The
Gospel of John is an invitation to experience life with Jesus.
Last
week we heard the prologue, the beginning of the Gospel of John, with its
poetic language.
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
John 1:1 NRSV
Towards
the end of the Gospel of John, we read:
Jesus worked many other miracles for
his disciples, and not all of them are written in this book. But these are
written so that you will put your faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of
God. If you have faith in him, you will have true life.
John 20:30-31 Contemporary English Version (CEV)
John 20:30-31 Contemporary English Version (CEV)
This
is not a book of facts to learn,
nor
is it a list of requirements to enter the kingdom of heaven.
John
is telling us about what he has seen and heard.
John
is writing a story, not a text book, but a story that he hopes will transform
people’s lives.
John
is inviting us into the story, to experience Jesus.
These
passages start with questions: firstly, to John the Baptist:
Who
are you?
Are
you Elijah?
Are
you the prophet?
Who
are you?
We
must tell the people who sent us something!
There
was something about John that had the religious authorities concerned. This
Gospel doesn’t spell out what that was, Matthew, Mark and Luke all include a
bit about John, what he says, what he wore, how he was baptising. But John the
gospel writer, is focussed only on Jesus. John the Baptist is mentioned only to
the extant that it fills us in on Jesus.
John
the Baptist knew who he was and his role. He knew he was not the main character
in this story.
His
role was to point to the One who was coming.
Sometimes
we need to remember it isn’t about us.
Church
isn’t about us
Life
isn’t about us.
More questions:
On seeing two of the disciples
of John the Baptists coming to him, Jesus asked “What do you want?”
They answered, “Rabbi, where
do you live?”
These
questions are more interesting than they appear in English.
What are you
seeking?
What do you
hope to find?
What do you need?
What do you long for?
What do you most hope for? [i]
In
a culture that tells us continually what we need:
a new car,
a new car,
Home
renovations
Lose
weight
Private
schooling for our children
New
clothes
Etc,
How
often are we asked: What do you most hope for?
Think
for a moment: What do you most hope for?
[space]
The two disciples answered, “Rabbi,
where do you live?”,
‘they
are really asking where he is dwelling, abiding, remaining, indwelling. They
want to know, that is, where they can come and simply be with him.’[ii]
Notice,
Jesus doesn’t answer their question in a way that would be expected. He doesn’t
tell them who he is staying with, or how to find him at the town market
tomorrow.
Jesus
invites them to ‘come and see’
The
invitation of Jesus, now as then, is come and see. A non-threatening invitation.
An
invitation to sit with the questions of life:
What
are you seeking?
What
do you hope to find?
An
invitation, not to answers,
but
to relationship,
to
experience God in Jesus.
What
has been our experience of Jesus?
For
me, it has been a learning curve:
of recognising love without strings
attached
of knowing that life is about more
than I can see or touch
of accepting that God sees more in me
than I see in myself,
and that
more is giftedness and goodness.
I
have experienced God in the most painful parts of my life.
I
have experienced God walking through the bush or by the water.
Those
experiences have changed me, shaped me and strengthened my faith. They have
also led to me following the call to this ministry.
Some
people find it difficult to know the ways in which their life has been changed
or transformed by the presence of Jesus. I was a shy child, we have photos of
me half-hiding behind my mum or dad. As a teenager, I would be a prompt for dad
if he forgot his lines when reciting poetry, but always just out of sight
around the campfire.
You
may notice I am not so shy any more 😊
What
about you, what has been your experience of Jesus?
[space]
Notice
the way the message about Jesus spreads in this first chapter of the gospel.
John the Baptist points to Jesus, the lamb of God, and as people follow, they
invite others. The invitation isn’t to salvation, but to ‘come and see’.
My
experience is that some people, even if they have some sense of Jesus or God in
their lives, want nothing to do with church.
Some in our community have been abused or betrayed by the church;
some have been let down or shamed;
some have been ridiculed or ignored.
Some in our community have been abused or betrayed by the church;
some have been let down or shamed;
some have been ridiculed or ignored.
A
lady I knew attended worship each Sunday, but would not stay for morning tea,
or go to any social activities in case people found out she was divorced. It
had not occurred to me that being divorced would be a problem, but somewhere
along the line, this lady had picked up that message.
I
wonder what messages people hear from us?
Is
it ‘come and see’
Is
it an invitation to experience love and welcome?
Is
it an invitation to come and be and sit with the big questions of life, without
being given neat packaged answers?
Tomorrow
is the start of a new calendar year. Some of you may make resolutions, some
will watch the fireworks tonight. In Australia it is also summer holidays, so
people tend to be a bit more relaxed.
I
wonder if this is a good time to think about our response to the invitation of
Jesus into true life.
Come
and see!
