Search This Blog

Sunday, March 5, 2023

How to Be Content

The message given in the Sunday night worship service in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on March 5, 2023.  The Bible verses used are John 3:22-36.

            What we read tonight could be considered to be the actual start of Jesus’ ministry.  Jesus has gathered disciples and he’s worked his first miracle.  Now he goes out into the countryside of Judea, spending time with people and baptizing them.

            It’s interesting, I think, that when Jesus started his actual ministry, he did so in a pretty conventional way.  Yes, he’d done a miracle already, but if you remember, that was not something that was part of his plan.  That was something he did his mother, Mary, wanted him to.  When Jesus started to execute his actual plan for ministry, he did so in a very ordinary, almost boringly ordinary way.  He did, really, what John the Baptist had been doing for some time.  He went out and spent time with people and baptized them.

            And before we even get too far into it, that could be a lesson for us right there.  I think too often, when we talk about bringing people into the church, we think we have to do something new and exciting and different to grab people’s attention.  And yes, Jesus did do some of that with the miracles and so forth.  But that was not the core of Jesus’ ministry.  Jesus was not about flash and show.  In fact, if you remember, that’s one of the things Satan tempted Jesus to do:  “Jump off the temple and let the angels carry you down.”

            Jesus was not about being flashy.  He was not about putting on a show.  When it came time for Jesus to start his ministry, what did he do?  He spent time with people and he baptized them.

            And don’t jump over that first part.  We’ll talk about Jesus baptizing people in a minute, but note what he did first.  He spent time with people.

            Jesus did not expect anyone to come to him begging them to baptize him.  He spent time with people.  He got to know them.  He let them get to know him.  He found out what was going on in their lives.  He gave them reasons to feel comfortable with him, to trust him.  After he had done all that, then he offered to baptize them into faith.

            In other words, this business of going and making disciples takes time.  I’m not sure we always recognize that or talk about it.  Too many times--and I’ve been guilty of this, too--we act as if going out and sharing our faith and bringing people into the church and making disciples should be quick and easy.  It’s not.  It was not quick and easy for Jesus.  It’s not quick and easy for us.  

It’s something that takes time.  It takes patience.  And it takes love.  It takes loving people enough to spend time with them.  It takes loving people enough to get to know people.  It takes loving people enough to find out what’s going on in their lives.  And it takes showing love to people, so they can feel comfortable with us and trust us.  Then, we can offer to bring them into faith.  But it won’t happen overnight.

But it does happen eventually.  And it happened eventually for Jesus.  Jesus was gathering more and more followers.  And people noticed.  The people who’d been following John the Baptist noticed, too.  And they appear to have been kind of upset about it.  They come up to John the Baptist and say hey, you remember that guy who was with you on the other side of the Jordan?  That guy you testified about?  He’s stealing your thunder!  He’s baptizing people and everybody’s leaving you and going to him!

Now, think about who John the Baptist was.  He was a famous man.  People from all around were coming to him to repent and be baptized by him.  Even Jesus himself came to be baptized by John.  John the Baptist was a Big Deal.  And now here comes this new guy, this interloper, this upstart, taking people away from him.  Jesus is now the Big Deal, and John the Baptist is becoming yesterday’s news.

It would’ve been easy for John the Baptist to be a little envious of Jesus.  It would’ve been natural for him to resent Jesus.  It would’ve been easy for John to want to try to do something to get the crowds back, to do something to draw attention back to himself, to once again be the Big Deal that he had been.

But John did not do that.  Why not?  Because John was fully committed to doing God’s will.  And when we’re fully committed to doing God’s will, we’re not concerned with whether anyone thinks we’re a Big Deal.  We’re content to play whatever role God has for us, whether it’s a big role or a small one.

You see, John knew who Jesus was.  When Jesus came to be baptized, John said “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him...I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”  And later, when Jesus was walking by, John said, “Look, the Lamb of God.”

John knew that Jesus was the Messiah, the Divine Son of God.  And John knew that he, John, was not the Messiah.  He was merely the one who was sent to prepare things.  That was God’s will for him.  That was the role God had for him to play.  So when these people came to him and said hey, this Jesus guy is taking over from you, John said, well, of course he is.  I told you he would.  He says, “You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, but am sent ahead of him.’”  He used the analogy of being the best man and your friend’s wedding.  You get things ready for your friend.  You’re there for him.  And then, when he comes and they have the wedding, you’re happy.  You’re happy that you did your part, and that things are ready for your friend to have his day.

John knew that, now that Jesus was here, this was Jesus’ day.  He gives that wonderful statement of humility:  “He must become greater, and I must become less.”  John says, in effect, I’ve had my time.  I’ve done my job.  I’ve followed God’s will, and I’ve played the role God had for me to play.  Jesus will take it from here.  I’m not jealous of him.  This is how it’s supposed to be, and I’m happy that things are going the way they’re supposed to go.  

John knew that, when he was preparing the way, he had been doing God’s will.  And he knew that now, by stepping aside and watching Jesus become greater than he was, he was also doing God’s will.

It’s not an easy thing to do what John the Baptist did.  It’s not easy to step back and let someone else get the glory.  It’s not easy to let someone else get the credit for things.  That’s especially true when you have every right to feel like you deserve some of that credit yourself.  It’s not easy--but it’s worth it.

Think of the peace of mind it must have given John the Baptist to react that way.  Now, John did not just go into retirement at this point.  He continued to preach his message of repentance.  In fact, it appears that he continued to baptize.  But he knew that the one he had been preparing people for was already here.  He could relax, knowing that God had done what God had promised and that it was all working the way it was supposed to work.  He could relax, knowing that he had followed God’s will and that he was still following God’s will.

If John had not done that, if he’d tried to get the crowds back, if he’d tried to get glory for himself, he’d have made himself miserable.  He could not have succeeded--he was not going to win a popularity contest with Jesus.  He could’ve gotten really frustrated and really upset trying, though.  But he did not.  John had followed God’s will and he was content with that.

That’s what following God’s will does for us.  It keeps us from getting frustrated and upset.  It helps us feel content.  When we follow God’s will, we don’t need to feel like we’re in competition with anyone.  We don’t need to worry about who gets the credit.  We know that, really, all the credit belongs to God, anyway.  Following God’s will lets us just focus on the job at hand, not worrying about what might happen as a result.  If that means we have to accept a change in circumstances sometimes, that’s okay.  If it means that sometimes we’re out front, taking a prominent position, that’s okay.  If it means that we have let others be out front, while we take a lesser position, that’s okay.  It’s all good as long as we’re following God’s will.

John the Baptist had been a famous man.  But when the time came for him to take a lesser role, he did so graciously and willingly, with no complaint.  He continued to play the role God wanted him to play, even though it was now a lesser role.  He was content, even happy, because he was following God’s will.  May we, too, play the role God wants us to play, whether it’s a big one or a small one.  And may we find contentment and happiness in following God’s will.ermon

 


No comments:

Post a Comment