January 15, 2023

 Here is a Gospel that asks way more questions than it answers, and in that way is completely delightful and frustrating at the same time.  Because of its questions, it invites us into discipleship and on this journey of faith with Jesus.  If all our questions were answered, we might decide we’re finished, that we’ve arrived.  But no, Jesus by giving us questions and invitation is so much like our favorite teacher growing up who when we asked questions didn’t explain everything to us, but said, “Come and see” and showed us and let us explore until we could answer the question for ourselves.

          We’re here at the Gospel of John’s baptism of Jesus, although it doesn’t actually say he was baptized.  Last week we got Matthew’s first words of Jesus in his Gospel all about righteousness.  We know that anyone’s first words are especially important to pay attention to.  They become a sort of introduction and tell us a lot about the author’s view of who this character is.  This week, we get John’s first words of Jesus, which are, “What are you looking for?”  Ooooh!  Jesus starts out with a question!  Jesus starts out by making us search our hearts for our own expectations, our own needs, our lack, our direction, our bias.  This question causes us to look within and ask ourselves what we are looking for.

          This is a very good question to ask at many times in our lives—at our baptism for starters.  We should ask this when we’re looking for a life partner, or not, when we’re looking for a job, when we’re making important decisions about buying a house or having a child.  This is a good question at retirement. 

“What are you looking for?” is a good question to know of ourselves about our own philosophy in life.  We know people who are always looking for flaws in others or who like to stir the pot and get everyone excited.  We often see what we want to see, what we have been in the practice of seeing.  That’s one very exciting thing that happens when a youngster comes into your life.  All of a sudden, you see what has been there all along, but you weren’t looking for.  Curiosity and hope enters more into our awareness because of the new eyes we’re looking through because of the influence of youngsters.

What are you looking for?  We can follow the characters in the story and notice what they are looking for at different points.  John the Baptist is looking for a lamb.  He’s been expecting someone to come with fire and a winnowing fork and he finds this gentle, humble lamb.  He finds one who will become the sacrifice, but also the lamb for the Israelites who put the blood over their doors, ate the lamb and it became sustenance for their journey.  The lamb gave them energy to gather up their things and cross the Red Sea and begin their life in the wilderness learning how to trust God.  John is looking for sustenance for the journey.  Maybe Jesus is the energy and inspiration and sustenance we need to get started on our life of following him, if we’re willing to see him that way.

The disciples are looking for learning.  They see a teacher and they call Jesus that.  Jesus doesn’t sit them down and give them all the answers, because as we all know, that isn’t the way the life of faith works.  Faith is not something you can pass a written test about or learn from a book.  Faith is about action and so Jesus extends an invitation to those who are looking to learn to begin this journey and see where Jesus stays.

We should ask ourselves too, fairly often, what are you looking for?  Are we looking for answers—probably should look somewhere else.  Are we looking for wealth or notoriety?  Better not use Jesus to build ourselves up.  Are we looking to be humbled?  Are we looking for community?  Are we looking for meaning and purpose?  Those things cannot be arrived at quickly—they require faith and patience and sustenance.

As we begin looking for what is lasting and good, we get invited on a journey with Jesus.  We get invited to go to places and people that can help us see what is important in life.  We get invited to a majestic temple and told that it will fall down.  We get invited to hear a lot of other people’s questions—like Nicodemus trying to find his way to Jesus, like the Samaritan woman at the well trying to find her way back into community, like the sick man by the pool, looking for healing and restoration.  I love the questions in John, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?”  “Where do I find this living water?”  “How can anyone who is born re-enter the womb and be born again?”  Jesus invites all of these people on a journey to learn.  That’s what disciples are—learners, students.  I love when I look up in my Greek translation and I see there, the learners did this, the learners asked that—that’s what disciples are—learners, and they never graduate.  They are learning on the plain, on the mountaintop, when they fail at healing, in the garden of Gethsemane, as the cock crows, at the foot of the cross, in the upper room, and as they bid farewell and take on the responsibilities of sharing their stories.  We, too, are Disciples, learners and we get to ask questions and make mistakes and learn on our journey with Jesus.

Here is another question, “Where are you staying?” The learners are asking the teacher, Jesus.  To stay is to remain.  The word remain is all over this reading.  The Holy Spirit descends and remains.  It doesn’t just touch him for a second, but it stays, showing that Jesus is the Holy One, the Messiah.  Where the Holy Spirit remains is where the disciples want to remain.  They stick together.  Where does Jesus remain?  He remains with the poor, the sick, the grieving, the hungry, the castoffs, the foreigners, the prisoners and criminals.  If the disciples want to remain with Jesus, then they will be remaining with all these folks, too.  We, as Jesus’ learners, his disciples, his students, our classroom is among the forgotten and despised.  That is where we remain.

Simon and Andrew and Cephas all become Jesus’ disciples in this story, to learn from Jesus and follow him and what is going to be taught to them is how to love the world, how to bless the world, how to shine God’s brilliant light into the world.  These disciples knew there were no easy answers.  They knew what it was to struggle.  They knew the mysteries of the sea and land since they were fishermen.  They knew disease and family strife and poverty.  So when they got a glimpse of that light and love of Jesus, they were ready to follow. 

On those boats they had dreamed of a better day, a more just world, an education that would take them to unexpected corners, a journey that would last all their lives.  They longed for that promise of old to come true, that all the families of the earth would be blessed, that all people would know they are all of value, that there would be peace and unity and forgiveness, that all wars would cease and tears be dried and everyone would have the food they need and no one would have too much.  So when they saw Jesus coming, they were ready to follow, not knowing where this journey would take them but trusting Jesus to be their teacher.

Jesus is our teacher, too.  We don’t just learn and benefit from his death, but we learn from his life.  Where he goes, we go, too, even hard places to go.  The people he loves and blesses, we do, too, and we find ourselves among the blessed, even when we suffer for our faith maybe even especially when we do. 

This story won’t end with the answers to all our questions or all tied up with a nice ribbon.  This story goes on in each of us and is passed on to our youngsters to take it up and carry it forward and to continue to ask the questions and be life-long learners and followers of Jesus.  The life of faith is messy.  It can be frustrating and complicated, but it’s real and it’s meaningful and there’s a lot of variety.  Bring your curiosity, your questions, your dissatisfaction with how things are and your longing for the world that Jesus promises, the Kingdom of God is near, at hand, with us now.