Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Come and see

A few years ago we bought a house in Lacombe, La. There was this strange little room, I guess you could call a closet, underneath the stairs to a loft. When one opened the door to that little, little closet, one could see where some of the previous owners of the house had measured their children's growth.

There were names, lines where the ruler had been placed on the heads of the children, and dates. I felt almost as if we were being intrusive, though we never knew this family. The growth lines were, I felt, something special for that family.

What are some of the ways you've measured your "spiritual" growth. Are there lines somewhere on a wall, a door, measuring when you took this step or that? Has there really been growth in your spiritual life? Do you realize that if there is no growth, the Bible says you're actually falling backward. In other words, there must be growth. There is no standing still.

There are many empowering questions to be found in the Gospels. I've always leaned toward that incredible moment when Jesus and Pilate are having a conversation (if one can call it a conversation when one is under arrest and knows that he or she will be beaten and then crucified within 24 hours) and Pilate asks that eternal question, "What is truth?"

But long before that, before Jesus' ministry has plowed the fields of Israel and left behind fruit of the Spirit, John the Baptist is standing near the narrow banks of the River Jordan with a couple of his followers, HIS disciples. As they stand there, perhaps looking at the long line of soon-to-be baptized, Jesus walks up. John says, "There is the Lamb of God." The two disciples (unnamed until a few verses later where they are revealed to be Andrew, Peter's brother, and Simon, son of John, or the more famous name Peter) began following Jesus. Jesus sees this, turns and asks the question: "What are you looking for?"

I'm going to a retreat in two or three weeks, prayerfully seeking a deeper understanding, a deeper relationship with the Creator. I'm trying. I'm looking
I'm reading the Gospel of John again each morning of the next few mornings, prayerfully seeking a deeper relationship with the Creator's Son. I'm struggling. I'm looking.
I'm reading a couple of new books, seeking to put a new line of spiritual growth on a door somewhere.

All of that is a prelude, a preparation for an attempt to answer the marvelously simple question: "What are you looking for?"

The second half of the first chapter of John's Gospel (which we'll be spending much time on in the next few weeks), is about the disciples -- or at least Andrew, Simon peter, Philip and Nathanael -- coming to Jesus.

That question Jesus asked, "What are you looking for?" seems to me to echo down the corridors of time. It's not just a question for a young Jewish man or men who had gone out to the wilderness to check out this new speaker/baptizer John. It's not just a question for two followers of this John. No, no, no. This question speaks to our own hearts, I believe.

What are YOU looking for?

Are you seeking a religious experience? There's none here with Jesus, I'm afraid.
Are you seeking to show your kids a better way to live? Jesus shows us a better way to die.
Are you seeking the truth or some watered-down version of it? Jesus doesn't talk about simple slogans or mantras. He says strange things like: "I am telling you the truth: you will see heaven open and God's angels going up and coming down on the Son of Man."

What are you looking for? A place to receive or a place to give? A place to be comforted or a place to leave and go comfort? A place to grieve or a place to give support to others?
What...are...you...looking...for?

I believe we're living in a time of seeking something better. We live in a country today in which the average person does not trust its own leaders. A record 84 percent of Americans say they disapprove of the way the  Congress is doing its job compared with just 13 percent who approve of how things are going, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll published on Monday. Virtually no one trusts our own leadership.

So...
What
are
you
looking
for?
The answer to that question might be the most important one of all to us.
John the Baptist, up to his knees in dark green water, said, "I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven and stay on him (Jesus). I still did not know that he was the one, but God, who sent me to baptize with water, had said to me, 'You will see the Spirit come down and stay on a man; he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' I have seen it, and I tell you that he is the Son of God."
If you're looking for anything more, anything different than this Jesus, you're lost as a man with a GPS and no understanding of the language the GPS is using. There are signs, signs, everywhere signs, but no one understands what they say.
What are you looking for? Healing. Direction. Power. New meaning? A filling of that dang hole in your life?
The sequence continues with the disciples answering his question. They say, "Where do you live, Rabbi?" Problem is, of course, that is not an answer to the question. But maybe it is. Maybe the answer to the question of what we're looking for is to be found, well, whereever Jesus is. So Jesus gives the most wonderful of answers to their posed question. He doesn't say Nazareth. Doesn't point toward the Sea of Galilee. Doesn't mention Jerusalem. No hint about the River Jordan coursing through Palestine like a stint through clogged arteries.
He says, "Come and see."
It's a start to an adventure. Whatever you are really looking for, Jesus says pack up all your cares and woes, here we go. Come and see.
This morning, that's our quest. Come and see. Maybe we'll not only find answers, but maybe we'll even learn to pose the right questions.

No comments: