Taking A Necessary Step
Sermon
Sermons on the Second Readings
Series II, Cycle B
The closeness between John the Baptist and Jesus can hardly be overemphasized. It was true from the time of their conceptions and the evident, close relationship between their mothers. It is said that in certain parts of the world there are still a few who follow only the baptizer. After 2,000 years the transition apparently has not been made.
Among those disciples that Paul found, they had no clear witness of the far greater one who would follow John. This may very well be a special word for those today who are good, morally upright people but have not made the discovery of Jesus the Christ. Our duty to instruct and inspire is an extraordinary opportunity.
It is likely these twelve or so knew of Jesus and had awesome respect for him. What they apparently did not know was that salvation was found in him and only him. Paul took the situation as he found it and made one of spiritual progress, doing so without denigrating John. Would that all spiritual transitions could be as smooth as this one!
The wise student and teacher attempts to preserve what is good and useful. They seek to improve and make additions with some needed corrections. There was no reason for competition between John and Jesus. That would be counterproductive or worse. The moment was crucial and Paul did not fail.
Focus
What we have may be good but it is only a beginning.
Body
1. We made a good start and then things began to fall apart.
How often this is true for you and me! The Christ is born in us and we begin to experience signs that everything he says is true. It isn't that the baptist is vying for our full attention. Some person, organization, or idea is making a move to loosen the relationship with our Lord. A pastor, who is charismatic and demanding, may become our sole interpreter of the Christian faith. A sectarian group, emphasizing certain points of scripture to the detriment of others, may become our only home base. An idea of genuine worth is allowed to become virtually the only one that guides our lives. The subtleties are numerous.
My experiences over more than four decades of pastoring churches tell me goodness is usually shattered by what Saint James labels the power of the tongue. We are moving in our spiritual lives really well and along comes someone who verbalizes something that becomes a bone of contention. Before you know it, the peace that passes all understanding is not only gone, it is so far removed that the people involved have moved beyond the perimeters of practicing the faith. What happened? Those who have a courageous spirit and real humility begin to retrace their steps. Eventually the discovery is made. Christ was sidestepped. His primary place had become optional and certainly his lowly, forgiving heart had been crushed. The good start had been compromised and a loss of faith was at hand.
"Backsliding" was a fairly common term at one time in our country, especially during revival meetings. The gist was usually the same. A precious person had received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. That person had begun to practice the Christian life in ways noticeable to others. Then, something happens and there are about as many reasons as there are people. While this may have little directly to do with John the Baptist, it strongly suggests a falling away of something good and supremely meaningful. We may not especially care for such revivalistic overtones, but the message is clear. We are created and intended for spiritual growth. To be seriously thwarted, regardless of how, becomes a sad state of affairs.
The more sophisticated and ritualistic parts of society are not that much different. A daily early-morning mass is not only avoided but becomes strictly an optional experience of the disciple. In time even regular Sunday mass is put on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. So, after some months the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church has become mostly just another set of buildings and doctrinal concepts best evaded. May God be merciful! In mainline Protestantism this can be seen by secular politics and power struggles within the churches beginning to dominate good people's will and time. Even clergy begin to question their ordination vows and wonder that perhaps God did not call them after all! It's familiar territory, isn't it? Pray often -- yes incessantly -- that you will not fall by the wayside.
2. The sufficiency of Christ alone is illustrated.
We are born again to be faithful and forever attentive primarily to one person. We know his name and his way. While all the prophets and seers coming before and after Christ make their contributions, he and he alone brings completeness. True, the church -- both visible and invisible -- enters the picture but without him it has no real power or relevance. Paul found his way in Jesus Christ the crucified. So, our rebirth is an experience that gives us the reason and format for continuing our lives in a victorious manner. We must move beyond John the Baptist or anyone else who has given meaning to our lives.
Many of our parishioners tend to go through years of their lives never coming to terms with the truth of which we are speaking. It is as though a curtain drops and prevents them from fully receiving their Savior and Lord. It is not that they have no knowledge of him, of course; it is that they have a problem of readiness. Perhaps this is the work of Satan that likes things the way they are. Whatever it is, faithful clergy and laity are responsible for leading others to accept the sufficiency of Christ alone. It may be a bigger and more intricate problem than we are willing to admit. I suspect the best way to tackle this is to confess our sins of omission. We knew the right thing to do but we did not do it. As we are forgiven, let us vow to do better for the sake of the kingdom of God.
For those of us who have spent many years in formal education and have decades of experience, it is humbling to recognize this only has practical meaning as we relate completely to Christ. The Lord Jesus is the centerpiece and from him our lives and deaths are made acceptable to the Father. For some still wandering to find another and better messiah it becomes a heart-rending scene for those looking on. We want desperately to do something about this potentially tragic state of affairs. Have we run the race, only to have left Christ off to the side? In our quest for a secular success, have we been blinded by ambition, greed, and status? These are hard questions but they must be asked and more than once.
Sometimes we see and deeply appreciate the kingship of Christ, only to turn a deaf ear to his lowliness. We shy away from a man who was virtually pulverized by the power structures of his day. Yet we are told we must suffer with him in order to rise with him. The crucifixion must never be seen divorced from the resurrection and vice versa. The twin events illustrate in a realistic and graphic way what it takes to understand such all-pervasive sufficiency. Our acceptance of this truth gives us doctrinal grounding that is good forever and ever. To plead the weakness of humanity can only be a trapdoor that acts as a preventative in receiving his gift of baptism and the Holy Spirit. The gift wants to be given. Shall we go through most of life rejecting it? I humbly pray that will not be the case.
3. So much of life is a rewarding preliminary leading to something or someone better.
This concept takes time to ponder. The truth of it is not likely to come quickly. In honesty, perhaps we all need to live long enough to be able to perceive it and the value. Counting our blessings is one way to begin positive pondering on such a matter. Then, we see the connections of how one set of events leads to another and so on. Those who don't have a sense of growth, of course, will have some problematic times trying to deal with this. In terms of the truth of the text we understand John's baptism of repentance was not wrong. It just didn't go far enough. More -- substantially more -- was in the offing and it would potentially lead to fulfillment, at least, in this life.
From one valid viewpoint our lives are a series of beginnings and, therefore, endings. As times come and go, our lives are impacted and -- to some extent -- we impact the times. We were never intended to stalemate and live in little more than a parasitic existence. That is a tragedy! In the Methodist connection we move from church to church. We begin and we end. We move into new parsonages and churches, understanding one ministry is finished and another is beginning. My experience has been one mostly of celebration and a sense of accomplishment. Sometimes there are bumps at both the start and the finish but there has been learning and improvement in most cases. I cannot adequately speak of other polities but trust it is much the same.
As the Holy Spirit abides and provides, the awareness of a rewarding preliminary to something and/or someone else is frequently present. We may not know what or who but with our lives thoroughly in the hands of our Savior and Lord anticipation is in the air. Hopefully, this is a common experience for all brothers and sisters. I always looked forward to new appointments, largely because I knew there would be some truly good people ready to greet me. Not only would they provide a welcome, they would minister with me and -- if need be -- forgive me. Praises be to the mercies of God who enables this to happen! The ordained ministry is so precious and at times we make it more difficult and complicated than it is. This is because we do not trust fully in the one who called us.
Paul's friends in Ephesus did not appear to be unhappy solely with John's baptism. It took the apostle to point to the fact they were actually living in a preliminary period, awaiting more. He was emissary, teacher, and ordained clergy at the same time! Sometimes you and I are put into places where we fulfill the same functions. A key layperson doesn't know about the spiritual riches available to him or her. How can that person know? He/she needs someone to be put in his/her pathway to reveal the need. That person needs someone for instruction, and finally he/she needs a clergy person to put the three together and provide under the guidance of the Holy Spirit for his/her spiritual welfare. Is this only theory or inadequate discipling? No, it allows the Holy Spirit to work for everyone's benefit.
4. We are to acknowledge our mission as agents of introduction.
The input we can insert in others' lives is an area for close inspection. In short, what can we do even now to foster improvement in our brothers and sisters? What ideas or issues or maybe disciplines can enhance others? Well, let's admit this is a wide and deep area of ministry. For example, how can we be sure we are not simply attempting to influence others with our own pet prejudices? Do we have an agenda that doesn't resemble what Christ has in store for us? Yet, we must not go away or perhaps run frustrated in defeat. Only by staying close to Christ will we have the proper words, thoughts, and feelings. Anything less may cause a hailstorm of ill will brewed and stewed by Satan!
It is prudent to be reminded that the Holy Spirit does not make us timid. Instead, this Spirit fills us with power, love, and self-control. We can enable precious people to take a necessary step to substantially improve their spiritual lives. Timidity and essential humility are not synonymous. To be sure, within our strength we are going to fail in the long run. With the strength given us by God we are going to be successful, at least, in terms of right attitudes. Along the way in our lives these happenings occur again and again. Missed opportunities can be the worst of all admissions as one nears the end of his/her life. In our ministries as agents of introduction we are given what is imperative to say and do. Sometimes this means little planning on our part.
Note what a substantial and qualitative difference Paul made. He was an agent of introduction par excellence. An amazing and powerful change took place. Do you and I underestimate ourselves? Maybe a better way to phrase it is: Do we question our relationship with God the Father through Jesus, his Son? Still better, is our problem one of needing spiritual validation? Then, we are in crucial need of an agent to introduce us to the finer points of what it takes to improve our ministries! So, it works both ways and this is a means to instruct us in honesty and humility. Praise God from whom all blessings flow, praise him all creatures here below! Our ministries are so multifaceted and fascinating. Who can say what we will be asked to do or refrain from doing tomorrow?
It has been my philosophy since a college student to try to make the good better. This was partly ambition, pure and simple. It was also the sincere recognition that God still had changes to make in me and I had better listen ... carefully. There is that ominously wholesome craving to be more and better. It likely has nothing to do with money and property. It has a great deal to do with the evolution and improvement of one's personhood. In Christian terms, this means to become more like Christ. After all, isn't that the ongoing, absolutely fundamental principle, in our pilgrimage? To become more like him is to become more amenable to being agents of needful introduction by solid implication. So ministry is so obvious we have to work at it to avoid it!
Summary And Conclusion
In a way, taking necessary steps with the Father holding our hands is a simplified description of living the Christian life. At each crucial point in our development there is a step to take. We may find it to our liking. Likewise, we may discover we don't like it at all! Paul's friends had a step to take. Otherwise, they would remain thwarted in what was intended for them. This is so like our lives, isn't it? Hopefully, every step shows forward movement under the banner of Jesus Christ. We may be complimented for our goodness, only to learn it just isn't good enough for the eyes of one who is the only one who ultimately counts.
Dear friends, pause to give thanks for your lives. Do so because you know there is more to learn and celebrate, as you and others change to a greater good. There has to be that hunger in us that seeks to eat more solid meat and fewer potatoes. If we but listen attentively, the dear Lord will come to you directly or send someone to provide an opening for you to take the next step. Plateaus may be nice and comfortable but they are also debilitating. In time, as opportunities come and go, they can so erode that they won't support much of anything that is truly valuable. Don't allow the awful shame of such a predicament claim your place in God's kingdom. Stand tall or fall on your knees, whichever is required, and move forward in the spiritual life Christ intends. You will never lack opportunities. He continues to stand at the door and knock.
Among those disciples that Paul found, they had no clear witness of the far greater one who would follow John. This may very well be a special word for those today who are good, morally upright people but have not made the discovery of Jesus the Christ. Our duty to instruct and inspire is an extraordinary opportunity.
It is likely these twelve or so knew of Jesus and had awesome respect for him. What they apparently did not know was that salvation was found in him and only him. Paul took the situation as he found it and made one of spiritual progress, doing so without denigrating John. Would that all spiritual transitions could be as smooth as this one!
The wise student and teacher attempts to preserve what is good and useful. They seek to improve and make additions with some needed corrections. There was no reason for competition between John and Jesus. That would be counterproductive or worse. The moment was crucial and Paul did not fail.
Focus
What we have may be good but it is only a beginning.
Body
1. We made a good start and then things began to fall apart.
How often this is true for you and me! The Christ is born in us and we begin to experience signs that everything he says is true. It isn't that the baptist is vying for our full attention. Some person, organization, or idea is making a move to loosen the relationship with our Lord. A pastor, who is charismatic and demanding, may become our sole interpreter of the Christian faith. A sectarian group, emphasizing certain points of scripture to the detriment of others, may become our only home base. An idea of genuine worth is allowed to become virtually the only one that guides our lives. The subtleties are numerous.
My experiences over more than four decades of pastoring churches tell me goodness is usually shattered by what Saint James labels the power of the tongue. We are moving in our spiritual lives really well and along comes someone who verbalizes something that becomes a bone of contention. Before you know it, the peace that passes all understanding is not only gone, it is so far removed that the people involved have moved beyond the perimeters of practicing the faith. What happened? Those who have a courageous spirit and real humility begin to retrace their steps. Eventually the discovery is made. Christ was sidestepped. His primary place had become optional and certainly his lowly, forgiving heart had been crushed. The good start had been compromised and a loss of faith was at hand.
"Backsliding" was a fairly common term at one time in our country, especially during revival meetings. The gist was usually the same. A precious person had received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. That person had begun to practice the Christian life in ways noticeable to others. Then, something happens and there are about as many reasons as there are people. While this may have little directly to do with John the Baptist, it strongly suggests a falling away of something good and supremely meaningful. We may not especially care for such revivalistic overtones, but the message is clear. We are created and intended for spiritual growth. To be seriously thwarted, regardless of how, becomes a sad state of affairs.
The more sophisticated and ritualistic parts of society are not that much different. A daily early-morning mass is not only avoided but becomes strictly an optional experience of the disciple. In time even regular Sunday mass is put on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. So, after some months the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church has become mostly just another set of buildings and doctrinal concepts best evaded. May God be merciful! In mainline Protestantism this can be seen by secular politics and power struggles within the churches beginning to dominate good people's will and time. Even clergy begin to question their ordination vows and wonder that perhaps God did not call them after all! It's familiar territory, isn't it? Pray often -- yes incessantly -- that you will not fall by the wayside.
2. The sufficiency of Christ alone is illustrated.
We are born again to be faithful and forever attentive primarily to one person. We know his name and his way. While all the prophets and seers coming before and after Christ make their contributions, he and he alone brings completeness. True, the church -- both visible and invisible -- enters the picture but without him it has no real power or relevance. Paul found his way in Jesus Christ the crucified. So, our rebirth is an experience that gives us the reason and format for continuing our lives in a victorious manner. We must move beyond John the Baptist or anyone else who has given meaning to our lives.
Many of our parishioners tend to go through years of their lives never coming to terms with the truth of which we are speaking. It is as though a curtain drops and prevents them from fully receiving their Savior and Lord. It is not that they have no knowledge of him, of course; it is that they have a problem of readiness. Perhaps this is the work of Satan that likes things the way they are. Whatever it is, faithful clergy and laity are responsible for leading others to accept the sufficiency of Christ alone. It may be a bigger and more intricate problem than we are willing to admit. I suspect the best way to tackle this is to confess our sins of omission. We knew the right thing to do but we did not do it. As we are forgiven, let us vow to do better for the sake of the kingdom of God.
For those of us who have spent many years in formal education and have decades of experience, it is humbling to recognize this only has practical meaning as we relate completely to Christ. The Lord Jesus is the centerpiece and from him our lives and deaths are made acceptable to the Father. For some still wandering to find another and better messiah it becomes a heart-rending scene for those looking on. We want desperately to do something about this potentially tragic state of affairs. Have we run the race, only to have left Christ off to the side? In our quest for a secular success, have we been blinded by ambition, greed, and status? These are hard questions but they must be asked and more than once.
Sometimes we see and deeply appreciate the kingship of Christ, only to turn a deaf ear to his lowliness. We shy away from a man who was virtually pulverized by the power structures of his day. Yet we are told we must suffer with him in order to rise with him. The crucifixion must never be seen divorced from the resurrection and vice versa. The twin events illustrate in a realistic and graphic way what it takes to understand such all-pervasive sufficiency. Our acceptance of this truth gives us doctrinal grounding that is good forever and ever. To plead the weakness of humanity can only be a trapdoor that acts as a preventative in receiving his gift of baptism and the Holy Spirit. The gift wants to be given. Shall we go through most of life rejecting it? I humbly pray that will not be the case.
3. So much of life is a rewarding preliminary leading to something or someone better.
This concept takes time to ponder. The truth of it is not likely to come quickly. In honesty, perhaps we all need to live long enough to be able to perceive it and the value. Counting our blessings is one way to begin positive pondering on such a matter. Then, we see the connections of how one set of events leads to another and so on. Those who don't have a sense of growth, of course, will have some problematic times trying to deal with this. In terms of the truth of the text we understand John's baptism of repentance was not wrong. It just didn't go far enough. More -- substantially more -- was in the offing and it would potentially lead to fulfillment, at least, in this life.
From one valid viewpoint our lives are a series of beginnings and, therefore, endings. As times come and go, our lives are impacted and -- to some extent -- we impact the times. We were never intended to stalemate and live in little more than a parasitic existence. That is a tragedy! In the Methodist connection we move from church to church. We begin and we end. We move into new parsonages and churches, understanding one ministry is finished and another is beginning. My experience has been one mostly of celebration and a sense of accomplishment. Sometimes there are bumps at both the start and the finish but there has been learning and improvement in most cases. I cannot adequately speak of other polities but trust it is much the same.
As the Holy Spirit abides and provides, the awareness of a rewarding preliminary to something and/or someone else is frequently present. We may not know what or who but with our lives thoroughly in the hands of our Savior and Lord anticipation is in the air. Hopefully, this is a common experience for all brothers and sisters. I always looked forward to new appointments, largely because I knew there would be some truly good people ready to greet me. Not only would they provide a welcome, they would minister with me and -- if need be -- forgive me. Praises be to the mercies of God who enables this to happen! The ordained ministry is so precious and at times we make it more difficult and complicated than it is. This is because we do not trust fully in the one who called us.
Paul's friends in Ephesus did not appear to be unhappy solely with John's baptism. It took the apostle to point to the fact they were actually living in a preliminary period, awaiting more. He was emissary, teacher, and ordained clergy at the same time! Sometimes you and I are put into places where we fulfill the same functions. A key layperson doesn't know about the spiritual riches available to him or her. How can that person know? He/she needs someone to be put in his/her pathway to reveal the need. That person needs someone for instruction, and finally he/she needs a clergy person to put the three together and provide under the guidance of the Holy Spirit for his/her spiritual welfare. Is this only theory or inadequate discipling? No, it allows the Holy Spirit to work for everyone's benefit.
4. We are to acknowledge our mission as agents of introduction.
The input we can insert in others' lives is an area for close inspection. In short, what can we do even now to foster improvement in our brothers and sisters? What ideas or issues or maybe disciplines can enhance others? Well, let's admit this is a wide and deep area of ministry. For example, how can we be sure we are not simply attempting to influence others with our own pet prejudices? Do we have an agenda that doesn't resemble what Christ has in store for us? Yet, we must not go away or perhaps run frustrated in defeat. Only by staying close to Christ will we have the proper words, thoughts, and feelings. Anything less may cause a hailstorm of ill will brewed and stewed by Satan!
It is prudent to be reminded that the Holy Spirit does not make us timid. Instead, this Spirit fills us with power, love, and self-control. We can enable precious people to take a necessary step to substantially improve their spiritual lives. Timidity and essential humility are not synonymous. To be sure, within our strength we are going to fail in the long run. With the strength given us by God we are going to be successful, at least, in terms of right attitudes. Along the way in our lives these happenings occur again and again. Missed opportunities can be the worst of all admissions as one nears the end of his/her life. In our ministries as agents of introduction we are given what is imperative to say and do. Sometimes this means little planning on our part.
Note what a substantial and qualitative difference Paul made. He was an agent of introduction par excellence. An amazing and powerful change took place. Do you and I underestimate ourselves? Maybe a better way to phrase it is: Do we question our relationship with God the Father through Jesus, his Son? Still better, is our problem one of needing spiritual validation? Then, we are in crucial need of an agent to introduce us to the finer points of what it takes to improve our ministries! So, it works both ways and this is a means to instruct us in honesty and humility. Praise God from whom all blessings flow, praise him all creatures here below! Our ministries are so multifaceted and fascinating. Who can say what we will be asked to do or refrain from doing tomorrow?
It has been my philosophy since a college student to try to make the good better. This was partly ambition, pure and simple. It was also the sincere recognition that God still had changes to make in me and I had better listen ... carefully. There is that ominously wholesome craving to be more and better. It likely has nothing to do with money and property. It has a great deal to do with the evolution and improvement of one's personhood. In Christian terms, this means to become more like Christ. After all, isn't that the ongoing, absolutely fundamental principle, in our pilgrimage? To become more like him is to become more amenable to being agents of needful introduction by solid implication. So ministry is so obvious we have to work at it to avoid it!
Summary And Conclusion
In a way, taking necessary steps with the Father holding our hands is a simplified description of living the Christian life. At each crucial point in our development there is a step to take. We may find it to our liking. Likewise, we may discover we don't like it at all! Paul's friends had a step to take. Otherwise, they would remain thwarted in what was intended for them. This is so like our lives, isn't it? Hopefully, every step shows forward movement under the banner of Jesus Christ. We may be complimented for our goodness, only to learn it just isn't good enough for the eyes of one who is the only one who ultimately counts.
Dear friends, pause to give thanks for your lives. Do so because you know there is more to learn and celebrate, as you and others change to a greater good. There has to be that hunger in us that seeks to eat more solid meat and fewer potatoes. If we but listen attentively, the dear Lord will come to you directly or send someone to provide an opening for you to take the next step. Plateaus may be nice and comfortable but they are also debilitating. In time, as opportunities come and go, they can so erode that they won't support much of anything that is truly valuable. Don't allow the awful shame of such a predicament claim your place in God's kingdom. Stand tall or fall on your knees, whichever is required, and move forward in the spiritual life Christ intends. You will never lack opportunities. He continues to stand at the door and knock.
