What are you looking for?

Following the baptism of Jesus as recorded in Matthew last week, today we hear about the baptism of Jesus as told in the Gospel of John. The central message of John is that he is always pointing to Jesus as the Messiah, the one who was promised, the one who will save the people. This is John’s message and it is personified in John the Baptist whose mission is not to draw attention to himself but to point to “the one”. John is very clear: John the Baptist is not the Messiah, but he points to the one who is, re-orienting his own followers towards Jesus. 

What does this mean for us? Where is our focus? To whom do we look for direction? 

We have just heard the first words of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of John. These first words take the form of a question, an invitation and a statement: 

“What are you looking for?” After John the Baptist points to Jesus and says “Look, there goes the Lamb of God!” two of John’s disciples immediately decide to follow Jesus. When Jesus notices them, he asks them, “What are you looking for?” On the face of it, it seems like a simple question, but it is a profound one. Jesus is asking these would be followers to consider what it is they want and not simply to act in the moment on impulse. 

Do we stop to consider this question? We are all busy about many things in our lives, and many things in the life of our parish – all of them important. But how often do we pause to reflect on what is most important: what is central in our faith journey? 

Many of you may have seen the movie “The Remains of the Day” about a butler who is reflecting on his life. He has devoted his life to his master, Lord Darlington and is now wondering if this was the true purpose of his life. He comes to realize that his life could have been quite different if he had made different choices. Then he comes to an understanding that it is not too late, that a chapter of his life remains to be lived. His life is not yet complete, and that is true for us all. Jesus is continually asking us, “what are you looking for?” 

This week I was listening to “Now or Never” on CBC radio, and different people were being interviewed about things they had chosen to give up and why. One interesting discussion was with a man who had given up having a cell phone and whether that is even possible in today’s world. The discussion that really caught my interest though was with a young woman in her twenties who had given up religion. She had been raised in a Christian denomination and had been deeply committed to the life and ministry of her church, exercising leadership and forming friendships within the church community. She had come to a place where her deeper values did not align with the teachings of that particular church and though it cost her greatly, she separated herself from the community that up until now had defined her life. As I listened, it became clear to me that she was rejecting a particular religious structure. At no point did she mention Jesus Christ as a person or describe herself as a person who had followed Jesus. 

Jesus wanted to know what these two would-be followers were looking for:  did they want someone who would lead them out of the oppression they were experiencing from Rome? were they looking for a teacher of the Scriptures who would help them to understand exactly what they had to do to be righteous before God? Were they looking for a miracle worker who would heal sickness?  Jesus did not come to offer these things. 

John the Baptist knew what Jesus came to give. When he saw Jesus, he said “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”. If this is what the disciples were looking for, then they have found it in Jesus. If they are looking for something else, they would be disappointed. 

But of course, the question is not only what were those disciples looking for but what are we looking for? What are we hoping to get out of life? What gets us out of bed in the morning? What keeps us awake at night? Specifically, what do we look to find in Jesus? If we want to follow Jesus and see where the journey takes us, then we will be able to respond to Jesus’s next words in John’s Gospel: “Come and See.” 

Jesus says this in response to the disciples’ question “Rabbi, where are you staying?”  He knows that they can’t make a deep commitment until they get to know him and understand what he is about, so he simply invites them to come and spend time with him, to get to know him. And he makes that same offer to us, to come and spend time with him, to get to know him, to join him on the great faith adventure. Not that we will see it all and we will always have questions, always have doubts, always face challenges, because faith is, by its very nature, counter cultural. Faith doesn’t take away the problems of life, doesn’t make life easier, and often answers questions with more questions. 

Following Jesus is about being on a journey together, being in a relationship, and as with all relationships, it changes and deepens over time, it is not always easy, but it is always worth the work. And as we walk with Jesus on this journey, we have our eyes opened by grace and mercy and love that is always right there, right in front of us, hiding in plain sight. 

Think about what those first disciples would see! The miracles, the crowds, the teachings, the controversies, the suffering and death on the cross, the empty tomb, the resurrection. And think about the appearances of Jesus after the resurrection and his words to Thomas: “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe”. 

That’s us of course. We haven’t seen Jesus, and yet we have come to believe in him, and because we believe, we see everything differently.  As C.S. Lewis put it “I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen, not because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”  It is by our faith that we see everything else, just as it was for those first followers of Jesus. 

So, Jesus asks us what we are looking for, then he invites us to come and see, and then he makes one more statement in this Gospel passage. He speaks directly to Peter but as with the previous statements, it applies to us too. Jesus looks at Peter, who would become the leader of the early church. Simon is his birth name, but Jesus gives him a new name “Cephas” the Aramaic word for rock. (The Greek word for rock is petros or Peter). 

So, Jesus gives him a new name, a new identity, and as we follow Jesus, we too are given a new name: “Christian” or Christ follower. We are Christians, followers of Jesus. We know what we are looking for, and as we have come to know him in ever deepening ways, we see the world through new eyes, through eyes of faith. 

To all who choose to follow him, he does, over time, reveal himself, we come to know who he is and we are, over time, transformed by the experience of following him.  Amen.