|
A Voice in the Wilderness
June 8, 2005
Wherever we go we are bombarded by voices and sights that beg for our attention. I don't mean the schizophrenic kinds but the daily sights and sounds that confront us. One of the attractions of Times Square in New York, for example, is the glare of the neon lights and billboards. Even magazines and newspapers are now full of pictures and advertisements unthinkable for children's books. Who would ever think we'd see NBA players wear ad-flooded uniforms or people selling their foreheads as advertisement space? Okay, that may be an exaggeration but the message it seems is "buy me, get me, use me."
For hundreds of years God, through His prophets, promised to send the Messiah. Isaiah declared that before that happens somebody will prepare the way of the Lord. He will be the forerunner, a voice to introduce the promised Messiah to the world. Now how does one advertise the coming of the Lord? If given the privilege who would have been our choice? A mighty king and warrior? A powerful and rich ruler? A highly respected religious figure? God's choice was farthest from anybody's mind at that time.
That he lived alone in the wilderness (most probably in caves), feasted on locusts and wild honey and was clothed with camel's hair made him quite an oddball. He made a lot of enemies but he feared no man. He worked no miracles but he shook his nation. He had a word from the Lord but it was not a message of gaining wealth and success. It was not for those who pursue a life of prosperity, pleasure and ease. What he had to say stirred men and women to return to God. Unashamedly and with authority he called the people "sinners" and some "vipers" right to their faces but, with God's power mightily at work, many did repent. He became the repentant sinners' friend but an enemy of the self-righteous pharisees and the religious authorities. His job, so to speak, was to prepare the way of the Lord. Jesus called him the greatest of all prophets and that he was greater than any man born of a woman. Greater than Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel or Daniel. Incredible. His parents simply called him John. We know him as John the Baptist.
It never stops to amaze me how God chooses a man or a woman. Where He is glorified He sends the weak, the nothings, the fools of this world to do His bidding. God ordained, even before he was in his mother's womb, that John the Baptist be His voice. Where we think power and might is most needed, He uses the meek. Where ruling means to us a king lording it over, He sends servants to love and to serve. That Jesus taught His disciples that the greatest in the kingdom is the servant of all makes this gem of truth all the more important. It doesn't take long before we discover that that only ability that God really requires is the ability to trust Him in everything. It is in this place of humbling and weakness, not in self-confidence and strength, that God delights to show forth His glory. The apostle Paul wrote about this quite clearly. And [Jesus] said to me,"My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
For God to come and walk among us as a man, one would think that He'll make an exception by sending somebody "great" to prepare the way of the Lord. He is God after all and He deserves to be represented rightly. But no He did not, not according to our definition or logical thinking anyway. John was sent just like the Lord. Jesus was not recognized by His own people especially the religious and the learned. He was the light but His own people loved darkness and received Him not. What kind of ministry is this? It is as if God is telling John, "I love you so much that I am sending you to a people who will not only turn a deaf ear to you but reject and seek to kill you." God uses men and women to show His love and to reveal who He is to a people who refuses to love and accept Him. Preposterous? This is exactly the same marching orders for the apostles, martyrs, prophets like Jeremiah and Isaiah and, yes, all of us who are called by the name of Christ. Whoever is a friend of God is an enemy of the world. Rejection is only a natural consequence of that friendship. There is simply no middle ground.
Contrary to the common idea of greatness, Jesus called John the baptizer not only great but, up to that point of time, the greatest. Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written: "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You. Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. (Matthew 11:10-11) What made Jesus say that? The little that we know about John is enough to give us a clear understanding that it was not because of the works that he did. In fact, Moses performed greater works than him. As far as biblical record is concerned so did Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Samuel, David and other great men and women who preceded him. The answer, I believe, is found in what the Lord said on several occasions. The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. (Matthew 23:10-12) Above anything else, God is pleased with an obedient, humble and contrite spirit. In fact, love for Him is truly expressed in obedience and not necessarily by emotions. Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. (Isaiah 66:1-2). God is practically saying, "what do you have and what can you do that I don't have or I can't do better? No, unlike man I'm looking at the heart." God looked at John's heart and judged him great.
When John was informed that his followers were leaving him for Jesus, he answered, "He must increase I must decrease." That doesn't sit well with the human tendency to build monuments, to be known for something good, to leave a legacy to our posterity. Many a so-called man of God have fallen greatly because of this undealt with bent of wanting to be recognized. Humility finds its expression in a man who'd rather find himself forgotten that Jesus may be known, loved, honored and understood by all. That man's testimony is not about himself but about the goodness, mercy, love of his God. His whole life is the Lord's voice to the world.
He died with his head served on a platter. By any wordly standard, he was definitely a failure. But Jesus vindicated him when He said, "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." (Matthew 16:25) Eternal life. There is no greater reward than this. By abandoning his life completely into the Master's hands, even as a lone voice in the wilderness, he prepared His way well.
* * *
* * *
Views expressed on this column and any other by-lined articles on this site are the authors' own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organization or its members.
|
