John 1:29-42
“Then What?”
January 19, 2020
What begins quietly enough on an April day in the French countryside soon becomes the ultimate invitation within the darkened theater to “Come and see.” One young man is beckoned to, because of his brother, and the other is just a friend who happened to be there when the order to report to the general came in. Before you know it, our view is either right ahead of these two British soldiers or immediately behind them and there we will stay for the entire movie that continues to track them through a wide range of vivid and often gut-wrenching war experiences. We’re with them as they enter darkened bunkers and make their way through the endless mazes of trenches. We’re with them as shooting and shelling happens all around them, in water, surrounded by all forms of animal life and some dead ones, too. We’re with them through examples of the best and worst of what humans are capable of doing to each other.
Director, writer and producer Sam Mendes takes the two main characters and all of us on a two hour non-stop journey through a single 24 hour period, one day’s experience of a daring mission to save many lives in the epic World War I film, 1917. We, as audience and witnesses, are invited into the story, to see that the characters are constantly moving through a wide range of light and dark landscapes and we are with them for the whole journey. In the process we are drawn into the story that gripped me so much that I was heard to utter upon leaving the theater something to the effect of, “If we still fought wars that way, with social media ever-present like it is now, we would never be in wars.” Wishful thinking perhaps on my part but never have I so truly experienced a film’s invitation to “Come and see.”
Last week we heard Matthew’s account of Jesus’ baptism where Jesus comes to John to be baptized and the dove descends and then there’s a voice from heaven proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God. John has a different take in this week’s Gospel account. What we get in this telling comes from John the Baptist and he doesn’t say he baptized Jesus but instead he shares what he saw happen. He’s in awe of the power of the Holy Spirit coming down like a dove and can’t help but talk about it. Later we get Andrew telling his brother what he saw – the Messiah – and then he invites him to come and see Jesus for himself.
The word evangelism has become one that for many of us feels like it has been hijacked by those who believe strongly that they have all the answers when it comes to God and Jesus and religion. They don’t seem concerned with making a lot of us uncomfortable. For this reason many folks we know turn away from organized religion altogether because they feel like that singular way of doing it is being thrust upon them with little room for questions or doubts. But we can reclaim the act of evangelism even if we don’t call it that. Evangelism can be described as one teacher put it, “Noticing what God is doing in our lives, sharing that with others, and inviting them to come and see for themselves.” (David Lose, workingpreacher.org, 1/13/14)
When Jesus realizes that the two disciples are following him he poses the question to them, “What are you after?” or as it is translated in many versions, “What are you looking for?” He’s asking what are you seeking? What is it that is missing from your life? What is it we are seeking in our lives now? Where is it that we go looking for it? Andrew and the other disciple don’t respond with a deep and heady speech but instead they answer Jesus’ question with a question. Where are you staying? And with that they were encouraged to come and see for themselves.
What did they see when they stayed with Jesus? John has already prepped them in spite of not really knowing Jesus all that well. The groundwork is laid when he refers to him as the Lamb of God and the Son of God. John serves as a witness – not an eye witness with a just the facts depiction that we’ve come to expect from television and movies – but a witness to what he experienced with Jesus, how he was moved, what he now knows about God at work in the world through this man. And the words of John the Baptist are enough to get these two followers to go after Jesus. It is on John’s sure declaration of Jesus as the Lamb of God that these two manage to get themselves invited to where Jesus is staying. It is this collective experience that is enough to convince them to follow Jesus as disciples. This invitation is the transition point from being curiosity seekers to full-blown followers. The experience of being with him is what Jesus offered these two first and ultimately is what Jesus offers us as the incarnation of God – God with skin on. Jesus comes to be God on earth, both fully human and fully divine. Richard Rohr points out that “if God entered the world as a human being, then it was this world that became the hiding and the revealing place of God.” (Yes, and…, p. 169) It is the point of connection that God makes with us through Jesus that has the potential to change everything. Going home with Jesus changed these two witnesses into disciples. The Epiphany season that lasts from after Christmas up to Lent is intended to show us what Jesus is about – to reveal both the human and divine nature of this one we claim to follow as Christians.
Starting with a visit to where Jesus was living then, we can fast forward to the places where we might witness God in-dwelling in our world now. When Jesus encourages the witnessing of where he dwells to the first two, he is setting up the rest of us to notice where else God dwells. How do we alter our perspective from first noticing all of the wrong in the world to directing it toward those places of light and hope and life? As seekers of Christ, we may find him in unexpected places and people and don’t be surprised if others find Jesus in you. If we look and see, we may find God, as expressed in the life and teachings of Jesus – in the care of the hurting, the lost and the forgotten.
If we are having a bit of difficulty finding God, we might follow Jesus’ lead and act in love first until that point at which we catch a glimpse of God. Be kind and see kindness. Be compassionate and see compassion. Be forgiving and see forgiveness. Sometimes we are the one beckoned to and other times we just happen to be nearby and ultimately find ourselves changed by an experience of God at work in the world. Let us lift up this prayer from another minister that speaks of the God we yearn for, the one we are invited to come and see in the obvious and not so obvious places:
“Look,” said John.
“The Lamb of God
who takes away the sin
of the world!”
We are looking, God.
We are looking everywhere.
Sometimes,
we think we see glimpses
of your glory,
but then it seems to disappear
before our very eyes.
We are looking for you in places of unrest,
and longing to find the Prince of Peace.
We are looking for you in moments of grief,
and yearning for the Comforter.
We are looking for you in natural disasters,
and searching for the God of Creation
to hover over the waters
and pour justice
on all the earth.
We are looking,
but even though you are right in front of us,
beckoning us to “come and see,”
inviting us to stay with you,
we choose to focus
on the places where we cannot see you.
Open our eyes, Lord.
Help us to see your love and mercy
in the protester
as well as the peacemaker,
in the legislator
as well as the law enforcement (officer),
in the sinner
as well as the saint,
and to respond not only to your invitation
to come and see
and to stay with you,
but also to witness to your presence in our midst
to all who will hear it.” Amen.
(Julie Gvillo, www.revgalblogpals.org, 1/18/20)