Key Story

Problem was not with the key.

Problem was with my perception of what I know a key to be.

People had a problem.

Problem was not with God.

Problem was with their perception of what they knew God to be.

What they had to base God on was

        400 years of silence

        Scripture available to them through priests

        Religious traditions handed down from Pharisees

God appeared distant, inaccessible, demanding

Here comes John the Baptist – communicating a clear message – Repent, baptize, God is near – at hand, God is sending someone who will baptize with His Holy Spirit

Totally unexpected.

Now, their perception of what God is like began to change

Still a problem, however, with what a relationship with God looks like

Met couple who claimed they never fought

– had been married for five years and had never had a fight.

- For years, I felt like a failure

- There was this standard put before me that I just could not attain.

- Now, after nearly 25 years of marriage

-I realize that couple was one of two things

– either lying through their teeth or not human

The people of Israel were trapped in a similar dilemma. 

-Their relationship with God held to the impossible standard

-the Pharisees were holding up to them. 

The problem was, the Pharisees – while quite human – were lying through their teeth.

They did not have a relationship with God

– they had a relationship with themselves going on.

Before Jesus came on the scene to show them what God really looked like, God chose John and the message He gave Him to give the people hope – to help them see that He did not resemble what they had been led to believe – and a relationship with Him looked absolutely nothing like what the Pharisees were trying to represent.

Imagine the response of the people.

I was just so relieved that I found out that I had a key, I was more than willing to look and feel stupid to be able to go where I needed to go that morning,

The people of Israel were hungry for God

– and willing to do whatever they needed to do to find Him

– to go out on a limb or in this case, go out in the desert

John the Baptist brought incredible hope with this message.

Imagine living your whole life feeling incredibly inadequate

– always feeling as if you could not measure up

– painfully aware others profess having it all under control

- you struggled day after day, month after month, year after year.

The enemy roams freely in that kind of life.  He rarely has to discourage, because the distant, inaccessible and demanding picture a person has of God is discouraging enough. 

And then hope appears in the desert.

No wonder the people beat a path to its door – or in this case to the bank of the River Jordan.

When we first talked about John baptizing along the Jordan, I mentioned what a contrast it was to the desert all around.  This morning, I want you to actually see the contrast.

Desert – sand – no apparent growth.

Now green, lush, life.

This is the contrast people were hungry for – spiritually.

Spiritual thirst and dryness, no apparent growth, even death.

And suddenly, there is life – spiritual renewal, hope, anticipation of God reaching out

Then, in the midst of it all, the enemy rears his head and moves into the picture

What a perfect place for a snake to go – to the desert

But what the enemy did not foresee was the sharp contrast this backdrop would provide

When John the Baptist identified the Pharisees and Sadducees as a “Brood of Vipers,” he was establishing that they were on a different plain than those who were already seeking -the wake-up call that John the Baptist was shouting was not only for the Pharisees and Sadducees, but also for the people in the crowd

He had a message of truth they needed to hear as well.

Imagine the hope that began to grow in the people that day.

Could it be true that God might not be pleased with the Pharisees and Sadducees? 

Could it be true – that God might actually be making a way for them?

John was the person giving them hope – and soon He would be pointing them to Jesus.

Wow.

Now, what does all this have to do with us?  Why has God had us dig so deeply into the well of John the Baptist?

I have felt all along that it had to do with how we are to bring the message of Jesus to the people around us – to our family, to our friends, to the people of Mecca.

And it does.

We have been created for this – that God has purposed from our creation for us to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the people we long to see saved by His grace.

We know that He will use us as we yield ourselves to Him – and that we must be prepared for that by repenting and letting Him make us righteous.  It is our repentance that positions us to be used effectively.

But it also comes with our being willing to be the contrast to the Pharisees and Sadducees – to be the lush, green alive place which is so different from the desert filled with judgment and hypocrisy.

So many people have the wrong perception of God.

He just doesn’t look like the way the modern world paints Him

He comes off in Western culture as one of two extremes

– too loving to condemn/totally approachable - He is love

– or harsh, demanding task master arbitrarily damns people.

It is our role – as those who know Him – to paint a more accurate picture of Him

How do we do that?

By simply letting Him consume me, He shines through me and the world sees a better representation of Him.

But clearly, John the Baptist also has a message to back it up.

We have to be ready to speak the truth – in love – to the lost world around us

You see, the enemy wants us to be silent – just like he wanted to keep Zechariah locked up in silence before John the Baptist’s birth.

But, we need to seek God’s help and His guidance in the proper timing to speak the truth that the world does need to repent and draw near to God.

This place must continue to be a place where the love of God is so real – so vivid – such a contrast to the rest of the world – that the difference is as obvious to the community as the stark contrast of desert to the Jordan was to the people of Israel.

May it always be so – and may we always pray that the “Light of the world” is shining in us and through us