This Is What Counts In Life Series

At the conclusion of today’s message, you will be invited to respond to Jesus’ offer of a clean, fresh start. You can respond by going to the Encourager’s Room, a virtual room, or the altar.

Today’s Scripture

“After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized (for John had not yet been put in prison).

Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. And they came to John and said to him, ‘Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.’ John answered, ‘A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that 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.’

He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” (John 3:22-36).

1. FOMO

“And they came to John and said to him, ‘Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.’ John answered, ‘A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven’” (John 3:26-27).

John the Baptizer’s followers had a good old case of ministerial envy.

1.1 Texting Abbreviations

In our texting world, we have many abbreviations and acronyms. There are the stand bys such as FYI and TMI. Most of us know TBA and TBD. And there are some that I needed a little help with. IRL is “In Real Life.” NGL is “Not Gonna Lie.” FOMO, as many of you know, is Fear of Missing Out. It’s this worried feeling that you may be missing out on some exciting event somewhere. In our day, it’s often fueled by social media because so many lives look so pretty and beautiful. Here’s how the people at the Cleveland Clinic phrase it: “You’re late-night scrolling through Instagram or TikTok, and suddenly, you stumble on a series of photos or videos of your friends or family having fun without you.

You ask yourself: Why didn’t they invite me? Did they just forget to include me? And then, just as quickly, you’re falling down a rabbit hole of trying to make sense of it all: Wondering what you did wrong, wishing you had been included.” John’s disciples look across the Jordan River, and they see Jesus’ disciples baptizing a mass of people, and they are envious. The crowd around Jesus is bigger than the crowd around John. They have a little bit of ancient FOMO.

1.2 Ministry FOMO?

I love how John the Baptizer responds to his disciples: “John answered, ‘A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven’” (John 3:26-27).

Most of us are not upset that we don’t have as much ministry influence. We are upset that we don’t have the vacations others have. Others are more successful than you are financially. You are single, and you want to be married. John says to all of us, “Don’t be like that. Don’t feel that. Everything you have is a gift of heaven.” Your talent, your intelligence, your marriage, and your education are gifts of God.

What if God had decided you were going to be born in a village up in Alaska? What if God had decided you were going to be born in a village where 25% of the town’s people are unemployed? What if God had placed you back during the feudal system of the Medieval Ages, where all your hard work generated next to nothing? It’s a matter of your abilities and opportunities, and God gave those to you: “You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth…” (Deuteronomy 8:18a). If you have more wealth than someone else, ordinarily, it’s because God has given you more opportunities, abilities, and circumstances.