What are you looking for

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01.20.08

SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?

ISAIAH 49:1-7; JOHN 1:29-42

In Search Of

Destination Driven Culture

Why are you sitting here in church this morning?

What prompted you to climb out of your warm bed on a gray, cold and quiet Sunday morning and come to church…again?
This isn’t a particularly significant day
In fact, on the church liturgical calendar, today is the “Second Sunday in Ordinary Time”
There’s no big liturgical holiday scheduled for today, and yet, you are here
Why? What are you looking for?

We are a destination-obsessed culture

When was the last time you slid behind the wheel of your car without any idea of where you were going?
The old tradition of taking a leisurely Sunday drive went by the wayside a long time ago
Our schedules are just too full to waste time like that

Instead of meandering about, we have helicopter traffic watchers that report to us how to adjust our driving routes around congested intersections and clogged arteries

We have so many places to go and appointments to keep that we keep our cell phones close at hand (and even attached directly to our ear!)
We don’t have time to wander around and scratch our heads, saying, “Now, what was I looking for?”

A People Looking for Something

But this culture is desperately looking for something

There is a quest for some sort of awakening, a deep hunger for spiritual renewal, lurking behind all the scheduled chaos that fills our lives
Not all of us recognize that we are even searching for something more to add to our already busy lives
The reality is that, for so many of us, our life is so full that it’s empty
We’re caught in that paradox that our lives are so busy that we feel empty inside
The clutter that we surround ourselves with and that fills up most of our day is unfulfilling
We often wonder, “Is this all there is to life?” because life seems to lack meaning and purpose and direction

That’s why self-help books continue to deluge the market and make the best-seller list, even those of a more spiritual kind

Somehow, we seem to know that something is missing from our life, and if we can figure out what’s missing, we can fix it
The problem is that we often don’t know what’s missing from our lives
That’s why we run from one fad diet to the next, from one fitness program to the next, from one self-help guru to the next—from Oprah to Dr. Phil, to Montel Williams, and all the other gurus that are popular in our culture
We don’t know what we need, let alone what we want
Is it any wonder, then, that we can’t fix the problems in our lives and fill the empty void within with something that provides meaning, purpose, and direction?

Finding the Missing Piece

Jesus’ Pointed Question

That’s why Jesus’ question to these two who began following him after they heard the testimony of John the Baptist is such a poignant question for us—“What are you looking for?”

Truth is, we’re all looking for something; we just don’t know what it is
This story is John’s version of the calling of the first disciples
It’s a radically different account from the stories recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke
The other Gospels tell of Jesus walking beside the Sea of Galilee and encountering two sets of brothers who were fishermen
To them he called, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men,” and we are told that they immediately left their nets and followed him

There’s a sense of wonder and mystery in this story as Matthew, Mark and Luke tell it

We’re surprised—even shocked—by their immediate response
Jesus calls to them, no questions are asked, and they immediately leave their livelihood and their families to follow
We wonder if this is the first time they ever met Jesus or if they had encountered him before
We wonder if they knew what they were getting themselves into
And let’s face it—it’s hard to see ourselves responding to the call of Jesus with such blind faith because we know what Jesus had to say about considering the cost of discipleship before we embark on that journey of faith—Luke 14:26-33

As we seek to blend the story Matthew, Mark and Luke tell with this one that John tells, perhaps this event is what preceded Jesus’ calling them away form their boats to become fishers of men

They spent the day with Jesus
They got to know him and he got to know them
They counted the cost and they knew it was a price they were willing to pay when Jesus called them to follow

Andrew is the only one of the two disciples of John the Baptist that’s named in this passage, but there can be no doubt that the other disciple was John, the writer of this Gospel

This story as John tells it is the story of an eyewitness account
There are details here he wouldn’t have known without being directly involved
He would not have known that John the Baptist referred to Jesus as “the Lamb of God,” not once, but twice, on two different days
He would not have known the exact time of day these disciples had their first encounter with Jesus had he not been there
John and Andrew both were followers of John the Baptist

It’s clear from this story also that John the Baptist clearly understood his mission

He knew that he wasn’t the person others should be following
His mission was to prepare people to follow Jesus, so he willingly and enthusiastically pointed Jesus out as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”
Upon hearing his testimony, John and Andrew were quick to respond, and quick to follow
And their response tells us that they were looking for something, and that they believed that Jesus could provide them with what they were looking for

The Disciples’ Response

I Imagine that they were quite surprised when Jesus suddenly turned and asked them that question—“What are you looking for?”

Yet, Jesus knew they were looking for something—something to give their lives meaning and purpose and direction
If they weren’t looking for something more—something better—they would never have become followers of John the Baptist

And perhaps we’re surprised by the answer Andrew and John gave to the question Jesus asked

It seems that there must have been a different question—a better question to ask than “Where are you staying?”
They could have asked, “Are you really the promised Messiah?” or “Are you really the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world?”
But they didn’t ask these questions
Instead, they asked Jesus, “Where are you staying?”

Andrew and John’s response to Jesus’ question shows that they wanted more than just information about Jesus

They wanted to get to know Jesus; they wanted a relationship with him
Perhaps they sensed that this is what was missing from their lives—a deep and abiding relationship with God
Perhaps they sensed that if they developed a personal relationship with Jesus, they would find the meaning and purpose and direction they were looking for

Knowing what they were really asking in their question, “Where are you staying?” Jesus invites them to “Come and see.”

They went and spent the rest of the day with him, and that was, no doubt, a life-changing experience for them.
This encounter, this relationship, opened their eyes to see that there’s more to life than this world has to offer
Through eyes now opened to faith, they could see that Jesus was the Savior, the true Son of God who brings salvation to all who believe
They knew this to be true, not because John the Baptist told them so, but because they took the time to get to know Jesus personally, to develop a relationship with him

The first thing Andrew did after spending the day with Jesus was to find his brother Simon and bring him to meet Jesus

As Simon came, Jesus saw him not only for who he was, but for who he could become
At the very beginning of their relationship, Jesus told Peter that he would become a rock of faith
And while we aren’t told, it’s safe to assume that John did the same thing with his brother James
Through this experience with Jesus, Andrew and John were ready to respond when Jesus called them to ministry, and their testimony about Jesus to their brothers brought Peter and James to faith and made them ready to respond when Jesus called them to be disciples

The Ministry of Disciples Today

This passage, along with our passage from Isaiah, has much to say to us about the ministry of the church today

As disciples of Jesus in this day and age, our responsibility is not simply to disseminate information about Jesus
Instead, our responsibility is to help others develop a relationship with Jesus
You see, that’s what missing from most people’s lives today

We live in the information age, and information about anything is readily available in the newspapers, on radio and TV, and especially on the Internet

The problem is that we’ve become overwhelmed with more information than we can handle
We’re so busy trying to process information that we’ve forgotten how to relate to each other
What’s missing from most of our lives is relationship—meaningful relationship with each other and meaningful relationship with God

It’s a meaningful relationship with God that gives meaning and purpose and direction to our life

As we develop a meaningful personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, we will learn how to relate better to one another
So, one of the primary ministries of the church is to help people develop a relationship with Jesus Christ
We must ask the same question Jesus asked, “What are you looking for?” so that we might understand their needs, and we must also invite them to “Come and see” just as Jesus did, so that they might develop a relationship with Jesus for themselves

The Servant of the Lord

Our passage from Isaiah is entitled “The Servant of the Lord,” and the mission of that Servant is to be a light to all people

As is the case with most Old Testament prophecies, this passage from Isaiah has a double meaning—it has a meaning for the future and a historical meaning for the people of that day
The futuristic meaning of this passage is that the Servant of the Lord is a person
It’s God’s promise that God would send a person who would be God’s light to all peoples, to bring salvation to all
That promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ
But the second meaning in its historical context is that the Servant of the Lord is also a people—the people of faith
Isaiah’s words, while describing the person who would come to be God’s light to all people, were also a challenge to the people of Israel to live as people of the light, reflecting God’s light in the world

That same challenge is given to the church today

Jesus, who is the Servant of the Lord, said of himself, “I am the light of the world. Those who follow me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
But Jesus also said to his disciples, “You are the light of the world…Let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14, 16)
So it is our responsibility to live as people of the light, to reflect the light and life of Jesus so that others might find a relationship with him

People are looking for something meaningful, and what they’re looking for, whether they recognize it or not, is relationship—meaningful relationship with others and a meaningful relationship with God

That alone is what gives life its meaning, its purpose, its direction
Our task is to relate to people in such a meaningful way that through us they might find a meaningful relationship with Jesus