St. John’s United Church of Christ

January 20, 2008

Rev. John Krueger

Come and See John 1:35-42

We have been lucky. For the first 31 years of our marriage we lived in rented apartments or parsonages. In those situations, there was no big hassle, no big unknown, when it came time to leave one community and begin in another community.

We were not home owners until we moved to Wichita, KS, in 1991, so that was a big adventure for us. We went house shopping on a day in July when it was over 100 degrees, found the house we wanted on that first afternoon, put an offer on it that evening, and had the deal closed the next day.

When it was time to leave Wichita 12 years later, we had a house to sell, for the first time in our lives. We did what we thought was necessary to enhance our home and the yard and put it on the market. We used the same realtor who sold us the home 12 years earlier, and two days later it was sold, for our asking price. That meant for only two days did we need to fuss about the Open House ritual, making sure everything was just right, the whole house ready for inspection for the sake of prospective buyers. Open House. Come and See. Please fall in love with what you see and buy our house!

Today’s Gospel lesson follows the baptism of Jesus. Assured by God’s Spirit that this mission venture has God’s approval, Jesus is ready to hang out his shingle and begin. But it is a lonely world out there, and any good teacher worth his salt needs disciples, followers who are willing to learn from this teacher and perhaps carry on the message when the teacher is gone.

The first two prospects are men who had already become enamored with the teaching of John the Baptist. John points out Jesus as he passes by as “The Lamb of God,” a curious phrase that will become a central theme much later in the book of Revelation. Here, it must have been as confusing as it was intriguing, so they ask Jesus “where are you staying?” Jesus invites them to an Open House of sorts, saying “Come and See,” and so begins an adventure that will change their lives.

Of these two, only one is named, Andrew. He went back home to his brother, Simon Peter, and invited him to meet Jesus as well. The rest is history, as they say, for this invited brother who comes to see for himself will become the leader of this disciple band.

Two themes strike me from this rather simple story. One is the power of invitation, Come and See. This church, like most churches, would profess to be a church community that has an evangelistic passion. We would want to seek out others to come to Christ and become a part of this faith community. This church has been our home, the place where we stay, faith-wise, and we would welcome others to join us.

Come and See who we are, what we value, how we spend our time and resources, and how we live in community with each other. Come and See how we conduct the business of the church in our Annual Meeting following this service. Come and See how we plan to invest, financially, in our future though our annual budget. Come and See how we relate to each other when we agree and when we disagree with each other. Come and See how we treat each other publicly, and surmise how we treat each other and talk about each other in the parking lot.

Every Sunday we are conducting an Open House here. Every week we are on public display. Interested people can listen in on our conversations, observe our interactions with each other and sense the spirit of this place. Then they can make some partially informed opinions about the caliber of our life as a Christian community.

We only have one opportunity to offer a first impression for someone who has Come to See who we are. We don’t schedule a special Sunday for our Open House, making sure that on that particular day we are on our best behavior, carefully programmed on that day to make the best possible impression on a prospective member. Every Sunday is Open House, knowingly or not by us regulars.

That open invitation to Come and See means we are constantly on display, open for inspection: on display on Thursday nights for Café at the Corner; on display at choir rehearsals on Wednesdays; on display when boards and committees meet and groups gather; and on display when the person comes asking for food during the week.

We want this congregation to grow and thrive. We believe we are God-placed in the middle of this mission field. There are people around us who need to know that God loves them, need to be assured that life, their lives, have purpose, and need to be transformed as children of God. Our desire to grow, and their opportunity to be transformed and loved into wholeness, is the entry point into our mission field.

Our invitation to the community around us is to Come and See us. Observe how we practice church and Christian community. See how we invest our resources and money. Test how much we are willing to share and serve and love. Come, and See, and help us be transformed.

The second theme is the invitation Andrew extends to his brother. There is nothing better than personal evangelism, the genuine invitation to Come and See from a friend or perhaps even a relative.

In the Gospel stories there is a bit of a hierarchy within the disciples. You will note that sometimes all twelve are mentioned and a number of times it is just three of them, Peter, James and John. Tradition says that two sets of brothers were fisherman, plying their trade on the Sea of Galilee before they left their nets and followed Jesus. The two sets are Peter and Andrew, and James and John. The four shared a common occupation, a common friendship and perhaps have grown up together. But for whatever reason, it was three who rose to the top, Peter, James, and John, leaving Andrew outside the inner group. The irony for me is that the one who introduced Peter, his brother, to Jesus, is the one who does not share some of the most intimate moments with Jesus. There is no indication of jealousy or animosity so perhaps I make more of this than I should, but I have great admiration for Andrew.

The point for me is gratitude for Andrew’s effort to bring his brother to Jesus, for the sake of the Church that carried on the ministry of Jesus. And the point for us may be to wonder who it is we can invite, who needs the invitation to Come and See something that may very well change their lives.

We are insiders, we who gather here on a weekly basis. We know the ropes, the routines, the expectations, what to wear, how to speak, how to act, in this place. While this is a very human institution, and while we are fallible and error-prone and those who Come and See will be able to detect our deficiencies, the invitation is still sincere, and still needs to be made.

Come and See who we are seeking to become. Come and See a community in process, not finished, by any means, but one that believes God is still speaking to us. Come and See how we are still seeking to listen and respond, meaning we are still capable of being transformed by God’s healing and gracious Spirit.

So invite your brother, or sister, even though they may prove to be an even better disciple of Christ than you are. Be prepared to participate in this congregation’s Open House, for every time we gather we tell people who we are, and what kind of community we are seeking to become. Yes, we want to be in the Transformation Business, God remaking this world in God’s image. That transformation begins with us, today, every day. Come and See. Come and Be a child of God.