The Preacher Is Nothing

John 1:8

The Preacher Is Nothing

†

In the name of the Father and of the † Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

When I'm in the pulpit, I must admit that I want to make you laugh. I want to make you cry. I want to rivet you. I want to make you feel. I want all these things and more because I want you to like me.

When you compliment my sermon, I let it go to my head. When you smile and nod at my preaching, I let it go to my head. When you attention wanders, I let it go to my head. When you fall asleep, I let it go to my head.

Where is Jesus in all of this wanting and let-it-going? Right, He isn't. It's all about me, me, me.

And so when fellow preachers came to this most remarkable human preacher by the River Jordan, all they wanted to know about was John. Six times they asked him, "Who are you?" And every time John basically said, "I am nothing."

This is John’s testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” He did not refuse to answer, but he declared: “I am not the Messiah.” They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not."

“Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.”

They asked, “Who are you, then? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What can you tell us about yourself?”

[John] said, “I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord—just as Isaiah the prophet said.”

Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. So they asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you aren’t the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water. Someone stands among you, but you don’t know Him. He is the One coming after me, whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to untie.” (John 1:19-27)

They wanted John to be something. You can hear it in their leading questions, less are you Elijah, and more you're Elijah, right? He would have made them happy and he would have felt great answering yes. He could have justified a yes to Elijah because he had a proof passage from the Bible.

See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. (Malachi 4:5)

John preached in a climate demanded that the preacher himself must be something or else his message is nothing. This is the same climate we live in today. I justify my wanting you to like me by saying to myself that if you don't like me, then you won't listen to me, and then you won't hear Jesus. With the best of goals, with the desire to grow the church, making myself into something would only accomplish making Jesus into something less than He is.

If John had said, "Yes, I am Elijah," that's all the crowd would have heard. John would made himself into an obstacle to presence of the true Light. By faith John the first Lutheran points to Christ and Him alone as the forgiveness of our sins:

Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)

Later in His own preaching Jesus would commend John and of every preacher and all the baptized who reveal not themselves, but instead reveal the Light of the world.

No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. (Luke 8:16)

And so John stands today as the witness of the Light. Think of how often John pointed the people and their Pharisees to Jesus. Yet so many wouldn't listen.

It is worth noting the parallel incident when Jesus answered the unasked question on the minds of all the people: "Who are you?" When Jesus Himself testified to His identity, and said, "Yes, I am the Light you've been waiting for," they would not have it.

When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

The Pharisees challenged him, “Here You are, appearing as Your own witness; Your testimony is not valid.”

Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on My own behalf, My testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. But if I do judge, My decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent Me. In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. I am one who testifies for Myself; My other witness is the Father, who sent Me.”

Then they asked Him, “Where is Your father?”

Jesus replied, “You do not know Me or My Father. If you knew Me, you would know My Father also.” He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come. (John 8:12-20 NIV)

Preachers see the reaction of these influential people and are tempted to make themselves more and Jesus less, all in the hopes of saving Jesus from Himself. Jesus is so clear and final in everything He says. People don't like that. People want nuance and subtlety. People want wiggle room. And so preachers wiggle. And we wiggle out of saying clear and final things. We use current events, humorous stories, personal anecdotes as filler. That's fine as long as the preacher gets to clear and final things. And the first sermon and the last sermon that a preacher must preach must be to himself. And no one preached it better than John.

A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, "I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of Him." 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. He must become greater; I must become less. (John 3:27-30)

These are the first words of the newly ordained rookie pastor. These are the last words of the preacher before death. Jesus is everything; I am nothing. He must become greater; I must become less. For He came to lift up the poor and lowly, including pastors who are nothing.

Christ Jesus came into the world

to save sinners—

of whom I am the worst.

Alleluia! Amen.