Last month, we moved back to Chesapeake, and I began a new appointment as the Associate Pastor at Haygood UMC in Virginia Beach. I'm having a wonderful time: it's a fantastic church with amazing people, and the staff, especially the Lead Pastor, is pretty awesome.
Sunday was my first time preaching solo, and here's the sermon I preached at all three services.
Rev. Patti Money
Haygood UMC
John 1:35-42
July 13, 2014
“Come and See: Brought to Jesus”
Have you ever been so excited about someone or something that you couldn’t help sharing it with other people, inviting them to be a part of that same experience? When we discover something amazing and wonderful, we can’t keep it to ourselves; we can’t help but share our experience with others.
On the southern tip of the Eastern Shore, in the tiny bayside town of Cape Charles, is an ice cream parlor by the name of Brown Dog Ice Cream. It’s in its third season of business, and despite being new in town, has become incredibly successful. The owner is a fantastic businesswoman, the atmosphere in the shop is great, and the employees are friendly. Those have all undoubtedly contributed to Brown Dog’s success, but the main reason Brown Dog Ice Cream has become an overnight success is that the ice cream they make is absolutely delicious. The ice cream is homemade in small batches, using the freshest ingredients, and while they always have “normal” flavors like chocolate and vanilla, they also have creative flavors, such as blueberry cheesecake and salted caramel. When you taste Brown Dog Ice Cream, you experience ice cream as you never have before. It’s creamy, full of flavor, and fresh. As a result, people both on and off the Shore continue to flock to Brown Dog, continue to bring their friends and family to Brown Dog, and to share positive reviews on social media. The message they are sending is clear: I am so excited about this ice cream that I can’t keep it to myself. I want you to experience it, too. Come and see.
Last summer, two travelers wound up with a longer-than-expected layover at Norfolk Airport. They had never been to the Eastern Shore of Virginia, so they decided to rent a car and explore the Shore. They drove across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, stopped at the Eastern Shore Welcome Center, and asked the employee there for recommendations of what they could do and where they could go. They were, essentially, looking for an amazing experience. The employee told them to go into Cape Charles, and stop in at Brown Dog Ice Cream, because he had been there, and said it was the best ice cream around. So, the travelers got back into their rental car, drove 10 miles or so, made a left at the first traffic light on the Shore, and headed into the bayside town of Cape Charles. They parked outside Brown Dog Ice Cream, went in, and ordered some chocolate ice cream. Just like thousands of people before them, as they tasted Brown Dog Ice Cream, as they enjoyed the cool, creamy goodness of ice cream on a hot summer’s day, they were so excited that they felt compelled to share their experience, and invite others to experience Brown Dog. So, they posted a review on TripAdvisor.com, which is a web site where people can post reviews of restaurants and hotels. In the review, they raved about how delicious the chocolate ice cream from Brown Dog Ice Cream tasted, and said that it was the best ice cream they’d ever had. As a result of that review, other people who were traveling up and down the Eastern Shore that day stopped in at Brown Dog Ice Cream and most of them ordered a cup or cone of chocolate ice cream. By the end of the day, Miriam, the owner of Brown Dog Ice Cream, had not only had a banner sales day, but had run out of chocolate ice cream. All because one person…the employee at the Welcome Center, shared his experience of Brown Dog ice cream with two travelers and told them how they could have the same experience. In turn, the two travelers shared, via the Internet, their experience with Brown Dog ice cream, and invited others to “come and see.”
The people of the Eastern Shore were looking for a place that would sell delicious ice cream, that would bring the community together, that would remind them of the innocence of childhood and the carefree days of summer. They found that experience in Brown Dog Ice Cream, and that experience is what has driven them, both natives and tourists alike, to bring others to Brown Dog Ice Cream, to share about it on social media, to tell everyone the know to “come and see…come and experience ice cream in a way you never have before.”
When we experience something, or someone, amazing and wonderful, we can’t keep the experience to ourselves; we can’t help but share our experience with others, and invite them to be a part of the same experience. We can’t help but invite others to “come and see”.
That’s what we see happening in today’s scripture reading. Jesus passes by, and John the Baptist, who is standing there with two of his disciples, immediately points out who Jesus is…the Lamb of God. John and his disciples were Jews, and John’s use of the phrase, “the Lamb of God” signified that Jesus was their Messiah, the one sent by God to save the world. So Andrew, along with another one of John’s disciples, followed Jesus, and had an encounter with Jesus that changed his life. He experienced God in a way that he never had before. He had found the Messiah; the promised savior of Israel, the anointed One of God. When Andrew realized that he was in the presence of someone whom he, and his people, have been waiting for and hoping for, when he realized that he had found the One that he had been looking for all his life, he couldn’t keep this discovery, this experience, to himself; he had to share it. So, Andrew went to his brother, Simon, told him that he had found the Messiah, shared his experience, and brought Simon to Jesus, so Simon could come and see…come and experience Jesus for himself. When Andrew encountered Jesus, he experienced God’s love in such an amazing way that he was changed, and he was so excited about his experience that he had to share it with his brother, had to invite Simon to come with him, so he too could have an encounter with Jesus., so Simon could find who he had been looking for. Andrew’s excitement was so apparent, that of course his brother followed him, allowed himself to be brought to Jesus, and experienced God in a way he never had before.
The people of Israel were looking for the Messiah…they were looking for the Chosen One of God, and they found him in Jesus. The disciples were not captivated by what Jesus was wearing…or where Jesus may have been staying…or even where Jesus was going. They were captivated by Jesus himself, because in Jesus they experienced God in a way they never had before. They experienced God’s love, grace, and power in a way they never had before. They saw themselves as God saw them; as beautiful and beloved children, no matter what their past or present held. They saw their hopeful future: who they could become if they allowed God to transform them. That experience is what drove them to find their family, their friends, their neighbors, and bring them to Jesus, saying “come and see for yourself the one that I’ve been talking about. Come and experience God like you never have before. Come and find what you’ve been looking for.”
People experience Brown Dog Ice Cream because they’ve heard about it from someone else…someone who has already experienced it, and shared that experience. John the Baptist knew that Jesus was the Messiah because he had spent his whole life knowing that his role was to prepare the way for Jesus, to point others to Jesus. He told Andrew and the other disciple, and many others, that Jesus was the One they were looking for. Andrew followed Jesus, experienced God through Him, and ran to tell his brother, Simon that he had found the Messiah…to come and see Jesus. He brought Simon to Jesus so Simon could experience Jesus for himself.
People are still looking for Jesus…they are seeking meaning, seeking redemption, seeking significance…seeking to experience God as they never have before. People are still needing to see themselves as God sees them: beautiful and beloved, no matter what their past or present looks like. They still need to see a hopeful future; to see themselves as God sees them, to see who God is calling them to be. People…whether that’s you, me, or those who have yet to walk through the doors of this church…are looking for Jesus.
Most of us in this room would consider ourselves Christians; those who have found Jesus and are devoting our lives to follow him. Take a moment, and remember how you were brought to Jesus. Maybe you, like me, were brought to Jesus by your parents or grandparents: you grew up in a Christian home, grew up attending church every Sunday, and as you became an adult, naturally but intentionally chose to follow Jesus. Or maybe you did not grow up with a faith background, but someone…a friend, a roommate, a mentor, your spouse…brought you to church, to a Bible study, to an event…brought you to Jesus. Even if you simply woke up one day and felt a desire to search for truth, to search for redemption, to search for Jesus, at some point someone planted a seed in your heart that the Holy Spirit brought to fruition.
We are all here because someone shared their experience with us, someone invited us to come and see Jesus for ourself, someone invited us to experience Jesus, and we did. We experienced God’s love, grace, and power in a way we never had before. We saw ourselves as God sees us; as beautiful and beloved children, no matter what our past or present holds. We saw our hopeful future: who we could become if we allow God to transform us.
When we experience something, or someone, amazing and wonderful, we can’t keep the experience to ourselves; we can’t help but share our experience with others, and invite them to be a part of the same experience. We can’t help but invite others to “come and see”.
People are still looking for Jesus…they are looking to experience God…and even after only three weeks here, I know that God has done, is doing, and will do, amazing things here at Haygood UMC. For 182 years, God has been drawing people to this corner of Virginia Beach and has transformed countless lives. God is calling us to continue that legacy, to continue sharing what God has done in our life, what God is doing in our church, what God is doing in our world. People are still looking for Jesus…and the only way they will find what they’re looking for is if we…and I’m talking about all of us, because for 2,000 years the Gospel has been shared by ordinary, normal people…share our experience of love, grace, and redemption with others, and invite them to “come and see” how they can experience Jesus.
Ushers have baskets with invitation cards…have information about our worship times, our contact information, even a picture of Oliver Chapel. I’m asking you to do three things. First: grab a handful of cards. Take as many as you want; we have 5,000 of them, so there’s plenty to go around. Second, pray, and ask God to show you who might be waiting for you to bring them to Jesus. Third, give these cards out as you feel led…to the family member who is looking for a spiritual home, to the friend who is seeking answers and not finding them, to the neighbor who just moved to the area…You don’t have to give them a sermon or do anything complicated. You don’t need to pressure them to make them feel guilty. Simply share your excitement and invite them to come and see what God is doing at Haygood.
People are looking for Jesus…and most new Christians say that they were brought to Jesus because someone invited them to worship. However, research shows that only 2% of regular church attenders have invited someone to worship in the past year. Imagine what could happen…imagine what God could do…imagine that lives that would be transformed…if everyone here invited someone to worship next week, and every week after that.
Are you excited about what God is doing in your life? Are you excited about what God is doing here at Haygood? I hope so! Don’t keep your excitement to yourself; take a bunch of cards, and invite others to “come and see”.
