First off, let me just say that retirement is great. Playing pickleball in the middle of the morning three days a week!? I get up, well I mean I wake up, in the morning and lay in bed most mornings doing my daily scripture readings. I have breakfast when I want. Are you getting a sense here that having late mornings are a big perk of being retired? But I also get to explore alternate career options like running the motorcycle tour business. It is about freedom mostly.
However, getting there took some alteration in my expectations. Elise and I running our veterinary practice for many years meant that we were in charge. We made all the decisions. Some turned out great. Some…not so much. But we owned every one of them. When the time came to turn over the reins of the practice to our associate, who bought the practice from us, it required a bit of a change in mentality. Once the sale was over, we stayed on for a period of time working FOR him and not being a boss of him. And the most important thing was that the staff needed to KNOW that Dr. Contreras was in charge. It was no longer us pulling the strings. If we wanted him to succeed, and we did, we needed to take more of a back seat in the practice and allow Dr. Contreras to shine. Even if we thought he was making a poor decision. And in the end it turned out great. We were able to back out of the practice confidently knowing that the new owner had the support of the staff and was a very capable practice owner. We knew that for him to succeed, we must decrease.
Being a grandparent can be very similar. You are no longer a parent. Your child is now calling the shots for their children. You may notice things that you would do differently in raising their child but it is crucial that a grandparent not give advice unless it is asked for. A child needs to know who the parent is and that parent needs to learn on their own what works and what doesn’t work in raising a child. You must decrease.
Andre Iguodala was a star basketball player with the Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets. But when he was traded to the Golden State Warriors later in his career, the coach asked Iguodala to come off the bench to allow a younger player to assume the starting role. Iguodala readily agreed and helped carry the Warriors to the NBA Championship the following year. His selflessness allowed the team to flourish and a younger player to develop. He had to decrease.
John the Baptist was that practice owner, that parent and that NBA superstar for several years moving around the countryside preaching and baptizing. He had a growing popularity and burgeoning group of followers. If you recall the story of the Pharisees asking Jesus who gave Him the authority to act and speak as He did. Jesus countered by asking them if John the Baptist’s baptism was by God or by Men. The Pharisees knew that if they said by men the people would revolt because the crowds saw John as a great prophet and therefore more than just a man.
So it was in this backdrop that Jesus comes on the scene. Jesus is baptizing across the Jordan river from John and He is gaining His own following. And John’s disciples see Jesus as a bit of competition. John could very easily have set himself up in direct opposition to Jesus. He could have worked hard to maintain his popularity and control. And pitted his followers against Jesus’ followers. I think the first sign of where John the Evangelist is going with this account is in a line right near the beginning of today’s passage. It simply reads, “There was an abundance of water there”. In other words, there was plenty to go around. And I don’t think this was only referring to water. There was also plenty of sinners who needed the healing waters of baptism to go around.
So what was John’s response when faced with the prospect of losing his influence due to Jesus’ rising stardom? Perhaps one of the most famous lines from the New Testament: “He must increase: I must decrease” Like Andre Iguodala, John knew his new role. He was no longer the bridegroom. He was the best man. His job now was to point to Jesus as the Messiah, as the Son of God and as the Lamb of God. He knew that he was not the Messiah. His job was to prepare the world for the coming of the Son. He was not the Son.
What does this mean for us? We are not John the Baptist but our role in Salvation History is very similar. We must point out the way to others. Reveal Christ to the world that we travel in. And in doing so we are not to draw attention to ourselves. I recall when I was young that there was a slew of televangelists on the airways. Jim Baker, Jimmy Swaggart and Jerry Falwell were a few of the more famous ones. Each became very recognizable and very wealthy in preaching the Gospel to the masses. Soon, in each case, the message became more about them than it was about the Gospel. In this way, they left little room for Christ. They were increasing and Christ was taking on a more minor role.
So what does it mean when we say that we must decrease so that God can increase? Here is what AI says about it:
“Leaving room for God” is a spiritual concept meaning to create space in your life—through prayer, quiet time, and surrendering control—to allow for divine guidance, unexpected blessings, and spiritual growth, rather than filling your schedule and mind with distractions or rigid plans. It’s about making your life receptive to God’s presence and surprising power, trusting His way over your own expectations.
In the song “If I Were a Rich Man” from the movie Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye, the paternal figure of the film, sings about how his life would be different if he were a wealthy man. He dreams of all the things you would expect that a poor person would wish for if they acquired wealth. A bigger house with three staircases (one going up, one going down, and one going nowhere just for show), servants for his wife to order around and respect from the townspeople. But at one point in the number, the raucous level of the song quiets down and Tevye imagines having the time to sit in the synagogue to pray and discussing the holy books all day long. And THAT, he says, would be the sweetest thing of all.
