John 1:35-51 on January 4th, 2026
Above is audio of the sermon pulled from the video and amplified.
Below is transcript pulled from the video and formatted by artificial intelligence. There may be inconsistencies or errors.
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Do you know the feeling of reading a good book, not one that you had to read for class or for work, but one you picked up for fun and just simply couldn't put down? You enjoy the rise and the fall of the story, you know the characters well, you care about them, and you are so surprised by how much you like it, you just have to tell someone else about it. For that TV show that you really enjoy, you laugh, you cry, you are on the edge of the seat, you love how everything comes together at the end. You want people to watch it too, not just so they know what happens, but so they can experience it for themselves. The same thing can be said about sports, video games, movies, restaurants, there are so many good things to experience it, and we often have no trouble telling people what they should check out. We hope that they too might feel what we felt, we hope they might share in the experience.
And that is precisely what happens in our lesson for today. One disciple after another meets Jesus and the experience makes them want to tell someone else about it. They invite others to come and see this man and be changed by the experience. Come and see, we continue where we left off last week with John LeBaptist proclaiming, here is the Lamb of God. And because we know John's testimony last week, we know a little bit about this already. And yet that title provokes curiosity. Don't you want to know more about what that means? Don't you want to know how the book ends? Don't you want to know where all this is going? And that curiosity causes two of John's disciples to go check it out for themselves.
Jesus notices them and asks them a question, what are you looking for? And I guess the disciples are a little bit surprised because they don't really answer that question and they kind of fumble over their response. Where are you staying? At first, these questions seem ordinary, straightforward. They have simple, practical answers. What are we looking for? Well, we're looking for you. Where am I staying? Oh, just down the street, next to the blacksmith. But there is more going on here than everyday small talk. These questions can also be heard on a deeper level. What are you looking for? The Messiah, meaning, salvation, hope beyond hope. And what are we really looking for in our lives, in our faith? What are our deepest longings? And even the disciples' question back is more than meets the eye. They think they're asking, where are you staying? But the way they phrase it, they literally ask, where do you abide? Well, it's going to take the whole rest of the gospel to determine that word abide. We'll come up a lot in the next few months.
And this interaction translates well into our lives and into our worlds. We all have questions, simple questions, deep questions, straightforward ones and complicated ones. Easy questions and difficult questions that pertains to be easy. Questions about life and church and Jesus and religion and living and what we're supposed to do and what we're not supposed to do and what do we have to do? And when we ask questions, we want answers. We want someone to just lay it out for us. And there are people, places and businesses who will gladly give us those answers. You will be told exactly what to say, think, do, give, and of course, what to buy. These, these are the answers to your questions. And sometimes churches are even all too happy to give you those types of answers. If you don't do things this way, then you aren't experienced Jesus correctly. You better watch out.
But here's the thing about the questions that a disciples asked. Jesus doesn't answer them. There's no home address, no directions to where he's staying, no definitive answer. Instead, in the midst of their questions, Jesus offers an invitation instead of information. It's an invitation to follow, to come, to form a relationship, to see for yourself, to experience life alongside this rabbi Jesus. Come and see. And our questions, whatever they are, do not keep Jesus from us. Our lack of answers is not a chasm that keeps Jesus away. They said questions are where the invitation begins. We don't need to have all the answers before our disciples ship it starts. We bring our questions to Jesus and Jesus invites us to come and see, to experience what it is he has to offer. Jesus wants us to have a holy curiosity, a sense that we can take our questions on the journey with Jesus as we encounter the answers.
For Jesus, the answers are to our questions aren't so much words and sentences, those things that we can look up in a book. Instead, Jesus's answer is relational. Come along, come and see. Jesus wants us to experience answers with him, to see, feel, interact with him and his mission. Much like, instead of me telling you the end of the book, you read it for yourself. Instead of me describing that final scene in the movie, you watch it for yourself. Instead of me telling you what it is, you get to see it, feel it, be a part of it. Jesus invites us to come and see for ourselves, to experience him in ways that may not answer our immediate questions, but instead give us answers of a different sort.
And this new year brings a lot of questions to our congregation. We are living into a new vision of expanding God's table for all. We have plans for action, for new and revitalized ministry, for crossing thresholds together. There is a lot that is new for us, and with what is new comes questions. Who, where, how can anything good come out of this? And Jesus says, come and see. I say, come and see. I want you to know that there is invitation to relationship in small groups. There is invitation to walk together in faith with Bible studies and conversations. There is invitation to community over meals and in working together. There is invitation to something meaningful, something deeper than oversimplified legalistic take it or leave it answers. There is an invitation to walk with Jesus. And even when we don't get verbal answers or the answer doesn't match what we asked, we trust that Jesus is still giving us an invitation. Jesus still walks with us on the journey. Jesus helps us see and experience what God is up to. And with each step we take, more and more, this rabbi is revealed to be the Messiah. We get to come and grow, come and be shaped, come and be fed, come and see, come and experience God's answers.
And if invitation over an answer is good enough for Jesus, I suppose it should be good enough for us too. The disciples call on pretty quickly. Philip, instead of explaining everything to Nathaniel, simply says, come and see. Come, experience Jesus. So maybe we should embody answers for others. We should be the answer of Jesus without needing to use so many words. We should live out, grace, love for forgiveness and invitation. That's our calling, our task, our mission. Not to give the end all be all of answers, but to invite people to come and see Jesus. Come see Jesus in our community of faith. Come see Jesus in our lives. Come see Jesus in this place. Come and grow, see and be nourished. Come and see and be filled with life.
Amen.