validated his identity.
But I think Jesus is communicating something else to John that is incredibly important. He says, ¡§Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.¡¨ The phrase that the NIV translates ¡§fall away¡¨ is also translated, ¡§stumble¡¨. The Greek word is ¡§scandalidzo¡¨. This is where we get the word, ¡§scandal¡¨ or ¡§scandalize¡¨. It¡¦s an affront to one¡¦s sensibilities. And for John, his imprisonment and the prospect of his death was an affront to his sensibilities.
If I¡¦m honest, anything that¡¦s not all about me is an affront to my sensibilities. I would bet that it is the same for you.
Jesus says to John, ¡§Don¡¦t stumble, John! The Kingdom is not about you or your imprisonment. I came to free the captives, but not necessarily you from jail. I came to save lives and deliver souls, but in serving the Kingdom, your own life may not be spared.¡¨
And I think that both John¡¦s question and Jesus¡¦ answer to that question are as profound and important for you and me as they were back in the first century. Yes, Jesus is the Messiah. And no, it¡¦s not all about you. Not about cars, or portfolios, houses or health. Does God sometimes bless us materially? Of course He does. And we are so seldom grateful. You are I were born into a land and a culture of prosperity. But that is a gift, not a right. Remember what Job said? ¡§Though he slay me, yet will I praise him.¡¨ It¡¦s all about perspective. It¡¦s not about you.
So what¡¦s the application here? Let me suggest at least one. Like John, life is about the Kingdom. It¡¦s about ministry in Jesus¡¦ name. We may see incredible results, and we may not. Sometimes, like Jen Perry, we can invest ourselves 24/7 for a month and see hundreds of kids give their lives to Christ. And sometimes, like John and like so many martyrs over the centuries, you end up with a result you would not choose. But either way, Jesus calls us to live for something more than ourselves.
If you don¡¦t know what it means to walk with this scandalous Messiah and live for something larger than yourself, I can only encourage you that living for yourself is not the way to joy. Your purpose and your peace may only be found when you give yourself fully to the one who designed you to live a truly abundant life in Him. There would never be a better day than today to start living with purpose and joy. Jesus is inviting you into an adventure so much larger than you can know. I would love to speak with you more today if this is an adventure you would like to get in on.
My friends, living for something larger than yourself IS the abundant life. It is by God¡¦s grace that we participate in the work of the Kingdom. It is a privilege and an honor. It is where we find our greatest joy.
Take a risk! Commit yourself to the work of God¡¦s kingdom. Dress up in camel hair and eat bugs, if you want. But don¡¦t miss out on what God has created you for.
Amen.
