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“Come And See!”

Epiphany Sunday, January 2o, 2008
By pastor John Jorgenson

John 1:29-42
“John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know Him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.’’

“And John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.’

“The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When 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?’ He said to them, ‘Come and See.’ They came and saw where Jesus was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was bout four o’clock in the afternoon.

“One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. Andrew first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed). He 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).”

The Gospel of the Lord. Praise be to God.

God’s message certainly has an impact on people. As Andrew listened to what Jesus was saying, he immediately decided to go to his brother Simon Peter and tell him about his experience with Jesus. Andrew was impressed with how Jesus interacted with people. These actions suggested to Andrew that Jesus was the Messiah, the special anointed one who had been promised and now was present as a leader for the people. That changed Andrew for the rest of his life and he became a follower. Can we do the same?

Andrew was the kind of person who wanted to get the job done. He saw the need and responded. He was not interested in what he could get out of something. He was more interested in action. After all he was Simon Peter’s brother and lived in Simon Peter’s shadow. People probably never really knew Andrew, but they certainly knew who Simon Peter was. Peter had a way of making an impression on people, and well, Andrew was kind of left in second place. After all, Andrew was Simon Peter’s brother, who needs to know any more than that

So Andrew was not in the close inner circle of disciples. When Jesus healed Jairus’s daughter, when Jesus went up to the Mount of Transfiguration, when Jesus was tempted in Gethsemane, it was always Peter, James and John that accompanied Jesus. Andrew was never included.

Now did Andrew resent this? Not really. He had been living in Peter’s shadow for such a long time that this was no big deal. So even though Andrew was one of the first two disciples to follow Jesus, Andrew was responsible for introducing Jesus to Peter, he was already used to getting involved and letting Peter be the leader. Andrew got the job done and was more interested in getting the ministry of Jesus started and running.

Andrew was the kind of guy who was content to stand back and let Peter have the praise. Andrew was happy to simply be part of the group with Jesus and to serve in whatever way he could. We might say that Andrew is kind of a patron saint of all, who humbly and loyally and with no resentment take a second place in order to get the job done.

A second characteristic of Andrew is that he was always introducing Jesus to people. There are only three times in the story of Jesus that Andrew is included. There is this one where Andrew brings Peter to Jesus. Then there is the incident in John 6:8-9, where Andrew brings the boy to Jesus with five loaves and two small fish. Then in John 12:22 Andrew brings the inquiring Greeks to Jesus.

This was the model Andrew set for the rest of us. Andrew got a lot of satisfaction in bringing people to meet Jesus and hear how effectively Jesus taught and led people into a new more meaningful life. Andrew stands out as a person who lived to share this mission. This sharing had become his life purpose and meaning. He became a man with a mission. Andrew is a model for the rest of us. Andrew had a dream, much like Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream for the rest of us. Like Andrew, Martin Luther King, Jr. too was more concerned about the mission for life that the meeting with Jesus inspires within us. Like Andrew, he too invested his life in activity that we might better understand what Jesus intentions for us in our daily lives include. One of the adult study programs we produced for the LCA included a copy of the Martin Luther King, Jr. presentation, “I have a Dream,” that I got from Coretta Scott King. We used it to introduce the study emphasis on Justice and Social Change that we were concerned with at that time.

Now finally, what effect or impact does meeting with Jesus have on us? In the Old Testament a change of name meant a new relationship with God. Jacob became Israel and Abram became Abraham when they entered a new relationship with God. When that happens to us it is like life begins all over again and we become a new person. So if we become a new person, we need a new name.

So Jesus gave Peter a new name, “Cephus” which means rock in Greek, a stable source of security, a sturdy foundation on which one can build safely.

The most important learning from this text is that we learn how Jesus looks at us. He does not only see our present situation, Jesus also sees who and what we can become. Jesus not only sees what we actually are today, Jesus also sees who and what we can become tomorrow. Jesus looked at Peter and saw a competent fisherman. Jesus also saw a person who could become the rock and foundation of the ministry just beginning. Jesus says to each of us this morning, “Give your life to me, and I will make you what you have it in you to become!”

One day a person came to Michelangelo chipping on a piece of rock. He asked Michelangelo what he was doing. “I am releasing the angel imprisoned in this marble,” Michelangelo answered. Jesus is the one who sees and can release the hidden angel that lies in each one of us.

Let us pray that Jesus does that for us today as we keep Boyd and his family in our prayers as they deal with losing a relative and we begin our publicity effort inviting people to “Come And See” what we offer at Prince of Peace.

Amen.