Read Mark 1:1-8
It is amazing how God uses people. I have had the great honor of being able to perform comedy in front of many people. I have been the main attraction and I have been the warmup act. It was always harder to be the warmup person as, at least in my case, that person following me was always funnier or had more notoriety. With those variables, there was always this pressure of conveying to an audience the idea of "If you think I am funny, just wait for the next guy!" While I usually got a wonderful response from a crowd, I learned very early on that I would not always be the funniest or the one that people would come to remember. Whether I was warming up the crowd or being part of the act headlining the show, I was just a part of the bigger picture. That message comes through to me with John the Baptist. While not discussing humor, he tells the crowd that comes to him in the wilderness to be baptized, that he is but a fraction as powerful as the one who comes next. John knows what his role is in the bigger picture. He is doing Gods will, being a vessel which Jesus can use to bring the lost children of Israel home.
Even before he was to baptize the Messiah himself, he began laying the path straight, as it was prophesized in Isaiah 40:3 for Jesus to walk and us to follow. It was his job to warmup the Children of God to be able to receive the Main Act that is Jesus. So, as I often look at things in a showbiz way, it is simple. Jesus is the ultimate Headliner, and John is the ultimate warm up act.
Where are you in the great cast that is the church? Are you performing the role you were set to play, or are you watching from the audience?
Father God, you are our wonderful creator. Please let us see in our lives how you wish for us to work. Use us in ways that we can not yet understand to further your kingdom here on earth. Let us be guides in the world and spread the word you give us. Amen!
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