John 3:22-36

22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptised. 23 Now John also was baptising at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptised. 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--well, he is baptising, and everyone is going to him.” 27 To this John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ 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.

The main purpose of the church is to glorify God. As we come to this place, one of our goals is to help people glorify God. We have identified three major ways that a person glorifies God. Everything we find in the Bible can fit into one of these three boxes. The first is that we glorify God when we worship him. The second is that we glorify God when we edify or build up other Christians. The third is that we are here to share the good news of the gospel in this world. We call this evangelism. Worship, edification and evangelism sum up in very general terms the ways we glorify God.

At the heart of these major goals is the worship of God. We would love to see everyone who comes into this building leave with a desire to honor God. We honor God by trusting Jesus. If you honor the Son of God, the Father is honored. The words we say, the things we do, should not bring attention to ourselves, but to Jesus.

This is hard for us. A natural issue is one of attention. How many times we hear of children who are looking for attention. We see young men and young women, who, in their drive to seek attention, look for it in the wrong places. Many sports and movie stars are about promoting themselves. Some seem to have a sense of entitlement that comes with their fame and their fortune. As much as we like to criticism them, in a similar position, we would face the same temptation.

Before you disagree with me too strongly, I would ask if any of you have ever said something like this, “For all the years I have put into this company, you would think that they would treat me better!” Or, “Why don’t they let me go to the front of the line. Don’t they realize that I have an important meeting to make?” Our impatience in lines, our complaining about how others treat us, all of these are reflections of our self-centeredness and our need for others to honor us with their attention.

I want to let you know that self-centeredness, self-attention, is not a Christian virtue. I am reminded of the man who went to church alone because his wife was sick. When he got home, she asked him, “What was the message about?” The man replied, “Sin.” She was not happy with the short answer, so she said, “What did he say about it?” He replied, “He was against it!”

Honoring Jesus will be a struggle. As with many struggles, the struggle is often a mental one, an internal one, a spiritual one. It’s easier to be quiet about Jesus than to honor him. It’s easier to talk about ourselves than it is Jesus.

This morning I want to look at a man who lived to honor Jesus. His name is John and his story is found in John 3:22-36.

John was in an awkward position. An argument had broken out between his disciples and a certain Jew. The NIV and the KJV disagree on the numbers, but whether it was one or a group of Jewish people, it makes no difference. The argument still took place. The argument involved John.

When the two groups could not settle the argument, they came to John to ask his opinion.

What was the argument about?

The argument was about purification or ceremonial washing. 25 An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. The commentators differed over this term ceremonial washing. The idea behind it is the idea of purity and it can speak of someone who is clean by washing. The Old Testament had people washing their hands as a major part of their religious practice. Or it can talk about moral cleansing. This refers to us being clean before God, a cleanness of the heart that breaks out into our lives.

But the argument that started to be about purification and ceremonial washing had taken an ugly turn as far as John’s disciples were concerned. It went from a theology question to a personal question. 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--well, he is baptising, and everyone is going to him.”

Both Jesus and John were baptizing near each other. 22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptised. 23 Now John also was baptising at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptised.

What was happening was that Jesus and John were working so closely together, that people could make a choice. “Who are we going to hear today? Will we go hear Jesus or John?” Jesus was winning the numbers battle. John was losing followers. He was losing the attention of the crowds.

The answer John gives shows what kind of a man he is. He is not interested in himself, he is a man who wants to honor Jesus. This is a shining moment for John. He could be bitter. He could try to talk people out of going over to Jesus’ side. He could redouble his efforts. But John was a man who wanted to honor Jesus.

How do we honor Jesus?

First, we honor Jesus when we accept what we have and do not resent what others have. 27 To this John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.

What had John received? He had received a message. He had received a crowd of people. What had Jesus received? He had received a message. He had received a crowd of people.

Heaven determined the size of the crowd. Heaven determined the message.

Part of the Bible’s teaching on spiritual gifts demonstrates that the gifts differ as well as the measure of the gifts. Some are given the gift of teachers. Some are given a greater measure. Both have the gift. But heaven has said, “One person will have the gift in greater measure.”

We honor Christ when we do not become petty. We honor Christ when we do not measure our success in numbers or in followers. We honor Christ when we say to the Lord, “I can only receive what you have given me from heaven.”

Have you ever wondered why you may not have been promoted at work? You may be seething because you have been there so long and you know you are better than the one who is promoted. I will not argue with you on the point, but I will tell you, that as a Christian, bloom where you are planted. If you are going to work at that place, do so with an attitude and an ethic that honors God. You only have what you have. Honor Christ with it.

Second, we honor Jesus when we understand our place in the bigger picture. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ 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.

This is the key to John’s whole attitude. He knew his place. He was not the Christ. He was not the Messiah. He did not have a Messiah complex. So when the Messiah came, he could tell his followers that his role was to prepare the way of the Lord, not to be the Lord. He was like the friend of the bridegroom at a wedding. He guarded the bridal chamber until the bridegroom came. When the bridegroom went into his bride, the friend’s job was done.

Where is our place in the universe? Where do we fit into the bigger picture? We are servants of God. When God’s desires are met, we have done our job well. When Christ is honored by our actions, we have done our part. When we give a cup of water in Jesus’ name, Jesus is honored. When we visit the sick, when we pray for those who need prayer, when we give generously to promote the Lord’s work, when we tell our story of what Jesus has done for us, we have done our part. But there is one more point in this.

Third, we honor Jesus when we rejoice when Jesus is honored. (29b) That joy is mine, and it is now complete. John had joy when Jesus was honored. He had joy when Jesus was successful. He had joy when people left him and went to hear Jesus. Why? Because as the friend’s job was done when the bridegroom went into the bride, so his job was done when the people he spoke with moved beyond him to become followers of Jesus Christ.

His whole attitude was this, 30 He must become greater; I must become less.

I like the word “must” that is used here by John. It shows his heart. He does not say, “It would be nice if people followed Jesus.” For him it was a necessity. The joy he had was when people followed Jesus.

We say the same thing here. We are here to glorify God. We are here to worship God. The leadership of this church, the members of this church, the people who love God are all in agreement about this. The church does not exist to promote the church, the church exists to promote Jesus Christ.

So how are we doing? I am not asking you to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the church. I am asking on a more personal level. In the natural order of things, this is how spiritual growth takes place.

First, we come to God as we are drawn to his Son Jesus Christ. We believe in Him.

Second, we trust those who led us to Christ. If you became a Christian through the ministry of this church, you have a trust level in me, in some of the other Christians you have met, in the teachers you have heard, in other Christians.

This is natural. I do not know the whole Bible. I trust teachers that I trust until I am able to study things out for myself.

Third, we trust Christ. We have a spiritual relationship with Jesus. We know Him. We walk with Him and we talk with Him. We see his face when we speak and when we act. We have a desire in our hearts, not to please the church or our teachers, but to please Jesus. We understand the Bible better and we now do not say, “This is what I was always taught,” but “This is what the Bible says, this is what pleases God.”

So how are you doing? Are we helping you know God? Are we helping you in your relationship to Him? Is Jesus becoming more and more important and other people becoming less important?

If your answer is “no”, the church is not helping in this area, for us to be honest, we have to ask this question: Are you taking advantage of what we offer? Are you attending Sunday school or a small group? Are you coming with your Bible ready to hear and to learn? Are you engaging in conversation over the things that we are doing?

If you say, “No, I am not engaged,” then we encourage you to do so. We offer what we offer to help Christians connect with Christ. But if people do not take advantage of the opportunities, we are doing the best we can.

If you say, “Yes, I am engaged with what is going on, but I am not connecting at a spiritual level,” I would encourage you to set up an appointment or send an email or letter or talk to a mature Christian expressing that concern. We cannot be all things to all people, but we as a church need to have this attitude, “He must increase, we must decrease.”

For the end result is that we, as a group of people, need to be about Jesus. When we honor Jesus, we honor God the Father. We are all in this together. We are unified around that need, that goal. May it be accomplished in our midst.