It's my turn to blog now, so I'm going to take a quick departure from family stuff--I'm random like that--so I can tell you what the Holy Spirit is speaking. I have a journal full of Bible studies, and this one rocked my world yesterday. It's rather deep, so get ready..."He [John the Baptist] said, 'I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said." - John 1:23
John the Baptist faced the question that we all face (especially those of us in ministry): Who are you? The Jews just had to know who this crazy baptizing hermit was, so they sent some priests to ask.
Priests: Who are you? What do you have to say for yourself?
John: "I am not the Christ."
Priests: Are you Elijah then?
John: "No."
Priests: Are you the Prophet?
John: "No."
Priests: Then who ARE you?
John: "I am the voice..."
Isn't it funny that the local pastors had no idea who John was? As God's representative to the people, they should have known by the Spirit exactly who John was. They were clueless. Yet the church of that day could not receive his ministry unless John had a title, a name they recognized, a person who fit within their frame of reference.
John had no credentials. He did not give them an answer to make himself more palatable. Not John. No, he freaked them out: "I have no name, no pedigree, no affiliation, no denomination, no credentials. I'm the thunder in the desert, and the storm's right behind me. Clear the way for the Lord's coming! Repent of your sin and get ready to meet the God you say you serve."
Did you know that lightning and thunder actually happen at the same time? Thunder is the report that lightning makes because of the vacuum it creates when it flashes hotly and retracts so quickly. Depending on how far away you are, lightning is seen first (because it travels at the speed of light) and thunder is heard second (it travels at the speed of sound, which explains the delay).
Here's the point: lightning is the event. Thunder is the sound the lightning makes. Jesus was the event. John was the sound Jesus made. John was the voice. He was the thunder.
What sound am I making? Am I willing to fade into the background like John did, so that Jesus can take center stage? Here's what I admire so much about John the Baptizer: he was purely devoted to God's purpose. As soon as Jesus appeared at the Jordan (John 1:35), he immediately told His disciples to switch mentors. He didn't keep the fans to himself: "For this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he [Jesus] might be revealed to Israel" (1:31).
Your purpose, child of God, is to reveal Jesus to your generation. We are the voice. We are the thunder.
2 comments:
Very good, brother. Something else that is amazing about John's call, is that when he was asked who he was, John's reply indicates that his identity was found in Christ...nothing to do with himself.
I love you both so much and look forward to more posts and more nights at the Harris home :)
Chelsea
Can't tell you how appropriate and timely this note was...made clearer from the Lord something spoken by Him...you are a treasure.
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