Sermon on John 3:30

By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman

This sermon was preached on January 31, 1999

John 3:22-36
John 3:30
"He Must Become Greater and I Less"

Introduction

Topic: Minister
Subtopic: Funny
Index:
Date:
Title: A BETTER SPEAKER

A pastor was asked to speak for a certain charity. After the meeting, the chairman handed him a check.
"Oh, I couldn't take this," the pastor said humbly. "I'm just happy for the honor of being asked to speak. I'm sure you have BETTER uses for this money. You apply it to one of those."
The chairman asked, "Well, do you mind if we put it into our Special Fund?"
The pastor replied, "Of course not. What is the Special Fund for?"
The chairman answered, "So we can get a better speaker next year!"

What a let-down for that minister!

Selflessness, humility, self-denial. We all know Jesus says a few things about their importance in the church and kingdom. Yet, we find it so hard to live up to what Jesus says. Very few are the people today who are content to live selfless, humble lives of self-denial.

What God wants is people who less and less put themselves first and more and more put Christ first in their life. God wants you and I to be like John the Baptist who said about Jesus, "He must become greater; I must become less."

I No to Self-Assertion
A John the Baptist was one of the greatest servants of our Lord. Yet if he lived today we would call him eccentric, odd, different. His lifestyle, for instance, set him apart: he lived in the loneliness and the barrenness of the wilderness; his clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist; his food was locusts and wild honey (Mt 3:4). His, certainly, was not a life of ease and comfort.

One day John the Baptist suddenly appeared in the desert of Judea preaching and baptizing. People were impressed by what they saw and heard – impressed enough to tell their friends and neighbors about this new preacher. Elsewhere Scripture lets us know that John's appearance created considerable excitement. Apparently news of John the Baptist spread like wildfire throughout Judea and moved throngs of people to flock to the Jordan River where he was preaching. They listened to his message, they confessed their sins, and they were baptized by him in the river (Mt 3:5,6).

John the Baptist was a success. He was a first century Billy Graham – he presented the Gospel and thousands responded to his message.

B This kind of response to John is amazing when we consider his message. John's message should have been unpopular to the people of his day – if he had to preach in 20th century America his message certainly would not be universally accepted. "Repent," said John. "Break with your sins." John warned the people that God was about to visit them, that His kingdom was coming, and they had better get ready. It will be a time of terror for those who are not prepared to meet their God. Said John,

(Mt 3:10) The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

Yet the people responded to such a message as this. Why? The answer lies in what the angel Gabriel told Zechariah, John's father, before John's birth already. Gabriel said that John would

(Lk 1:15-17) ... be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. (16) Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. (17) And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah ...

John was such a success because he was filled with the "spirit and power of Elijah" which is the Spirit and power of God. It is humbling to realize that preaching hits home and brings forth fruit not because of the preacher but because of the Spirit. It is always God Himself Who makes His Word irresistible, a sharp arrow that finds its target.

C John's success and popularity, however, did not last very long. People still came to hear him but it became evident the crowds were steadily becoming smaller and smaller.

John's disciples noticed this. Perhaps they talked about this among themselves: "What could be the reason? Why are the crowds getting smaller? What has happened to all those people from Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region of the Jordan who used to come and listen to John?" (Mt 3:5). John's disciples got their answer one day when they got into an argument with a "certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing" (Jn 3:25). In the midst of the argument that Jew told John's disciples that everyone was going to listen to Jesus Who was also preaching and baptizing. This explains why John was not as popular as he used to be. This explains why his crowds have dwindled in size. The people were leaving John for Jesus.

John's disciples do not like this. They thought John should not tolerate this. So they came to John and said to him,

(Jn 3:26) Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan--the one you testified about--well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.

John's disciples want John to do something about this. They want John to retaliate, to put Jesus out of business, or to make Jesus go elsewhere so at least they aren't competing for the same audience.

This reaction is so understandable, isn't it? John had said such nice things about Jesus. He called Jesus the "Lamb of God," and said Jesus surpassed him. Why, John even baptized Jesus and started Him off in His career. Now, in an act of betrayal, Jesus has suddenly turned into a competitor for the crowds' attention. John's disciples see this as a ratings war in which Jesus has taken an unfair advantage of John.

How do you think John himself felt about this? Did he feel like his disciples did – betrayed and hurt? Did he think, deep in his heart, Is this all I am called to do? Did he wonder about the shortness of his ministry? He had been chosen to prepare the way for the Lord. And he has done this very faithfully. But is his task now finished? Should he stop his preaching and baptizing? Should he stop calling the crowds to repentance? God did not tell John to stop so John keeps on going even though fewer and fewer people come to hear him.

D None of us wants to be forgotten and ignored. We all love feelings of importance and the admiration of the crowd. We all like recognition for what we are and what we have done. Sure, humility is a wonderful thing, a true Christian virtue. But still, who of us wants to be forgotten or ignored?

Topic: Servants
Subtopic: Faithful
Index: 603
Date:
Title:

An admirer once asked the famous orchestra conductor Leonard Bernstein what was the most difficult instrument to play. He responded with quick wit: "Second fiddle. I can get plenty of first violinists, but to find one who plays second violin with as much enthusiasm or second french horn or second flute, now that's a problem. And yet if no one plays second, we have no harmony."

What about you, my brothers and sisters? Are you willing to be second fiddle? Are you a humble person? Or is it difficult for you to step back and let someone else have the limelight and the glory? Are you willing to give someone else credit and praise, or does it all have to go to you?

Topic: Humility
Subtopic:
Index: 1714-1721
Date: 1/1999.101
Title: Not enough recognition

I remember the time a church engaged in an extensive building program. In the service of dedication for the building all the members of the building committee were publicly acknowledged and thanked for their time and effort. As well, they were each given a gift of appreciation. And, more than 500 members and guests gave them a hearty round of applause. Yet, one of the committee members stopped coming to worship services, ceased his financial contributions, and totally withdrew from every facet of church life. Why? He openly admitted he wanted more recognition and a bigger gift; he resented that the name of another member of the committee rather than his name was mentioned in a newspaper article about the building program; and, he thought that he should have represented the building committee in the passing on of the key.

So many times we are like that man and put ourselves and our own selfish interests first. How many marriages haven't floundered because one or both partners put themselves and their own selfish interests first? Or, two brothers in Christ don't speak to each other because they have had a fight. It is very clear what they have to do: sit down together, offer an apology, forgive, and be forgiven. One has to make the first move. But both claim they are too hurt, too angry, to do this. You see what is happening, don't you?: both put their own pride, their own interests, their own selves first.

E I can't help but think of idolatry here. Idolatry is to put someone or something alongside of or in place of the one only true God (cf Heidelberg Catechism Q & A 95). This is strictly forbidden in the first of the Ten Commandments: "You shall have no other gods before me." These idols have not disappeared; they have only taken on different names and forms. The biggest and most dangerous of all idols in today's hedonistic, self-centered world is our own ego. "What about me, my rights, my interests, my pleasure, my self-fulfillment?" is a refrain we hear often today. "Me. Me. Me." You know what that is? That is your ego speaking. It sits on the throne and wants to stay there. Why should you step aside? Why should you not insist on your rights? Humility, self-denial? Sure, they are wonderful attributes that we admire in people like Jesus, Mother Theresa, and Gandhi, but that is not for me. To get ahead and stay ahead in our dog-eat-dog world, the modern man and woman have to do what everyone else does, and that is look after yourself first.

II Yes to Self-Denial
A Now look at John the Baptist and his dwindling audience or market share. Such things are not very good for a preacher's ego. Of course he likes the big crowds; what minister doesn't? And of course he likes to see results on his labors: sinners repenting and being baptized. And his disciples do not make it any easier: "John," they say, "you used to be number one. You have to regain your audience. Jesus has no business taking away your crowds."

We do not know what went on in John's mind. We do not know if John had a big struggle to overcome the desires of his own ego. We do not know if he struggled with feelings of resentment. But we do know the words he spoke on that occasion. He looked at his friends, his most faithful disciples and followers, and said, "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven" (Jn 3:27).

What does this mean? It means that in the kingdom of God no person can decide what role he or she will play and no person can pick what position he or she will hold. It is God Who determines in what way and for how long we may serve Him. John's disciples thought of Jesus as a rival, a competitor. John tells them they are wrong. Jesus got His task, His position, from above. But so did John; and, it was John's task to prepare the way for Jesus. It was God's will, in other words, that people leave John for Jesus. John here recognizes the freedom of God to call whomever He wills. And, it is precisely because he recognizes this that John cannot start some movement to stop Jesus. For if he did that he would be grabbing something that does not belong to him. He would be denying that God has the right to determine for how long and in what way we may serve Him. He would be putting his own ego first.

B "But what about my rights? What about my interests and pleasure? What about my fulfillment?" With a certain amount of urgency people ask, "What about me?" This shows a certain dissatisfaction with the way things are; it betrays a fear that you won't get your share, that you will be left out, that you will be pushed out of the way.

Is there not another question far more urgent, far more important?: "What about God?" If we are looking out for ourselves in our marriage, in our family, in our church, in our relationship with others, are we not then robbing God? Does He not call us to serve Him as husbands and wives, as parents, as children, as members of Christ's body? What is really important in life: that I get a bit of recognition or that the Lord God be praised? God has called us. He has given us work to do. We may and must serve Him. Therefore our first concern, whether we be recent converts or long-time saints, ought to be that we serve the Lord.

C Should John have felt envious? Should he have resented the appearance of Jesus? Should he harbor a grudge? Should he resist Jesus and fight Him? That is the all too human reaction.

Notice what John says: "I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him" (Jn 3:28). That's why John pointed away from himself to Jesus: it was his task, his calling, to make way for Jesus. John also noticed that his crowds were dwindling. But he could accept this. He could accept it that people were leaving him for Jesus. To do otherwise would be an attempt to stop God and the accomplishment of God's eternal purposes. To do otherwise would be an attempt to prevent the coming of the Messianic kingdom.

John had no command from God but he knew what was expected of him: to fade away, to make way for Jesus, to bury his own ego, to put God rather than himself first. His task, in other words, was almost finished.

D John explains this beautifully. "Think of a wedding," he says (Jn 3:29). Before the wedding the friend of the bridegroom, the best man, is a very important and busy man. He tries to get everything ready for the great day. But he is not the bridegroom so the bride does not belong to him. Therefore on the day of the wedding he steps back. The day belongs not to him but to the bride and groom. The people, the guests, should have eyes only for the couple, not for the best man.

John says he is like the friend of the bridegroom. Now that the bridegroom, Jesus, has come for His bride, the church, the people no longer have eyes for John. John rejoices in this for that is the way it should be. The day no longer belongs to John but to the bride and groom, to Jesus and the people He loves.

It is within this context that John says the words of our text: "He must become greater; I must become less."

This is not to be heard as a sigh of resignation nor as just an acceptance of the inevitable. This, rather, is a whole-hearted acceptance of God's will, God's plan, God's progress, God's purposes. When the friend of the bridegroom hears the bridegroom's voice he is full of joy because soon the marriage will take place. "That joy," says John, "is mine, and it is now complete" (Jn 3:29b). So John rejoices that Jesus has come; John rejoices that the people have eyes for Jesus rather than for him.

E What would have happened if John refused to step back? He would not have been a true prophet of the Lord. Nor would he be doing what he was called to do as Christ's forerunner. He would have been in Christ's way, obscuring the light of Christ.

Is this perhaps what we do at times? If I keep thinking and talking about what I want, am I not obscuring the light of Christ? If I never learn to deny myself am I not getting in Christ's way?

Like John, my brothers and sisters, our duty is to play the role of the friend of the bridegroom. It is our calling and task to point away from ourselves and to Jesus in our words and actions, to be the kind of people in whom Christ lives and in whom His light shines. Remember this calling the next time you are so sorely tempted to ask, "What about me?" Should you not ask instead, "How can I show that Christ lives in me?"

F Self-denial. You want to know if that is difficult? It is not difficult. It is simply not in our power. When Jesus talks about self-denial, He adds immediately, "follow me." The reason is that self-denial can only be learned in His presence, when we understand Who He is and what He has done for us. John the Baptist knew Christ was the Lamb of God, the One Who baptized with the Spirit and with fire. And because he knew the Christ he gladly faded away for His sake.

Conclusion
This sermon was mostly about John. But we should not stay with him. Like the crowds we too must leave him for Jesus. We too must fix our eyes on Jesus. We too must listen to His Words of life. And when you grow closer to Him you will learn to be humble, you will learn to come down from the throne of your own ego.

Whether we be new converts or aged saints, whether we be in or out of council, whether we be ordained clergy or lay-people, the same thing is required of each one of us: Jesus must become greater; I must become less. I must learn to say "no" to self-assertion and "yes" to self-denial.

You can e-mail our pastor at: Pastor, Trinity United Reformed Church

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