John 1:29-42

Referral and Welcome
by Taylor Burton-Edwards
The story we read this week in John’s gospel is not a story of Jesus calling disciples. We’ll hear that kind of story next week. This week’s story is about people seeking out Jesus because someone has referred them to him, and how Jesus responds when people come to him by that route.

If you think about it, this is likely the primary way that most people we know, and likely you yourself, would say they first came to Jesus. Some may have stories of some sort of direct encounter with Jesus apart from anyone else pointing to him first. Or perhaps some may have stories of another person directly calling them to join in some work relating to Jesus. But primarily, for most of us, we got to Jesus because someone else, someone we trusted, told us about him. [Read more]

“Why are you a Christian, mom? And why are you a Methodist?” my twenty-one-year-old son asked me in the spring when he was home for a visit. I have to admit that at first I was taken aback. How could he not know the answer? I mean, this is a young man who for the first eighteen years of his life spent every Sunday morning in church listening to me preach, and whose entire circle of support came from relationships he made through church, and whose mother and grandfather are both United Methodist ministers! Besides, he might have been on vacation, but for me it was a work day, and I was busy trying to write sermon notes. I didn’t have time for a conversation about faith.

But I made time. I stopped what I was doing, and for the first time, I talked to my son about my faith in a deeply personal way. We talked about faith for a couple of hours that day. I told him that, in part, I was a Christian and a Methodist because of the family I was born into. But at some point in my life, it became more than that, and I made a personal decision to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. I told him I loved Jesus. I told him I believed that in Jesus we see the very nature and person of God. I told him about an experience I had when I was working as a chaplain in which I felt deep in my heart that I had come face to face with the living Lord. I told him that this encounter had changed my life. I told him that for me, there was nothing more important I could do with my life than follow Jesus. My faith in Christ is the center of my being. It is who I am. I then explained in great detail why I found The United Methodist Church to be the best context for me to practice my discipleship.

As we talked over the next two hours, I answered his questions as honestly as I could. I know that he has stopped going to church and for all practical purposes has joined the ranks of the “nones” at this point in his life. I didn’t tell him his eternal life was in danger. I didn’t try to convince him that my way should be his way. I didn’t tell him he should go back to church, or be a Methodist, or even be a Christian. I simply shared my own faith with him as honestly and authentically as I possibly could, because he asked.

Last week, we began our series, “The Great Invitation.” Over these next seven weeks, we will be talking about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. We will be examining why we decided to say yes to following Jesus. We will be practicing telling our own personal story of why we became Christians. And we will be not just sharing that story with someone, but inviting that someone to “come and see” for himself or herself why we decided to follow Jesus.

Was my conversation with my son an act of evangelism? I believe it was.

An evangelist is, quite simply, a disciple who shares the good news of Jesus Christ with someone else. It is inviting others in the most authentic way we can to come and see the Jesus we have seen! To share faith effectively, each of us must be able to say exactly why we made a decision to follow Jesus. We must share our story with others. And we must find ways to connect our personal story with the bigger faith tradition we share that is found in the Bible, in the tradition, and in the other historic documents of the church.

Why are you a Christian? Why do you practice your faith as a United Methodist? How would you answer those questions? What could you say that might invite another to come and see what you have seen in Jesus Christ?

The fact is, every person will have a different answer, a different reason, a different story from the Bible, or from the tradition, or from personal experience, that gives shape to his/her story. And we connect our story to a unique story from the Bible.

What story from the Bible inspires you? Where do you find your faith story mirrored in the biblical witness? What characters from the Bible do you really connect with? Whose story grabs you and makes you want to learn more?

Today’s lesson from John’s Gospel, with its series of testimonies about who Jesus is and how his earliest disciples came to follow him, offers several possibilities to consider as you think about your own story of faith.

First, we hear a testimony from John the Baptist. John has been baptizing people in Bethany across the Jordan. Some folks had come down from Jerusalem to see who he was and what he was doing. When they asked him who he was, he replied that he was not a prophet and not the Messiah, but he was sent to announce the coming of the Messiah. He said that he baptized with water, but the one who was coming was much more powerful than he.

The next day, the crowd gathered again. When Jesus comes among them, John begins to further identify who Jesus is. He says Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He says he is the one who ranks ahead of him. He says he saw a Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and alighting on him. He says the one who sent him to announce the coming of Jesus spoke directly to him and said, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

So John has a lot to say in his testimony. He has deep reasons, personal reasons, for calling Jesus the Messiah.

Perhaps some of you identify with John’s testimony. Maybe you have seen or experienced something that personally confirmed for you that Jesus is the Messiah, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. I had an experience one time in my life in which I felt like John the Baptist. I saw the very face of Christ, and I heard the voice of God confirming that I had been in his presence. It is a story I don’t tell often. I alluded to it above, in my story about my conversation with my son. I didn’t tell him my story that day, although I have shared it with him before. I won’t share it here either, because it is so deeply personal to me that I am not completely comfortable even trying to put it into writing. I have told this story to a few people, and even a couple of times from the pulpit. But it is not my everyday story.

Some people, however, do have a story like John’s, in which they have witnessed clearly who Jesus is and had it confirmed by God, and they have no problem sharing it with others. If you identify with John’s story in your own story of faith, by all means, work on telling that story well, and share it with others as you invite them to come and see who Jesus is. It is possible, however, that you might not find your faith story in John the Baptist’s story. But you might identify with the next story.

The next incident takes place a day later. John the Baptist is standing with a couple of members of his own community, and they see Jesus walking by. John points to Jesus and tells his friends, “Hey, I want you to look at that man. He is the Lamb of God.” Upon hearing this, the two friends turn and follow after Jesus.

Let’s think about that. I imagine that since the gospel writer calls these two friends of John the Baptist “his disciples” that John must have earned their trust. Perhaps you can identify with this story from the point of view of friendship. Maybe it is easier to share our personal beliefs with those with whom we have a relationship of trust. I know that’s how I feel about my very personal story that I mentioned above. I would be more likely to share it with people I know well.

The story continues with Jesus turning around and spotting John’s disciples following after him. Jesus asks them what they are looking for. They don’t answer directly. Rather, they call him “teacher” and ask him where he is staying.

Maybe calling him “Rabbi” is an answer, but I think the more interesting development is that they ask him where he is staying, and he invites them to “come and see.” It is interesting turn of events, because it seems like it is during this extended time in the presence of Jesus that they really become his followers. It isn’t like in the story we will hear next week from Matthew’s Gospel, where Jesus walks by and calls out to some fishermen, “Come and follow me and I will make you fishers of people!” and the fishermen drop their nets, quit their jobs, and go with him without first getting to know who he is. Here we see an investment in relationship first, before the men decide to follow Jesus.

I think sometimes people need a little time. Sometimes people need a LOT of time! I am hoping and praying that is what will happen with my younger son, about whom I wrote at the beginning of these notes. Maybe he just needs some more time. Even though he spent all those years going to church, I’m not sure he has ever had the experience of spending time in the presence of the Lord. We need to be patient with people and give them the time and space they need. There’s no hurry. Jesus invites us to take all the time we need.

Have you spent time in the presence of the Lord? How did that happen? What was it like? What happened as a result? Is this a story that you can connect to because you, too, have had the experience of “remaining with him” for an extended period of time?

The last vignette concerns one of John’s disciples who followed Jesus to the place he was staying and remained with him for a while. This man’s name was Andrew. According to the Gospel writer John, Andrew was so influenced by his time with Jesus that he wanted to share the experience with his brother Simon Peter. So Andrew went looking for him, and when he found Simon Peter he told him, “We have found the Messiah!” and he invited Peter to come and see Jesus for himself.

How does Jesus reach out to us? It isn’t always through a direct communication. Sometimes Jesus reaches out through other people, especially his followers. Sometimes it will be through us, his disciples in the world today, that others are able to learn about Jesus. Maybe it will be you who tells your brother or sister, “I have found the Messiah! Come with me and see for yourself!”

The good news is that Jesus is walking by and he invites us to come and see for ourselves who he is! He reaches out to each of us in just the way we need for him to.

How is he reaching out to you?
How is he inviting followers through you?

Referral and Welcome

by Taylor Burton-Edwards

The story we read this week in John’s gospel is not a story of Jesus calling disciples. We’ll hear that kind of story next week. This week’s story is about people seeking out Jesus because someone has referred them to him, and how Jesus responds when people come to him by that route.

If you think about it, this is likely the primary way that most people we know, and likely you yourself, would say they first came to Jesus. Some may have stories of some sort of direct encounter with Jesus apart from anyone else pointing to him first. Or perhaps some may have stories of another person directly calling them to join in some work relating to Jesus. But primarily, for most of us, we got to Jesus because someone else, someone we trusted, told us about him.

Most of us — and maybe nearly all of those we’ll be inviting during this season — got to Jesus by referral — referral like many of you may have offered during this past week.

When the people in today’s story came to Jesus by referral, Jesus did two things. First, he asked them what they were seeking.

When we invite others to Christ, and they actually express some interest, do we ask this question? Do we ask what they are seeking, or do we presume we know? Or do we presume that whatever they are seeking, we already know the answer?

Jesus didn’t do that with those who came to him by referral.

He asked them what they were seeking. How do we ask folks we refer to Jesus what they are seeking?

Their answer reveals their motives. Jesus cared about their motives. Jesus cared about the particular “why” that led them to come to him in the first place.

“Where are you staying?” they ask.

This question is a bigger one than something like, “We’d like to see your house,” though it has some of that as well. It is more like, “We’re interested in the possibility of joining up with you and living with you. Can we check that out?”

Second, after they said what they were seeking, Jesus said, “Come and see.” He didn’t say “I live over there,” as if he misunderstood their question as being only about where his house was. He didn’t say, “Sign up for the rest of your lives here, on the spot,” as some revivalists might do. Instead he said, “Come and see.” “Come” points to Jesus actually taking them there and spending time with them to get to know them and for them to get to know him. “See” indicates Jesus intended to open their eyes and to make room for them to make their own decision about their next steps. They might come and stay after what Jesus would show them. They might not.

How do we invite those who come to us by referral to “come and see”?