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Monday, January 17, 2005
Come and See
If our dream wish of knowing the future ever came true, I suspect we'd spend a lot of time hiding under the covers tucked in a fetal position. Who really wants to foresee all that life has in store?! Simple hindsight is rough enough on the ego and conscience.
So I think the two men who tentatively trail behind Jesus in John 1:35-42 are blessed not to know all that lies ahead. For now, it's enough to be intrigued by this new prophetic personality and want to see where he'll lead them.
He turns, looks them in the eye, and asks, "What are you looking for?"
Stopped short by surprise, they blurt out, "Where are you staying?"
Not the most eloquent theology in the Bible. Truth be told, it's disappointing -- to us and most likely to this pair as well.
But a closer look suggests it's a profound exchange.
First of all, everybody some day or other has to answer Jesus' question. U2 cried out for many of us, "I still haven't found what I'm looking for." Far from a romantic lament, this one is spiritual. (That's transparently clear in the version on "Rattle and Hum," backed up by a Harlem gospel choir.)
And then, in St. John's vocabulary the verb "staying" isn't about an address -- like, "Can we find you tonight at the Motel 6? Holiday Inn? Maybe Embassy Suites?" No, for John it always means "abiding" -- settling in, residing, staying for the long haul. (See John 15, where Jesus is the vine, his disciples the branches; to bear spiritual fruit they must abide in him and he in them -- the life juice of God's Spirit free to flow uninterrupted.)
So I think these two guys were on the right track. They needed to know where the center was for Jesus. They also needed to know it was he they were searching for more than anything else in all the world.
Once that was settled, they were off and running. So was the whole gospel story according to John, as well as Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. A preacher's son, he knew from childhood that he was called to follow Jesus wherever the road would take him. And he couldn't have had a clue about the worldwide impact his discipleship would have. Or about his own martyrdom. All he knew was he wanted to see and stay with Jesus Christ.
Mother Teresa, growing up a nice Catholic girl in Albania or wherever it was, had no way of anticipating she'd one day win the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in Calcutta with the poor dying lowest of the low. All she meant to do was to see and stay close to Jesus.
Like the two men in John's gospel, like these two contemporary saints, you and I have the capacity to transform countless lives. Doubt me, do you?
Then think about the stories we love to tell. Of a Sunday school teacher when we were six. An English professor in college. That uncle or aunt who made us know we were important even if little, shushed or ignored by the rest. Each of these good folks did their part to change our lives for the better.
So, two short questions. Who knows or wants to know all the details packed into their answers? But each one demands our close attention.
Taking the time to hear them now could change the contours of human history. If that's too grandiose, try this: It will definitely change the course of your one life -- and every life you touch.
posted by Jack Buckley at
1:05 PM
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