Sunday Gathering - John 1 : 19-28 - Chris Simpson - Sermon Only

right good morning everyone let's have the first slide up so um so this morning's um we're

continuing with the series on john it's the second of our series on john's gospel and and today

actually the passage isn't directly about jesus it's about john the baptist and in particular

john how john answers the question who are you and as we listen to um john being interrogated

really, and the answers he gives, kind of my hope and prayer is that that will help

us answer that question for ourselves. Because, I mean, John is a deeply fascinating character,

and the answers he gives are really counter-cultural and interesting. But, you know, the who are

you question is such a big one, isn't it? And if you try it, as I did at some point

of the week. If you Google the phrase identity crisis, you get lots of stuff up. There's

a sense in which in our culture there are a lot of people struggling to find answers

to the question, who am I? And there's lots of kind of resources and self-help and all

sorts of stuff offering answers to that. But the question is a really big one. But let's

have the next slide. So the question, the context is, the question is, who did John

the Baptist think he was? And the background to this is that John has been preaching and

holding open-air meetings up and down the Jordan River, calling on people to make major

changes in their lives, to be baptized, and to receive the forgiveness of sins. And people

are coming to him in large numbers. So John is kind of like the celebrity preacher of

the moment. And he's come to the attention of the religious establishment in Jerusalem.

And so they've sent a delegation to question John. And it's not a particularly friendly

delegation. They're not coming with open minds, but they're trying to pin John down, and they

question him. It's almost like a trial. And it's like he's being questioned by the barrister

representing the other side. But that's the kind of context. But let's hear it firsthand.

So I think Sarah or Cornelius, Cornelius, Sarah's going to read it for us. So let's

listen to the word. Thank you, Sarah.

This was John's testimony when the Jewish leaders sent priests and temple assistants

from Jerusalem to ask John, who are you?

He came right out and said, I am not the Messiah.

Well then, who are you, they asked.

Are you Elijah?

No, he replied.

Are you the prophet we are expecting?

No.

Then who are you?

We need an answer for those who sent us.

who do you say what what do you have to say about yourself john replied in the words of the prophet

isaiah i am a voice shouting in the wilderness clear the way for the lord's coming then the

pharisees who had been sent asked him if you aren't the messiah or elijah or the prophet

it, what right do you have to baptize? John told them, I baptize with water, but right here in the

crowd is someone you do not recognize. Though his ministry follows mine, I am not even worthy to be

his slave and untie the straps of his sandal. This encounter took place in Bethany, an area east of

the Jordan River where John was baptizing. So that was good to hear the word directly.

So let's have the next slide. So John's being interrogated. I see it's like a trial and they're

saying, well, who are you? And they ask you, are you the Messiah? Are you Elijah? Are you the prophet?

And each time we get from John a resounding no. And that's, I guess, in order for me to know who I am,

I have to know who I am not

and there's also something about

they're trying to put a label

on John

and he's refusing to be labelled

one of the dangers

of this whole identity

question is that

we can kind of end up with an identity

that's been put on us by other people

and if that's a positive identity

we can suffer from imposter syndrome

we feel other people are saying nice things about me

that's not how I feel about myself but other people put negative stuff on us that can grind

us down and John is refusing to be labeled by them and that's because of course he's accepted

the label given to him by God but we'll come to that in in a minute. So the first question is

are you the Messiah? Now, Messiah really meant the anointed one. And in Israel, when a king

was crowned, they were anointed. So to be the Messiah is to be the king, and not just

any king, to be the great king that was going to bring great freedom and prosperity to Israel.

So they kind of say, well, are you claiming to be the top dog? And he says, no, I'm not.

And then they said, well, are you Elijah?

Now, Elijah is this hugely important, mysterious, and powerful prophet from the Old Testament.

But there's also been a prophecy about Elijah in the book of Malachi that says,

before the Messiah comes, Elijah will come back again.

So they say, well, if you're not the top dog, are you kind of the person who's kind of pointing to the top dog?

and again John says

quite clearly, no I am not

I'll come back to that one in a minute

and the third one is kind of similar

this is taken from

some verses in Deuteronomy 18

there was something

Moses said, he says, there will come

another prophet like me

now, you know, Moses is one of the

towering figures of the Old Testament

so there was an expectation

that somebody very important would come

again and John says

no I am not the prophet

So he is kind of refusing labels.

He's, in a sense, being questioned by them,

but that's not going to shape his identity.

And we'll just come back to number two for a minute,

and I'll tell you the reason for that.

So John says quite clearly, I am not Elijah.

Now, the problem with that is that Jesus says he is Elijah.

And you find that twice in Matthew and also in Luke,

and Mark. So who's right?

Well, I think the first thing we need to say, of course, is that

John may simply have been wrong. We do not always

John is not

perfect. He doesn't know everything. So John may have been wrong.

But I think maybe a better answer is to think about the context

and of course they're trying to give him a label. So they're saying, who are you claiming

to be. And actually, John's not claiming to be that. And he's not interested in labels or titles

or prestige. He's thinking about something else. I think it may also be the case that when we look

at what Malachi said and how Jesus quotes it, when they said John was to be Elijah, that's not

necessarily meant in an absolutely literal way, that the same guy who was operating in

the Old Testament has himself come back. It is more like, is somebody who very much looks

like Elijah, is it the ministry of Elijah we're seeing again, rather than exactly the

same person? And John the Baptist clearly does have that incredibly significant prophetic

ministry anyway we'll move on right next slide please so having said he's not three things he

then says I am three things and he says I'm a voice I'm a baptizer in water and I am unworthy

and each of those is a little bit unusual and thought-provoking and it's good to be

have our thoughts provoked by the bible isn't it and I want to spend a little bit of time on each

of those. So let's have, let's look at the first one next and have the next slide. John replied

in the words of the prophet Isaiah, I am a voice shouting in the wilderness, clear the way for the

Lord's coming. And this is incredibly significant. The first thing it tells us about how John sees

himself and about his identity is that John sees himself as belonging to something bigger than

himself. You know, he's part of what God has been doing over thousands of years, spoken

of by the prophet Isaiah. He belongs to a bigger story than himself. And in fact, John's

identity doesn't come from inside him. It is actually given to him by God. And he describes

himself as a voice shouting in the wilderness. I'm sure you've all had the experience, I know

I have of, you know, you've been in some public place and somebody is like shouting stuff

and possibly they've got, you know, mental well-being issues or drugs and alcohol or

some mixture of that, but you've got somebody like shouting out and everybody's going,

oh, what's going on there, you know. So a voice is only significant depending on the

words are asked to say. And so John is a voice pointing to the word. And there's something

very careful about the words too, because John's gospel opens with the phrase, in the

beginning was the word, and the word was God, and the word was with God. And John doesn't

even say, I am a voice. He says, I am the voice. He says, I am a voice. But he's like

he's like a signpost

isn't he? John is

pointing at Jesus

he doesn't say

clear the way for my coming

he doesn't say look at me

he says clear the way for

the Lord's coming, look at him

and we

absolutely live in the age of celebrity culture

don't we? That kind of

permeates all secular society but also

sometimes can really

permeate the church so celebrity

is a big deal. And a lot of that celebrity is saying, look at me. And John's emphatically

saying, look at him. And actually, that's how he answers it throughout this question

and answer. But for all that, it's a powerful statement, isn't it? He is part of something

bigger than himself. His identity is because God has called him, but he's not looking at

himself. He's looking at Jesus. So let's look at the second of John's two I am. What

what right do you have to baptize? And I guess this is a word, this is really about credentials.

So the Pharisees who have been part of this group have been sent to interrogate John. So, well,

you know, if you don't have this big title, if you're not claiming to be the Messiah, if you're

not claiming to be Elijah, if you're not claiming to be the prophet, then what right have you got

to go around baptizing people? You know, I mean, John's ministry was quite powerful. He's telling

people to make major changes in their lives, to be baptized and to receive forgiveness.

What right does John have to answer that question? Interestingly, John doesn't really ask that

question. He doesn't answer that question because he's actually, he's saying, I think

in effect he's saying, you're asking the wrong questions. In fact, you're questioning the

wrong person. You're busy looking at me and asking who John the Baptist is. Never mind

about John the Baptist, look at someone right here that you are missing. And that, again,

is very important. You know, if you were going to a pub quiz on the Hebrew Bible, the

Old Testament, you would have wanted the people from that delegation to be on your team. They

knew it. They knew the stuff. They could have quoted. They knew the answers, but they didn't

know God. And, you know, to be a believer in Jesus Christ, it's not about knowing the

answers. It's about being surprised by the God who is there. It's about being open to

what God wants to do in us. And actually, many of you will recognize, because we often

say in prayer meetings, don't you, it says, well, two or more are gathered in my name.

there am I in the midst of us.

And actually, take him literally.

Jesus didn't say, where two or more are gathered in my name.

He said, where two or more are looking at my person.

So when two or more people are focused their attention on me,

there am I in the midst of me.

But it's about God in the midst of us.

God in the midst of us.

And then John says, well, I baptize with water.

And it's almost, again, him saying, well, listen, I just do kind of human stuff by human means.

And if something really important is happening through this, it's not down to me, it's down to God.

Actually, you could apply that to our whole service today.

You know, we've come in and we've sung some songs and we've listened to some music

and we've had some people share things and now you're listening to me talking.

All of that's human stuff.

But if something comes out of that, if something powerful happens out of it,

it isn't because the people at the front have been anything special.

It's because God has been able to use that.

So all the time we should be pointing to Jesus.

Let's look at the third of his I am.

I am not even worthy to be a slave or untie the straps of his sandal.

I'm sure most of us feel unworthy.

some of the time, and some people probably feel it a lot of the time. And actually, I

think that's healthy. I sort of was wondering about this, obviously, I don't know the answers,

but I kind of figure that, you know, that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin rarely wake

up feeling, I am not worthy. But that's not because they've got a healthy psyche, it's

the opposite. They've got a kind of messiah syndrome, haven't they? So to some extent

feeling unworthy is good. But I think sometimes when we're feeling unworthy, it comes from

a place that isn't good. It can come from a place of, to be frank, self-pity. I'm unworthy.

I'll be, oh, you know, poor old me. I'm useless. It can come from a place of despair. It can

from a place, to be honest, we just spent

too much time gazing at ourselves.

But the way John answers this

is a bit different.

Because

he's not saying I'm unworthy

in a vacuum as I'm an unworthy

person. He says

I'm unworthy compared to him.

So John's actually

really looking at Jesus in all this.

That's what he's doing. He's looking

at Jesus.

C.S. Lewis said that humility is a form of self-forgetfulness.

And in fact, once he said, being humble is not about thinking less of yourself,

when I was having a lower opinion, it's about thinking about yourself less.

And John absolutely fulfills that.

He's not really thinking about himself, he's thinking about Jesus.

But he's learned that Jesus is the big deal.

Jesus is what it's really about.

Let's have the next slide.

John told them, I baptize with water,

but right here is one you do not recognize.

There's a kind of comic tragedy about how they're missing the point.

They're trying to label John and say, well, is he this, is he that?

And John's saying, no, it's about somebody you don't recognize.

I think this thing, though, about what John is really teaching us,

and I think it is relevant to Christian leadership as well,

is that, you know, it's not about me.

It is about Jesus.

And we need to keep being reminded of that.

And, you know, sadly in our day, you know,

all too often we hear a story about some famous Christian ministry

that has come unstuck in some way.

And you think, well, is part of the reason for that

maybe that um that person started to think too much of themselves they become the deal maybe

that's partly because other people have put that expectation on them you know they've had a

successful ministry and other people are saying well you're fantastic and and some of that starts

to go in a friend of mine was um got a job as a i think he would be a assistant minister or he was

I think a young man at the time, and learning in a big Pentecostal church

with a very kind of charismatic leader.

And he said, one day this leader came in and said,

well, if the people in this church are going to hear from God,

God's shown me they're going to hear through me.

That's how they're going to hear.

They're going to hear through me.

And my friend challenged him and said,

that's not at all a healthy thing to say whatsoever.

That's not right, mate.

Anyway, the next day he lost his job.

But, you know, so John the Baptist is so countercultural, you know, the big deal is

not about me, it is about Jesus.

Next slide.

This encounter took place in Bethany, an area east of the Jordan River where John was baptising.

I might be wrong, but I can't figure that there might be quite a lot of sermons that

you could find or things read in books about the passage we've just been talking about.

I just possibly wouldn't mention this, because we've kind of heard all the really interesting

stuff, and this seems kind of down to earth. I think that's sort of the point, you know.

Neither this passage, nor any other passage in the Gospel, starts with the words, once

upon a time. This is about real things that happened in real places to real people. It

is grounded. It's not about, you know, what's going on in some big spiritual dimension.

This is happening here on earth. Next slide. I'm going to tell you about this picture.

So my house kind of backs onto a graveyard,

and I quite often go for a walk in the graveyard.

And I have noticed more than one,

a few of graves that have become

kind of a little bit of a shrine to a football club.

Now, this picture, I will tell you, is not one of those.

And so I generated this on AI.

Who would have thought it? But I did.

But the reason for that was simply I didn't want to

potentially cause offence

by using an actual grave

so maybe understand it

but nevertheless I can assure you the word

grave is maybe not quite as grand as that

but very much in that way

and what's

wrong with it? Well I think

gosh how sad

to be blunt

if the main point

of your life, the thing you're going to be

remembered for is

your support for a football team

a friend of mine actually became a Christian

and part of his process was

that he started to ask

there's got to be more to life than this

there's got to be more to life

than this

the trouble is in the west

there's a kind of dominant

culture of kind of godless

materialism and if you follow

that you end up with

deeply inadequate

and unsatisfactory answers

to the question about the meaning

of life and about who I am. It does not give answers that satisfy.

But for all that, and I'll say a little bit more about that in a minute, this is not about

saying that football's wrong, or, it didn't have to be football, it could be about, well,

it was my family, or it was whatever it was, the dominant thing that my life was about.

It's not about saying those are wrong, but it's saying they don't belong in first place.

don't belong in first place. And part of what I say is that, you know, if we put first things first,

then second things become healthier. Let's have a final slide. So the first thing to say is,

you know, as a Christian, my identity is not something I find in myself. It is given to me.

It is a gift, and I've become part of something that is bigger than me.

You know, God purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son

and adopted us into his family.

And that is the most important thing I need to know about my identity,

and it's the most important thing you need to know about me,

that God has purchased me with the blood of his Son

have been adopted into his family.

And secondly, but related to that,

you know, the big deal

in life isn't about me.

It's about him.

And that should come, actually, as a great

relief. It's not about

me. It's about him.

Later in John's Gospel, you can see what

you know, imagine some of the pressures

John might have been under, because he's

a celebrity. He's this celebrity

preacher. He's the one that everybody's going

to listen to. In a sense, you know,

in asking their questions of him

are you the Messiah, are you Elijah, are you the prophet

there's a sort of a compliment in there

you know

they didn't ask it about

Chris Simpson because everybody would just laugh

they're asking it because he is this

kind of big dog

and we know later

that some of John's disciples started to say

well aren't you kind of losing a bit of your prestige

because Jesus has started

his ministry and John famously

replied but it was a cracking answer

that he said, he must increase, I must decrease.

And that's so important.

But if we get the two first things first,

if we understand that my identity is given to me by God

and I belong to him, and that's the most important thing to me,

and that fundamentally the story isn't about me, it's about him,

if we put those first things first, actually second things,

my love for my family, my interest in football, my interest in food,

or whatever it happens to be, will be healthier and better.

Let's pray.

Father God, we believe that you are in our midst today,

that you are among us.

And Lord, forgive us if we haven't recognized you

or if we're not recognizing you.

Lord, we do want to be open to being surprised by you,

to being touched by you.

So, Lord Jesus, we exalt you today.

Lord, you are the main story, and we look to you.

But, Lord, I do pray for myself, for all of us,

that we might know our security and our identity in Jesus Christ,

that we have been purchased, we have been set free,

we have been adopted, we have been brought into his family.

And these are glorious truths spoken over us by God Almighty.

And we're not the big deal.

So, Lord, we praise you and we thank you for that.

And we pray that you would equip us to live well and to live something, Lord.

We might never be famous like John the Baptist, Lord, but we'd love a bit of that, Lord.

We'd love a bit of his strength and his character, his total commitment to Jesus Christ, to be a signpost to Jesus Christ.

So, Lord, give us a double helping of John the Baptist in Jesus' name.

Amen.