The Witness of Christ

So let me pray for us as we start.

Oh Lord, we thank you for your word.

Lord, we thank you for the message

and the greatness of Christ.

We thank you for his glorious role

in the world and in our salvation, Lord.

And Lord, we pray that as we just come into your word,

Lord, I pray that we would hear your words, Lord.

Lord, I pray that I would be faithful

to present your word as it is, Lord.

Lord, I pray that your spirit would move among us

encouraging us and convicting us

and changing hearts and lives today, Lord.

We pray that people would leave here

touched and changed by you.

In Jesus' name, amen.

So I'm not Sean, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

But no one knows that reference.

All right, that's fine.

So for those of you that don't know,

and I haven't talked a lot about this yet,

but I've recently started writing

for a video game criticism site.

And so criticism in the sense of, like,

a movie critic or an art critic.

And I feel like this is just

my subliminal self-justification

for wasting all the hours I did as a kid

playing video games.

Now I'm doing something useful with it.

So it's like, I feel better now.

No, seriously, it's part of a Christian ministry

that's specifically targeted towards gamers.

And I'd love to talk to you about it at some point,

but that's not what I'm talking about this for right now.

What I'm talking about it for is that

in doing this,

I've learned a lot about art and entertainment criticism.

You kind of read critics.

You know, you go and you look at Rotten Tomatoes

or Metacritic,

and you look at the movie reviews,

and you say whether it's good or not.

Do I want to go see this?

And kind of the picture you have of this is,

you know, someone sits down and watches a movie

or looks at a piece of art and says,

okay, this, you know,

they put it against this, like,

invisible framework of this is what

the perfect movie or art piece is.

And, okay, so this is good,

and this is bad,

and this is what I like about it,

and this is what I don't,

and that's it.

And that's kind of the impression I had

about art criticism going into it.

And as I've done it

and as I've read more about it,

I've learned that that's absolutely not the case.

The role of the critic is not to sit there

and just judge the art,

and the role of the art is not just to be judged.

Actually, one of the most famous critics of our time,

A.O. Scott,

who writes for the New York Times

and has given enough leeway,

he's famous enough that he actually said

that the Avengers movie was awful,

which I disagree with.

And then he got into a fight with Samuel L. Jackson

about why it was awful,

and he just,

so he,

and paper didn't fire him,

so he's definitely in an empowered position.

He's one of the top critics of our time

and most respected.

And what he says about criticism is this.

You must become the person

who is willing to change your life

based on the exhortations of art.

You must become the person

who is willing to change your life

based on the exhortations of art.

And he talks about it,

that the role of the critic

is not to sit there necessarily

and say,

I like this,

I don't like this,

that's it.

The role of the critic

is to sit there

and receive what the art is saying.

And almost,

in a sense,

the art's role

is to judge the critic first

because a person

has invested their time

and their life into that,

and then the critic

stands and sees

and witnesses to

what good things

or what bad things

that art has.

And so this,

the position that we have

before Jesus

and the position

that sometimes we think

we have before Jesus

is kind of similar.

And that's,

I think we're talking about

the role that we have

and the role that Jesus has

in this passage a lot.

And John the Baptist

and John the author

of this gospel

discuss that role

that we have

and the role that Jesus has.

I think the point

of this passage

is that our role in life

is to believe in Jesus

and to witness

to his glorious role.

And so our role in life

is to believe in Jesus

and witness to his glorious role.

And so I've picked

some peculiar words

in this phrase

that we don't usually use.

I just roll,

witness,

and glorious.

And I'm going to discuss

why I've picked

those words specifically

because I think they

describe well

what's going on

in this passage.

So at the beginning

of the passage

we see John the Baptist's role.

his role in all of this

is to witness to Jesus.

And that's kind of

what the first part

of this passage is about.

And so looking at

verse 22,

verse 22 through 24

set the context for this.

It says,

After this,

Jesus and his disciples

went into the Judean countryside

and he remained there

with them

and was baptizing.

And John the Baptist

was also baptizing

Anon near Selim

because water

was plentiful there

and people were coming

and being baptized

for John had not yet

been put in prison.

And so in the discussion here

we see Jesus is kind of

moving out of the city area

where he was talking

with Nicodemus previously.

He's moving out

to a more rural area

where there's water

and space to baptize.

And the interesting point

is that it says

John has not yet

been thrown in prison.

And we learn from

the other Gospels,

particularly Mark,

that Jesus is,

the bulk of Jesus' ministry

started after John

got thrown in prison.

So we're kind of

in a transitory period here.

John was sent,

John the Baptist

was sent to prepare

the way for the Lord,

to get people ready

for Jesus to come.

And so Jesus has come

and he's not quite

into full gear ministry yet.

And so there's sort of

this transition going on

where John is starting

to step down

and Jesus is coming

and stepping up

into his full ministry.

And so that's important

as we look at this passage,

just seeing,

just the phrase in John 2

is that Jesus says,

my time has not yet come,

right before he changes

the water into wine,

he kind of gives

some kick back there

before he does that miracle.

And he's just kind of

indicating,

no, I'm not,

my full ministry

isn't quite here yet.

I'm still being prepared.

And so with that context,

we see in verse 25,

a discussion arose

between some of John's disciples

and a Jew

over purification.

And so the rest of the passage

is about John baptizing

versus Jesus baptizing,

but this is apparently

where the discussion came from.

We don't know

what the debate's over.

It's probably don't know

because it's not that,

it's not relevant to the story

in the sense that

we don't need to know

exactly what they were

talking about,

but it got John's disciples

fired up.

They were debating

with a Jew,

you know,

Jewish baptism

was very different

than what John was doing.

Jewish baptism

was often for ritual purification

and would happen

multiple times.

And John was doing it

as for repentance,

saying, you know,

turn from your sins

and believe.

And he was doing it

one time for people.

So regardless of what

that discussion was,

I picture John's disciples

coming back,

a little fired up from that.

Maybe the Jew took a jab at him

and said,

hey, you know,

you've been baptizing

but this Jesus guy,

you know,

he's been baptizing

more people all of a sudden.

What's going on there?

And so they come back

and, you know,

it says in verse 26,

they came to John

and said to him,

Rabbi,

he who is with you

across the Jordan

to whom you bore witness,

look,

he's baptizing

and all are going to him.

And this is actually

a strong statement

and I think we can glaze

over it a little bit,

but it's kind of dramatic

and resentful.

The word look

is kind of like

lo and behold

or like we don't say

that anymore.

It might be like yelling,

hey, what's the deal?

You know,

look,

he's baptizing

and all are going to him.

And I think it's clear

that these are resentful words

and not just a statement

because not everyone

is going to Jesus

to be baptized yet.

Clearly John is still baptizing

in this passage.

Some people are going to John.

Probably more people

are going to Jesus

at this point.

And so there's some sort

of resentfulness of,

man,

we've been doing this

for a while,

you know,

baptizing people

and now Jesus

is getting the baptisms.

What's the deal with this?

It feels kind of pouty

like the kid that's like,

my friend got the ice cream.

Why don't I get the ice cream?

Or, you know,

my friend got to stay up late.

Why don't I get to stay up late?

It feels kind of unfair.

That's what they're saying.

I think maybe something

that those of us

that are older

can relate with

is that it's kind of

like a group project

for school

or when you're part

of like a volunteer board

for something.

And you all have

this one thing to accomplish.

And there's that one person

that really isn't doing

that much

or pulling their weight.

And so somebody else

has to pull their weight

for them.

And if you've never

experienced this before,

you might be that person

that's not pulling your weight.

You never know.

And so, you know,

at the end of it,

everyone probably gets

the same grade

or the thing's accomplished

and someone is kind of,

it feels like someone's

freeloading along

and you've done

most of the work.

But that's,

I think,

an even closer parallel

maybe from something,

a story that I think of

from my life

is that I did

a Shakespeare scene contest

for a while

because I was a nerd

and still am.

And so what we would do

is we would do

one scene from Shakespeare

and act about five minutes

of it and prep for it

and then there was

a competition.

And so one of the guys

that I did the scene

with every single year

would not memorize his lines

until the day

of the competition.

And so, like,

we would all have them

memorized, like, you know,

a few weeks before

and be practicing

and he'd be pulling out

his lines like,

oh, shoot,

what was I supposed

to say again?

And it would really,

you know,

it'd break the flow

of practice or whatever.

It doesn't feel

as natural at that point.

But when the day

of the competition

would come,

not only would he have

his lines memorized,

but he was the best actor

on stage every single time.

And he would pull out

things that would surprise us.

He would pull out

things that would surprise me.

I'm like,

oh, I never thought

about that that way before.

Now I was doing it this way.

And so that was, like,

I think that's part

of the aggravation of, like,

oh, I've been prepping for this.

I've been working for this.

And then this other guy

just comes and gets

all the glory for it.

And I think that's

what they're saying.

You know, look,

we've been doing this

for a while

and now Jesus just, you know,

gets to baptize people.

And John,

so John answers them.

He really confronts him

on this.

And he starts out

by saying in verse 27,

a person cannot receive

even one thing

unless it is given him

from heaven.

And so John just kind of

sets the framework here.

He's like, look, guys,

the reason that we even

have this ministry

is because God gave it to us

in the first place.

And so God has empowered us

to do what we're doing.

This is a humble answer

and an affirmation

of God's greatness.

And generally it's true.

You know,

we receive what we get

from heaven.

And for them to sit there

and say, you know,

I really want to be doing

what Jesus is doing

at this point.

I don't want to be fulfilling

this role of preparing

the way for Jesus.

Jesus,

they're basically starting

to take this place

of God there

and say, you know,

I get to decide

what's important

and what's not.

And so John's kind of

kicking it back a notch

and saying, look,

we get this straight from God

what we're doing here.

And then in verse 28,

he says,

you yourselves

bear me witness

that I said

I am not the Christ,

but I have been sent

before him.

And this is kind of the,

I think he's bringing out

a little bit of irony

in their statement.

He's like, look,

you just said

that I bear witness

to Jesus.

You know,

you witness to the fact

that I witness to Jesus.

This is the whole point

that I'm here.

It's like, guys,

this was the goal.

Like, I was not sent

to be Christ,

but I was sent

to prepare the way for him.

It's like,

this is exactly

what we're expecting

to happen.

We're expecting more people

to go to Jesus.

And something that

we'll keep looking at here

is that John is content

with his role

as a witness.

He's content

not being the one

that gets the glory

and the attention

and the affirmation,

but directing that

towards Jesus.

And I think that

this is a good time

to talk about

what it means

to be a witness.

And I think that

in verse 31

what we'll look at later,

a little bit later,

it says that

Jesus,

talking about Jesus

as a witness,

it says,

Jesus testifies

to what he has seen

and heard.

And I think that's

a good definition

of a witness.

Someone who tells

what they have seen

and heard about something.

And the word witness

or testimony

or testify

or witnessing

is used throughout

John's gospel a lot.

And a great example

of it being used

is actually at the end

of the gospel

when John,

the writer,

kind of signs the book

and says,

you know,

this is the disciple

in verse,

it's chapter 21,

verse 24.

John says,

this is the disciple

who is bearing witness

about these things

and who has written

these things,

the book,

and we know

that his testimony

is true.

So John says,

you know,

this whole book,

everything we've heard

about Jesus so far

and everything we're

going to hear

throughout this series

is a witness to Jesus.

It's John telling

what he's seen

and heard about Jesus.

And in this case,

because,

you know,

a regular witness,

we think of like

a courtroom

or something like that,

it could be for good

or for worse.

But in the case of Jesus,

because he's God

and because he's perfect,

the witness to Jesus

is always to his greatness

and how good that he is.

And so I think

an example of that

that makes sense

in our time

and also made sense

in John's time

because he brings it up next

is the idea

of kind of a best man

in a wedding.

And, you know,

I've been part of a few

bridal parties

and one of the aspects

of that is,

you know,

they're not the people

standing up front,

they're the people

to the side

and they're dressed

in coordinated clothing

and they all face

towards the bride and groom.

And the whole point

of them being there

is to, you know,

make the wedding

look better basically,

to be a witness

to the bride and groom.

And even, you know,

the best man

and the maid of honor

get to share a statement

witnessing to their appreciation

for the bride

and for the groom.

And so John brings it up

in verse 29,

he says,

the one who has the bride

is the bridegroom.

The friend of the bridegroom

who stands and hears him

rejoices greatly

at the bridegroom's voice.

Therefore,

this joy of mine

is now complete.

And I think the friend

who attends here,

so this is like

our equivalent

of the best man,

but the best man

back then

did a lot of stuff.

He was like the best man

and the maid of honor

and like the parents

and all together

because he was the one

that actually organized

and coordinated the wedding.

So a lot of roles

fell onto him.

And so, you know,

his joy,

you know,

when it says,

when he hears the,

when he hears great,

when he rejoices greatly

at the bridegroom's voice,

it's kind of a semblance

of the end of the wedding.

The wedding has gone well.

Maybe that's the,

you know,

I pronounce you husband

and wife equivalent today.

He rejoices

when that's,

when that is completed.

And John says,

therefore,

this joy of mine

is now complete.

And in the illustration

he's looking at here,

John is the friend

of the bridegroom,

the best man.

And Jesus is the groom.

And he's saying,

my joy is complete

because Jesus has come.

And the bride in this example

is the people of God

that he's come back for.

And this is something

that's used a lot

through the Old Testament,

just a symbol of

how Jesus comes

to save his people.

He's like a groom

coming back

to claim his bride.

And one of the passages

that he might be thinking

of or referencing here

is Isaiah 62,

four through five.

And there it says,

you shall no more

be termed forsaken

and your land

shall no more

be termed desolate.

But you shall be called,

my delight is in her

and your land married.

For the Lord

delights in you

and your land

shall be married.

For as a young man

marries a young woman,

so shall your sons

marry you.

And as the bridegroom

rejoices over the bride,

so shall your God

rejoice over you.

And so John's saying,

this is it.

Israel,

the people of God,

the Jews have been waiting

for God to come back

and rescue them from,

in this case,

their mindset was,

you know,

Roman rule,

that Israel wasn't

its own independent nation.

It was subjugated to Rome.

They didn't have freedom

to practice their religion

necessarily in the way

that they wanted to.

And John's explicitly saying,

you know,

this is God coming back

in Jesus.

He's coming back

for his people

to rescue them.

And so he kind of concludes

this whole section

by saying,

you know,

he must increase,

talking about Jesus,

but I must decrease.

And so John,

in this,

fully realizes

that his role

is not to make himself

look good,

but to make Jesus

look great.

And our role

is not directly John's.

Like,

we're not specifically called,

we're not around

in the time

of the first coming

of Jesus here.

We're not specifically

called to go out

into the desert

and eat locusts

and baptize people

in water like that.

But our role

is very similar though.

It's to believe in Jesus

and to witness

to his goodness.

And so I think

that intellectually

that settles well,

but when it comes

down to it,

that we enjoy

getting credit for things

and we enjoy

making ourselves

look good.

And I think the way

that we phrase this

in America often

is kind of like

the American dream,

like finding success.

And I'm not against

many aspects

of the American dream,

like the hard work

is good.

Getting rewarded

for hard work

I think is good

and even biblical

from what we see.

But there's an aspect

to the American dream

that it's all about

making myself look great.

And so often

when we talk about

things that people

aspire to,

it's to start up

and succeed

in your own business

or to own

your own cool house

or a better car

or better,

whatever it might be.

It might be something

like selling

your own product,

like your own artwork.

Having the corporate

ladder climb,

the whole goal of that

is to be in charge

of more people

so more people

have to listen to us.

for us to be respected

by others

for fitness

or intelligence

or hard work

or charisma

or whatever it might be.

And I think that

if our role in life

is purely to witness

to how good we are,

to see and hear

how awesome I am,

we are going

to be disappointed.

I particularly

will be disappointed.

We're going to live

restless lives

because we don't

always succeed

and we will

never succeed enough.

We will never

find enough satisfaction

in seeking

our own greatness.

You know,

what's interesting

is that there is

a particular joy

in making somebody

else look good,

though,

that is unique

and different

than trying to make

ourselves look good.

And actually,

the example of my friend

that I acted with,

maybe, you know,

I would get frustrated

sometimes with him,

but when it would come

to acting day,

the reason we were good,

whoever was working

with him,

was because he was good.

And any success

that we enjoyed there

was because we helped

him look good

in that instance

and played off of him

and saw his new ideas

and worked with him.

And so that became,

it went from,

like, oh,

he doesn't have

his lines memorized

to I'm really hyped

for the day of the play

when he's going

to be totally on fire

and we're going

to see some great things.

And it was,

like,

a legitimate contest.

Like,

actual people who

were trying to act

professionally

would participate in it.

And we,

who were just doing it

for fun,

still somehow managed

to swing a couple

honorable awards

at different points.

And I honestly think

it was because

he was so good.

And so there was

that excitement

of seeing that.

And so,

you know,

if our role is to witness

to our own greatness,

we're never going

to be satisfied enough.

But,

if our role is to witness

to Jesus' greatness

and show how great he is,

then I think we can be satisfied

because Jesus has perfectly

fulfilled his role.

And that's what John

talks about in,

John,

the author,

steps back

and says basically,

you know,

so John the Baptist says,

you know,

he must increase,

I must decrease.

And so John the author

kind of takes an aside

here in the next few verses

and says,

why is Jesus worthy

of being witness to?

Why do we witness to him?

What is the role

that he's completed

and fulfilled?

So,

in verse 31,

we kind of,

there's two Johns here,

so I try to be clear,

but,

you know,

switch back to John the author's

writing now,

commenting on the story.

He says,

he who comes from above

is above all.

He who is of the earth

belongs to the earth

and speaks in an earthly way.

He who comes from heaven

is above all.

And so the first reason

that Jesus is worthy

of increasing

and the first reason

that he is great

and has fulfilled his role

is that he is the one

from above.

And this actually goes back

to verse 27,

I think it is,

where John says,

you know,

we don't receive anything

unless it comes from heaven.

Well,

Jesus is the one in heaven

who comes from above

and he is the one

giving out the good things

and giving out authority

and making these decisions.

He is great.

And so,

when it says,

it's a play on words there

of the above

and the above,

you know,

he who is from above,

like heaven,

spatially,

is above everyone

in authority.

And so,

I use the word glorious

kind of to describe this

because,

you know,

above doesn't quite

ring in our heads

the same way it does

of what the scripture

is getting across here.

Glorious in the sense

of like weightiness

that God,

God's greatness,

that he's the one

that gives authority

and gifts

and has authority

over all things

and that those

who are on the earth

talking about us,

probably specifically

talking about

John the Baptist here.

It says,

you know,

they belong to the earth

and speak in an earthly way.

I don't think that,

I don't think this is about

people being bad.

I think this is just about

the fact that

God is so different

from man

and,

you know,

John the Baptist

fulfills the role

of an earthly man.

He speaks of Christ

and Jesus speaks

is something far greater.

And so,

in verse 32 and 33

he continues,

says,

he bears witness

to what he has seen

and heard,

talking about Jesus,

yet no one

receives his testimony

but whoever

receives his testimony

sets his seal to this,

that God is true.

And so,

we testify

to what we have seen

and heard of Jesus

and John testified

to what he had seen

and heard of Jesus

and what does Jesus

witness to?

And the answer

seems to be

that Jesus witnesses

to actually seeing

God himself,

God the Father in heaven

and testifies to that.

And to us,

I think that

we can kind of

just slip over that

and slip past that

pretty easily

and not think

about it too hard.

But in the context

of Jesus' time,

particularly in the

Old Testament,

God is often portrayed

as unapproachably holy,

that to be near him

is to risk death.

There's a story

in 2 Samuel

of King David

goes back

and claims the ark

from an opposing nation.

The ark is where

God's presence presided

and what represented

God's presence

in Israel.

And so they loaded

it onto an oxen cart

the right way

using some poles

that slide into

the side of it.

And so the ox

are kind of lumbering

back towards Israel

and they hit a bump

in the road

and the ark

begins to tip.

So the presence

of God is about

to fall into the mud,

right,

symbolically here.

And so the guy

who's next to it

reaches out

and holds it up

to stop it

from falling

and he's struck

dead on the spot

just for touching it.

And I think to us,

we're like,

dude,

what's the deal?

Like,

why is he dead?

And it feels

to us

maybe malicious

or arbitrary up front

that something

like that would happen.

And I think of it

as a comparison

is like,

if a boulder falls on me,

it's not the boulder's choice

whether to squish me

or not necessarily

at that point.

You know,

it's not like the boulder's

saying,

oh,

I'm going to hold back

at this point.

No,

the weight of the boulder

would just crush me

entirely.

And I think that

God,

one,

he is so great

and we are so frail

that experiencing him

in that direct way

is just,

it's overwhelming.

And two,

God has made the choice

to reveal himself

directly to us

in Jesus

in a way that we can handle

and in a way that is

full and honest

and true.

And I think that's why

it says,

whoever receives

his testimony

witnesses God's truth

firsthand now.

And it says,

like,

they set their seal

to this,

that God is true.

It's like an absolute

confirmation,

like signing your name

to a document.

And we say it that way

because we have now

seen and heard God

through Jesus.

And so we're able

to confirm that God

is true through that.

Verse 34,

for he whom God has sent

utters the words of God

for he gives the spirit

without measure.

And so the words of God

here kind of are

the truth of God

that we're hearing.

It's why we value

the scripture here.

It's why the,

you know,

week after week

Sean comes up here

and teaches us

from the word.

Um,

it's why we don't,

he doesn't come up

necessarily and share

his good opinions.

That's not the main focus.

It's not,

we don't have a group

discussion time

during this time.

I think all those

things are really good.

Um,

but the main focus

of the worship

of God

is to hear from

his word specifically

because this reveals

his truth.

Um,

and then it also says,

you know,

for he gives the spirit

without measure.

Um,

and it's,

it's cool how it's not

at this point,

it's like,

yes,

we need God's word,

but we also need

his spirit

to understand

and proclaim his word.

And in this instance,

we,

all Christians,

have the spirit

and are filled

with the spirit,

um,

and can experience

fillings with the spirit.

Uh,

but in this case,

it's as Jesus

has received the spirit

without measure.

This is past

what the prophets knew.

This is past

what we know.

This is an unlimited,

just outpouring

of the spirit,

just a large overflow.

Um,

and that,

that empowering

of the spirit

worked with Jesus

as he proclaimed

the word

to teach God's truth.

And I think

that that's why

we as a church,

you know,

we spend time

praying together

in the service.

We have a Friday night

prayer time

because we realize

we need the spirit.

We need to pray

to God

to give more

of the spirit

to,

to empower us.

Um,

and in this verse,

you know,

we've been talking

about God's greatness,

his truth,

uh,

his power,

his majesty.

And then this next verse,

um,

just hits home.

It really,

it really stops us.

It says,

the father loves the son

and has given

all things

into his hand.

Um,

and it just,

it hits that this is not just,

you know,

God is great,

um,

he's powerful,

but he's all,

he's loving.

Um,

he's choosing to,

to love his people.

In this instance,

it says,

the father loves the son.

Um,

and we as redeemed people,

we as,

as Christians,

experience that love

that the father shares

with the son,

a love that,

that gives all things

to the son generously.

Um,

and so we're brought

into that love

through Jesus.

And so,

verse 36 kind of,

kind of culminates

the entire passage,

uh,

kind of hits the,

the point that our,

you know,

our role in life

is to believe in Jesus

and witness to his

glorious role.

In verse 36,

it says,

whoever believes in the son

has eternal life,

and whoever does not

obey the son

shall not see life,

but the wrath of God

remains on him.

So,

this is a strong contrast

here at the end.

Um,

those that believe

have eternal life.

And I think this is

referencing back to that

overflow of the love

between the father

and the son.

And this is something

that we have right now.

We usually talk about,

just in Christianese,

eternal life usually references,

oh,

well,

when I die,

I'll go to spend

eternity with God.

Um,

but it says,

you know,

whoever believes in the son

has eternal life right now,

is experiencing

the love of the father,

um,

is empowered by God

and by the spirit.

Um,

and it's a strong contrast

to this,

you know,

those that do not,

those who don't obey,

um,

and I think belief

and obey are pretty similar here

and I'll look at that

in a second.

Uh,

it's not even that they won't

have eternal life,

they won't even see life

and the wrath of God

remains upon them.

Um,

and so this,

this jostles a little bit

against our cultural sensibility

of,

you know,

in our culture,

tolerance and inclusivity

are very big virtues.

Uh,

you know,

I'll do my thing,

you do your thing

as long as we don't hurt each other.

Um,

it's kind of the,

the go-to.

And so to hear something

very strong like this,

to hear like,

you know,

you believe in Jesus,

get this,

don't believe in Jesus,

receive this.

Um,

and I think that,

uh,

what I wrestle through

with this is a couple things.

Um,

is that we are all,

we like to pretend

that we're tolerant

and inclusive

but we are all exclusive

to a point.

Um,

we all,

if you,

I don't want to start anything

but if you listen to

the rhetoric that comes up

around this election season

or any election season,

um,

there is an exclusivity

to the rhetoric

that the person who is voting

for not your candidate

is obviously wrong

and in the wrong

and doing a wrong

thing

and that's very exclusive

language that is used

in that sense.

Um,

every religion

and even non-religious people

are exclusive to a sense.

They'll say,

okay,

well,

you know,

it's okay if you believe

these things

but,

you know,

if you're an atheist

or agnostic,

you're going to say,

no,

Jesus is not God.

You know,

he might have been a real person

but he wasn't God.

You're exclusive to that.

That idea is exclusive

outside of you.

Um,

you know,

if you're a Muslim

you would claim similarly,

you know,

Jesus is not God

because Allah is God

and Allah is one.

Um,

and so,

there are these hard

exclusivities

within everyone's belief system,

within what everybody thinks.

And so,

the question is not so much,

um,

who is inclusive

because no one truly is.

The question is,

who is most gracious?

Who handles the exclusivity best?

Uh,

as you look and consider.

So,

um,

if you're not a Christian here today

or you're not sure

what you think about faith

or you're not sure

where you are,

um,

I would encourage you

to think about that.

Just the,

the,

everyone has exclusivity

to a point.

Um,

and you want to look

and see who handles that best,

who handles it most graciously.

Um,

and for me,

uh,

I have come to the conclusion

that it's,

it's Christianity,

um,

and that God leaves

open the door

for anyone

to,

to believe in him,

um,

and to experience

that eternal life.

Uh,

and I think also,

too,

that,

you know,

from the perspective

of Christianity,

if,

if God is true,

like what he says is right,

and God is truly God,

he is in charge of everything

and the greatest being,

um,

then it makes sense

that worship should be directed

towards him alone,

uh,

that eternal life

comes through him alone.

Um,

and so the call to belief here

that we look at

is not,

you know,

we kind of talk about,

oh,

okay,

just believe,

we use the phrase

believe in Jesus sometimes

and you'll be saved.

And it's kind of like,

well,

what does that mean?

Um,

and I think it's an affirmation

of everything we've heard

about Jesus from this passage.

You know,

when you,

when you,

we say we believe in Jesus,

we say we believe

that he has authority

over everything,

um,

which often means that

we relinquish our control

and our ideas

of how things should be.

Uh,

you know,

and we believe in Jesus

that he speaks the truth,

which means that

he might confront opinions

or thoughts that I have

that feel comfortable to me,

but I read in the scripture

that they're not true.

Um,

and so I have to,

to submit to that.

Um,

we,

believing in Jesus says,

you know,

our role is to proclaim

his greatness,

uh,

not our own.

And so there are times

that when I would seek

for my own greatness

that I'm called to instead

step aside,

um,

and not do that

and,

and point people to Jesus.

Um,

and so do hear,

you know,

this is,

do hear what Jesus is offering

to those who believe in him.

Um,

it's honestly,

I think one of the biggest things

from this passage is the ability

to have satisfaction

in any circumstance,

um,

when we make our lives

about making Jesus great.

Um,

and I think that,

uh,

I think a good explanation

of this that comes to my mind

is that everyone,

we talk about like existential crises,

like a midlife crisis

where someone goes

and,

you know,

they decide,

oh,

what have I been doing

with my life?

This is miserable.

And so,

you know,

they,

you know,

in the dramatic example,

they change their career path

and they get a divorce

and they buy a new fancy car

or whatever it might be

and they move to the Bahamas

and,

you know,

so I don't,

I,

I'm sure there are people out there

that take dramatic steps like that.

I don't know too many people that have.

Um,

but I think that we all have,

have existential crises like this

and we handle it different ways.

You know,

when you're younger,

if you move schools

or if you move from one area to another

or you lose some friends

for some reason,

the question becomes,

you know,

will I ever have as good of friends

as I had before?

Will I ever have that experience

that I was having before?

Um,

it can really hurt when that happens.

You know,

if you're older than me

and worked,

you know,

a longer career

or raised a family

or in the process of raising a family,

um,

you might sit there and say,

you know,

I'm,

you just stop and like,

you know,

when I was Steve's age,

um,

I thought things were going to turn out differently.

I don't know how to say this politely.

I'm always bad with this.

I thought things were going to turn out differently.

I had these pictures of,

in my mind,

but,

you know,

I spent most of my life changing diapers

or working really hard

to provide for my family

and,

you know,

now I'm,

now I'm sitting here

and where's the time gone?

Um,

you know,

if you're my age

and you're a millennial,

then you're always restless

and having crises,

um,

because that's our generation.

Um,

and I will,

I will freely admit,

you know,

I spent seven years doing,

studying for full-time ministry.

Um,

at two or three different points,

I thought I was going to go do full-time ministry

and work with youth at a camp

or something like that.

Um,

and I now find myself in Cambridge.

Uh,

I don't,

never liked the city growing up.

Um,

working for a technology company,

which is something I've never studied for before.

Um,

and part of a church plant,

which is something I just did not expect at all.

Um,

and so I definitely have those moments

where I sit there and I'm like,

God,

what are you doing?

Like,

this is not what I was,

this is not what I visualized at all.

Um,

and I think that I'm not,

I think all those experiences

are legitimate to some point.

Like,

I'm not here to critique you

if you're going through something like that.

I'd rather talk with you about it and hear.

Um,

but,

you know,

in my case particularly,

my satisfaction when I worry about that is,

is,

um,

is this about what I want?

Am I picturing my own greatness?

This is about reaching my goals specifically.

And the thing about making Christ great,

about seeing him increase and me decrease,

that can happen at any point in life.

It does not matter where you are.

It does not matter whether your personal goals

have been achieved.

Uh,

it doesn't matter how you're feeling at that point

that making Christ great

can happen wherever you are.

Um,

so let me pray for us in closing.

Um,

Lord,

I thank you,

um,

that making you great

is the greatest joy we can have.

Lord,

I pray that our joy would be complete

as John the Baptist's joy was complete,

uh,

in seeing you exalted

and,

in telling others about you

and living our lives in such a way

that they represent you well,

Lord.

Um,

Lord,

I pray as we continue the service,

as we go into a time of corporate prayer

and of communion,

Lord,

Lord,

I pray that you would

truly commune with us,

Lord,

I pray that you would hear our prayers,

uh,

and I pray that your spirit

would be here with us.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.