John 3:22-36

 John 3:22-36

We live in a world in which everyone is not only allowed to be but actually encouraged to be narcissistic. We are all told to have or create our own brand, to brand ourselves to be famous, and to make ourselves famous. One person described her career as an “Internet personality”. With the use of social media we can build for ourselves the illusion, or perhaps a better way of saying it, the delusion that our place is at the center of the social media universe. We imagine that our lives are so compelling that people will want to know what we are doing. Our thoughts are so profound people will want to know what we are thinking, and our appearance is so magnificent that people will want to look at us. We think that if we can have our own universe with ourselves at the center we will have all that we want.

John the Baptist was nearly the perfect opposite of this kind of thinking. His statement and vs 30 is profound and ought to be the theme of every disciple’s life. As we are making  new disciples they ought to grow so that they are more and more attracted to Jesus and their focus on us ought to decrease. John wanted to become invisible to be unseen so that all focus and attention would be on Jesus. John's role as the “friend of the bridegroom” was significant but no one believes that a wedding is about the best man. The best man’s real importance is to point to the real priority of the couple's wedding, the couple. John's light would grow dimmer and dimmer Jesus's light would grow brighter and brighter.

Most people do not believe that Jesus was born on December 25th. That date was chosen for the Feast of the Nativity for, among other reasons, because of the winter solstice when the days begin getting longer the light begins to increase. The church also set the celebration of John’s birth for June 24th the summer solstice when the days begin to get shorter and the light decreases.

One of the great tragedies of the last generations is that many in ministry have shifted the focus to themselves and have grown their church as a cult of personality. The very root and center of hell is the attempt to move God from the throne at the center of the universe and take that seat for ourselves.

“Lord, forever keep in awe of Jesus, may I be invisible so I will never distract anyone from looking at Jesus.  AMEN”