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Creekside Church
Sermon of August
6, 2006
"Come
and See"
John
1:35-42
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Rev.
David Bibbee
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Many
of us owe a debt of gratitude to Scott, Foresman and Company. Without
them, we would not have learned to read. Scott, Foresman and Company
taught generations of children to read in a deceptively simple way.
They did it with Dick, Jane, Sally and their dog, Spot. The system
used just seventeen words in the first preprimer called, We Look
and See. Then came We Work and Play and We Come and
Go. After mastering the preprimers we graduated to our first reader,
Fun With Dick and Jane.
It was a thrill
to learn new words and add them to the actions of three kids who
didn't have a last name. "See Sally. See Spot. Oh look, Dick
and Jane. See Spot run. 'Run Spot, run!'"
Dick and Jane
disappeared in the early 70's. They couldn't run fast enough to
keep pace with changes in society, but they helped millions of us
discover the joy of reading. Just seventeen words got us started.
Do you remember the first word? It is the first action that leads
to insight… LOOK.
No matter what
you do, the skill of observation is key. We learn when we look.
Eyes are the windows through which we see the workings of the world
in all its majesty, it's mystery and it's misery.
When someone
says, "Look!" your head turns. You want to know what is
happening. When someone says, "Look!" you are anxious
to see something you may have never seen before. When someone shouts,
"LOOK OUT!" you duck and cover. Like Yogi Berra said,
"You can see a lot by looking."
The theme of
looking and seeing echoes throughout the Bible. "I lift
my eyes unto the hills," the psalmist said, "from
where my help comes," (Ps. 121). When God called Isaiah to
be a prophet, he said, "I saw the Lord high and lifted up,"
(Isaiah 6). The first chapter of John says, "And the Word became
flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, full
of grace and truth," (1: 14).
No one comprehended
the glory they would see. John the Baptist and a couple of his disciples
were talking when Jesus walked by. "Look!" John said.
"The Lamb of God." Seeing the Lamb of God on Main Street
wasn't an every day occurrence, so the two disciples followed him.
Turning around, Jesus asked, "Looking for something?"
"Uhhhh… yeah. As a matter of fact, we are. Where are you
staying?"
Think of the
questions they didn't ask. "Who are you? What parts are you
from? Why did you come? Why here? Why now? Where are your credentials?
Are you the Messiah? You don't look like a Messiah. I imagine they
said, "We want to serve God-we really do, but we're sick of
doing it by the rule book. Maybe you can help us," they said.
What came out was, "Where are you staying?" Instead of
an answer, they got an invitation. "Come and see."
Check me out. Find out for yourselves.
Come and
see-- implies that something good is waiting. The one doing
the inviting wants to show you something unique; something you'll
enjoy; something with the power to capture our imagination, or bring
clarity to the chaos of your life. He asks, "What are you looking
for?" and for the first time you see what it is, and you follow,
and you will never be the same.
On Thursday
night I took my son, John, to a concert in Grand Rapids. Music is
our common passion. I enjoy introducing him to the "good"
rock music I grew up on, while he tries to convert me to music that
floats his boat. We heard Nickel Creek, a band of absolutely awesome
acoustic musicians-- musician's musicians, and they aren't
yet thirty. I called John and said, "I've got tickets to see
a band that will amaze you."
I wanted to share my enthusiasm for Nickel Creek with my son and
expose him to these fabulously gifted artists. John's appreciation
of my musical tastes is usually subdued. "It's okay-- if you
like stuff like that," he'll say. Thursday night, he sat with
his mouth open. "Well…?" I asked. "Wow! he replied."
Andrew spent
several hours with Jesus, and as a result, his heart was captured.
He told his brother Simon Peter what happened. Peter went to meet
Jesus, who took a look at Peter and said, "From now on your
name is Cephas." And his heart was captured. Jesus met Phillip
and another heart was lassoed by love. Phillip told Nathaniel, "We've
found the One that Moses and the prophets talked about, Jesus of
Nazareth." "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"
he asked sarcastically. Phillip replied, Come and see for yourself.
Another introduction. Another heart captured.
Do you remember
the feeling when you asked your girlfriend to marry you, and she
said, "Yes!"? Do you remember how you felt when you first
laid eyes on the Grand Canyon? Do you remember what you felt when
you saw snow-capped mountains for the first time and realized the
rest of the world wasn't as flat as Indiana? Do you remember that
wonderful feeling when your children were born?
Being captured
by Jesus is like that. Maybe you felt the lure of his love once,
but the coals of that first fire have grown cold. Instead of beginning
the day hearing, "Come and see," we settle for other invitations--
"Come buy me, wear me, drive me. We come to church not expecting
anything out of the ordinary. So we come and sit. We come to be
entertained, and pacified, escape from the hard and harried times
in which we live, and hear that God like the way we live just fine.
Have you been
inviting people to come and see? I hope you're not asking them to
come and see our new building, or hear the choir, or come and see
how good our worship services are, or come hear our pastor. Sure
these things have a purpose, but buildings and choirs cannot steal
your heart away, or day by day make you his agent in our hurting
world. Jesus said, "Come and see," not "Come and
sit." The life you have to offer him and his mission is too
precious for us to just sit around.
I can get enthusiastic
when it comes to commending good things to people. "You must
try this restaurant I found. The chocolate desserts are to die for!"
"I saw an incredible movie last night. I'd love to see it again.
Do you want to go along?" "I've got a book that you'd
love to read. You can borrow my copy." "If you want to
catch big smallmouth bass, have I got a lake for you."
Ours is a shared
religion. We are compelled to tell others, not because we have to,
but because we want to. It's not up to us to capture people's hearts.
That's Jesus' department. Our calling is to get the attention of
people we know, and use the first word Dick and Jane taught us that
starts the process of discovery. "LOOK!" Let me introduce
you to someone who stole my heart. Come and see."
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