2nd Sunday after Epiphany
Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
I am going to begin this morning with the reading from the Old Testament. The reason is that I can relate so well to verse 4: But I said, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing.” There are many days when that is my thought exactly. We are working so hard here at Calvary. Our staff and volunteers give so generously of their faith and time and energy that they are close to exhaustion. And yet our worship attendance is down and our budget will have a deficit and people are just not responding to invitations for participation like they used to.
It’s not just us. Research has shown that worship attendance, giving, and volunteering in churches has decreased 50% when compared to the situation before COVID. So yes, the voice in today’s reading resonates with us: I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing.
In our text, the Prophet Isaiah is speaking to the people of God while they are in exile. The Babylonian army has conquered the Holy Land, destroyed the temple and the capitol, devastated the land, and deported 10,000 leading citizens into exile in Babylon. So while our situation is bad, the Israelites had it quite a bit worse. Let’s see what God is saying to them.
In my sermon study, I listened to a podcast of two pastors discussing this Bible text. They are both from Texas, and with that Texas twang it sounded even better, but this is what one of them said: “God says, ‘Yeah, I know you’re down there. I know you’ve been praying. I know you feel like it was all in vain. I know you feel like a failure. But I AM! You are still my people; that is your identity.”
In the midst of their depression and sorrow and anxiety, God reminds the people of their identity as God’s children, an identity they have had since before birth and they will always have no matter what.
Next, God tells them what they can do. They are not powerless in their situation. In fact, they have a job, an assignment, a calling: As God’s people, they are to restore the survivors of Israel and then be a light to the nations, telling them about their redeemer and inviting them into the salvation God offers. God promises to give them strength to do this, and that by doing this they will change lives and the world.
Again the pastor from Texas: “God is speaking those words to the church today: ‘I know you’ve tried. I know you feel like you’ve failed. You had a plan how it should all come out and it hasn’t.’ God reassures us, ‘You are my witnesses. You are a light to the nations. I need you to be faithful. Through your being faithful, my mission will be successful.’”
According to this scripture, what is the answer to our anxiousness about the post-COVID situation with its challenges and signs of decline? Faithfulness to God and faithful witness about God.
How do we do that?
This is where I am turning to the gospel text for today.
Jesus is at the very beginning of his public ministry. He has just been baptized. So far, he has not healed a single person, has not multiplied any food, has not told a parable or preached a sermon. He is just getting started.
And he starts his ministry with a question: “What are you looking for?” The very first words out of Jesus’ mouth in this gospel account is him asking Andrew and the other man, “What are you looking for?” A better translation is, “What are you seeking?” What are you hoping for? What are you longing for? What do you need?
Every time this text comes up, I have to think of our attempt to start a Sunday evening service for seekers. We wanted to reach out to people who currently were not in church because the current church didn’t work for them.
We got a team together and planned this new kind of service. It would be in the fellowship hall around tables. We would make it look nice with tablecloths and room dividers and standing lamps. We would have snacks and coffee or tea. There would a music video of a Christian song for meditative viewing. Instead of a sermon, there would be conversation or art. We had really great ideas.
The one thing we didn’t do was ask those we wanted to attract as to what they were seeking. We never asked what they needed to feel drawn into Jesus’ love and God’s presence. After a year of limping along, we abandoned that service. Good for us for trying! But we should have followed Jesus’ example and asked some questions.
How different was the experience of Pastor Ralph Milton which he shared online. He received a one-line message in his email inbox that read, “I want to be a Christian. Can you help?”
He turned to his wife and asked her how he should respond to that. She suggested to ask the person some questions first. “You can’t answer that question unless you know who you are talking to.” The pastor listened to her advice and asked a few questions as gently as he could and wrote that he would be happy to respond when he knew him at least a little.
The response was surprising. The man wrote that someone with a warped sense of humor had sent this note to hundreds of people from his computer. It was a prank, and he didn’t really enjoy it. He wrote, “I’ve been sent long sermons and I’ve been sent vitriol. Yours is the first response that was kind and open.”
The two of them corresponded on and off for a while; not about becoming a Christian because it turned out the man was already an active church member. But they enjoyed a friendship that was started because Pastor Milton responded to an inquiry in a kind and open way, by asking questions.
Asking a question is deeply relational. It tells the other person that we are interested in him or her, that we care about them, that they matter to us. It signals that we are willing to take time for them. It shows that we are willing to engage in conversation with them, in an exchange of ideas or concerns or beliefs or experiences. Asking questions creates community.
What are you seeking, is Jesus’ question. It turns out that many people among us and in our neighborhood seek community. A few years ago, our LEAD team interviewed people in this congregation and in our community about their needs. One of the concerns mentioned most often was community. People feel lonely, isolated, don’t know their neighbors, and yearn for people who care.
In our gospel story, Jesus is calling his first disciples. He is building community. And is doing it by asking questions. What do you seek? What do you yearn for?
Andrew and the other man answer, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” Literally, they ask, “Rabbi, where do you abide?” Abiding is an important word in John’s gospel account: Jesus abides in God and God abides in him; whoever loves abides in Jesus and Jesus in him or her. Abiding means connection, mutual presence, intimacy, closeness.
Jesus asks what the two men are seeking, and they say they want to know how to abide with Jesus, how to be close to Jesus.
This, too, is a yearning I encounter in many people. They want to know how to feel closer to God, how to tap into the presence of the Holy Spirit, how to receive guidance and comfort and strength and hope from the Divine. They want to know that they are beloved and that they have not labored in vain, that they have a calling and that they matter.
In response to the disciples’ request, Jesus doesn’t start preaching or explaining or praying or studying scripture. He invites them to ‘come and see’. Come and spend some time with him. Come and see the kinds of things that take place in the presence of Jesus Christ. Come and see how lives are changed through the grace and healing power of the Lamb of God.
In the text from Isaiah, the servant is called to be a light to the nations and to draw people into the family of God. As baptized children of God and followers of Jesus, we are called to spread the gospel. We call that evangelism, literally ‘sharing the good news’. And we are usually somewhere between uncomfortable and scared when it comes to evangelism.
But maybe it doesn’t have to be scary. The model Jesus presents today sounds rather doable: Ask people what they are seeking and in doing so, offer a sincere and caring relationship. And then invite them to come and see what it’s like in the presence of Jesus, among his people, in the light of his forgiveness and grace, in the comfort of his love and peace, in the joy of the hope he gives.
We don’t need to know all the answers. Andrew has known Jesus for only a day when he goes to invite his brother Peter. He has not seen Jesus do any miracles yet and hasn’t heard any sermons. But he is excited about what he experiences in Jesus and invites his brother to also come and see, to also spend time with Jesus, to also abide with the Savior, to also follow Jesus, trusting that in following and abiding with Jesus they will grow in understanding and faith.
Our churches are struggling following COVID, and our neighbors yearn for community and a sense of the Divine in their lives. God’s Word for us today is pointing us in the direction in which we can heal this situation and be re-energized ourselves: Ask caring questions and offer our compassion; then invite to come and see Jesus and explore together how blessed it is to abide with the Lord.
That’s how we grace people’s lives with what they yearn for, rebuild the church and the wider community, find joy in our ministry, and fulfill God’s calling for our congregation: As followers of Jesus, we are called to be an inclusive and compassionate community, where everyone is connected in relationship with God and each other to foster wellness of mind and soul. Amen.