Advent III
Dec 13, 2020
Fr. Phil Eberhart
John, the Baptizer: Friend of and Forerunner to the Bridegroom
Welcome to the third Sunday of ADVENT, a season that is "bi-polar!" For us that's not a bad thing, but it's something we have to be aware of - we are in a season of anticipation, the time of the Forerunner, John the Baptist, who came before and spoke of Jesus, the One who was coming, whose sandals "I am unworthy to untie." AND...
We are looking forward to His Second Coming in the Isaiah passage and the future (not so far away now, 2000 years later)...
the future coming of the Kingdom that cannot be shaken, the Peaceable Kingdom, the 1000 year reign of Christ and a new heaven and new earth.
There is a lot to hold in our thinking during this time.
This morning I want to talk about John, the Forerunner and Friend of the Bridegroom.
Our gospel passage is an intimate look at the feelings and the human side of John's ministry, after Jesus has been baptized and gone through his temptations. Jesus himself comes back to the Jordan river and begins baptizing, in apparent competition with his cousin John. John's disciples are concerned that everyone will go to Him! There is a "spirit" of competition that is forming among them for converts. This morning I want to examine John's responses to them in this regard.
First, John acknowledges that our life is not ruled by the circumstances that we see around us, but by "what has been given from heaven." So often we spend our time looking around us at the forces of our culture, the other churches that seem to be getting bigger and bigger, the pastors who are making a "name" for themselves, -- all the things that we in our competitive culture see as a threat to our wellbeing or progress.
But John's perspective here is 180 degrees different. Rather than facing the world around him, John is facing the Father of Lights, from whom every good and perfect gift comes to us. His perspective is one that first of all, looks for the hand of God in the circumstances around him and acknowledges it when he sees it! Our friend of many years, Oak McEachren, used to say simply, "IT'S THE LORD ... Let Him do as He wills." Those words comforted me many times when things were not going how I wanted them to go! Have you ever experienced that? Things not going how you want them to go? Mhmmmm. Thought so.
When things go awry we often spend our energy bent over our circumstances rather than looking up to the ONE who can actually make a difference in them!
Someone said that "worry is spinning your wheels making no difference - prayer is appealing to the Only One who can make a difference!" John's perspective was the later one.
The second point I want to make from this conversation is that John knew WHO HE WAS and WHAT HE WAS TO DO. He was clear in his own mind and teaching that he was NOT the Messiah. He was the Forerunner - the voice of one crying in the wilderness, "Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord!" The one foretold by the other, older prophets.
That kind of clarity of both Person and Purpose is rare, in my experience. John was raised by Zechariah and Elizabeth, both of whom had striking encounters before John was even born, so much so that they undoubtedly shared these stories with John as he was growing to manhood - John grew up with this sense of personhood and the purpose of a clear calling. He undoubtedly knew Jesus, before his public ministry, because they were cousins. Yet, even if they were cousins, John knew his own place and he knew Jesus' place. That kind of clarity is a gift ... a gift from God, as John points out. He received it as "given from heaven."
Lastly, I want to point out John's perspective of those who were to follow after Jesus. He was probably the first to use the analogy of the bride and bridegroom in relation to Jesus and His followers. Jesus hadn't actually started teaching yet, just barely having begun gathering his own disciples. But John, here shares his understanding of the relationship that the Messiah is to have with His People!
We, the followers of Jesus, are His Bride! Now I want you to know that you can spend the rest of your life, just thinking about that reality. What is it like for us to have a "bridal" love for our Lord Jesus? I think that is probably another sermon, perhaps a whole series!!
John, here I think for the first time, acknowledges that Jesus is like a bridegroom coming for His Bride, and John is the "friend of the bridegroom." The friend of the bridegroom is the one who stands and listens for His coming, like a watchman on the wall or on the roof of the house.
Many times, I've read this passage, as a pastor, and said, "that's me." Even though I'm part of The Bride of Christ, I am also, as a leader and pastor, a "friend of the Bridegroom!" Just like John, the Baptizer, I am sent to go ahead - to be a FORERUNNER and to bring the Bride into her readiness for the coming of the Bridegroom.
In many ways, the ministry I've had now for 40 years is one of a Forerunner. God seems to do things among us - Yes, Little REZ - in the months and years ahead of Him doing things in the wider church. It's only seen in retrospect, looking back, but God uses us to be like a "spear point" - often the first to enter into what God wants to do.
Let me end by making an application. John's view of the call and the work he was doing was deeply informed by his knowledge of his place in relation to Jesus. So often we (especially pastors) have a tendency to get what I call a "messiah complex." It all depends on me! But John skirted that issue here and placed the emphasis on the right syllable! The final statement of John is the most telling of all in this regard: "He must increase, but I must decrease."
All of us who would labor "for" Jesus, must adopt this mindset. John knew WHO he was and he knew WHOSE he was. Those twin pillars kept him sure and steady as he did his forerunner job and as the Messiah emerged and his ministry ended.
It is a good few words for us to hold in the forefront of our minds as we work in the Kingdom of God today: HE MUST INCREASE, BUT I MUST DECREASE.
Please pray with me...
O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
