Why are we here?

Introduction:

Have you ever met someone who you knew was very smart or talented but were also very humble?

I have met people along this journey that God has brought us on that were very talented but also very humble, and I had so much respect for them.

They are the kind of people who are willing to do whatever needs done behind the scenes without the spotlight ever shining on them.

During our time in Missouri, we had the opportunity to know two different people like that.

The one couple were at that time in their mid seventies helping out leading the Missions department at the church we attended which averaged about 40 people on a Sunday morning.

One the outside they were humble people who would do whatever the Lord had called them to do.

They spent over 30 years as missionaries in Afghanistan and wrote a few different books.

At one time they lived a few blocks down from the leader of the Taliban and lived their lives everyday relying on the guiding of the Holy Spirit.

They were willing to sacrifice their lives so that the Gospel message could be shared in the Middle East.

I considered them heroes of the faith, but they were so humble knowing that everything that they accomplished was for one reason— to bring glory to Jesus.

The other person that I met was a guy from the same church who, I remember to this day, went outside and was playing football with the boys after church and he was in his mid 60’s.

After I got to know him I realized that he spent many years in the Air Force and then was a professor at a college in Texas and then in Missouri.

He would just randomly knock on our door holding a pizza.

We would open the door, he would hand us the pizza, and say, “Have a great night”, and leave.

He had the gift of encouraging others and I have so much respect for this man.

He did those things and lived his life in a way that took the spotlight off him and put it on the Lord.

When you meet someone that you know is very qualified, talented, and smart but yet is so humble, it just completely changes who they are.

Here is a spoiler alert.

Here is the answer to our sermon title for today--”Why are we here?”

We are all here to point the world to Jesus!!!

We are here to allow the Lord to word through us and when He does we need to be willing to step out of the way and allow God to be God.

I’m not sure if you know this but He can do a much better job than we can.

Amen!!!

Open to John 3:22-30

John 3:22–30 NIV

22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. 24 (This was before John was put in prison.) 25 An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.” 27 To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.”

Point 1: Who was John the Baptist?

There is no better place for us to find Godly examples of how we should live than in the Bible.

John the Baptist is one of the “Giants of the Faith” who lived before us and had the huge task of making way for the Lord.

Could you imagine having the calling or job in life to be the forerunner for Jesus?

Could you imagine being the one called to prepare the people for the coming of the savior of the world?

That would be a high calling to have.

John the Baptist is one of my favorite people in the Bible because of the way he lived his life.

Jesus describes him, in Matthew 11:7–10,“What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8 If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. 9 Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written: “ ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’”

John the Baptist was not a famous person at all, but he had a great calling on his life.

The Bible describes him wearing clothes made from camel’s hair and eating locusts and honey.

Jesus told the people in Matthew 11 that he might not have been a great person in the eyes of the world, but in the kingdom he was very important.

John the Baptist was a person like you and me.

He was not rich and famous.

Everyone did not know his name.

The Bible tells us in Luke 1:80 that he became strong in spirit and lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel.

We see this same pattern with people who God used mightily throughout history.

David was anointed king by Samuel but went back in the wilderness to tend to his father Jesse’s sheep.

We do not know how long he was there until Goliath came along, but one thing I can tell you is that his faith was built up out there.

He defeated the lion and the bear with his hands.

I also believe he spent so much alone time with God.

Jesus was baptized in the Jordan river and then went out into the wilderness for 40 days where He was tempted by Satan.

Even though Jesus was fully God, He was also fully man.

He grew in the wilderness.

The disciples spent 10 days in an upper room where they were alone, separated from the world, intentionally going after God.

They were filled with the Holy Spirit which empowered them to fulfill the calling on their lives.

That calling was to point a lost and dying world to God and then step out of the way.

John the Baptist spent so much time in the wilderness as well.

He did not have a cell phone and social media distracting him.

He did not have a recliner and fox news to watch and fill his mind with.

An angel appeared to John the Baptist’s father Zechariah, in Luke 1, and said, “I stand in the presence of God. You are to give your son the name “John”. He will be a joy and delight to you and many will rejoice because of his birth. He is to never drink a fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

What a description of a person’s life.

I believe that he fulfilled this by his time that he spent with the Father living in the wilderness.

“One of the purposes of the wilderness is for God to show you that He is God.” -Tony Evans

Sometimes we need to be driven to the wilderness to have a personal encounter with the Lord, to grow in Him, and to grow our faith in Him.

Sometimes God leads us into the wilderness so that we can die to ourselves and learn to rely more on Him.

One guy that I know refers to this as God taking us to the woodshed and cutting some things off of us.

Maybe what some of you might be experiencing today seems really hard, but in the end you can come out on the other side in a much better place.

Rejoice when things get hard because you know that this will cause you to grow.

Point 2: John the Baptist’s example to us.

We need to be very careful who we take advice from and who we decide to model our life after.

John the Baptist is a great person that we can learn so much from.

In our passage, some people who followed John began to question why more people were going to Jesus than him to be baptized.

Before we even get into the details of this story it sounds like a bunch of little kids.

“Can you believe that there are more people going to the other guy?”

We need to stop worrying about the small things, the things that really don’t matter, and focus on what is important.

Also, we need to not allow the enemy to divide us.

I can’t believe that these people remembered the way John described Jesus and yet they still were upset about something so small.

They said, in verse 26, “The one that you testified about.”

John’s testimony about Jesus was very powerful.

He said that Jesus was the Messiah, the Anointed One, and the Savior of the world.

He said that Jesus was the One they had been waiting for.

John said that he was not even worthy to untie Jesus’ sandals.

He said that he came to baptize with water, but Jesus had come to baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.

John’s testimony about Jesus was that powerful, but the people still was wondering why Jesus was attracting more people than John was.

John could at that time allowed pride to set in and say, “You know what? You are right. Why aren’t people coming to me? This is the job I’m supposed to be doing.”

He could have had a different mindset, but he did not.

You might be thinking, “He has been called to do this and knew what Jesus was about to do so why would he ever do that?”

Judas fell into the trap of the enemy and traded Jesus, who he walked beside for years and seen all the miracles, for 30 pieces of silver.

Peter, who was one of Jesus’ inner circle of friend, denied that he knew Jesus when times got rough.

John the Baptist could have allowed pride to set in, but he said, “No way.”

His answer is the answer that everyone of us should give.

I’m not the one you are looking for.

The world is not looking for me, but Him.

You yourselves heard what I said when I said, “I am not the Christ, but only sent to prepare the way. “

He said, “Everything that I have accomplished and did was all from Heaven.

When I was standing their in the middle of the Jordan River baptizing and heard His voice.

When I looked up and saw the One who I was called to prepare the way for.

I wasn’t upset but filled with joy.

Church, I think we have plenty enough Preachers and Evangelists who want to make a name for themselves.

I think we have enough fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord who want to be famous and put on a pedestal.

I think we all at times want to be recognized for the hard work we do and that’s okay.

We all need to realize that everything we have is from the Lord and our number one concern should be, “May we decrease so that He can increase.”

Conclusion:

At the beginning of my sermon I asked the question about John the Baptist’s calling, “Can you imagine having a calling on your life like John the Baptist had to prepare the way for the Lord?

Could you imagine being called to prepare the hearts of the people for Jesus?

I want to tell you today that everyone of us have that calling on our lives.

We are all called to prepare the hearts of the people to meet Jesus and then be okay with stepping out of the way to give Him the glory that only He deserves.

We are all called to prepare the way for the Lord!!

As we are entering December and the Christmas season, many of us will at times find ourselves busier than ever.

We need to practice the discipline of slowing down, stepping away from the hustle and bustle of things, and remember why we are here.

We are here to point a lost and dying world to Jesus!!!

I pray that we all truly remember the reason for the season, and that we all know that none of us would be anything at all if it were not for the grace of God in our lives.