St John's Anglican Church

HIS NAME WAS JOHN

Luke 3: 1-20

 

I have always been quite keen of St John the Baptist.  I can’t really say why.  Possibly just because I have grown up in this here fine church.  I was born just down the road.  I was baptised right over there, 32 years ago.  God willing I’ll be getting married here one day.  Although you might not want to hold your breath for that one.

 

Maybe it’s because of the stories I heard about John the Baptist growing up.  Some 30 years ago, the Sunday School had a fancy dress contest, and my whole family entered.  I had my turn, coming as the baby Moses, and my brother, John, decided to follow his namesake, and came as John the Baptist.  Never one to do things by half measures, he donned a dressing gown and pillow over his shoulder, and came carrying a papier mache head on a plate.

 

So I guess you could say John the Baptist has been a strong influence in my life as long as I can remember.

 

It is interesting that I like him so much, because while there is a great deal of writing about him in the history books, he doesn’t appear very often in the bible.  Luke tells us some interesting stories about his birth, and how his Father Zachariah was struck dumb because of his unbelief.  We’ve read the story about how John leapt in his mother’s womb when Mary came to visit her, making him the youngest prophet in the Bible I suppose.  We know the story of John being imprisoned by Herod, and ultimately being beheaded for taking a stand against him.  Yet, we see little of what he actually did in the intervening 30 years. In fact, except for a few saying and sermons recorded in the book of Luke, John is only really mentioned in connection with Jesus. We are told little about what he did.

 

But what little we are told, tells an awesome story, and comes as a prologue to an even greater one.

 

 

John is unique also, in that we celebrate the feast of St John on June 24, which is the supposed day of his birth, not on the 29^th of August, when he was traditionally martyred.  Traditionally we focus on great miracles and signs performed by a saint during their life, and the spectacular way in which they died for their faith.  John definitely had a life of miracles and signs, and definitely died a spectacular life, but the importance of John is not in his death for his faith, but in the fact that he was born and lived, and that he used that life to point to Jesus, the messiah.  In his own words, “I must decrease, that he may increase: (John 3:30)  John’s purpose in life was to point to Jesus, a fact which is put quite clearly in his own words about himself. "I am the voice of one calling in the desert, 'Make straight the way for the Lord” (John 1:23)  In saying this, he was identifying himself with the voice promised by Isaiah “A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God” (Isaiah 40:3)  John was that voice, and the voice was preparing people for the coming of the Messiah.

In a sense, John was the last of the Old Testament prophets.  There had not been a prophet in Israel for 400 years, since the times of Micah, and now suddenly this man comes out of the Desert, prophesying mighty things.  Because if John was the last of the Old Testament prophets, he was also the first with a New Testament message.  The message of salvation through Grace, the message of the imminence of God’s messiah.  The message that hope had come into the world, and it’s name was Immanuel, God with us, Jesus.

 

Not a lot of what John said has been recorded.  We know that he was as harsh with the Pharisees as was Jesus, calling them a brood of vipers, we know that he gave a few pithy sayings.  In our reading form Luke today, I am willing to bet that some of you thought those things had been said by Jesus, not John.  So even what little he did say, was ascribed to one greater than himself.

 

But one thing he did say, needs to stay with us.  If he only ever lived and died to make this one statement, his life would still have been one of the most important in history.  Possibly second only to Jesus.  In John 1 v 29 he says “Look, the Lamb of GOD, who takes away the sin of the world.”

 

Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

 

We say this so often in our liturgy, we hear it in sermons, and readings.  It is such an integral part of our theology that Jesus came as a Lamb – a sacrifice of atonement.  We know this; we understand what it means.  Because John, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, told us.  Until that moment, there is no record of this image actually having being used, although it is painfully obvious in retrospect.  It was an image that the Jews of the day would readily understand, and one that Jesus himself later adopted.

John made one of the most powerful statements of salvation, not once, but twice, because we are told that the next day he said it again, and sent his own disciples to go and follow Jesus.

 

So John’s message and purpose thus far was two fold.  He pointed to Jesus, physically, by holding out his finger, and saying “IT IS HIM”

He pointed to Jesus theologically, by saying “He is the perfect sacrifice, offered for your sins.”

But he also pointed to Jesus in another way, through his entire life and ministry, by showing us what we could be, and what we could never be.

 

We saw in our Gospel reading that John came out of the desert, and preached great sermons of repentance.   He was a mighty man of GOD, committed to no luxuries, but only the word of GOD.  He had a single-minded obsession with sharing the Good News with people, and calling them to salvation.  He was a paragon of holiness, and purity.  And he called all men to be the same.  He convicted the faithful of their need to repent.  He laid the foundation for a new era of seeking salvation and turning back to GOD.  But he was never able to achieve it for them.  No matter how good he was, no matter how good his followers were, they would never be enough.

John was the last Old Testament prophet, because he was the last prophet with a life was dedicated to showing perfection through actions.  But it was not perfection.  It was not even close.  Because he was only a man.

 

Jesus said of John “I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” (Matthew 11:11)

 

John dedicated his whole life to GOD, and bringing others to him, in humilty.  It showed us what we should do.  But until the coming of Jesus, it would never be anything except an exercise in futility.

 

John showed us what life we should lead; Jesus showed us how.

 

John was the perfection of the Old Testament Law; Jesus was the fulfilment of that Law in Grace.

 

John made the people understand their need for salvation, but only Jesus could meet that need.

 

Jesus can not really be understood without the message of John, but the message of John is nothing more than self-righteousness with Jesus to back it up.

 

John 5:35 says that “John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.”  John was a lamp that showed light, but not the light itself.

 

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. 6There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.[b] 10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. (John 1:1-10)

 

 

Jesus was the light, John was the lamp that shone some of that light.  He showed not his own light, but the light of Jesus.

 

The thing is, we are called to be lamps as well.  We are called to be salt and light, and to shine the light of Christ.  But, we often fall short of that out of fear I think.  We feel like we are called to be perfect, and we don’t know how.  We feel like we need to show people our own light, where we have never been called to do that.  We were called to show Christ’s light, and to point them to him.  If we are called to be Christ in the world, we are also called to remember that we are John.  We need to bring his light, and the good news of salvation, but we need to do it by pointing others to him, not to ourselves.  John didn’t build a disciple base, he sent them away.  He pointed to Jesus, and said “He is the one, follow him”

 

In prophesying over John at his birth, his father Zahariah said “And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,”

 

John brought us an understanding of salvation through forgiveness, Jesus brought us that salvation.

 

Jesus says to the people of his time, rather sarcastically one might think “16"To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:

17" 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;

we sang a dirge and you did not mourn.' 18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' 19The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' But wisdom is proved right by her actions." (Matthew 11:16-19)

 

I think in this reading, he is pointing out to the people that their great sin is their lack of response.  John came to play them a funeral song, telling them that their lives would lead them to death.  And they did nothing.  Jesus came later to bring a song of Joy, and they still did nothing.

 

If we are called to be John the Baptist in the world, to point others to Jesus, I think we are also called to be John the Baptist in our selves as well.  To point ourself towards Jesus.

 

John said that he was called to “prepare the way for the LORD make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.

 

We, too, need to be focusing ourselves on:

 

·         Preparing a way for the Lord.  Before the Lord can come into a life, whether it is our own, or the life of another, the way needs to be prepared.  We need to be reminded of our need for him, and be actively seeking him.  We cannot hope to meet with him if we are not preparing ourselves for that moment.  Also, if we want to be witnesses for those around us, we need to be preparing the way by our own lifestyle, so that they see what we have, and are curious.

·         Make straight the highway.  In our own lives, and in the world around us, we need to straighten out what is crooked.  To get our affairs in order.  If our lifestyle is being used to prepare a way for the Lord, we need to make sure the way is straight.  We cannot cut corners, or be seen to walk a crooked path.  This could seriously compromise our witness, as well as our relationship with God.

 

·         Remove all the obstacle.  If we want to straighten our path, we need to remove any obstacles.  Whatever is keeping us from worshipping him, whatever obstacles are in our path we need to leave at the foot of the cross.  Where the gound is uneven, either through the mountains of sin, or the valleys of doubt and despair, we need to make level the path, by asking GOD to fill in our doubt, or take away our temptations.  We need to be actively flattening our ground day by day, so that we can walk a straight path, and prepare a way for the LORD.

 

Because he only goes where he is wanted, and this seeds will only grow on fertile ground, that is well prepared.

 

So as we go out from here, and head into our week.  Let’s take some time, in our homes, at our work, and in our play as well, to point others to Christ, and to shine his light, in a world that has forgotten what the real light looks like.