John 1:6-8, 19-28
Listening guide
He is not the Messiah, Elijah, or the prophet. He is a voice.
The ______________________ of a clear _______________
Discussion questions
No discussion questions while we work on "The End” study.
Sermon
Intro
“Watch, it will probably behave for you.” That’s what someone said when they couldn’t get the printer to print the other day. I stared at it real hard for a second, then told the printer which size paper to use, and boom, out came the page.”
They couldn’t help but say what I did and draw conclusions about who I was. I was something of a tech whizz or even more, I had a superpower
What people say about who we are matters. Most everyone gets their sense of who they are from two places.
Family, especially in more traditional circles. I’ve got a relative who is kind of important in the synod.
Work, in the modern. “Tell me about yourself” we don’t list hobbies or family. We list our work.
Who we are on the inside – our nature
The question, “who are you” isn’t the only question. Where are we going, what am I here to do. We also need to ask these questions. Some people say “identity is the most important thing.” Not true. So is purpose and origin.
There is a reason the Frozen movies have done so well. They are so great at tapping into the great questions of “who we are”. From the hit song, “Let it Go” when Elsa is working on the confidence to tell other people who she is; to the follow up “into the unknown” when Elsa is telling other people to say who they are.
Who you are is not the most important question in life
What you are here to do
Where you are going
But who you are matters. That answer matters. We know.
Promise/Discovery
Today God shows us what a clear sense of who we are can do. He shows us a man named John the Baptist.
The vitality of a clear identity
Development
John does something that I think is notable. People see this incredible movement he has produced. It really is incredible. Never before have thousands of Jews gotten baptized. They ask who he is. He answers simply. He is not the Messiah, Elijah, or the prophet. He is a voice.
If you read about this section, the commentators all point out how well John answers. He states the truth with both positive and negative statements. Good clarity. Two notable things.
The negative statements. He states he is not Messiah, Elijah, or the prophet. I don’t know if those seem like random names for you. They aren’t. These were some of greatest men in Israelite history and each was commonly prophesied to come again. You have to imagine what this would have meant for John. The appeal of it.
Imagine if the president of the United States, the Speaker of the House, the president of the Synod, and the archbishop came to you and asked you if you were Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr, or Jonathan Edwards. That would fill you with pride. That would puff you up beyond belief.
They asked if John was one of the 3 most important 3 men in all Israelite history. Talk about a big head!
Then there is the positive statement. John says, “I’m a voice.” Only a voice. Nothing else. What’s a voice?
This is the thing. The people think John is this extravagant, amazing, and radical guy. Remember, Jews didn’t get baptized, but somehow scores of Jews are coming for baptism. So they come out there saying to him, who do you think are you? You must have this incredible ego or you must truly be this incredible, out of this world guy to be out here baptizing. You must have this incredible sense of personage and identity to have the confidence for this.
They weren’t even that far off. Jesus one time says that among people born of women, there is no one greater than John. And John the Baptist says, “No, no. I’m just a voice pointing to the one who is to come.” Here’s what he’s saying. “In myself I am nothing, but the one I serve is the greatest in the world. I’m just a voice, but I’m talking about the greatest one in the world. What I do, is I amplify, I expand, and I make large who he is.
John doesn’t get a big head. He doesn’t get puffed up. He’s not full of himself. Whatever you want to say. But he doesn’t back down. He is a voice. There is this scene in the movie, The Greatest Story Ever Told. In it, there is this scene where John says, “Repent, that’s adultery!” Herod replies something like, “you’re going to die for that.” John says, “you’re going to hell for that.” Herod says, “I can kill you.” John says, “I’ll finally be free.” When Herod finally does kill him, there is this voice ringing in the background.
John doesn’t look to his family and clan to tell who he is. He doesn’t look to his work. He doesn’t look inside himself. John looks to the one who stands among them. He looks at the one whose sandals he is not worthy to untie.
I remember looking at the Sistine Chapel. That ceiling is so amazing. That sight did not fill me with confidence or make me strong. It made me feel small and unworthy.
And there really are some scenes that probably make me feel stronger, almost arrogant, than I should. Like when I look at my clan at a wedding, I kind of say, yeah, that’s what we’re up to. That’s what we’re doing. Or there were a few papers, I know, right, papers, but really, papers, and a few networks I’ve built that I say, those things really make me feel good about what I am.
I have those things in my life that make me feel strong,
And some of you would probably say, yeah but pastor that is just for a moment. And those are good things.
I would say, yeah, they are good things. What I’ve got to say is, like John, I’m unworthy, but I serve the greatest one in the world. I’m here to amplify him, expand him, and enlarge him.
That’s because Jesus has said we’re worthy.
He even said, “unless I wash you, you have no part in me.” (Jesus washes feet.)
John was seeing that moment where Jesus says, yeah, you’re not worthy. You’re not. But I will give my whole self to make you worthy.
John can say better than anyone, I’m unworthy. Of course I am. There is the one who is worthy to baptize. He is my hero. He is my Savior. I put all my confidence and trust in him. I transfer all my trust to him.
He is so clear on that. That’s what clarity of identity can sound like.
Action
Do you want one of the greatest gifts this Christmas? Learn to say, I’m a voice. I’m here to enlarge, to amplify, and make him great.
That kind of clarity won’t ruin you. The opposite is true. That kind of clarity will be your vitality.
I think in many ways, this whole line of questioning of “who we are on the inside” is better. Whether it’s Frozen, Xmen Mutants, or even the whole sense of inner beauty. There is good in that. It’s better than pigeonholing people based on their family or their work. It's still not as good as just being a voice, as being that person who will enlarge, expand, and make someone else great.
Imagine if your life went like this. A man named Chad would visit this nearly blind and forgetful woman. She could never remember who he was, so he would walk into the room and introduce himself. She always said, “Who”? “Who are you?” After he told her, he would go on with his visit.
He would tell her law and gospel. He would speak of our lost condition, of our sin, of the dreadful place we find ourselves in apart from God, condemned by His law because of our transgressions. Then he would tell her of Jesus, who sought us in love, who bled out His life’s blood to wash away our transgressions, who exited the tomb alive and well that we might follow Him in our resurrection.
Every single time, after she had listened, speechless, to all he said, she would respond with shock and surprise, as if this were the first time in her life that she had heard the Gospel. She would literally rejoice, almost laugh with glee, that God loved her so much that He would do all things for her.
You would think, now, what a neat thing to have that kind of an impact on someone. What if each time the people around you forgot about Jesus and even forgot about you, you could tell them of sin and grace and they would come alive! That wasn’t the best part.
Because here is what that did to Chad. Chad was on his own way to falling apart. He went from pastor to drugs, sex and more. He didn’t remember who he was. Part of the memory of this woman saying, “who, who are you” that woke him up. He said something like, “I am a man with a life full of regret, full of failure, whom Jesus loves without regret, without fail. No matter what job I have, I am defined not by what I do but by what God has done for me in His Son.” The Blind, Demented Woman Who Introduced Me to Myself | 1517, accessed 12/12/2020)
That drove him on to be a truck driver, a writer, a public speaker, and a father. In myself I am unworthy, but I am worthy because of what God has done in Jesus. That’s the vitality of a clear identity.