Sermon 1/16/05
Come and See - John 1:29-42
(view lectionary notes for this text)
Last week I mentioned to you that Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called the synoptic gospels because of their similar style and the way they look “with one eye” at the life of Jesus, using overlapping sources. But John, John is so totally different in style and content than the other gospels that it has a category all it’s own. The gospel of John is more poetical and philosophical than the others, and often times this style difference translates in practical terms to mean that the gospel of John is more confusing and harder to understand. We only have to look at the first part of our passage today to get the idea. John the Baptist (not to be confused with John the gospel author) happens to see Jesus walking by, and he says, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’” It sounds like a riddle, not a verse of scripture. John continues to speak about Jesus – he talks about the dove that descended on Jesus – we presume John is referring to Christ’s baptism. He talks about Jesus as the one who will baptize with Holy Spirit. And he blatantly names Jesus as the Son of God. All this, right in the first chapter of John’s gospel. Certainly a different approach than the synoptics, like Mark, who shows the disciples constantly confused and trying to figure out who Jesus is.
But John’s gospel is all about letting us know who he is. Matthew and Mark and Luke give us more information about where Jesus was born, where he grew up, what his ancestry was. But John wants to identify Jesus by some more spiritual, less tangible means. So, while John the Baptist at first, according to the other gospels, had a hard time figuring out what Jesus would be like as the Messiah, he now is ready to identify Jesus and declare it out loud for others to hear. “This is the Son of God,” he says. The next day, he repeats his claim to some of his disciples: “Here is the Lamb of God.” That’s all it takes, apparently, for some dramatic results. We read: “The two disciples heard [John] say this, and they followed Jesus.” That simple, that quickly. They ask where Jesus is staying, calling him Rabbi or Teacher, and he responds, “come and see.” One of these two men is Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. Andrew brought Simon to see Jesus as well. And our passage closes with Jesus declaring that Simon will now be called by the name Peter.
What is most remarkable to me about this passage is the response of the disciples. Jesus says, “Come and see.” He may be speaking specifically about coming to see his current residence, but I’m convinced he’s also speaking more deeply – he means for these people to come and see a lot of things with him, for them to pack up and follow him. And they do. They don’t seem to hesitate or to have second thoughts. They just follow Jesus. Today, knowing who Jesus is, we still have a difficult time following where Christ leads. What made these disciples go with Jesus? What did they see in him, and what did he see in them? Surely, something powerful must have been at work in them, they moved have seen something in Jesus that really moved them, for them to make such dramatic decisions. What’s behind these actions?
At our conference youth retreat in February, the youth have chosen the theme Wanted: Identity. The youth were particularly interested in figuring out how to become who they are becoming. How do they grow up? How do they plan their future? How do they figure out what God wants them to be doing? Identity formation is critical for young people. Developing personalities in adolescence is a rewarding and trying task, an emotional roller coaster, for better or worse. In many ways, these questions about call and vocation are typical questions to struggle with in high-school, when you’re transitioning from a child to a young adult. We think of it as the formational time when you become your own person, instead of who your parents and friends and acquaintances have told you to be. But I think that the theme and questions of this youth event are actually questions that we all have. We don’t ever stop trying to figure out who we are. We never stop having identity crises. Our life is an ongoing journey of becoming who God is calling us to be.
To be able to make this decision to follow Jesus, I think the disciples needed to know two things: the identity of who they were following and their own self-identity. I’m sure Jesus was instilled with a deep sense of his identity as God’s child, set for a special task, a mission like no other. But we believe in a Christ who we call both fully divine and fully human. And I wonder about Jesus – if he struggled with his identity, if he wondered if he was on the right track. But whatever doubts Jesus had, I think part of what made him who he was was his ability to let God shape his identity, to let God call him into being what God envisioned. The disciples recognized the divine in Jesus, like John the Baptist is. Why else would they follow? Who would you follow with a less impressive resume than being the Messiah? They recognized Jesus’ identity. But if that were all it took, we would all be diligent in our discipleship, wouldn’t we? And I must confess, and perhaps you will join my confession – I must confess that my discipleship – my willingness to follow Jesus, is not nearly as impressive as the commitment shown by the disciples.
What’s the missing piece? We really don’t know a lot about the disciples. We have bits and pieces of their stories, and even then, we really only know about a few of the disciples – Peter, Thomas, Judas. Some of their names we can’t even remember without looking them up. But I suspect that as sure as they were about who Jesus was, they were also sure about their own identity. And I don’t mean that they had it all worked out who they were and what they were about. Just the opposite, actually. I suspect that the disciples had the best grip on their self-identity because they were the most willing to let their identity be determined by God. During children’s time, we talked about being named and who it is that gets to name us. Most of us are pretty attached to our names, or have a list of names and nicknames that we love or hate. I have my own short list of nicknames that I’ll let you know I dislike should you ever chance to call me by them! Our passage today closes with Jesus saying to Simon: “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” which means Peter. Jesus renames Peter, tells him how he will be called. I can’t imagine many of us letting someone else determine that for us. We’re pretty independent people. We want to make our own decisions, determine our own course. After all, God created us with the free will that we so cherish. Yet, even as we choose our own course, God is hoping, longing for us to choose God as our course. To let God be the one who names us and shapes us and identifies us as beloved children.
Today we celebrate Human Relations Sunday, a Sunday purposely scheduled by our denomination in conjunction with the celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Human Relations day, according to our United Methodist Discipline, calls the Church to recognize the right of all God’s children in realizing their potential as human beings in relationship with each other. The purpose of the day is to further the development of better human relations. The timing of this special Sunday with Martin Luther King day is purposeful. Dr. King was certainly one who taught us about human relationships. And he strikes me as someone who was utterly comfortable with being identified by God and not by others. See, it is not only our self-identity that we like to figure out. We like to identify everybody else too! Our solution to our identity crises is to label everyone and everything. He’s black, she’s white. That one is a liberal. He’s a conservative. She’s a Republican. He’s an independent. That one is gay. He’s straight. She’s old. He’s too young.
Martin Luther King’s vision was to change our identities from the labels that divided us to ones that united us. We’re human beings. We’re children of God. We’re beloved. Those are labels I can live with, identities I’m willing to be given by another. But along with those labels comes others God wants to give us: we’re sinners. We’re disciples. We’re servants.
Come, and see what God will make of you, if you give yourself to God’s purposes. Come, and find out who you are – who the real you is – who is inside all of the labels others have placed on you and you have placed on yourself. Behold, the lamb of God has come to take away our sin. We have found the Messiah. Let the Messiah find you. Amen.
Benediction: (from Rev. Eva Thai/United Methodist Communications) With the grace of God, may we go forth to welcome the stranger. With the compassion of Christ, may we serve those in need. And with the serenity of the Spirit, may we share the message of peace among God’s people. Amen.