2012 1 15 Come and See

Come and See

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

Some may remember the movie “Unbreakable,”  from the writer and director of “The Sixth Sense.” In this movie, Bruce Willis discovers that he has a special gift, but he doesn’t yet know how to use it.

So his new friend, played by Samuel L. Jackson gives him this advice:

“Go where people are – and you’ll know what to do.”
That’s God’s advice to us too:

Go where people are – and you’ll know what to do. I’ll show you. I’ll tell you. Just make yourself available.

Go out in your garden when your neighbour is outside in his,

sit and listen when your children wants to talk,

go to the company picnic.

Just go where people are – and you’ll know what to do!

We are all in very different places when it comes to how to share our faith. We might realize that time is of the essence! But how we argue!

And to that Samuel L. Jackson says, “Go where people are – and you’ll know what to do.”

It is so simple and basic, but somehow we have made it so complicated!

This text teaches us why we have made it so difficult and why it truly is not!

Why is it simple? because Jesus is responsible, not us!

The journey begins with us coming to Jesus.

The call is to come to Jesus and when we receive the call,
God does not ask your ability or your inability.

He asks only your availability. He said to Philip Follow me – straight and simple

Hear in this Gospel is a wonderful example of someone saying to a known sceptic about something worthwhile!

When Philip found Jesus, right away he went and told a friend!

Nathanael is not Philips brother, he is a friend!
But it is interesting to see: Not only is he a friend, but he is not a willing recipient of the good news!

He is a sceptic! Now we all know plenty of sceptics.

We may well have been rebuffed by them before.

And so it is maybe not surprising that we are afraid to tell them about Jesus.

Philip went out on a limb and shared with a friend about this man called Jesus!
Notice how Philip did not defend Jesus, he just used Jesus language, “Come and See.”
So my message is we don’t have to worry about our target audience; just tell people about this one you have found and let Jesus do His work!

One thing we often forget or maybe do not know is that Jesus is unique...

This is a lovely story in the ministry of a missionary to India, Dr. E. Stanley Jones.

Jones often lectured to Hindu audiences having Hindus as chairmen of the meetings.

On one such occasion the chairman was a chief minister of state. During his introduction he said, "I shall reserve my remarks for the close of the address, for no matter what the speaker says, I will find parallel things in our own sacred books."

At the close of the meeting he was at a loss for words.

Dr. Jones had not presented "things";

he had presented a person, Jesus Christ; and that person was not found in their sacred books.

As someone has put it, "Christ is the crisis of all religion."
 

When you meet Jesus, you will never be the same.
Simon meet Jesus and he was renamed “The Rock.”
When you meet Jesus, He pulls out all your potential and you become who you really want to be.
Jesus alone can change you and others!
But Jesus can defend himself!

Often we are so afraid to tell others, because they might not believe and will argue with us about just who Jesus is.
Philip had the answer, I will not answer you, “Come and See (verse 46).”

When we bring others to Jesus, he alone can change them!
Verses 47-49 tell the story! NOTICE THE RESULTS. THIS IS NOT BASED ON WHAT PHILIP SAID, BUT ON WHAT JESUS SAID!
“Then Nathanael declared, ‘rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.’”
Jesus alone can change a heart!
Jesus will be seen for who HE is!

We cannot hide who Jesus is!
He will reveal himself to us, to all who believe on his name.
It is not ours to explain it all, but to call others to “Come and See.”
When we do and they respond, they “shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man (verse 51).”

Historian Philip Schaff described the overwhelming influence which Jesus had on subsequent history and culture of the world:

“This Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon;

without science…he shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined;

without the eloquence of schools, he spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet;

without writing a single line, he set more pens in motion and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times.”

We are all on a Journey.

Some of you have come to Jesus.

Some of you are trapped at stage one, coming to Jesus. And for some reason, disappointment in the past, thoughts that it is others who have that job to bring people to Jesus, not me. Whatever…and don’t think evangelism is for them Some are maybe experiencing bringing others to Jesus, but are trapped with trying to change them!

So let me leave you with these thoughts:

I have told you this before but the single most common reason for people coming to church is because they are invited by a friend.

So don’t be discouraged by past rebuffs, don’t take on the responsibility that it is all up to you. It isn’t. It is up to Jesus. If he can transform Nathaniel in his most sceptical he can do it for others.

As Robert Louis Stevenson once remarked:

We do not need to judge each day by the harvest we reap, but by the seeds we plant."

Around the corner I have a friend, 
In this great city that has no end,
Yet the days go by and weeks rush on,
And before I know it, a year is gone.
And I never see my old friend’s face,
For life is a swift and terrible race,
He knows I like him just as well,
As in the days when I rang his bell.
And he rang mine if, we were younger then,
And now we are busy, tired men.
Tired of playing a foolish game,
Tired of trying to make a name.
"Tomorrow" I say "I will call on Jim" "
Just to show that I’m thinking of him.
"But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,
And distance between us grows and grows.
Around the corner! -yet miles away,
"Here’s a telegram, sir." "Jim died today."
And that’s what we get and deserve in the end.
Around the corner, a vanished friend.

Remember to always say what you mean.If you love someone, tell them. Don’t be afraid to express yourself. Reach out and tell someone what they mean to you. Because when you decide that it is the right time it might be too late. Seize the day. Never have regrets. Be bold ask someone you know to church or to come to the Alpha course on Thursday evenings.