Preparing the Way: Faith, Truth, and the Servant King - Mark 1:1-8

You're listening to the Christ Our Cornerstone

podcast, Ministry of Christ Our Cornerstone Church

in O 'Neill, Nebraska. I'm Pastor Logan Merrick,

and it's our prayer that this message strengthens

your faith and draws you closer to Christ. Let's

dive in. All right. Good to see everybody. Thank

you. Good to see everybody. If you would turn

with me to the Book of Mark as we are going to

start unpacking this wonderful gospel. This is

your first time. Welcome. My name is Logan. I

get the awesome opportunity to pastor and shepherd

this local congregation. If you guys would take

a look around as you're turning. And if there's

somebody here that's typically here, that's not

here, take note of it and just send them a text

and let them know that you missed them today.

The funk is going around. And so. We just want

them to know that they're loved and they're missed.

And so it's not beating them over the head saying,

you weren't at church. Why? It's, hey, we missed

you. So if you would just do that and just let

them know. All right. If you need a Bible, we've

got some in the back. Would love for you to take

one. If you do not have one, it's our gift to

you after being in. the Minor Prophets for all

those weeks. I have to tell you, putting the

sermon together this week, I was like, ah, thank

you, Lord, for the New Testament. Because the

Minor Prophets were hard, especially Nahum. That

was difficult. But the Book of Mark has got some

cool things about it. So before we dive into

it, we're going to go through verses one through

eight. What do you think? that we need to know

about this book, because you need to know the

context of each book, okay? And if you notice,

the Gospels, the Gospels are the first four books

of the New Testament, the reason why they're

called that. Gospel, ungelion is the Greek for

good news, one who brings good news. And so they're

called the Gospels because they are about the

life of Jesus. And so, but we have four of them.

And I've seen, you know, I've had people ask

me in the past, like, why, why do we need four

if they all tell the same story? But if you read

them, they all tell the same stories slightly

differently. And that's not a weakness. That's

a good thing. I'm going to get into that in just

a second. But who do you think wrote the Book

of Mark? Mark, right? Seems pretty, pretty self

-evident, right? Okay. So but was mark a disciple

No, so how could he write a book about Jesus's

life if he was not there Exactly, so he was close

to Peter he became a disciple of Peter so this

is Peter's eyewitness account through mark John

Mark, it's who wrote the book of Mark, okay?

This Mark, John Mark is the one that Paul gets

really upset with and tells him you're not fit

for ministry because he leaves, right? And Barnabas

is like, Paul, you're being way too hard on this

young dude. And Paul's like, no, no, I'm not.

If he's not willing to take beatings for me or

for Jesus with me, then he's not fit for the

gospel. Paul was a little hardcore, right? And

Barnabas is like, hey, listen, because he's the

encourager. This ain't going to work. And so

Barnabas takes John Mark under his wing and gives

him shows him some grace. And John Mark ultimately

gets the chance to kind of grow up and becomes

very close with Peter. And then Peter tells him

all the things that he's experienced and he writes

them down. Now, the Book of Mark. something that

you need to know that you may feel like, why

do I need to know this? It's pretty crucial.

In seminary, we have to write, you have to take

a position on this. So they believe, many scholars

believe that the Book of Mark was written first

of all the New Testament books. So they believe

it was written about the 80, 70. Why does that

matter? Because the closer we are to the life

of Christ, the more that we know that we can

trust the evidence of it. Now, it is not the

earliest account of what we have, but they believe

it's the earliest gospel of what we have. And

so why, why do I think that that's not necessarily

true? Because they say, well, Matthew and Luke

took Mark's gospel and then put together their

gospel. That doesn't make any sense to me. Why

do you think that that doesn't make any sense

to me? Right, right, like they, correct. But

that doesn't change that. That doesn't change

the God -breathed part. But like, why doesn't

it make any sense for, and again, there are scholars

much smarter than I am, all right? That would

argue the opposite. So don't think that, I'm

going, I just know everything. It just doesn't

make logical sense to me. Why would a guy like

Matthew, who's a tax collector and is very detailed,

why would he need to take Mark, who wasn't there,

why would he need to take his story and then

line it up and go, yeah, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Like that doesn't make any sense to me. And so

Matthew, in my opinion, wrote his separately.

And I can see why Luke, because Luke is a doctor.

and he took Paul's accounts. And so Mark's whole

entire thing is, is he's writing specifically

to the Roman church. How do I know that? Well,

because one, he is a Gentile himself or he comes

from like much like Paul from a Gentile background.

But the reason why this matters is, is if you

notice when we get started here, There's something

missing that's in the other gospels. What do

you think that it is? Just take a look real briefly.

If you're already there in the New Testament,

take a look really briefly. What do you see as

opposed to the other gospels there? Or maybe

that is not there. The genealogies are not there.

Why does that matter? Because the Romans didn't

care about that. The Roman church, the Gentile

church didn't care about that. His focus is the

Roman church, the Gentiles, those who are not

Jewish. So he's not trying to make a point of

he is God. He is the Messiah, the one prophesied.

That's not Mark's focus. Mark's whole focus is

to say Jesus is the servant king. That's his

entire focus, his entire core thing that he's

trying to get through to the church, because

the Romans care about kingship. So he's trying

to point out he's the king. He's the servant

king. He's the king of kings So that's his entire

point So things like lineage things like traditions

aren't in Mark's gospel because those things

don't matter because that's not his audience

The other thing you need to know too The prayer

like I just kind of talked about it just a second

ago his his stuff moves quickly And so you're

going to see as we go through this, the word

immediately, if you've read the books, the gospels,

the word immediately is all over Mark. Mark's

gospel account moves very quickly. His stories

are very brief. It doesn't have a lot of detail.

There's two reasons for that. One being the Roman

persecuted church or the church was persecuted.

So he's trying to get his letter out quickly.

He's just trying to get his points across. The

other thing is this. Mark wanted the church to

know and wants us to know that the gospel's here,

the king is here. Darkness is being moved out

and it will be a force against darkness and there's

nothing going to stop it. And so he's like, we're

moving quick. This is how the gospel moves. This

is how the kingdom moves. It moves quickly. It

takes no prisoners. Does that make sense? And

so the other thing about this is I want to just

quickly point out Why don't they match up? Why

don't the gospels match up word for word? Why

does that matter to us? Because many will say

that's a weakness. Atheists will try to push

you on it. Or even progressive Christians will

try to push you on it because they say, look,

you can't take the Bible seriously and literally,

it contradicts itself just in the first four

books of the New Testament. So why does it matter?

that we have a defense for and understand why

those things don't, they don't perfectly go together.

Exactly. It proves there's no conspiracy. Talk

to Jeremy, talk to D .M. out there. If you, if

a cop is trying to ask you questions and maybe

you are a part of something, If everybody's story

is exactly the same, they will run suspicious.

But if we all have a story that is alike, but

not every detail is exactly the same, that makes

sense. Why? Yeah. Also too, if something were

to happen in this room right now, if something

were to happen in this room right now, let's

just say somebody falls over dead. Lord, don't

let that happen on my watch, but somebody kills

over dead. And then the cops come in and they're

asking questions. All of us are gonna tell a

slightly different story just because of where

we're all seated in the sanctuary, right? I'm

gonna see it differently than the way Gene sees

it, the way Scott sees it, right? And so these

things don't... When we read the Gospels, it's

not something that goes, yeah, no, see, these

don't even agree. And it's like, no, they agree.

They're just from different viewpoints. They're

from different angles. We can watch the same

movie, you and I, and we can come away going,

yeah, here's the core theme of the movie, but

here's the things that I saw. And they can be

different, right? And so it's not a weakness.

That's what I want you guys to know. So Mark's

central message is clear. I want, I want to make

sure you write this down. He presents Jesus as

the servant King. And as I said, his gospel is

fast pace. And so with that being said, let's

go ahead and dive in to the book of Mark. My

title of my message is clearing the path, our

role in declaring the gospel. My big idea today,

what we're gonna kind of drive home is we are

called to actively prepare the way for the Lord

by living faithfully and proclaiming the gospel

faithfully every day. And so, here we go, where

I'm gonna read verses one through eight and then

we'll start unpacking. The beginning of the gospel

of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written

in Isaiah the prophet, behold, I send my messenger

before your face who will prepare your way. The

voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare

the way of the Lord, make his path straight.

And John appeared baptizing in the wilderness

and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the

forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea

and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were

being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing

their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's

hair and wore a leather belt around his waist

and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached

saying, after me comes he who is mightier than

I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy

to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you

with water, but he will baptize you with the

Holy Spirit. So let's look at the first point,

is this, a proclamation rooted in ancient prophecies.

So if we go back, verses one through four, the

beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the

son of God. Gospel, as I told you guys, that

word is ungelion, meaning life -changing news.

And he doesn't, Mark doesn't just like him and

Haw, he's like, no, he's the son of God. He is

the Christ, he is the Messiah. And so, he then

says, here's the point, there's a guy named,

or there's a guy who's going to come, who's going

to prepare the way, and he came. And so he shares

this prophecy, which by the way, it's actually,

he quotes two in one, he quotes, the book of

Micah, and he's quoting the prophecy out of Isaiah.

And it's common to, back then, for them to take

the two prophecies because they already know

these prophecies. It's common for them to kind

of take them and meld them together. But for

the most part, he's quoting Isaiah. And so Mark

opens his gospel in a way that immediately grounds

everything he's about to say in ancient truth.

He wants his audience, especially the Romans,

to understand that this movement called the Way

is not a religion. It's not a spiritual trend,

and it is not a sudden uprising built around

a charismatic teacher. It's not new, it's ancient.

Here's why this is important. The Romans, and

much like all the other ancient cultures, but

specifically the Romans, the Romans loved ancient

things. They served... Pagan gods that were that

were ancient Okay, and so he's saying this isn't

some new guru that has come on the scene This

isn't a new trend Because there was many Jesus's

by the way Who came before Jesus himself? different

cult leaders get different guys who were charismatic

and They had these followers and if you'll recall

this is talked about in the book of Acts, right?

Where the Pharisees are getting real out of shape

because they're seeing the church is beginning

to explode, and one of the guys says, hey, if

this isn't of God, it's gonna be like all the

other trends that have happened before. It's

gonna die off. He's dead, they'll die off. But

if it is of God, we can't stop it anyway. And

so Mark's entire point of why he's pointing out

this prophecy, As he's going, this prophecy is

hundreds of years old. It is rooted in ancient

prophecy. And so therefore, it's not a new thing.

It is something that is of old. And that's his

point. So from the very beginning, Mark anchors

the story of Jesus in the prophecy. He reminds

us that what is unfolding did not start in Bethlehem

or at the Jordan River. It started centuries

earlier in the promises of God spoken through

the prophets. Mark quotes Isaiah and Malachi,

I'm sorry, I said Micah, Malachi to show that

long before Jesus ever walked the earth, God

had already declared what would happen. Mark

is making a powerful point. This is not just

some man named Jesus who showed up and gathered

followers and started something new. No, this

is the fulfillment of God's eternal plan. So

before Jesus ever begins his public ministry,

God sends a messenger, one who would prepare

the way. One who would call people to repentance

and one who would shake hearts awake and prepare

them for the arrival of the King. And that man's

name is who? John the Baptist. And so John didn't

come preaching self -improvement. He didn't come

preaching comfort. He came preaching what? Repentance.

Turn away. Go a different way. a complete reorientation

of your life, a call to shift your allegiance,

not to a new political power, not to Rome, not

to religion, but to the King. And so John's message

was clear. Prepare yourselves, because the Messiah

is coming. The promised King is here. And this

King is not just another ruler. He is Jesus Christ,

the Son of God, the true King of Kings and the

Lord of Lords. And Mark wants us to see that

from this moment, at that intersection of prophecy

and fulfillment, what God promised long ago,

he is now bringing to pass and the gospel is

rooted deeply in ancient Judaism and covenant

promises and prophetic declarations and in the

unchanging faithfulness of God. And this matters

for us too, because it shows that our faith is

rooted in something much older and deeper and

ancient than what you may even realize. Our faith

has deep roots. It's not blind belief. It's rooted

in history and prophecy and evidence and fulfillment.

And time and time again, scripture has proven

itself to be true. Prophecy spoken hundreds of

years in advance were fulfilled with breathtaking

precision in the life, ministry, and death and

resurrection of Jesus Christ. The historical,

textual, and archaeological evidence for the

reliability of scripture is overwhelming. That's

what I want you guys to know. Hey, but when you

go back there, there's a box of tissues in the

back. Will you just grab me some, please? That's

what I want you guys to know. One thing that

I'm super, super passionate about is the evidence

for our belief. It is not just blind belief.

Like there is so much evidence for what we believe.

It's really mind blowing that there are people

that still will argue and say, Jesus was a fictional,

I'll get the word out, a fictional character.

He didn't really exist. He was just like many

other fake gods and people and charismatic leaders

who came before. And it's like, nah, there's

so much historicity for Jesus outside of the

scriptures. that is not even funny. And so I

can't take anyone seriously. Thank you, bud.

I can't take anyone seriously who would start

an argument with me about the faith and just

say right off the bat that Jesus wasn't a real

person. Because I'm like, dude, secular, secular

historians don't agree with that. They're like,

there's too much evidence for it. And so. When

you are proclaiming the gospel with your life

and with your words, you can have complete faith

and comfort in knowing that what we believe is

not just this random occurrence of things and

stories, but they're real. It's factual. It's

been proven over and over and over again. And

therefore you can share it with confidence. We

can stand confidently and we can proclaim the

gospel. confidently. We can share the good news

without fear or hesitation because this is not

wishful thinking, this is the truth. And the

gospel, the good news, is not just inspiring

news, it is life -changing news and is anchored

in the unshakable promises of God. I think I

have this up here for you, and I want you to

write this down. Our faith is real, our Savior

is true, and our hope is secure. Do I have that?

Okay. My stuff didn't print in color. Can you

read it? Okay. All right, point number two. A

proclamation rooted in truth. Let's look at verses

four through five. It's really, is it warm in

here at anybody else? Cause I'm like sweating

like crazy right now. And I know I'm trying to

get over a sickness. Can we like drop the AC?

Does anybody mind if we do that? Cause I'm like

sweating it up in here. All right, verses four

through five. John appeared baptizing in the

wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance

for the forgiveness of sins. and all the country

of Judea and all of Jerusalem were going out

to him and were being baptized by him in the

river Jordan, confessing their sins. John the

Baptist didn't come with opinions, theories,

or religious speculation. He came proclaiming

truth. He was the fulfillment of prophecy, the

voice crying out in the wilderness sent by God

to prepare the way for the coming King. His message

was simple, direct, and uncompromising. Repent.

turn and prepare yourselves because the Messiah

is coming. And this truth resonated with them.

People came in droves. They left their homes,

their cities, and their comfort to hear him preach.

They confessed their sins and they submitted

to baptism. Why? Because the truth always confronts

and the truth always calls for a response. But

here's a question for you guys. Why the wilderness?

Why was he out in the wilderness? Why were they

going to him? Why was he not going to them? What's

that? It wouldn't be distracted in the moon.

That's a good, that's a good thought. Hold on

there guy. Can't be a teacher's pet just cause

you're the pastor's son. I mean, think about

this. It's kind of dangerous to go out into the

wilderness to hear some dude preach. That's a

wild man. I mean, he literally is a wild man.

And so you're taking your kids, you're taking

your family, and you're making this trek out

of the city, out into the wilderness. And by

the way, the wilderness is a scary place. There's

a reason why, and we're going to see that in

the coming weeks, why Jesus goes out to meet

Satan in the wilderness, because They believe

that it is in the wilderness where demons are.

It's where evil things are. It's where wild beasts

are. It's like, like there's a whole lot to this.

So it's not like they just go trekking out there

and they're like, yeah, this is just a fun hiking

trip. Kids, everybody grab your granola and let's

get our hiking shoes on. Like, no, like it's

a dangerous trek. So why the wilderness? All

right, nobody's going to answer Noah. So I'm

going to let you go see what you got. Oh, gotcha.

So the wilderness is this. I want you to write

this down because it's important. They're going

out to the wilderness because Israel themselves

has a past in the wilderness. The wilderness

represents rebellion and disobedience to God.

And so God is sending them out to hear John preach

about their rebellion. Repent. This is a reminder.

We're in the area. We're out in the wilderness

where our people have all rebelled for ancient

generations. And there is coming one who will

undo the rebellion. And so it's meant to be a

reminder of their past. all their compromises,

all their idolatry, all their longing to be accepted

by pagan cultures, all of it in the wilderness.

But here's something too, baptism is also very

unique. Do you know who actually had to be baptized

back then? Gentiles, Gentiles were the one to

be baptized into Judaism. Jews didn't get baptized.

They're born into it. And so this is also unique

of John the Baptist preaching. Oh no, you got

to be baptized. This is new. This is a new covenant.

You don't just get born into this. And so anyone

that's here that is just playing church and going,

yeah, no, I was born a Christian. I was born

into conservatism. of belief. I'll go to heaven

just because I was born into this family. That's

not how it works. And so, why did God send John

there? So before healing can happen, sin must

be confronted. Before restoration can happen,

rebellion must be acknowledged. And before grace

can be understood, guilt must be revealed. I

actually think I have that to go up here. Sorry.

Sorry, Dustin. I usually have it in red, so it

tells me, but is it there? Cool. John draws the

people out to the wilderness to remind them of

who they are and who they are not. This was not

convenient. It was not easy. It required effort,

humility, and repentance. And as I said about

baptism, this was different. So, This is what

John is ultimately saying with baptism. You are

not right with God. You need repentance just

as the outsider does. And so that's the truth

and the truth humbles. And so what does this

mean for us? It means we must never water down

the gospel. We must not make it easy. If they

had to go out into the wilderness, John, John

did not make this an easy thing. He said, He

just starts preaching. God starts sending. And

then they have to, in humility, go out and be

baptized and do something that is not a part

of their faith. And so we have to stop with this

idea that we've got to make everything in the

Christian faith so easy to make it easy for people

to come in. That's not the gospel, man. The Christian

faith isn't easy. If you want to be accepted

by the world, then just go be the world. Like

don't play games. If you want to follow Jesus,

no, it's hard. Is it the best thing, the best

decision I've ever made outside? You know, yes,

that and marrying my wife, two best decisions

of my life. So neither one of those things are

easy. Marriage isn't easy. Following Jesus isn't

easy. So we cannot have this idea that we need

to make things so simple. The only thing you

need to know that simple is, is just making the

decision that Christ is King. That's the simple

part. Everything else is hard. Am I wrong? We

must not reduce salvation to a box to check,

a prayer to repeat, or a moment of emotional

relief. We must proclaim the full truth. that

we are sinners, that we fall short of God's glory,

and that we stand guilty before a holy king.

But we must also proclaim the beauty of the gospel,

that is the same holy king that came to rescue

us. He lived a life we couldn't live, he died

the death that we deserved, and he bore the punishment

that we earned. This king demands full allegiance,

but he also gives full grace. Which brings us

to a sobering example, okay? You guys know who

Scott Adams is? You guys know who Dilbert is?

Oh, come on. The famous cartoon. It's a cartoon

strip. Yeah. The newspapers and stuff and magazines.

Dilbert. If I had a picture, I should have put

a picture up there. If I had a picture, you'd

all go, oh, yeah. So Scott Adams was the creator

of Dilbert. He's a well -known atheist, but he

He had a lot he Dilbert was a very kind of You

know just wholesome. It wasn't wasn't raunchy

or anything. Just a wholesome kind of cartoon

strip and There were many Christian create Christian

people who like the Dilbert Comics and would

write to him and just ask him to give his life

to Christ But he wouldn't do it and he recently

passed away about three weeks ago And I want

to read to you his letter that he wrote before

he passed away, he passed away of cancer. And

he wrote this letter addressing his Christian

friends and fans. And this is what he says, if

you are reading this, things did not go well

for me. Many of my Christian friends have asked

me to find Jesus before I go. I am not a believer.

But the risk reward calculation for doing so

looks attractive. So here I go. I accept Jesus

Christ as my Lord and Savior. I hope I am qualified

for entry. That was his letter. So this, yeah,

so this just happened. He died three weeks ago.

He was about, I think, early 60s. So. Brothers

and sisters. I saw people sharing this and just

going, praise God, praise God. Does that sound

like a heart that has changed? No. Did I want

Scott to legitimately give his life to Christ?

Because I watched him, he did a video days before

that of just saying, You know, I I I'm not gonna

make the decision yet. I'll make that decision

on my deathbed But that time is not yet and I

might do you this is not that's not how this

goes brother Pastor Logan, how can you know that

you don't know his heart? No, I read his words.

I'm not a believer but The risk calculation is

there This isn't insurance. Hello? I'm asking

the insurance man, Keith May. Is that what this

is? Do I just pay a copay and pay my premiums

and I'm good to go? No. The gospel is about repentance.

It's about faith and it's about surrender. Not

anything in his own words. says surrender, says

repentance, says faith. It literally said the

opposite. And I want nothing more than this man

to be standing in the face of Jesus. I don't

care if his entire life was committed to debauchery.

If on his deathbed, he truly is repentant and

he truly puts his faith in Jesus Christ and in

the works, then he will stand before Jesus. But

because he did not, he is not. And this is what

I mean when I say we make things way too easy.

Somebody made this man think that if he just

said those words that he was okay. And there's

somebody in this room who has done the same thing.

You have been led to believe if you just say

the right words, you punch in the right vending

machine numbers, you get what you want. That's

not how this works. It's utter, true humility

and surrender. It is the difficult path, not

just, oh, here's some spiritual insurance before

I take my last breath. And so this truth matters.

It's not a gospel Hail Mary pass in the final

seconds of life. It's not just a backup plan.

It's not a cosmic loophole. It's faith, it's

surrender, it's repentance, it's humility. So

I want to be clear, by the way, I'm not saying

that if you truly repented in your final moments

of life that God would not in his wonderful,

gracious beauty and mercy say, well done, my

good and faithful servant. He absolutely would.

Because we're not playing by Logan Merrick's

rules, we're playing by his. So I want you to

hear that. It's about surrender, not pride. And

this is the message that John preached. It was

a message that we must also proclaim a call to

repent, to believe, and to follow a gracious

savior. Point number three, a proclamation rooted

in humility. Let's look at verses six through

eight. Now John was clothed with camel's hair

and wore a leather belt around his waist. And

he ate locust and wild honey. And he preached

saying, after me comes he who is mightier than

I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy

to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you

with water and he will baptize you with the Holy

Spirit. And so Mark. goes out of his way to describe

what John looked like, what he wore and what

he ate. Does this seem like those details are

unnecessary or do you think we need to know them?

That's right. It's in the Bible, so we need to

know it. So why would he point out what he wore

and what he ate? I actually asked Micah when

I was preparing this, I said, hey, dude, how

would you feel about a diet of locust and honey.

And he said, what's locust? I said, bugs. He

goes, no, I'm out. How would you guys feel about

that? Yeah, humility, right? So, so there's,

but there's two things here. There's two things

of why he describes what John looked like. Because

you get this scene, I do anyway, of this wild

looking man. Right like he's he is a wild -looking

dude Wearing camel's hair. He's got this leather

belt and he's eating bugs licking on honey He

does not look like what's that Exactly did you

read my notes before I came up here Yeah, so

he he doesn't look like the religious leaders

of Jerusalem, right? He doesn't look like a Pharisee.

He doesn't look polished. He's not refined. He's

not impressive in the least. But we know the

reason why this gets put in there is because,

as Scott pointed out, he looks like Elijah. Why

does that matter? Why does it matter that he

looks like Elijah? What do we as Christians who

believe and we read the book of Revelation, what

do we believe about Elijah? You guys know? What's

that? OK. Yeah, he was taken into heaven, right?

He didn't die. He didn't die a physical death.

There's two people that never died a physical

death. Enoch and Elijah. So do we know what the

book of Revelation says about two witnesses?

OK. So the Jews also believe that Elijah will

return and he will usher in the ministry of the

Messiah. So, it's not by happenstance that John

the Baptist looks a lot like Elijah. This is

intentional. They believe, just as we do, that

he is the forerunner. And so, Mark is telling

us, this is him. This is the forerunner. He's

arrived and the king is next. So, but Mark doesn't

only point out John's appearance to connect him

to Elijah. He does it to show us John's humility.

John lived like the desperate. He ate like the

desperate and he dressed like the desperate.

He identified with the desperate. Not because

poverty is holy. I'm going to say that again.

Not because poverty is holy. but because his

heart was fully surrendered. He wasn't walking

through Jerusalem in fine robes and religious

pride. He wasn't building a platform or a reputation.

He was a rugged servant who wanted one thing.

Write this down. Faithfulness to God in obedience

to his calling. I want to be clear. Holiness

is not found in poverty and sin is not found

in wealth. I'm not saying to be holy, you have

to be poor. I'm also not saying that if you have

a lot of money that you are sinful. Rich and

poor alike can be faithful and faithless or or

faithless. Money and possessions are amoral.

They're just simply tools. So if God has given

you much, use it boldly for the kingdom. If God

has given you little, Use it faithfully for the

kingdom. John had little, but he proclaimed a

big message. He lived humbly, but he preached

powerfully. And notice what John says in verse

eight or what Mark says in verse eight. Actually,

John says this, but Mark also, sorry. One is

coming after me, the straps of whose sandals

I am not worthy to untie. Here's why that's important.

In that culture, the one who undid the sandals

was a slave, a house slave. So what John is essentially

saying is, is even in this man's kingdom, the

one who will come, the true King, I am not even

worthy enough to be a slave in his household.

So we see his humility in that verse. And this

isn't false humility, it's just clarity. John

understood his role. He knew he was not the king,

he knew he was not the savior, and he knew he

was not the center. He was the messenger, he

was the voice, and he was the servant. John was

a faithful groomsman preparing the bride for

her groom. What I mean by that is this. Could

you imagine standing, ready, to watch your bride

come down the aisle as the groom. You're excited.

And it's like, man, look at her. She's so beautiful.

And then all of a sudden you look over at your

best friend who's the best man, and he's like...

Right? You'd be like, are you making googly eyes

at my wife? Like that's... But we have way too

many pastors who make googly eyes at the bride.

What I mean by that is this, they make the message

of Jesus Christ about them. This is not John

the Baptist, he understood his role. So we must

proclaim repentance with humility, knowing that

we are no better than the ones we speak to. We

confront sin while remembering our own sin. We

preach grace while living in constant need of

the same grace. So I want to remind you of the

words of Jesus, woe to the scribes and Pharisees,

to those who believe their religious performance

made them righteous. One day they will say, didn't

we cast out demons in your name? And Jesus will

say, depart from me, I never knew you. What am

I saying? I'm saying there's way too many of

us who think we are the bee's knees. And we are

on Jesus's all -star team. And of course, why

wouldn't we be saved? Because we're awesome.

And John, the Baptist, obviously didn't feel

that way. And there will be many who Jesus will

say, depart from me, I never knew you. Brothers

and sisters, I want you to hear me. Humility

is not weakness. It is clarity. It is knowing

who God is and who we are not. We are servants

of the King. We are heralds of the gospel, and

we are messengers, not the message. So we live

humbly, we give faithfully, and we proclaim boldly,

pointing always to Christ, seeking never our

own glory. And like John, we must say he must

increase and I must decrease. Before I close,

I want to challenge you that this gospel message,

are much like John the Baptist. What do I mean

by that? You have been given an influence of

some kind, some big, some small. And God has

entrusted that influence to you to share this

message with others. And so how do you steward

it? How are you stewarding the message of the

gospel? Are you holding it? for yourself, are

you holding it for yourself in fear or are you

sharing it? Or are you sharing it in a way that

is not humble, that is I'm way better than you

are and you need to hear this. We should share

these things, we should share the gospel message

with humility and grace. Do any of you guys know

who Brother Lawrence is? Man. You guys, earlier

I asked, what did I ask? You guys know what?

Yeah, Dilbert. Okay. Got to know who Dilbert

is. We got to know who Brother Lawrence is, the

monk. I'm going to tell you about Brother Lawrence

here in just a second. And don't go watching

Nothing But Trouble. I started my sermon out

last week talking about that movie. That you

can skip, but Dilbert you can go check out. And

so Brother Lawrence is a famous monk and early

in his monastery life, his monastery life, he

came into the monastery and, you know, in a monastery,

all the monks have a job, right? They oversee

different parts. If you've never been to a monastery,

it's pretty interesting. It's the quietest place

on earth. And for me, that's terrifying. Like,

I don't like the fact that I can be surrounded

by people and yet still hear myself breathing.

But my wife sent me to the monastery that's in

Schuyler one day, and I was like, it was so difficult

to be there for an entire day. But so all the

monks have a job to do, and some of them farm,

some of them do different things. Well, Brother

Lawrence was like, what's my job? And the other

monks looked at him and they said, dishes, and

cleaning the floors. And Brother Lawrence hated

the job so much, he couldn't stand it. And he

one day, he was like, I'm too good for these,

if you've ever watched Nacho Libre, another one

you should go see. Another one you should see.

I'm not fit for these duties. That's one of my

favorite lines. But he cannot stand the job and

he's like, nope, I'm too good for this. So as

he's washing dishes, he's talking to the Lord

and he's like, you gotta get me out of this.

Like I deserve to be out tending a field or something.

Not scrubbing floors on my knees and scrubbing

these dirty dishes. But then the Holy Spirit

began to do something to him. God began to reshape

his heart. And as he reshaped his heart, he began

to see something. He says, serving God is not

reserved for sermons, prayers, or worship services.

Faithfulness is to be lived out in the ordinary,

the repetitive, the unseen, the uncelebrated

task. And so Brother Lawrence is known for Not

only did he wash dishes till he died and did

the floors till he died, he did it because he

said, I communed more with God in that simple

task than when I was in prayer. And so why do

I share that? Because Brother Lawrence and John

the Baptist are very similar. They understand

what obedience is. They understood their roles.

And so Brother Lawrence learned that the gospel

is proclaimed not only in bold preaching, but

in faithful living, in unseen obedience, in quiet

submission, and in humble service. And so here's

something I want you guys to write down. John

the Baptist proclaimed the coming King in the

wilderness. Brother Lawrence proclaimed the presence

of God in a kitchen. And you... In small towns,

gravel roads, kitchens, shops, classrooms, tractors,

and living rooms, proclaim the coming king by

how you live. And so, Jennifer, don't feel bad

that you can't cook. You can still be faithful

in making, you know, macaroni salad and doing

it for the glory of the Lord. Brother Lawrence

and John the Baptist had different callings,

but they had the same obedience. They had the

same humility. and they had the same surrender.

And that is the invitation before us to live

boldly, to serve humbly, and to obey faithfully,

not for recognition, not for reward, and not

for applause, but because the King is great.