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John - The Messenger
by Reverend Murray Spackman, Vicar.
ADVENT 4, Sunday 22 December, 2002
One day, as a woman was crossing a street at London station, an old man stopped her. He
said to her ; "Excuse me, madam, but I want to thank you." She looked up,
surprised, and exclaimed - "Thank me?" – what for! He replied, "Yes
madam, I used to be a ticket collector, and whenever you went by you always gave me a
cheery smile and a ‘good morning’. I knew that smile must come from inside
somewhere. Then one morning I saw a little Bible in your hand. So I bought one, too - and I
found Jesus.’
I like that story, because it has a simplicity about it – that wanting to share
our faith with others doesn’t have to be something complicated, or serious, or scary
– but in fact the more natural the better.
Today we conclude the trilogy of these past three weeks when we have been looking more
closely at the person and ministry of John the Baptist, and we look at his
ministry as a witness.
On the first week we considered him as the one whom came Baptising ; last
week we looked at his ministry as a Prophet ; and today we see how he
functioned as a Witness.
This is clearly spelt out and summarised in just two verses; John chapter 1, verses
6 and 7.
"God sent His messenger , a man named John, who came to tell people about the light,
so that all should hear the message and believe."
In a nutshell – that tells us all we need to know about a witness.
Who sent them; who they are, and what their message is.
If someone were to turn up on your doorstep when you get home from church and say they
have a message for you – you would want to know those same three important points
– wouldn’t you? Who sent them, who they were, and what their message was.
I would like to dig a little deeper this morning into just these two verses and
discover some answers about John – known as the Baptiser.
Firstly:- Verse 6 begins - "God sent His messenger".
The Good News begins not with John , but with God. God takes the initiative.
God always takes the initiative, whether it be in creation - in bringing this world and
cosmos into existence; or in bringing us into new life. It begins with God. We don’t
have to strive and struggle to find God’s way – God has taken the
initiative; he has opened the door for us and sends his messengers to show us the way. All
we have to do is have our ears and eyes opened, have a heart that wants to discover and
walk in God’s ways – and that path will be made clear and obvious for us. God is
a missionary God – He takes the initiative and He sends His messengers.
They don’t go of their own volition – they are not self –appointed, God
sends them!
So God sent His messenger.
A lovely, though highly fictitious story, told by a Jewish Rabbi describes a
conversation between Abraham and God. It goes something like this. "God said to
Abraham; ‘Do you realise, Abraham, that without Me you would be nothing?’
‘Ah, yes,Lord,’ said Abraham, ‘I do realise that without You I would be
nothing.’ Then he thought for a moment, and bowing his head low to the ground he
said; ‘Forgive me if I am being presumptuous, O Lord, but it occurs to me that
without me You would not be known." There is a point there! This
story is not meant to imply in any way that God is dependent upon His creatures – for
God could surely have chosen some other way to declare His name and nature to the Universe
– but God instead chose to send His messengers.
Secondly - God sent His messenger, -- a man named John.
God could have chosen some other way - instead of using Abraham, for example. But God
did not send some angel, though God had used them as
His messengers before ; God did not write the message of Jesus Christ as Redeemer and
Saviour across the clouds, or spell it out among the stars ;- but God sent a man
named John! God entrusted the whole story of Redemption to human agents.-- and even then
-it was not some highly gifted or skilled professional or tradesman, it was not to the
news meadia, or to some wealthy individual, in fact it was not anybody of note or
exception , except that this man whom God sent was obedient. John had given away every
advantage he may have had through growing up in a priestly family. He gave away the
benefits of living close to town; he gave up the financial benefits of being an only child
– and an only son – to elderly parents. John left it all and instead sought to
know God more, out in the arid, rocky mountainous desert region – away from the noise
and clamour and distractions of city life. It was this man who had a heart for God,
whom God sent. If we look at the overwhelming majority of people written about in the
Bible, we see the same thing happen again and again. God chose, if anything, the ordinary,
unspectacular, people to be his messengers – even people like you and me. Most
likely, the people who influenced you most in your journey of faith were ordinary everyday
people – so why shouldn’t, why couldn’t God also use You to bring others to
Himself? The lady who always gave the ticket collector at London station a cheery and
polite "good morning" may not have been anyone noteworthy, in the world’s
scheme of things, but she was nevertheless a messenger, fulfilling God’s
extraordinary Plan in an ordinary way.
So 1)– God sent his messenger, 2) - a man named John, ---
Thirdly: (vs7.) - who came to tell people about the light.
God sent his messenger, A man named John! A messenger is only a messenger if they have
a message to tell, right! John’s message, given by God, was to tell people about the
Light – that is Jesus – the Light who was coming into the world. John’s
message was not to tell people about himself! – not to tell people
about what rules or regulations they ought to follow - but to tell people about someone
else. God call and sends us as His messengers for that exact same purpose! We
are not here in this life just to live for ourselves , or to eek out every ounce of its
joy and pleasure,– we are here for a purpose! – and that is to tell people about
the Light that dispels darkness – and to point them to that source of Light, Jesus
Christ. The Good news which we have been given to share is Good News for every person. We
just don’t realise how blest we are that we live in the light. John was sent to tell
people about the Light. He was not to tell people about himself - but about another
who was the true Light.
Fourthly – John was sent - ‘so that all should hear his
message and believe’.
John’s message, the message he had been given by God, was for a purpose! There was
an expected outcome to the proclamation of this message – and there still is for us
today! It was in order that those who heard the message should believe! Believe
what, you might ask? Well the answer is simply this – believe in Jesus Christ! This
is what the Christian Faith is all about! This is what the Bible is all about, – this
is the purpose and reason for the existence of the Church – to simply be the
messenger, as was John was , sent by God , to declare the coming of Jesus, the Saviour,
among us.
There is no other message greater than this. – that Jesus has come - to be the
Light, the Saviour, the Redeemer, the Friend of sinners, the Rock of Ages, the Shepherd of
the Sheep.
John was available to God, empowered by God, sent by God, with the best message the
world has ever heard. Today – especially as we approach the Christmas season –
let us pray that we might be open, in whatever way God may choose, to be His Messengers of
light in a world of darkness. *
The Ven.Murray Spackman.
Advent 4. 2002
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