What Are You Seeking?

The Second Sunday after Epiphany
January 14-15, 2017
John 1:29-42

“What Are You Seeking?”

Here we are, a couple of weeks into the new year, and we may find ourselves wondering how this new year will unfold. Will it be a year of setbacks and disappointments, or will it be a year of happiness and good things? What are you seeking in this new year? That’s the question Jesus asked those two disciples of John who started following him in today’s Gospel lesson: “What are you seeking?” (John 1:38). What are you looking for? What do you want? What are you after? Today, as we begin our Epiphany focus of Serving Jesus – Living in Community, Being SJLC 2017, we will focus this through the lens of “It’s All About Jesus!” And, of course, it is all about Jesus. If it isn’t, and it becomes all about us, then there’s a problem somewhere. Our congregation, our gathering, our discipling, our managing, our inviting, our joining Jesus on his mission, really is all about Jesus today, tomorrow, and all the days of this new year, and for all time. With these things in mind, the theme for today’s message, based on the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel lesson, are “What Are You Seeking?” May the Lord’s rich and abundant blessing rest upon the preaching, the hearing, and the living of his Word for Jesus’ sake.

Jesus’ question is a good one! The two disciples of John the Baptist suddenly shift their alliance from John to Jesus. After John said about Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God!” (John 1:29), those two peel off and start following Jesus. They are seeking. Exactly what they are seeking, they probably don’t even know for sure. And so Jesus asks this clarifying question: What are you seeking? This may seem like a big “duh” question to us. But we look at this from the perspective of knowing how this whole narrative turns out: Jesus’ life and ministry, his suffering, death, and resurrection, dying and rising for our salvation. But those early disciples didn’t understand this. In the course of his earthly ministry, Jesus asked such clarifying questions, including blind Bartimaeus (Matthew 20:29-34; Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-43). On his way into Jerusalem, Jesus passed by this blind man, who cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus had Bartimaeus brought to him, and then asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” Isn’t that a big “duh” question? Isn’t it obvious? The blind man wants to see again, of course! But that clarifying question is very important. What is it that you want? Strange as it may seem, not everyone who has an illness or malady wants to be healed. Not everyone wants to be whole. Not everyone knows what they are seeking. Hence, Jesus’ question: “What are you seeking?”

What are you seeking this day here in the house of the Lord? Do you know? Like Bartimaeus, is it healing and new life? Is it forgiveness and restoration? Is it comfort and peace? Is it strength and courage? Whatever need we may have, whatever circumstance may be before us, it is all about Jesus. All of these needs, all of these circumstances, point us to Jesus, who is the Light of the world (John 8:12). But how often do we insist on going it alone! How often do we try to do a self-help fix on ourselves: “I got this, God. I’ll handle it.” Sometimes we may be too proud to admit that we need help – God’s help. Sometimes we may be too ashamed of something and think that God won’t help us because He’s angry with us. Sometimes we may think that God doesn’t care at all about what’s going on in my life. These are things that we feel, but our feelings are not always an accurate barometer of how God feels toward us. We must see what God has said to us in his written Word, the Scriptures, and through this, what the living Word, the Word-made-flesh, Jesus, God’s Son, says to us. And what the written Word, as well as the Word-made-flesh, says to us, is this: “Behold the Lamb of God” (John 1:29) – the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world – your sin and my sin. The Lamb of God who has come to bear our griefs and carry our sorrows; the Lamb of God who was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities; by whose wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:4-5). No matter where we’ve been in life or what we have been seeking, the good news is that Jesus has come to seek us – not to condemn, but to forgive. Whether we know it or not, this is what we are seeking, and it is all about Jesus.

In the midst of our congregation’s Epiphany focus of Serving Jesus – Living in Community, what are you seeking? What are you looking for through this for yourself, for your fellow believers, and for those in the community around us? There are some unique opportunities in the week ahead that may help answer this question. Today, we have the opportunity to do good in Jesus’ Name through something called “500 for S.O.M.E.” After the 10:45AM service this weekend, we’ll trek over to St. Mark’s Lutheran Church on Backlick Road in Springfield to make 500 sandwiches (in honor of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017) to help feed the homeless through So Others Might Eat (http://some.org), an organization in Washington, D.C., that helps feed the hungry and shelter the homeless. This is something that all ages can help do, and while we’re there, we’ll learn about how we can assist with the Hypothermia Shelter hosted by St. Mark’s the first week of February. It really is all about Jesus! We’ll be commissioning our Haiti Servant Team at the 10:45AM service this morning, sending them forth with prayer to serve in Jesus’ Name in Haiti January 18-24. Please pick up a copy of the prayer tent to pray for the team each day. It really is all about Jesus! And at the end of this week on Friday evening, we’ll welcome our much-anticipated refugee family as they arrive. Help is needed on Friday during the day to get their apartment ready for their arrival. You can sign up to help at the Welcome Center in the Narthex. It really is all about Jesus! Whatever good we are permitted to do, it’s not about us; it’s all about Jesus. As He came to love and serve others, that is our same calling today.

I’d like to go back to the opening words of this sermon: we may be wondering how this new year will unfold. With Inauguration Day coming next Friday, January 20, what will our president-elect and his administration look like? How will not only the year ahead, but the next four years unfold for our nation under our new president? What will the future hold for us? Regardless of where we stand on the political spectrum, regardless of what our party affiliation may be, the Word of God is clear to us as Christian citizens of this nation in which we live: we are called to pray for our elected and appointed leaders (Romans 13:1-7; Titus 3:1; 1 Peter 2:13-17, 3:13). We may not like them; we may not agree with them; we may be opposed to what they stand for. But if Paul the apostle can encourage Christian believers in the first century to pray for and be subject to the state – and this would have been the Roman Empire under Nero! – then we are called to do the same in our own generation. As Christian citizens of this nation, we are to be Jesus’ hands, and feet, and mouth. What are you seeking? Paul tells the young pastor, Titus, what we should be seeking in this regard: “Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people” (Titus 3:1). If as Christian citizens, we are seeking these things, then the Lord will indeed be glorified in us and through us. If we are seeking these things, then people will be blessed, rather than cursed. If we are seeking these things, the year ahead will, by God’s grace, truly be a year of grace and blessing for us all.

May God make it so for Jesus’ sake. Amen.