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Sermon:
Original Manuscript:
When we look at people who are famous or have done well from themselves in our society, we have a tendency to want to idolize them. It seems like there must be something special about them in particular that got them where they are today.
This same thought was present in Jesus’ time. People looking at John the Baptist thought he had to be someone big. Surely he was a prophet, even Elijah returned to this world. Perhaps he was even the long awaited Messiah.
John the Baptist declares “no” to all these titles and claims. He is simply the “voice crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare ye the way of the Lord.’”
On his own, John the Baptist has no meaning. He is the one sent to prepare. He’s the one getting everything ready for God to come into this world.
We are called to be the same way. We are called not to make things about us, but about God and God alone. We are called to put aside our own egos and our own glory and serve for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, God made manifest in this world.
It is so tempting for us to want to build ourselves up. After all, we idolize those in this world who seem to have done so for themselves. John the Baptist calls us to a very different life. John the Baptist calls on us to make the focus not on ourselves, but on the one we serve. Our call is not to build ourselves up, but to bring others to Christ Jesus our Lord.