2 Epiphany A

"Come and see." Christ's gentle invitation to Andrew is a wonderfully power form of evangelism.

2 Epiphany A

Transcribed from a sermon given on

January 19, 2014

At St. Barnabas Episcopal Church

By Rev. Valerie Ann Hart

John 1:29-42

I’d like you to imagine that you are someone who is a seeker after God, who wants to know God better. You hear of a preacher, a well known preacher, who is out in the wilderness speaking. People are going there like crazy to hear him. You think that maybe this is the person who can lead you closer to God. So you travel for several days to a place in the desert where there are a whole lot of people, hundreds and hundreds of people, who have gathered around. They are staying in tents and they are sleeping on the ground, and there are little groups around fires. It’s kind of like Woodstock. And for those of you who are younger and don’t remember Woodstock, it’s like Burning Man or Coachella. Well, people from all over are just gathered together, and they are all there because of this preacher. So you find your way to get close to the preacher, and you find it inspiring. You spend time there getting to know the preacher better and better. You get a chance to get close to the preacher, to actually become one of the people in the inner circle, to be right there next to him when he is preaching, to hear what he says just to his close group of friends, his close followers.

One day you overhear him say, “That one there, that one there is from God.” And the next day you hear him saying “That is the lamb of God. That is the one sent from God.” Listening to this you get the sense that “Oh, I’m supposed to be with that one. I am supposed to leave the preacher that I have found to be so meaningful and helpful and go after that one.” So you start following him. Following him through the crowds. There are all kinds of people and animals and it is kind of crazy but you keep following him, and then at one point he turns around and says, “What do you want?” Interesting question. What do you want?

This is the situation Andrew finds himself in. So like most of us the answer that Andrew gave was actually a question, “Where are you staying?” Where’s your camp? What hotel are you staying in? After all, how do you answer that question of what do you want? So Jesus invites him to come and see. He follows and spends the day with him, and after spending just a day with Jesus, Andrew immediately goes out and tells his brother. He begins evangelizing and telling other people. And he brings Peter as well. Jesus’ response of “Come and See” is a powerful response. He said come and be with me and see what you find. Come and see what you hear and what you experience. Then it will be up to you to decide whether this is the right decision to be with me. It is a gentle kind of evangelism.

So what would happen now if someone is seeking after God, is searching for a deeper relationship with God and somehow somebody tells them about Jesus, and they want to know more. Well they can’t physically follow Jesus anymore. So where are they to find him? Where does he live? Where is he staying? Where do we invite someone to come and see who Christ is? Well, it is the church, because the church is Christ’s body in the world. The Church, not just this little local church but the Church universal is how Christ is made known in the world today. It is referred to as Christ’s body. We are Christ’ hands and eyes and ears and mouth and feet. We are Christ’s instruments in the world. So for a seeker who is looking to find a closer relationship with God we’d say, “Come and see.” Come to church. See what it looks like. See what you experience. Come and see Christ in the Church. And if the person is receptive and sees well what he or she will experience is Christ’s presence here. They will see Christ in the smiles of greeting in the people. They will see Christ in the service that is done in the community. And if they stick around a little while they will begin to see Christ in how the people of the Church listen to one another and support one another. They will see that when one is sick others go to visit or to bring them food. When one is lonely they are reached out to. When someone is in grief they are supported. They begin to see that when they personally hurt they will be cared for.

And they see Christ in those who are weak and needy and realize that in serving them and caring for them others are being Christ as well. They may experience the presence of the Holy Spirit at a baptism or Christ’s presence in the Eucharist. They will begin to see that there is something going on here. Maybe they can’t put their finger on it, they can’t put it into words, but there is something that they will experience when they come and see. That is how the Church is to be Christ in the world.

Our job is just to invite - come, see, give it a try. If you like it great, if you don’t fine, we’ll send you something in the mail once a year, but otherwise nothing lost. Come and see. We are the light of Christ as was said in the prayer today, and as Isaiah reflected. The church is Christ in the world.

And yes, it is made of human beings and it is not perfect. Most people will at some point, if they spend enough time at a church will get hurt by somebody along the road, but in general we are called to be Christ in the world, Christ’s love. To be an example of what Christ and God intend for all people.

This weekend we are remembering Martin Luther King Junior. There was a man who was the light of Christ. He showed what a Christian can be, and how one person can make a great difference. He wasn’t perfect, none of us are, but he lived his life with integrity trying to do what he understood was a Christian way to be. He fought against oppression and was passionate enough to risk his life and even die for that passion to get rid of oppression of all people. But he also taught that we are not to oppress back. We are not to fight back. He lived and taught non-violence. Someone that I friended on Facebook sent around this weekend a copy of what was written before the Montgomery boycott of the busses. It was something that was sent around and signed by Martin Luther King Jr. and another one of the leaders. It was to all the people, after they had had integration of the buses and it said that it is going to be tough. Some of the white people are going to be happy to have you on the bus but there are some for whom this is going to be difficult. And you may find that people will be abusive. Don’t give up your dignity. Don’t respond back in kind. Don’t push it. Go and take a seat on the bus but don’t purposely chose to sit next to someone just to make them uncomfortable, instead just do what you need to do and when someone abuses you or speaks poorly of you just ignore it, do not respond back. If you need to, go to the bus driver who has been told that they are supposed to support this. But you don’t need to get up and leave.

It was a wonderful description of how to remain dignified and yet not superior. To be present and not abused, but not abusive back. It was a statement of what it means to be a Christian. To live our lives with love for all people, respecting ourselves and everyone else. Martin Luther King Jr. was an example of what it means to be Christ in the world as a light to the nations. And that is what we of course are all called to be. Imperfect though we are - to be instruments of God’s love and to be Christ in the world.