John 1: 29-42
“Seen”
January 15, 2023
He pulled up in a large white van and greeted us with a warm smile, a hearty “dobrodosli” and quickly took one look at 8 very sleep-deprived women and set about piling all of our luggage into the back of the van.
And then we were off.
With a combination of caffeine-fueled excitement and awe at this beautiful country that held our roots, we started peppering Luca, our twenty-something driver and guide for the day, with multiple questions.
We were all so glad to have this friendly bi-lingual and proud Croatian meeting us and transporting us from the capital city of Zagreb to what would be our home away from home for the next week along the beautiful Adriatic in the town of Podstrana.
But first we had some stops to make along the way and Luca had some things he wanted us to see so that we would become acclimated to this land we had all dreamed of one day visiting.
Our very first stop would end up being the most emotional of our whole trip only a few hours after our plane had landed.
We were heading to Draganic and the street where my grandfather had been born and lived until he left to immigrate to the United States as a teenager in the early days of World War I.
Luca quickly found the address my mother was carrying with her and so we parked on the street and went to a building that we thought had been the home of family that remained in the then Yugoslavia, a century earlier.
Soon, Luca spotted some men on a porch drinking beer and went over and offered up my grandfather’s last name Yurcic.
Those men after a bit of discussion, pointed to another house with a freshly mowed lawn and lovely flower boxes and said, “That is what you’re looking for.”
My mom prepared with the little bit of Croatian she knew and Luca, as interpreter, went to the front door together and the most amazing of reunions then took place.
We had stumbled upon the home of my grandfather’s baby sister who only ever knew her brother from the letters they sent to each other from half a world away for seven decades, never seeing each other in person for the rest of my grandfather’s life.
My mother was over the moon to meet her aunt and her cousin at long last.
After spending time around the table in our newly found family’s home, we continued on our way.
What did we want from this trip of a lifetime?
We didn’t even know what we were looking for and yet somehow in a totally unexpected way, we found it.
The first recorded question Jesus asks here in John’s Gospel is “What are you looking for?”
This is right after John, the one who has been paving the way for Jesus and had his own set of followers, ends up losing them because John shined the light on Jesus knowing Jesus was the Messiah and he was not.
Jesus was the one they were looking for and yet it’s clear from how they answer Jesus’ question “What are you looking for?” that they are not prepared to answer Jesus.
Instead, they answer his question with a question.
Maybe they were stunned which wouldn’t be surprising.
Maybe they were stalling for time, hoping to come up with an answer that would impress Jesus.
Jesus responds with the simple answer, “Come and see.”
But that’s not a pat answer.
He’s asking them to follow him all the way home but that is not going to be a direct route by any stretch of the imagination.
We know that Jesus will not call a single place home but rather will continue to be on the move.
We are called as disciples to follow Jesus’ footsteps and watch what he does and then do that.
He wanted his followers to have the experience of encountering all sorts of people and situations and not give them a single correct answer but rather the tools to figure out how they will walk that same path.
Who will they take care of?
Who will they spend their time and resources with?
What will be their response when they encounter someone left out or left behind for being old or blind or sick or a child or poor or a foreigner?
But first they had to come along and take in what Jesus was faced with.
He was not going to tell them what to do before they had a chance to experience the encounters themselves.
The British writer Douglas Adams offered, “See first, think later, then test. But always see first. Otherwise, you will only see what you were expecting.”
To figure out what one’s looking for, we might just have to get out there and experience life, meeting new people and situations.
We must be willing to look.
And then be willing to see.
And as is, only fair, to be seen.
What that means as individuals and as church is moving out of our comfort zones, to nurture a curiosity and explore the places that may need us – not to then have us tell them exactly what to look for but to accompany them on their journey.
When we truly see people for who they are, not for what other people or stereotypes say they are, connections are made.
We as human beings and children of God are created for connecting with others.
We get to choose what we want to see, where we look, what we give value to, what we choose to dismiss.
The two new followers of Jesus are not the only ones seeing in today’s Gospel passage.
We also are given a glimpse into what Jesus sees.
Jesus sees these two and recognizes in them that they are curious and true seekers.
He sees that they trust him and that they are filled with hope for the future.
He sees in Simon something more and renames him Peter.
What are each of you looking for?
Are you looking only for people who are very much like yourself?
Does your look at others betray your fear or your trust?
With your look, is your next thought judgement or blessing?
If we were to offer these three words of Jesus’ to someone who wasn’t familiar with this church wanting them to “Come and see,” what is it that we would invite them to take a look at?
Would it be Sunday morning Worship?
Would it be how we respond to our community’s needs?
Would it be the various ways our buildings are used?
Would it be coffee hour?
Would it be how we care for the wider world?
Would it be the way we support and pray and care for each other?
Would it be how we nurture our children?
Would it be, on this budget review Sunday, where we focus our financial resources?
Jesus extends the offer to “Come and see.”
We can do that, too. Amen.