Text John 1:29-42; Isaiah 49:1-7; Psalm 40:1-11; 1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Theme Come and See
Subject Jesus is Lamb of God & the calling of the first disciples
Occasion 2nd after Epiphany – 1/20/08 – Zion – Iowa City
Grace to you and peace from our living Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ.
The season of Epiphany is
like opening a Christmas gift
In
fuller light we learn more about the gift we have received
- - - - - - -
Last week we heard the report
of Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist
The
report came from the Gospel of Matthew
Pastor Jan brought to our
attention The Voice of God
"This is my
Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." Matt. 3:17
- - - -
- - -
According
to the Gospel of St. John, before us this morning,
There is no voice of God
No report of Jesus being baptized
Instead John the Baptist is presented
as the witness giving testimony
Only
that – nothing more
John is not the
Messiah – he is the forerunner
John is not a relative
of the Messiah – is the forerunner
Pointing to Jesus – directing
others to Jesus
John saw “the Spirit descending from heaven like a
dove … on (Jesus) (32b)
John testified:
“this is the Son of God” (34b)
John
announced to the crowds with authority
"Here is the
Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (29b)
John
explains clearly that Jesus has the power,
Jesus has the Holy Spirit: the Holy Wind
Jesus
is the voice of God
- - - -
- - -
Have you
ever tried to explain how you listen to what God says?
How you are obedient to the will and
word of God?
It’s not
easy – not now and it wasn’t back then
Seeing is believing
It’s
why God-sightings are so wonderful
A picture paints a thousand words
By the
time the Gospel of John was written (early 2nd century)
Preaching and teaching wasn’t enough
People
needed pictures: signs and wonders
Seemed like everybody around the
Mediterranean was from Missouri: Show Me
The
Gospel of John is a love story for people who need signs and wonders
People like you and me
Page
after page; chapter after chapter
Jesus goes to wedding – rescues the celebration by
changing water into wine (Ch 2)
Turn the page
Jesus meets Nicodemus at night and
invites him to be born again (Ch 3)
Turn the page
Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at the
well and offers her living water (Ch 4)
Turn the page
Jesus heels a man crippled for 38
years (Ch 5)
Turn the page
Jesus feeds 5000 people with 2 fish
and 5 loaves (Ch 6)
Turn the page again and again
Signs of God’s love in the midst of
life
- - - -
- - -
Here
before us this morning is announcement of the very first sign from Jesus
Jesus was walking in eye-shot of John the Baptist
True
to his calling, John announces,
"Behold! The Lamb of God!" (36b)
Then two, Andrew and maybe James or John, follow Jesus
Jesus says quite naturally what we
would say,
"What are you
looking for?" (38b)
Or in other
words, “what do you want?”
"Rabbi, … where are you
staying?" (38c)
Or in other words, “are
you for real?”
"Come and see" (39a)
Friends
in Christ,
The question Jesus asked is what he asks
of us
"What are you looking for?" (38b): “what
do you want?”
Do we know what we want from God?
This
isn’t about “a million dollars” or “a lake home”
From God our creator?
Life and more life is what we’re
after
No
suffering
No
torment
Life eternal
Oh, and we’d like some assurances:
Some
God-sightings – signs and wonders
That’s
what the Gospel of John is all about:
A record of signs and wonders
It’s no
surprise then that the purpose of John is
But these (signs) are
written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of
God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:31)
Water to wine
Renewal
Healings
Feedings
Rescues
Resurrections
Even
a king who washes feet
We want to know what everyone has wanted to know about Jesus ever since these
reports
"Rabbi, … where
are you staying?" (38c):
“Are you for real Jesus?”
“Come and see.” (39a)
Come
and see is the
invitation everyone waits for
Fall in love and wait for these words:
“I’d like you to come home with me and meet my family”
Or come to a new town full of
strangers and wait for these words,
“Could you come over for coffee?”
I’m
known as Papa to 4 little people on
the planet
When I go to their houses,
I’m
greeted in some way with Come and See
Maybe something new:
a picture, a trick, a song, a
room
Come
and See
It works great
I feel
welcomed; each little one feels special
When they come to my house the Come
and See persists
Their eyes scanning:
“Is-the-toy-basket-out?”
“Anything-new?”
Come and See
Their
brains wondering:
“What will we do?”
“Where will we sleep?”
“What will we eat?”
Come and See
These
first words from Jesus in the Gospel of John are so filled with hospitality
"What
are you looking for?" (38b)
“Come and see" (39a)
- - - -
- - -
2 weeks ago I heard Dr. Rolf
Jacobson and David Lose teach about preaching law/gospel
This
is one of the distinctive paradoxes that Martin Luther discovered
Like the tension between saint/sinner
Rolf
is a cancer survivor
He is also a double-amputee – he teaches from a wheel
chair
Rolf wanted us to understand that the same words can be
both law and gospel
Judgment and good news
The
phrase he brought to our attention was “you’re
screwed up”
Certainly seems like law (judgment)
Then Rolf told us about the time when tests showed that his
cancer was back
Rolf called
his wife to let her know
Without telling Rolf, she called his best friend
His best friend called Rolf and said,
“I’m comin’ over”
“Why?” asked Rolf
“Because you’re
screwed up”
A word of judgment had become a gospel (good news)
His friend
was coming to see him
Ah, come and see
- - - - - - -
Let us
all remember how significant it is when someone asks us,
“What are looking
for?” (What do you want?)
How
significant it is when some invites us to
Come and see
Here,
already in the first chapter of John,
on the second Sunday after Epiphany,
we
have learned again:
Life
is hard; we need each other
In the
midst of life
Come and see: welcome and
receive the invitation
Come
and see: offer the invitation