Jesus' Growing Community

John 1:35-42

Epiphany 2

For the next several weeks I want to direct our attention to the question of “why Jesus matters.”  The four gospels that begin the New Testament are the earliest response to this question.  And I want you to take this question into your own heart and life and to wrestle with it and pray over it.  We want to translate this ancient faith into a song that we too can sing.  So I want you to feel this question pressing on you, making you uncomfortable.  Perhaps you have some initial answers, but something tells you that there’s more to be said.  Perhaps you have no idea how to go about answering this question about why Jesus matters.  Some of you may be saying, “I half-assume Jesus doesn’t matter!  I’m here to see if I should reconsider!”

So let me begin with what our text from John’s gospel suggests: Jesus matters - because he is attractive.  Because he attracts a community of followers. Very early the gospels show Jesus gathering others into a community.  This story names Andrew and Simon Peter as two of Jesus’ earliest disciples.  But his community of followers grows as we move through the gospel.  He gathers the curious, the poor, the lonely, those with incurable diseases, those who are social outcasts, those demon possessed.  He gathers people who know themselves to be in great need.  These are very different people, but what unites them is that they want what he offers more than they want anything else.  Jesus matters for us because he is attractive.  He attracts us to himself, and into community with one another.

But receiving answers from a teacher like me won’t sustain you for very long.  In fact “answers” aren’t what we’re after at all.  Deeper than the desire for answers is the desire to be transformed by the lively presence of the risen Jesus, who is love.  I can point you in the right direction and get you started.  But I can’t manufacture an experience with Jesus Christ.  Yet this is our prayer for every time we gather -- that Jesus Christ will be present to us in Scripture, in the meal, and in our faces.  My role is to lead a community in which you encounter him as the risen and living power of love.  Answers that come from outside your heart and life won’t work.  Just like “telling” me how to dance, how to write poetry, or how to swing a golf club won’t work.  All complex learning takes time and practice. 

On our freezing walk to school Friday morning Oliver, our seven year old, said, “Dad, the world is complicated.”  What?  I asked.  “The world is so . . . complicated.”  Had the girl of his dreams fallen for his best friend?  Was he in an existential crisis regarding his own mortality?  “Can you give me an example?” I asked.  “Well, math,” he said.  “Math is complicated.”  Turns out he’s just gotten the hang of addition and subtraction, and here comes multiplication.  It feels overwhelming!  They don’t even give you time to celebrate.  Just rush you on to the next thing!  So I just told him, yes, there’s a lot there to learn.  But you can’t learn it all at once.  You just need to learn a little bit more each day.  This is a good approach for all of us.  Organizing our lives around Jesus Christ is an immense undertaking.  It’s enough to paralyze us, to stop us from ever setting out in the first place.  But when we do it in a community of friends, taking it one day at a time, we’ll find ourselves free to move forward.

John the Baptist had already gathered disciples of his own before Jesus’ public ministry began.  And he’s with two of them - Andrew and another unnamed - when Jesus walks by.  John directs their attention to Jesus, “Look, here is the Lamb of God.”  Look, you’ve been with me.  And I’ve been telling you all along that I’m just here to point to him.  And so off they went after Jesus.  Jesus walks ahead of them and they stay behind at a safe distance, tracking him.  Jesus walks for awhile, probably wondering whether they’re ever going to introduce themselves.  After a bit, Jesus just turns around and faces them.

“What are you looking for?” he asks.  Why are you here?  What do you want?  Really, what about you.  What are you looking for?  Jesus encounters people who want healing.  Others want him to teach them how to read the Jewish Bible.  Others want a new start and a new life.  Others want to be accepted, loved, and forgiven.  What are you looking for?  We come to the gospels with our questions, “Why does Jesus matter?”  And today, we are reminded that we are not in control.  He has a question for us.  What are you looking for?  

One delightful result of following Jesus is that, every once in awhile, you get these little episodes when you truly lose yourself.  You forget about yourself for a minute.  It might be in worship, or in caring for and serving someone else, or in just doing good work.  These are glimpses of what we can become.  You forget yourself, and that means that you’re not thinking about yourself at all, neither your victories nor your failures.  And yet the further you travel this way with Jesus Christ, the more you learn about yourself, your desires and dreams and plans.  Some of it is dark, and we repent.  And much of it is beautiful, and we celebrate and thank God for it.

Jesus asks would-be followers what they’re looking for.  Andrew and his friend don’t really answer the question.  They ask, “Teacher, where are you staying?”  That’s an odd request.  They’re kind of forward aren’t they.  Wouldn’t it have been more polite to just ask whatever questions they had there on the road, and then let him go his way?  Where did they get the audacity to request the rest of the day with him?  But Jesus likes what he sees in these two.  “Come and see” is his response.  The gospel records that it was 4 o’clock in the afternoon.  I’m not sure why we get that detail.  Maybe the point is just that they met Jesus late afternoon, and he invited them to spend the rest of the day with him.  I suppose most of us are like these two.  We’re looking for something that can’t be discussed in five minutes.  We need time.  Often it takes time to even figure out what we’re looking for!

Jesus is just now beginning to attract a community of followers.  Andrew and the unnamed disciple get to spend the day with Jesus.  We’re not told what they talked about.  But we’re told that Andrew went and found his brother, Simon Peter. “We have found the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One.”  And he brings Simon Peter to meet Jesus. This was the first invitation in a long tradition of Jesus’ followers that exists to this day.  We invite others to come and see what we’ve found.  Even here, in this sophisticated and cynical city, Jesus is still attractive.

As part of the Christian faith, it is part of our tradition that we invite others to join us.  What happens between Andrew and Simon Peter stands at the very root of this tradition of inviting.   How will this practice of inviting look for us?  How can we engage those around us in an inviting way?

1.  We value our friendships.  And that means we don’t use people. 

Be a “people person” to whatever extent that’s possible for your personality.  You might be gregarious or shy.  You might thrive on social interaction or you might  crave time alone to accomplish a task.  Either way, God has designed us for mutuality with others.  Life at its best is an interlacing of friendships where goods flow back and forth.

Friendship requires that we respect others for who they are. I encourage you to continue investing in your friendships, even when its hard.  This work of friendship takes time.  Here in the city, it takes money.  Sometimes we grow apart and go different directions.  Sometimes we enter a new stage of life, like having a child.  But keep investing in your friendships.  Don’t use others - we don’t give our time and attention to others in the hopes of getting something out of them.  That’s not friendship, that’s networking.

2.  We relate to others as fellow travelers, not as religious experts.  

Be as real as you can.  And when it’s possible, let others into your life.  Let others see some of your struggles and witness your desire to move forward.  If there is something you’re working on, share that.  Our culture trains us to manage our image, to control how we look to others, and to project success.  That is tempting, but also draining.  Belonging to a community of forgiveness and grace frees us from this image management.

Don’t put yourself in the position of the expert with the answers.  Instead, position yourself as a person who is learning and moving forward.  Invite others to come join you in this process.  Invite others to join you in your search for a meaningful life.  Ask them to come along with you as you struggle with how to become a more loving person.  Then you’re inviting them to be your partner and friend and equal, not your subordinate or protege.  

3. We are enthusiastic but low key.  

Try to talk about your involvement at church and your faith in a natural way.  That is, don’t make a big deal about it in a way that makes others feel awkward.  No one wants your arguments or defensive self-justification.  No one wants to hear your judgment on them: look, your life’s a mess, you need this!  But if you’re learning things in this community, say so.  Friends talk about the restaurants they’ve been to, the movies they’ve seen, and what they did this weekend.  That can be the way we talk about our faith.  It’s pretty natural just to say something like, “Getting involved at church has been helpful to me, you should come.”

4.  We listen to what’s going on in other people’s lives.  

Exercise some skill and judgment in your relationships.  Learn to pay attention to others.  This is difficult, as so many of us are preoccupied with ourselves.  Listening helps us decide what kind of invitation might make the most sense.  We learn to use their language.  What do they want?  What are they afraid of?  Is it a person who might like to join one of our services?  Fine.  Is it someone who might want to serve meals with us?  Join us for more casual conversations about faith midweek?  Or would smaller relational settings - just getting a drink together - be better?  This is the work of the Spirit in your life.  Your enthusiasm and openness for what we’re doing here are already making a difference.

I have a friend who isn’t religious.  And of course we talk about all kinds of stuff.  We talk about what makes life challenging, and meaningful, and beautiful.  So I talk about this community.  But I’ve never invited him.  I might, but not yet.  The other day, he asked me, “Would someone who doesn’t believe in God be welcome at Incarnation?”  I said no, the guy at the velvet rope would never let you in.  And besides, there are extensive questionnaires!!  Just kidding.  I said “Of course.”  I can’t tell you how thankful I am to be part of this community -- because I felt completely safe telling him to join us.  

For over a year now we’ve been working to build a community organized around Jesus Christ that we can invite others into.  It is absolutely critical that there be trust.  If I think you might corner someone about the finer points of religious doctrine, I wouldn’t invite them.  If I think you might avoid someone because of their age or color or job or income level, I wouldn’t invite them.  If I think you won’t respect others -- “What? You’re Hindu? That’s bassackward, let me set you straight” -- I won’t invite them.  

On the other hand, if there is no sense of direction or purpose, no sense of mystery or commitment -- I won’t bother inviting my friends.  But if there is a warmth and generosity combined with the energy of discovery, then we’re onto something.  If there is a shared confidence that Jesus matters, then this really is good news that we can be enthusiastic about.    Faith in JC is serious, but we are wearing it lightly and with laughter.  Even though our hearts and lives continue to be messy, we’re not embarrassed and trying to hide it.  We’ve been forgiven and loved, and invited to follow Jesus into a future that’s new.  If you and I have found newness, energy and life in this community, others will too.