Come And You Will See

Intro

What are we here for? What is the purpose of the church?

Goal

To show how important Jesus is to the church.

Plan

We will look at why we are here, John the Baptist’s example and the lamb of God.

Why are we here

Have we ever asked ourselves, why are we here? So, here we sit in a church pew, or stand in a church choir, or listen to the Bible preached. But, why are we here? Are we here for the friendship? What about the music? Are we here because of guilt? Are we here because it is the “right thing” to do in our family upbringing? Do we sit in church impatiently waiting for the moment of escape? Do we wish the preacher would sit down and shut up? Do we wish the song leader would suggest that we only sing one verse instead of five? Do we believe that God is here? Do we believe that Jesus, the head of the Church, is here? Do we believe that there is more? Shall we follow Jesus and see (John 1:29-42)?

Titles pretentious and true

We are used to people being given or giving themselves exaggerated titles. Those who insist on being addressed by some accolade, that makes them appear to be more important, are often oblivious to the negative atmosphere that their arrogance causes. Outside of specific cultural circles such as the military, business, church or academia, titles are often irrelevant and can appear to be pretentious. It is with that in mind that we can hear John calling Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, God’s chosen one, and Andrew announcing him as the Messiah (John 1:29-42). Living in a world of phony self-importance can blind us to the reality that sometimes a title is not only deserving, but also an accurate description of someone. Jesus is who they say his is, Savior of the world.

The inviting church

Evangelicalism has a bad rep these days. It seems to have become unfriendly, judgmental and uninviting. Whatever happened to the welcoming Jesus? Whatever happened to the words from John 3:16-18, that God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him? How can we return to being the inviting church? Perhaps we ought to leave the judging to judgment day. Perhaps we ought to focus more on healing and salvation than on the sins which necessitated both. Rather than criticize those who are hurting, perhaps we ought to invite them to be healed. Rather than condemn those in a prison created by the sins of the world, perhaps we ought to invite them to freedom. Perhaps we need to invite them to come and see Jesus (John 1:29-42).

We are not the Messiah

Every preacher worth his salt knows that a pastor is not the Messiah. Every politician worthy of office knows that human leaders are not the Messiah. Every teacher worthy of the title knows that teachers are not the Messiah. Every member of every Christian church needs to know to the depths of their being that we are not the Messiah. Why then do so many have a Messiah complex, delusions of grandeur, an inflated sense of self-importance? Why do so many preachers, politicians and teachers burden themselves with the delusion that they must “save the world”? Like John the Baptist we point to another who is the Messiah. Like a light on a hill we don’t illuminate ourselves but God. We are all appointed missionaries, sent by God to tell the story of Jesus and his love (John 1:29-42).

John the pointer

In Orthodox iconography John the Baptist is often pictured as pointing to a lamb, echoing his words from John 1:29-42 where he declared, “Look! The Lamb of God!” Iconography is an ancient form of visual art designed to portray the most important aspects of a subject’s life. In John’s case, one of the most important features of his life was to point to Jesus. John’s example is important for us today. We can be easily distracted by human politics, traditions and material desires. It can benefit us to look at the example of a man who lived an uncluttered life, with one simple goal, to point to Jesus. What if our lives were more oriented towards Christ? What if our churches focused more on what he taught? Is it not the mission of every Christian to point to Jesus?

Come and you will see

The world is full of gurus promising salvation from various complaints ― like poverty, headaches, big government and old vacuum cleaners. Much of the time, those promises are empty. There is one expert who doesn't make false claims. He actually can provide salvation from something that science cannot, death. His reputation has been sullied in the press and his followers are sometimes obnoxious and self-righteous. However, he does make some interesting and challenging claims. He claims to be the Son of God, God with us. He claims to have taken away the sins of the world. He claims to have the answers. In John 1:29-42 he made a challenge to a couple of men, who were curious. “Come, and you will see.” There is a deeper hint that if we begin to follow Jesus, we will eventually truly see.