Rafael Antonio Lozano, a computer programmer from Plano, Texas, was a man with a mission. In 1997, he began a quest to visit every company-owned Starbucks on the planet. At the time, there were only 1,304 such stores worldwide.
Since then, Lozano, who calls himself Winter, has spent over $150,000 on the project, drinking an average of 10 cups of coffee a day. Once, he spent $1,400 on a plane ticket to purchase a cup of coffee from a Starbucks in British Columbia before it closed. And he plans on visiting his 19,000th Starbucks before the end of the year (2023).
Despite his impressive pace, Winter is realistic about the nature of his quest. Several years ago, he said, “As long as they keep building Starbucks, I'll never be finished.” He is also realistic about the importance of his mission. “Every time I reach a Starbucks, I feel like I've accomplished something,” he said, “when actually I've accomplished nothing” (Jayne Clark, “Sooner or Latte, He'll Get There,” USAToday.com 10-13-05; Lyn Mettler, “This man has spent $150,000 trying to visit every Starbucks shop in the world,” TODAY, Aug. 30, 2019; www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092166492280; www.PreachingToday.com).
Some people seek after the strangest things. Tell me. What do you seek? What do you live for these days? What is your mission in life? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to John 1, John 1, where Jesus asks that question of His first followers.
John 1:35-38 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” (ESV)
What?! Is that all? They could have said, “We are seeking the world. We are seeking eternal life. We are seeking a place beside You in Your Kingdom. We are seeking to be whole. We are seeking a bright future. But no. They simply ask, “Where are you staying?” Literally, “Where are you abiding.”
This is the first of 40 times the word “abiding” appears in the Gospel of John. It’s an important theme in the Gospel, which describes the union of the believer with Christ (cf. John 15:4ff). You see, these two disciples wanted to abide with Jesus, to remain with Him, to live with Him. So they ask, “Where are you abiding?” And Jesus answers with a simple invitation.
John 1:39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour (ESV)—or 4 o’clock in the afternoon, since their day started at 6 a.m.
Jesus invites all who would follow Him, “Come and you will see.” You must first come and then you will see. You must first come to Jesus. Then you will find what you seek.
When Jesus walked by and John declared, “Behold, the Lamb of God,” two of John’s disciples left John to follow Jesus. Perhaps, they were looking for someone to take away their sins. What about you? Do you seek freedom from the guilt and pain of your past? Then come to Jesus and…
FIND FORGIVENESS IN HIM.
Discover a clean heart when you choose to come to Christ. Secure release from your guilt and shame when you choose to follow Him.
Peter Grant talks about visiting Scotland, where he saw lots of sheep. Among those sheep, he saw a little lamb running around the field with an extra fleece tied around its back. There were little holes in the fleece for its four legs and a hole for its head. He later learned its mother had died.
Now, without the protection and nourishment of a mother, any orphaned lamb would die. If you take an orphaned lamb and try to introduce it to another mother, the new mother will butt it away. She smells a different scent and refuses to care for a baby from another mother.
Thankfully, the flock was large enough to include a ewe that had recently lost a lamb. So the shepherd skinned the dead lamb and made its fleece into a covering for the orphaned lamb. Then he took the orphaned lamb to the mother whose baby just died. She sniffed the orphaned lamb and smelled the fleece of her own lamb. As a result, she did not butt the lamb away, but accepted it as her own (Peter Grant, In What Way Is Jesus Christ Different? www.PreachingToday.com).
Similarly, Jesus, the Lamb of God, died on a cross for your sins. So, when you trust Christ with your life, God clothes you with His own Son’s righteousness and accepts you as one of His own.
Now, since most of us are not shepherds, let me use a different metaphor to describe God’s forgiveness.
Imagine, God adding up the total sum of your indebtedness against Him. It’s a debt you could never pay in a million years! But, when you commit your life to Christ, God transfers the total sum of your indebtedness to the account of the Lord Jesus Christ. He must now pay the debt you owe, which He did on the cross. Then, God does something even more incredible. He adds up the total righteousness of Christ and transfers that total sum to your account (Adapted from Stuart Briscoe, “The Love That Compels,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 126; www.PreachingToday.com).
That’s the forgiveness Jesus offers to you. Just come to Him and see it for yourself. Just come and find forgiveness in Him.
Maxie Dunnam talks about counseling a bright young couple, years ago, who had everything going for them. They had the world in their hands, but they played loosely with love, and she became pregnant before they were married. Without counseling with anyone, they decided to have an abortion.
Later they married, and everything went beautifully. They were successful in their vocations. Then they decided to have children. When Maxie met them, she had been pregnant twice, but she had lost both the babies about eight or ten weeks into the pregnancy. When they came to Maxie, she was devastated with anxiety because she was carrying the third child, and she was overcome with fear that she would lose that child also.
In torrents of tears, she poured out years of guilt. It was guilt over that past sin, and fear— anguishing fear, a kind of hellish fear—that God was punishing her in the loss of her two previous children because of her past sin.
Since she had already committed her life to Christ, Maxie reminded her that God had already punished Jesus for her sin on the cross and had forgiven her and her husband. Then, out of their remorse and repentance, they claimed God’s forgiveness in Christ, renewed their commitment to him, and shut the door to that past. They were overcome with joy as God overwhelmed them with His grace (adapted from Maxie Dunnam’s sermon, I Am the Door, Preaching Today, Tape 53; www.PreachingToday.com).
You too can shut the door to your past sin and shame. Just come to Jesus and find forgiveness in Him. More than that, come to Jesus and…
FIND NEW LIFE IN HIM, as well.
Discover a new identity. Secure a transformed life when you choose to follow Jesus. That’s what Peter found.
John 1:40-41 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ) (ESV)—or the Anointed One, The King!
John 1:42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter) (ESV)—or Rock.
Peter was an impetuous, loud-mouthed fisherman with foot-in-mouth disease. In the raw, Peter could not control himself, much less lead others. Yet Jesus saw something nobody else did and transformed this uncouth, Galilean fisherman into a rock-solid leader of the Christian church.
You see, Jesus sees you not only for what you are, but for what you can be. William Barclay said, “He sees not only the actualities, but also the possibilities. And He says, ‘Come to Me, and I will make you what you have it in you to be.’”
Five years ago (2018), a Michigan couple, Kateri and Jay Schwandt, welcomed their 14th child into the world. They were hoping for a girl, because the rest were boys, but he turned out to be a boy, as well. So they named him Finley Sheboygan. Jay Explains:
My father-in-law (who also had 14 children) once told me a fable of a Native American chief who was the father of many boys; this chief was somehow convinced that their last child would be a daughter. When the last one turned out to be a boy like all the rest, they named him “Sheboygan,” short for “she's a boy again” (“Michigan couple gives 14th son creative middle name,” Business Insider, 4-20-18; www.PreachingToday.com).
You see, names are very important, especially in Bible days. They describe who you are, giving you a permanent identity. So when Jesus changes Simon’s name to “Rock,” He is changing Simon’s identity. He is describing the transformation Peter will undergo as he abides with Christ.
11 years ago (2012), the Chicago Tribune ran a story with the headline: “Living a Life Unknown.” The subhead said, “Dozens of John, Jane Does turn up yearly at Illinois police stations and hospitals. Most are identified. These 5 weren't.”
Then the article described a woman who calls herself Seven. She said she was 71 at the time and had gone by that name since 1976. She had dementia and had been in state care since 2003.
Some have names—Robert Rockefeller, Shannon Night—and others bear the last name of anonymity—Doe. But no one knows who they are.
Sometimes, though, an identity is discovered. A man they named Carlos had been a ward of the state since 1998, longer than any of the other John Does in Illinois. According to the Tribune, “He doesn't speak and likely had a stroke that caused brain damage. He uses a wheelchair and wears a medical helmet to prevent injuries. His only reaction to people is a wide smile and a giddy giggle.”
Then on November 29, 2011, the staff at the care facility where Carlos lived discovered his identity. It was his 53rd birthday, and according to the story, “That day, caretaker Azucena Herrera went to Carlos and uttered the name Crispin Mareno. The usually giggly man fell silent after hearing his real name for the first time in at least 13 years. Then tears ran down his cheek” Becky Schlikerman, “Living a Life Unknown, Chicago Tribune, 2-21-12; www.PreachingToday.com).
Tell me. Do you know your real name—not the name your parents gave you, but the name Jesus gives you?
The same author of this gospel says in one of his letters, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:1-2).
Your name is God’s Child, God’s Son, God’s Daughter. The world may not recognize it yet, but God is in the process of changing you from the inside out, so that one day you will be just like His Son, Jesus Christ.
C. S. Lewis put it this way: Christ says, "Give me all. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want you. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don't want to cut off a branch here and a branch there. I want to have the whole tree down. I don't want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think are innocent as well as the ones you think are wicked—the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you myself: my own will shall become yours” (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, HarperOne, 2001, p. 196-197; www. PreachingToday.com).
Do you seek a new name, a new identity? Then come to Jesus and find it in Him. Come to Jesus and find forgiveness in Him. Come to Jesus and find new life in Him. And finally, come to Jesus and…
FIND UNDERSTANDING IN HIM.
Discover someone who really knows you, who gets you. Secure a friend, who appreciates who you are. That’s what Nathaniel found.
John 1:43-46 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see” (ESV).
Now, Nathaniel was a real, first-class skeptic, rough around the edges, and no-doubt many people misunderstood him. To be sure, the claims of others failed to impress him. So Philip simply tells him what Jesus said to the others, “Come and see.”
John 1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” (ESV).
What you see is what you get! Nathaniel exhibited no pretense. He cared little what people thought of him, so he removed all masks.
This reminds me of an old Peanuts cartoon, in which the teacher on the first day of the new school year asks the students to write an essay about returning to class. In her essay Lucy wrote, “Vacations are nice, but it's good to get back to school. There is nothing more satisfying or challenging than education, and I look forward to a year of expanding knowledge.”
The teacher was pleased and complimented Lucy on her fine essay.
In the final frame, Lucy leans over and whispers to Charlie Brown, “After a while, you learn what sells.”
Many people have learned what sells, so they say what they think people want to hear. As a result, they sell the integrity of their souls—not Nathaniel. Jesus found no deceit, or trickery, in him.
John 1:48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you” (ESV).
The fig tree was a place of meditation and prayer. To be sure, Nathaniel presented a rough and gruff manner on the outside. But on the inside, he was a man of prayer. Jesus understood that about Nathaniel unlike anyone else. So…
John 1:49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” (ESV)
You know me like nobody else does. Therefore, You must be the Messiah, the Son of God, the King!
John 1:50-51 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (ESV).
In Genesis 28, Jacob had a dream in which he saw the angels of God ascending and descending on a ladder from earth to heaven. Well, here, we discover that Jesus is that ladder. He is the living link between heaven and earth. He is the Son of God, to be sure. Verse 49 makes that clear. But here, in verse 51, He is also the Son of Man. He is God in the flesh, who knows and understands what it’s like to be human. He is God in the flesh, who knows and understands you.
The slum district of Manila is already overcrowded, but a gold rush several years ago made it worse. It all started when 15-year-old Alfredo Gallo was combing the riverbed that runs through the Philippine capital and found a chunk of gold. His father immediately sold the nugget for about $500 and bought a television and a bicycle.
Once word got out, hundreds of people flocked to the banks of the filthy river looking for the precious metal.
Though the river is polluted and strewn with garbage, many people see it with new eyes. One village chief commented, “It is a puzzle. All we got from this before was trash” (“Gold Fever Grips Slum,” Associated Press, 10-4-04; Philippine Slum Stream Turns into Gold Rush Site10-4-04; www.PreachingToday.com).
The world looks at believers, often with their messy lives, and all they see is trash. Jesus looks at you, who believe in Him, and He sees gold! He knows you! He gets you! So stay close to Him. Abide in Him.
The Apostle Paul talks about a day when “[we] shall know fully, even as [we] have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). Jesus knows you fully and He loves you wholly. He knows your value, and He also knows your weakness and pain.
Talking about Jesus, the author of Hebrews says, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
In her book, The Fire of Your Life, Maggie Ross recounts the story of Emma, a survivor of the Holocaust, who regularly at 4 p.m. each day stood outside a Manhattan church and screamed insults at Jesus.
Finally, the pastor, Bishop C. Kilmer Myers, went outside and said to Emma, “Why don't you go inside and tell him?”
She disappeared into the church. An hour went by, and the bishop, worried, decided to look in on her. He found Emma, prostrate before the cross, absolutely still. Reaching down, he touched her shoulder. She looked up with tears in her eyes and said quietly, “After all, he was a Jew, too” (Diane Karay. Rantoul, Illinois, Leadership, Vol. 5, no.3; www.PreachingToday.com).
He had experienced her pain, and He has experienced your pain, as well. So stop railing at Him and receive Him into your life.
Come to Jesus and find forgiveness in Him. Come to Jesus and find new life in Him. Come to Jesus and find understanding in Him, as well. Come to Jesus and find everything you need.
Chris Tomlin put it this way in his song Enough. Speaking to Jesus, he writes:
All of You is more than enough for all of me
For ev'ry thirst and ev'ry need.
You satisfy me with Your love,
And all I have in You is more than enough.
Come to Jesus today and find Him to be more than enough for you!
