John 1: 35 - 514 months ago Rosemary and I were in the canteen at St Paul's Maternity Unit in Cheltenham. In fact we couldn't bear to sit any longer. We had long since finished our coffee, and we were pacing around. Lynette was upstairs in theatre, having a caesarian section. And it seemed to be taking for ever. Then suddenly Mike, who had been with her in theatre, appeared. "Is all well Mike? What has she had? Is everything OK?" were our immediate questions. And he just hugged us, and smiled all over his face, and said "Come and see!"
He could have spent time telling us "It's a girl. And she weighs so much. And she has auburn hair. And Lynette is exhausted but over the moon" and so on. He could have. But he didn't. He just said "Come and see!" We needed to see for ourselves. And we did. And I can't describe our joy.
That day that we just read about in the Gospel - John the Baptist saw Jesus walking by. And he pointed Him out to his own disciples. And said "Look! Here is the Lamb of God!" i.e. "Don't look at me. Look at Him! He's the One you want!" And 2 of his own disciples went after Jesus - following at a safe distance behind Him. Perhaps nervous. Perhaps shy. Uncertain of Jesus' reaction.
And Jesus turned round, and saw them, and stopped. He met them half way. And it was Jesus who opened the conversation - not with a bland greeting, but with an inviting question. What a lovely picture that is of our heavenly Father. He doesn't wait for us to make the first move. He doesn't wait for us to catch up with Him.
He turns to meet us.
He takes the initiative.
He meets us half way.
Jesus came to seek and to save. The prodigal son's father ran to meet him with open arms. That is the sort of heavenly Father we have - one who wants to meet up with us. And so Jesus asked them this inviting question:
"What are you looking for?" Note not "who", but "what". "What are you looking for?" "Are you looking perhaps for a charismatic political leader - someone who will free Israel from Roman domination?" "Or are you looking for a super-spiritual sort of Pharisee, a super-prophet?" "What are you looking for?"
What are we looking for? Peace of mind? Affirmation? Recognition? Love? Friendship? Success? Wealth?
The 2 disciples were looking, not for some philosophical answer, but for a place - a place where they could stay awhile, and spend time with Jesus. "Rabbi," they replied "Where are You staying?" And Jesus said to them "Come and see!" He didn't say "I'm at 32 Bethesda Street. Come for coffee at 10 tomorrow!" No! He said "Come and see!"
And they came. And they saw.
And note the next thing John says. V 39. He said: "It was about 4 o'clock in the afternoon." What an extraordinary comment! So what? Why mention that? Wasn't it because that time, that moment, that day, that invitation was seared on their memory. It was a turning point in their lives, a moment they would never forget. "It was about 4 o'clock in the afternoon"
For me it was about 3 o'clock in the afternoon when I knelt in my headmaster's sitting room, and gave my life to Jesus, as a 12 year old. I remember it now so vividly. Do you have a time, a place - not necessarily when you became a Christian, because that can be a gradual process - but a time when God felt very close? A time of great significance in your life? For them it was about 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
One of those 2 disciples was Andrew. And what was the very first thing he did? He hurried off to find his brother Simon Peter, and to tell him the news. "Simon Peter come! We have found the Messiah! Come!" And he brought Simon to Jesus.
Andrew is always, in the Gospels, a background person. He lived in Simon Peter's shadow. Do you live in someone's shadow? Andrew did - and yet it seems he was quite comfortable to be there. Andrew is in the spotlight only 3 times in the Gospels:
1. here, when he brought his brother to Jesus.
2. The time when he brought the boy with the loaves and fishes to Jesus.
3. The time when he brought some enquiring Greeks to Jesus.
Andrew wasn't an upfront man. He wouldn't have been the one up here speaking tonight. No, Andrew was the one who quietly said to people "Come and see!" He brought people to Jesus. He wasn't the one to make inspiring sermons, or fantastically clever apologetics. No! He just brought people to Jesus. "Come and see!" What a wonderful and precious ministry that is!
The next day Jesus met Philip, and said to him "Follow Me!" And Philip, another Andrew-like person, Philip went straight off and found Nathaniel, and said: "We've found Him, the One Moses wrote about, Jesus from Nazareth!"
And Nathaniel was, like me, a bit of a cynic. "Huh! Nazareth! Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"
That's the answer of so many in today's society, isn't it? Scepticism. Doubt. Mockery. "Huh! Christianity! Don't tell me about Christianity! What good has that done the world? Crusades! Religious wars! Burnings at the stakes! Inquisitions! Sectarianism!"
Philip answered Nathaniel's cynicism, not with a clever argument to justify Nazareth, but with those simple words: "Come and see!" "Forget Nazareth! Come and see for yourself!"
And that, as Nigel Tween reminded us at the Renewal day at Cropthorne on Tuesday, that was the beginning of Philip's ministry. Philip - who was willing (Acts 6) to become a server of food to widows. Philip - who became the Billy Graham of Samaria, heading up a mass conversion of people to Jesus - very high profile. Philip - who was quite willing to be called away from that high profile ministry to go off into the desert and rendez-vous, on a god-forsaken dusty road, with a travelling Ethiopian, and tell him about Jesus. Philip - who was willing to do anything, serve any role, go anywhere, speak to anybody - not to get importance and glory for himself, but to take every opportunity to say to people: "Come and see!"
So what is our Priory church all about? What are we doing here? Are we here to preserve a culture, a tradition?
Are we nurturing an ecclesiastical structure, with meetings and committees and working parties? Are we here to preserve a beautiful historic building? What are we here primarily for?
It's to worship God, yes! It's to grow ourselves into Christian maturity, yes! It's to be the Body of Christ, yes!
But surely isn't it also to say to people "Come and see!" "Come and see for yourself! Come and meet Jesus!"
So whether it's in our Sunday services, or at coffee after church,
or in our welcoming of weekday tourists who come to see our lovely building,
or in our house groups (which must never get cosy and introspective),
or in Alpha, or Christianity Explored, or confirmation classes,
or in our young people's groups or Priory Tots,
or at our 925 celebrations,
or back home with our neighbours,
or at work with our colleagues,
or whatever, and wherever and whoever,
our calling is not to say "Look at us! Aren't we good to have such a big and beautiful and successful church!"
That's not what it's about.
No, surely it's to say - by every means possible, at every opportunity possible, with every person possible - "Come and see!" And it's no just to say it. It's to live it. Our lives should be living invitations, a fragrance, attracting people to "come and see" for themselves.
In our increasingly secular and hostile world that may mean more and more going out from these walls into the real world. Being salt and light. Attracting people to "Come and see!" "Come and see for yourself! We have found the Lord, and we want you to meet Him too!"
David Webster
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