Epiphany 3 Year A
John 1:29-42
January 15, 2017
Rev. Canon Dan Wagner
Back in seminary at the School of Theology at Sewanee, every February, the seminary would host an open house weekend. This was an opportunity for those discerning a call to the priesthood or someone interested in working on an advance degree in religion to come up to the Mountain and see what life at seminary is all about. The visitors would sit in our classes, attend worship services, learn about the culture of Sewanee, housing, and the all important financial aid packages. Sewanee calls its open house weekend, Come and See.
Each year, the Middler class is put in charge of the weekend. It is the students that lead the weekend with help from the administration. The second, or middler, year of seminary is brutal with the academic requirements, preaching in the seminary chapel, and work in local churches, called field ed. To plan for Come and See our class met – a lot. By the time the weekend rolled around, we wanted to call it Went and Saw, so we could get back to “normal” lives of reading too much materials, writing papers, and not sleeping much.
At the end of the weekend, we finished with a reception and showing of a lot of pictures of the potential students. In those pictures, you see how integrated into Sewanee they already looked. They are smiling with other students and professors. They’re playing in the snow, meeting the Vice Chancellor of the University, and sitting in worship in the seminary chapel. The encounter changed people. For them it went from Come and See to Come and Stay. Now if only their bishops would let them apply to Sewanee…
The “come and see” from our gospel is an invitation from Jesus. It is way more than just “oh see where I am living” or “sure come over and check out my apartment.” (D’IbervilleAptsof Galilee) No, Jesus was inviting the two disciples into a relationship; into a whole new life of following him and becoming his disciples.
Having followed John the Baptist, the two disciples trusted in what he said. They believed his, “Behold the lamb of God!” This Lamb is the same servant that we hear of in our Isaiah reading. The Lamb of God is the one who will not only redeem Israel, but his “salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” (from Isaiah) This servant will be “deeply despised” but will act on God’s behalf.
Jesus posses an intriguing question to the two disciples, “What are you looking for?” In the King James, the question is, “What seek ye?” Step away from the obvious answer of “Jesus.” Let’s think more about his question.
We humans are a curious bunch. We want to know how things work, how things tick. We want to learn more about ourselves, what our role is in this world, do we matter/important, what happens at the end of our lives, etc. To me, we have an innate desire to be in touch with the divine.
Andrew and John (the disciple whom Jesus loved), and we, are searching. Their curiosity and searching for the divine led them to John the Baptist. He in turn led them to Christ. It is Jesus that offers them an opportunity to have a new life. Their encounter with Jesus makes them want to tell others. They bring others to Christ,just as we are called to bring others to Christ.
What about Come and See right here at the Cathedral? We have an encounter with Christ in the Eucharist. That is for certain and you know I’d love to talk Sacraments all day. But what came to me about Come and See here at the Cathedral is that we have a lot of “Andrews” and “Johns”in our congregation. They have felt the nudge of the Holy Spirit to invite people to Come and See this holy space and meet the loving people of this congregation and to encounter Jesus.
Recently, I heard someone talk about how they came to the Cathedral. This person had not attended any church for a number of years. But, someone asked her to come and visit. Her response was lukewarm, but that she showed up anyway. I was told it was more than the hospitality, there was something “special” or “holy” that kept her coming back week after week, which turned into months and then years. I would like to think that the reason the person kept coming was that she was doing exactly what the disciples in this Gospel were doing. She was intrigued by Jesus and Jesus’ invitation to Come and See. She too wondered about Christ. She too had wandered spiritually. She wanted to learn more about being marked as Christ’s own forever.
The Dean has alluded in some of her sermons to the fact that we will be much more “obvious” to the greater Mobile community. With the demolition of the old jail and construction of the new Mardi Gras Park in our front yard and the construction of our new steeple, suddenly, we may find ourselves with a few more people wondering about this place. Perhaps in a few years, the stories we may hear go something like this: “I was interested in this church because that steeple just came out of nowhere and I didn’t know this place existed; but I stayed because of… the youth program, the beautiful music, the sweetness of the people, the joyful hospitality, and the power of Dean Gibson’s sermons.”
Today, the question before us is this: What happens at the intersection of our pondering of Jesus’ question “What are you looking for?” with his invitation to discipleship in his “Come and see.” Where will this take the Cathedral family and where will it take each one of us? My hope is that all of us will go deeper with our commitment to Jesus in our daily lives. I hope that translates into more prayer time and holy listening to God; that our time together in worship increases; and that we have the courage and joy to share Jesus with those we meet.
Come and see – the invitation continues today. Amen.
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