January 19, 2020
John 1:29-42
Initially, today’s text may seem like a repeat of last week. We find ourselves with John the Baptist and Jesus at the Jordan again. While on one hand, we recognize this as familiar and similar to last week; on the other hand, this is distinctly different. Have you ever watched a movie/ tv show or read a book that takes a familiar story and tells it from a slightly (or even drastically) different perspective. As a kid, I quite enjoyed the book “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs” – which is a spin off of the Three Little Pigs in which the Big Bad Wolf tells his side of the story. There’s a whole series of books that take classic Disney movies from a different perspective. The TV Show “Once Upon a Time” took familiar fairy tails and put a different spin/ perspective on them. Or have you ever noticed the differences when we read or hear the same news story from different sources. In each of these, it is the same story (and it feels like the same story) but the details are different (and sometimes contradictory), the perspectives are different.
The Gospel of John often feels like this. We know we’re reading the same story (a story about the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus), but it comes from a very different perspective. Some of the details are different. The timelines are different. The theology is different. And that’s okay. We’re entering, at least for a brief moment, this week, a different view on the same story. We get different language and different emphases for talking about the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus.
Today, instead of getting a narrative of Jesus’ baptism, we get John’s witness of the baptism. For the Gospel of John, this moment of seeing the Spirit of God descend as a dove and land on Jesus is not just a moment that points to Jesus as the Son of God. It is the moment that brings Jesus’ identity to light. It is the sign that tells John that his ministry was coming to its fulfillment; this is the one he’s been pointing to this whole time. This moment at Jesus’ baptism tells John that this is the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the world.
And the two disciples respond: “Rabbi, where are you staying?”
I don’t know about you, but if Jesus, the Son of God, the Lamb of God sent to take away the sin of the world asked me this, asked me what I am looking for, I would likely have a different answer than the disciple. It comes across as if the disciples are asking Jesus what hotel he’s staying at. If I were face to face with Jesus (in the flesh), I would think I would have a different question. Or a million questions.
We all come here, I think, seeking something. We no longer are here because of a societal pressure to be here. At our leadership conference last weekend, Pastor John Wertz explained that at his internship site, back in the quote “good ol’ days,” the Sunday School at the church had a thousand kids on the rolls, and folks lamented the few numbers in Sunday School today. Pastor John made it clear that there’s no way that the church could hold that many kids in its Sunday School. But there were a thousand kids on the rolls. Why? Because there were some high powered New York City CEOs in the church, and people found that they could earn social capital by belonging to the church that their bosses were members of. That kind of pressure doesn’t exist anymore, even on a smaller level. We’re not here for some social, political, or career ladder. No, we come here as ones who have followed the call to follow Jesus in some way shape or form. So what brings you here? What are you seeking as you come to this place? If Jesus asked you, “What are you looking for?” what would you say?
I imagine our answers would be quite varied. “Jesus, teacher, I’m looking for community, for a connection and relationship to people – to be part of something bigger.” “Jesus, rabbi, I’m looking for peace and comfort in what feels like a chaotic and scary world.” “Jesus, teacher, I’m looking for a place to take a breath.” “Jesus, teacher, I’m looking for love, to be seen, to be worthy.” “Jesus, rabbi, I’m looking for wholeness and healing.” “Jesus, teacher, I’m looking for answers to life’s questions.” “Jesus, rabbi, I’m looking for forgiveness, absolution.” “Jesus, teacher, I’m looking to find you, to touch you, to experience you.” What are you looking for as you follow Jesus? What do you need from Jesus? What motivates you to be here, to follow your baptismal calling? What longings are at the very core of your being – perhaps the ones that you’ve never found a voice for?
I wonder if there’s more to the disciples’ answer than I give them credit for. Our translation today says “where are you staying?”. The Greek offers other possibilities: “where are you remaining?” or “where are you abiding?” I think they’re asking a question at the heart of what most of us are looking for when we come here, when we follow Jesus. They’re question is closer to “where can we find you?” or “where can we encounter you?” or “Where can we come into your presence?” than “what hotel are you staying at?” They knew that this one was the Lamb of God, the Son of God, the light that shines in the darkness. They were seeking the light, the life, the wholeness that only this one can bring. They want to be with Jesus, knowing that being with Jesus brings about the rest. Where Jesus abides, where Jesus remains, where Jesus stays, light, life, love, peace, and comfort are there too. They wanted to know where Jesus abides so that they could abide there too.
Jesus’ response to them (and to us) is simple, “Come and See.” This is an invitation to walk with him, to abide with him. This invitation is so important for Jesus in the Gospel of John. As Jesus is preparing his disciples (including these two) for his impending death, resurrection, and ascension, he says this, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. 2 He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. 3 You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing… If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.”
Today, we’re not promised easy answers to life’s questions. We’re not promised an easy journey (abiding in Jesus, afterall, leads to the cross). But today, as beloved Children of God, we have an invitation to come and see where Jesus stays, where Jesus remains, where Jesus abides. We have an invitation to come before God, see, touch, smell, taste, experience God’s grace, God’s love, God’s peace through Jesus’ presence among us – in this place, in this community of faith, in our lives and in our world. We have the gifts of water, of bread and wine, where Jesus promises to be present. We have the gift of the body of Christ, of being in community with one another, in which Christ promises to be active. We have the call to be active in the world, a world that God so loved, that God sent God’s only son, so that all may come into relationship with Jesus, and experience that love and that joy that only God can give. Today, we’re invited to come and see, come and experience Jesus abiding in us and in the world.
Audrey West, a New Testament professor, puts it this way, “If you want to know the word made flesh, come and see Jesus. If you want to know what love is like, come and see Jesus. If you want to experience God's glory, to be filled with bread that never perishes, to quench your thirst with living water, to be born again, to abide in love, to behold the light of the world, to experience the way, the truth, and the life, to enter into life everlasting, . . . if you want to know God, come and see Jesus.” (“Commentary on John 1:29-42”, Working Preacher, Jan 20, 2008).
Today, come and see Jesus – the Word made flesh that pitches a tent among us. Today, come and see Jesus – the Lamb of God who liberates us from the power of sin and death. Today, come and see Jesus – the Son of God who draws us into relationship with God, abiding in us. Today, come and see Jesus – in the faces of one another. Today, come and see Jesus – in bread, in wine, in water, gifts for you and for all people. Today, come and see Jesus.
Amen.
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