simple humility
This week is on Mark 1:1-8:
John the Baptist was assigned a major role in the introduction of Jesus to the world. His existence was foretold hundreds of years beforehand. He even got to do some of Christ's work before meeting Jesus, by calling people to repentance and pronouncing forgiveness over them. John the Baptist was the elite scout sent ahead of the landing party to make sure all of the arrangements are taken care of. It was a position of immense trust and responsibility.
John could have gone and exploited his awesomeness to his advantage. He could have required donations for forgiveness of sins, sold water from the Jordan where he baptised, asked people to partner with his ministry for six easy payments of sixty-six dollars apiece, and maybe charged admission for when he baptised Jesus.
He could have gone on about how his ministry empire would be the first to introduce the Messiah to the world, and how until the time of Jesus' appearance, he'd be the exclusive representative for the new kingdom. He could have had speaking engagements at all of the most powerful people's palaces. He could have lived like a king. Maybe they would even have given him actual political power because of his exclusive, long-prophesied connection to the Messiah.
John was the biggest thing to hit Israel in hundreds of years. He was like Elijah reborn. He had every reason to cash that in, but his message was never "Behold my magnificence!" It was "I am nothing."
John had serious weapons-grade humility. His clothing and his food were super simple. If they served to nourish and clothe him, their quality sufficed. He had no outrageous demands. There was no insistence on a bowl with only red M&M candies, bottled water, and a personal assistant to feed them to him. He lived his purpose and that was it. It wasn't that extravagance was wrong. It's just that he didn't need it for his job.
I think there's a temptation when God starts to use you where you begin to think you're special. The key is to not let that change who you are. You might not be able to control whether you become mega-famous or mega-rich. But you can control what you do with it and whether it changes you. John had no ambition beyond what he was created to do, or if he did, he was so quiet about it that we never heard what it was. The fame didn't go to his head. He didn't think "What can I turn this into?" Fame was a side-effect that allowed him to do his work more effectively, nothing more. He still wore the same clothes and ate the same thing when he got up in the morning as he probably did before he was a celebrity.
We can learn a lot from John's example. No matter what gifts God gives us, are we really going to be more awesome than the one man recon team Jesus sent to prepare the world for him? If he could get by happily with what he had, then so can we. If he could trust fully that God would give him everything he needed for doing Christ's work, then so can we. He didn't go around pointing at his awesomeness. He simply said "Jesus is better."
The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way” —
“a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”
And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
John the Baptist was assigned a major role in the introduction of Jesus to the world. His existence was foretold hundreds of years beforehand. He even got to do some of Christ's work before meeting Jesus, by calling people to repentance and pronouncing forgiveness over them. John the Baptist was the elite scout sent ahead of the landing party to make sure all of the arrangements are taken care of. It was a position of immense trust and responsibility.
John could have gone and exploited his awesomeness to his advantage. He could have required donations for forgiveness of sins, sold water from the Jordan where he baptised, asked people to partner with his ministry for six easy payments of sixty-six dollars apiece, and maybe charged admission for when he baptised Jesus.
He could have gone on about how his ministry empire would be the first to introduce the Messiah to the world, and how until the time of Jesus' appearance, he'd be the exclusive representative for the new kingdom. He could have had speaking engagements at all of the most powerful people's palaces. He could have lived like a king. Maybe they would even have given him actual political power because of his exclusive, long-prophesied connection to the Messiah.
John was the biggest thing to hit Israel in hundreds of years. He was like Elijah reborn. He had every reason to cash that in, but his message was never "Behold my magnificence!" It was "I am nothing."
John had serious weapons-grade humility. His clothing and his food were super simple. If they served to nourish and clothe him, their quality sufficed. He had no outrageous demands. There was no insistence on a bowl with only red M&M candies, bottled water, and a personal assistant to feed them to him. He lived his purpose and that was it. It wasn't that extravagance was wrong. It's just that he didn't need it for his job.
I think there's a temptation when God starts to use you where you begin to think you're special. The key is to not let that change who you are. You might not be able to control whether you become mega-famous or mega-rich. But you can control what you do with it and whether it changes you. John had no ambition beyond what he was created to do, or if he did, he was so quiet about it that we never heard what it was. The fame didn't go to his head. He didn't think "What can I turn this into?" Fame was a side-effect that allowed him to do his work more effectively, nothing more. He still wore the same clothes and ate the same thing when he got up in the morning as he probably did before he was a celebrity.
We can learn a lot from John's example. No matter what gifts God gives us, are we really going to be more awesome than the one man recon team Jesus sent to prepare the world for him? If he could get by happily with what he had, then so can we. If he could trust fully that God would give him everything he needed for doing Christ's work, then so can we. He didn't go around pointing at his awesomeness. He simply said "Jesus is better."
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