(Note: This blog entry is based on the text for “What Are You Looking For?”, originally shared on January 11, 2023. It was the 247th video for our YouTube Channel, Streams of Living Water (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB7KnYS1bpHKaL2OseQWCnw), co-produced with my wife, Rev. Sally Welch.)
The Eurythmics were
inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last November. One of their
biggest hits, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)”, contains the lyrics,
“Sweet
dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree
I travel the world and the seven seas
Everybody's looking for something.”
What are you looking for? Jesus is asking that
question in the Bible reading we’re going to look at today. And it contains the
key to revitalizing our churches.
You might recall the poster, one of the first of what we would call
“memes” today, from way back in the olden days:
“The way to do is to be.”—Lao-tzu,
Chinese philosopher.
“The
way to be is to do.”—Dale Carnegie,
“Do
be, do be, do.” — Frank Sinatra.
Last week, we found out who
Jesus is in his being.
Today, we’re going to find who
Jesus is in his doing.
Last week, we heard about the
baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist.
Today, we’re going to cover
some of the same ground, but we’re going to see it from John’s point of view
Oh, and it’s going to show us
how to do evangelism and revitalize our churches in John 1:29-42.
All of this is happening at the
beginning of Jesus public ministry. What Jesus is all about is all laid out.
And yet, in the end, none of
Jesus’ followers get it. None of them. In fact, every one of them, including
his closest disciples, people who have lived and breathed with Jesus for three
years, deny that they even know who he is.
Here’s how it starts, with the
“he” being John the Baptist:
29The
next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world!
Here’s Jesus, both who he is and what he’s
going to do to change everything we know about life, presented in one
descriptive phrase.
Adam and Eve were created for a living
relationship with God. Evil entered the world when they rejected the covenant
God made with them. Their Sin separated humanity from God. How could that
relationship be restored?
God called Abraham to sacrifice his one
beloved son Isaac and, by faith, Abraham was ready to do it. But God stopped
him and provided a lamb for the sacrifice in the place of Isaac.
God called each household among the people
of Israel, in slavery in Egypt, to kill a lamb and paint the blood of the lamb
over their door post. That night, the angel of death visited every household in
Egypt and the first-born son died. Except where the angel of death saw the
blood of the lamb over the door, it passed over that door and the people of God
were set free from slavery.
God called the people of God to make an
animal sacrifice on the annual Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, as a sacrifice for
the sins of all of Israel, the people of God.
John announces right here, at the beginning
of Jesus’ public ministry, that Jesus is the Messiah, the anointed one, and
that he will die in our place as a sacrifice so that all of God’s people might
be set free from the effects of Sin and have the living relationship with God
for they were created restored!
He continues with verse 30,
30This is
he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was
before me.’ 31I
myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that
he might be revealed to Israel.” 32And
John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it
remained on him.
John declares right there his life’s purpose
in his offering of a baptism for repentance. Jesus comes to be baptized so that
He might be revealed to the world.
The purpose of John’s baptism for repentance
becomes realized in the living reality of the one true living God, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit.
John continues in verse 33,
33I
myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to
me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes
with the Holy Spirit.’
34And I
myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.” 35The
next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36and as
he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!”
37The two
disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38When
Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking
for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are
you staying?” 39He said
to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they
remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. 40One of
the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s
brother.
Two of John’s disciples had understood what
John was teaching and sought to follow a greater teacher, Jesus.
Jesus responds to them with a question,
“What are you looking for?”
Everybody’s looking for something. Few can
name it, and fewer find it. And when they find it, they realize that they
haven’t found it, but have been found.
For example, Sally and I subscribed to
Netflix during the pandemic. We still have it. But way more often than not, unless
we’re looking for something specific, we say “Let’s see what’s on Netflix,” and
spend an hour or so looking at trailers without success, give up, and go to
bed. But, if someone we know recommends something to us, we watch it and are
almost always glad we did.
What are you looking for?
John apparently was not looking for a larger
following. He loses two of his disciples and is fine with that.
One of them, Andrew, tells his brother Simon
about what he has found. John concludes this text, beginning with verse 41,
41He
first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah”
(which is translated Anointed). 42He
brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John.
You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).
That is the key to evangelism and to church
development right there, “We have found the Messiah” the deliverer, the one you
have been looking for.
You might remember the pre-social media
shampoo commercial where a woman says, “I told two friends” and the screen
splits. And then three faces of the same woman say, “And I told two friends.”
And the screen splits again and nine faces of the same woman say, “And I told
two friends,” and so on.
That’s how the Church grows.
Our media may change, but the personal
witness of a credible friend or relative still accounts for 80% - 85% of all
the people who come to Christ and who become active members of a local church.
The key to evangelism is not to find the
right proposition or argument, but to invite people to come to know Jesus.
Evangelism is, as has been said, just one
beggar telling another where to find food.
Evangelism is not inviting people to come to
your church but is inviting people to come to know Jesus. And when people know
Jesus, they want to come and worship Him.
Andrew invited his brother Simon to know
Jesus and the result was so transformational that Simon’s name had to change;
his new name was Cephas (translated Peter), which means “the rock.” It was
given to him by Jesus.
What are people that you know looking for?
It’s probably not a friendly church, which
is not on a rapidly decreasing number of people’s radar screens, but which is
how most churches present themselves.
As we have done all too often throughout our
history, we are answering the questions that people aren’t asking.
What are people looking for? In what way do
they express it? What should we be listening for?
Psychiatrist Victor Frankl survived a Nazi
concentration camp during World War II. He
wondered why some people survived while others did not. The thing he noticed
that most survivors had in common was not health or youth or strength, but
purpose. He observed that “Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost
any ‘how’.” His “why” was to write his book, Man’s Search for Meaning.
He said, “When a person can’t find a deep
sense of meaning, they distract themselves with pleasure.”
Does this not describe our age. Civilizations
in the West were once known for their great temples and cathedrals, then their
centers for the fine arts, then their massive commercial centers. Now, the
great cities are known for their sports complexes and entertainment centers.
What are people looking for?
In Blaise Pascal’s 1670 defense of
Christianity, Pensées he writes,
“What else does this craving, and this
helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of
which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain
to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the
help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this
infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in
other words by God himself.”
This is what some have described as
the “God-shaped hole” in every person.
What are people looking for? “Everything
that is not there,” at least not there for long.
Some seek pleasure. Some seek any plausible
answer that satisfies for now. Others in some counterfeit that looks like the
real thing.
“Spiritual but not religious.” Rehab as
repentance. A life-coach for self-affirmation. Material success for a material
world. Financial freedom for security. Artificial notoriety for real fame.
And yet, to whom can we turn when our world
view is tested? When we encounter the question, “What are you looking for?” And
the invitation, “Come and see.”
Our present age gives us many opportunities
to ask and to be asked.
What are you looking for?
When I was in seminary, I took a class on
futures studies. We were taught that, in our lifetimes, one of our biggest
challenges would be helping people find meaning when machines made work
unnecessary. That now seems far away, but Artificial Intelligence is raising
questions on what it means to be human, and it is enough?
We are learning more and more about DNA and
genes, and the underlying proteins and the underlining metabolomes, and what
theologian Leonard Sweet calls “God dust.” But, what happens when we can
eliminate any genetic trait that we find undesirable? What happens when
something we value as a human trait is something that others do not?
Climate change and the current extinction of
animal species has called the sustainability of the human race into question.
What are you looking for?
Is there meaning in life that can be found
in who we are as human beings. And especially in whose we are?
Theology, the study of what we can know
about God through reason and God’s revelation, was once called The Queen of the
Sciences. The word “science” is rooted in a Latin word for knowledge. How can
we know what we know?
I saw a meme once that contained the text,
“Biology is applied Chemistry; Chemistry is applied Physics; Physics is applied
Mathematics.” “And,” someone commented. “Mathematics is applied Logic; Logic is
applied Philosophy, and Philosophy is applied Theology.” 😊
We can say “yes, there is meaning, and it
comes through a transforming encounter with the one true living God in Jesus
Christ.
What are you looking for?
Jesus both asks the question and answers it.
He is all that ultimately satisfies, and the revitalization of our churches is
contained in it.
Come and see.
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