Serving In Humility - 2nd String Series

SERMON BRIEF

Date Written: August 20, 2010

Date Preached: August 22, 2010

Church: OPBC (AM)

FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENTS

Series: Recognizing and Responding to the Living Word

Title: Serving With Humility (2nd String)

Text: John 1:19-32

ETS: John the Baptist realized who he was and he was not afraid to lose himself in his service to God because he was willing to search out God’s plan for his life.

ESS: As Christians we have to realize who we are and not be afraid to lose ourselves in service to God because we must be willing to seek out and search for God’s will in our lives…at all times!

Introduction:

I believe I’m not alone in that feeling, you see it’s a human trait to NOT want to be

2nd string in anything! I can think of NO ONE who wanted to be on the B-team, and human nature teaches us that there are not any people who like playing 2nd fiddle!

I mean think about it… Vice-Presidents desire to become the President. Backup QBs dream about when they can lead their team into battle! It is our nature to want to be OUT front, leading the way!

In Winter Park, MN there are 2 men today who are frustrated and possibly a bit upset! You see until just recently Tavaris Jackson, Sean Rosenfeld were battling for the starting QB position for the MN Vikings. There were fighting for who would be 1st string… until one day this week when HE showed up!

These men were looking forward to playing on the 1st string and leading their team, but then HE came… and everything changed for these 2 men! They would NO longer be considered for the starting position… they were now only seen as the backups… as 2nd string… 2nd fiddle! Brett Favre was back in town and HE was going to become the starter… He was going to be the leader…

Now I can feel for these men… working hard, striving toward a goal, and then all of a sudden… everything is different!

Now, I am NOT naïve, I know that there are some people in this world that do NOT want the spotlight and who actually LIKE living out the backup role. They actually enjoy being in the role of 2nd string… but these men do NOT… these men WANTED to lead…both of these men have led NFL teams in the past and believe that they CAN lead this NFL team…

Now it is a very difficult thing for the human mind to deal with the concept of being 2nd fiddle in ANYTHING! Especially when you have been 1st chair before! Especially when you have those around you saying that you should be #1!

These 2 men in MN have a lot in common with the person who is the focus of our passage of Scripture this morning. John the Baptist knows about being out front and then having One come in and take the spotlight!

Now I understand that there are some differences in these 2 situations, but there are great similarities as well. But the most glaring similarity is that BOTH knew that there was ONE who was coming!

These 2 men in MN knew that Brett Favre was hovering around out there, threatening retirement, but leaving his options open for returning for a 20th NFL season! And as much as anyone knows Brett Favre… we all knew in our hearts that he was NOT going to retire!

I believe these men knew this too… and I truly believe that even tho’ they may have HOPED for a starting role, both of these men KNEW what their ultimate role on this team was going to be…

Now John KNEW Jesus was out there, even though no one else knew about Him. John knew He was coming. We see John the Baptist understood what his role in life was… He KNEW from birth that he would NEVER be anything other than one who was called to set the table for Jesus. John knew where God had him in His plan!

Now I am sure that there were MANY people around John, mainly his disciples, who did not see things that way! I am sure that they believed that John should see himself as being the 1st team! They wanted John to be the leader… the One people looked to… After all it was John that all these crowds were coming out into the wilderness to see and hear! He was simply THE best preacher in the entire country!

But now there was ANOTHER who had come along… a man named Jesus! I am SURE that John’s disciples had these feelings of desire to keep John #1 in the eyes of the people… but I wonder if John ever had those feelings about this situation?