Mark 1:1-8 (go to bible.crossswalk.com or biblegateway.com for the verses)
I have always been struck by John the Baptist for two reasons:
The first reason is I am amazed at John's ability to take the back seat to Jesus. During the time of John B (for short) and Jesus there were others trying to claim the messiah title and others "Jewish" sects popping up. The people following John B were very loyal to him and many were following him as if he were the savior / the messiah. Many confused him as such and YET he continued to point them into the direction of Jesus and did not take credit for himself. He not only followed his faith and trust in God but he didn't let others get so caught up in him that they forgot that he was not the END point but instead the POINTER to Jesus. Today, many Pastors and Jesus followers often fall into this trap - that they on their mission for Christ become the center of their story instead of pointing to God. That the Church becomes more about the Pastor and less about Jesus. Often this happens because the people push it to happen and some times because the Pastor lets it happen. This is very wrong - I am not just saying this for those of you who go to churches out there but also for those of you who are still searching for you don't want to get trapped by this. John the B was loyal not only to his relationship with God and his mission but also to who he was as a person - his role. His role was to prepare the way for Christ, his role was to be a marker. As we are waiting once again for the birth of Christ what is it that helps us to be loyal to his season as oppose to loyalty to the presents? or material goods?
Second:
John B would have been considered to be a bit odd - maybe "crazy" in today's world - but eccentric at the least. How would we have reacted to him today? In our building up of our relationship with the Holy his HOLIday season, how do we show our trust in God when our judgment and secular thoughts get in our way? How do we pick out those people around us who are pointing us to a stronger relationship with God? Or maybe more importantly to a deeper understanding of the Holy around us?
Just some food for thought this week. As we are preparing for our Christmas day - however we celebrate the birth of our savoir...As we are exploring our new relationship with God.
