Sometimes we go to a restaurant and like the food there, and then tell others, "you must go there, the food is excellent and the service is great." Or we see a show or hear a song that we like a lot and forward the message on social media. Or, you go to a church or Bible Study and enjoy the service or study and we rush to tell others. We want them to go there so they may share the experience we had. This is what happens in John 1:35-50. It would be a wonderful experience to go around the room and let each person tell how he or she came to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. There may be many who can say that a person, a friend or a relative or even a stranger had invited them to church We all have different stories and experiences.
The first chapter of John does not say the birth stories of Jesus but goes straight into Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist, and the beginning of His ministry. In our passage today, Jesus has travelled to Galilee and begun recruiting His followers and disciples. Two disciples of John the baptist followed Jesus. One of them was Andrew, and other is not named. Many say that the unnamed disciple was John, the writer of this gospel. When Jesus saw them following him he turned and said to them, "What do you seek?" Those are the first words of Jesus in the Gospel of John and they are very remarkable. Jesus started his public ministry with a question to his followers, “What do you seek?”
You may have seen the big signboards along the highways, in big letters saying: Jesus is the Answer." I ask myself, “what is the question?” The questions are many. It started in the garden of Eden when God asked Adam, “Where are you?”. Then the second generation came and God asked Cain, “Where is your brother?” . Now in this age, the question is profound when Jesus asked, "what do you want? or "What are you looking for?" In other words, the questions are: "Why am I here and what do I really want out of life?" These are some personal and penetrating questions we need to ask ourselves.
Our life is generally getting up in the morning, go to work, work all day, come home, eat dinner and go to bed. The evening and the morning came the first day. We get up in the next morning and repeat the same. The evening and the morning came the second day, and it goes on and on. It is good to pause and ask some questions, "Why do I do this?, What do I want to get out of this?" Jesus is asking those who want to follow him a similar question.
Four fisher men were called upon to take up an adventure. The call was not just to be followers only, but also was to take up the cross and the gospel to the ends of the world. It requires a full commitment and dedication. It requires us to open our lives from an inward looking perspective to an outward looking vision. If you think about a fisherman’s personality profile you might not find college education or leadership abilities. Many are probably introverts. When Jesus found these fishermen some were casting their nets. They were getting their hands dirty and doing the work themselves. These were the men he chose to carry out his vision of sharing the gospel. They were quiet guys who worked hard with their hands, to get the job done in less than ideal conditions. They are used to weathering storms, they are persistent and patient, they are hardworking and action oriented. They never know what a new day is going to be like. They take chance everyday. They would not be detracted by the catch of the previous day. They put their hope in the next day. They work together and share their work among each other.
The question Jesus asks, “What are you looking for?” inquires into our motivation for following Christ. Is it for the love of God that we are doing what we do? What is the purpose? It is a calling higher than yourself.
Andrew and another disciple who were working with John the Baptist followed Jesus. That is when Jesus asks them, "what do you want?" Some scholars say that the unnamed disciple is John, the gospel writer. Andrew went and shared it with his brother Simon who came and followed Jesus. Jesus changed Simon's name to Peter later on. Then Jesus finds Philip whom he asked to join. Then Philip found Nathanael and told him about Jesus. (By the way, Nathanael is not listed in any of the gospels as being part of the twelve; he is called by his patronym (the name of his father) "Bartholomew." "Bar" is the Aramaic for son: "the son of Ptolomy," or Tolmai, in Hebrew, Bartholomew: that is Nathanael; his full name is Nathanael Bartholomew). Nathanael is more skeptical in that he was led to believe that nothing good comes from Nazareth.
One disciple after another encounters Jesus and has a transformative experience that leads him to tell others, so they too will “come and see” this man from Galilee and be changed by that experience. It is about the lost being found,and then the found seeking the lost. The calling is higher than themselves to reach out to others and bring them to the Savior. Jesus called four fishermen to take up an adventure for a journey that would become a story bigger than themselves.
The Bible is full of stories of call to adventure. God called Abraham, God called Moses, God called David and many others. Moses accepted the call and he left the Pharao’s palace for a new life with the people of God. In Hebrews 11: 25-19 we read, “ By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. Jesus called Peter to establish the church. He preached a short message and 3,000 souls were saved and later 5000. Thomas went to far world to the parts of Asia, and Paul preached the gospels to the gentiles. God used great missionaries like William Carey, the Wesleys, D L Moody, Charles Spurgeon, Billy Graham and many others. All of them had different traits and talents, but God used them all.
The ministry of Jesus requires opening our lives from an inward looking perspective to an outward looking vision. All of us have heard or will hear God's call to take up adventures like Abraham, Moses, David and many others. Dictionary meaning of the word adventure is 'taking up unkown risk'. It might be a chance to go somewhere, stand up for something or work in a place. In the parable of the laborers in the vinyard (Matthew 20), the landlord risks hiring people at the last hour. In the parable of the talents (Matthew 25), a businessman took the risk of making his servants partners by dividing his wealth his servants. God takes risks in giving us opportunities of life situations, families and blessings expecting us to take risks for the Kingdom.
God often calls us to chart unknown territory as we follow Him. Obeying His commands to forgive, to give away our treasures, or to give up things that provide security and pleasure often leave us in the scary territory of unknown outcomes. "To everyone who has taken risks will be given more, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away" (Matthew 25:29).In the years of working in the corporate field, I have seen many companies value hiring people with a willingness to learn and are teachable. During the interview process for entry-level positions, some companies do not place high value on work experience. Instead, personal qualities such as the ability to solve problems creatively, exercise good judgment, and work well with a team were more important. The company assumed new workers could be taught the necessary skills as long as they were the kind of people the company was looking for.
Our task is to go out from this place and be a witness. Each of us has at least one story to share in small decisions, in overwhelming decisions to follow a journey. God has promised to be with us in all those decisions. I think of many of you in this church and others who are challenged to take on some unknown territories. They have waited patiently through all their ordeals so far as they prepare for the chemo, the radiations, the surgeries, how they have come through each territory—with faith and patience and how God has equipped them to cross that territory. We have all been challenged by new territories with COVID-19. God has helped us through their community of faith—through our praying for others and holding them up and sending cards and calls. That’s how they can know the love of God through God’s people.
We are quick to make up labels based on profession or appearance. Pastors of small churches hear and see labels like “Oh, it is a dying church, not a good group of people, they are old and arrogant.” Some of them may be true, but ministry should not be based on the labels. The only label a preacher is to wear is the love of Christ regardless of the church or ministry like Paul, “The love of Christ compels us, because we are convinced that Christ died for all” (2Cor 5:14).
Yamin is a pastor in North India. He struggled with stuttering his entire life. He was teased and harassed as a boy. But as a young man he heard God calling him to fish for people by becoming a preacher. This seemed to be an impossible calling; nevertheless he accepted the calling. He went to school and ultimately became a preacher. He continued to stutter his entire life, but an interesting thing happened to him when he would stand in the pulpit to preach: his stuttering went away, and instead he delivered, with power and eloquence, the message of Christ. God used him to build a church with many thousands of people in a low-income community.
I remember about an old bus called “Special” that was used to take team members for mission trips. Even though it had a cracked windshield along with mechanical problems that couldn’t be fixed, it was used for an important purpose. Then I thought about some of the people that I know — people who are less than perfect. I thought of Joel, the pianist who is blind but who can stir people with his beautiful music; of the lady whom some people regard as strange but who offers her time to pray for others; and of the boy with Down’s Syndrome who seems to know when someone is suffering and offers them hugs, even though his words are difficult to understand. None of us is perfect. But just as God uses the bus called Special and people regarded as strange or disabled by human standards and God can use us for divine purposes. Broken buses, people with mental or physical disabilities — God calls each of us to special service in this world. God sees potential in people and places where we least expect it. Nathaniel asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46) when he found out Jesus was from Nazareth. We have labels attached to people and places today, states, countries and places. We also label people based on appearance, race, culture color or language.
In the several places we have lived in our years of marriage, my wife has tended whatever was available, many inside the house. We have one plant in the house that is over 34 years old . She does not throw away any plants that I consider dying. When we go on vacation, she makes sure that our son or a neighbor waters her plants in the house. When we move, or clean up, I would suggest her to get rid of some of the dying ones. She would then find a small space in the kitchen or family room, just the right size for the ugly pot. If this plant were to die, nothing would be lost. As months pass, one leaf appears and then another and another appears. With warm sunshine and an occasional drink of water, the little plant begins to thrive. Every time I look at the now-flourishing plant, I am reminded of how easily I make judgments about the potential of everything from plants to people. I think, Oh, she’ll never amount to anything; look at all her tattoos! or What chance does he have, coming from a home like that? Or She shouldn’t hire him; he’s done time in prison. God looks at people’s hearts, not their outward appearance or circumstances.
As the Marthoma Church slogan says, "Lighted to Lighten", we are called to be the light in darkness. We are comforted to comfort, forgiven to forgive and strengthened to strengthen our dear brothers and sisters in need. In a fallen, broken world, all of us are “crooked,” each with our own collection of natural weaknesses. We might be tempted to keep our vulnerabilities under wraps, but Scripture encourages the opposite attitude. In 2 Corinthians 12, for example, Paul suggests that it is in our weaknesses that Christ is most likely to reveal His power. When Paul was praying for the removal of a weakness in his body God's answer was: “My power is made perfect in weakness” (v. 9). So Paul concluded, “For Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (v. 10).
We may not like our imperfections, but hiding them only denies Jesus’s power to work within those aspects of ourselves. When we invite Jesus into the crooked places in us, He gently mends and redeems in ways our effort could never accomplish.
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