Epiphany 2A
John 1:29-42
Let me begin by asking you all a question. How
many of you want to be an evangelist? Hmm, not many, huh?… Well I have a hunch
why. My guess is that that the word “evangelist” does not have a positive
connotation for most of us. Many of us have had negative experiences with
evangelists. Maybe it’s because we don’t like someone trying to convert us. Or
maybe you were downright hurt or offended by someone forcing their religion on
you, because it was done in a hateful or judgmental way. Friends of ours have a
7-year-old who recently had such an experience. Five of his classmates told him
at lunch that he needed to buy Bibles for his parents for their birthdays, and
then added that he was going to hell because he didn’t believe in God. Second
graders! That probably wasn’t the most effective way to share the good news of
Jesus Christ with a classmate.
I’m sure you have your own stories
that make you want to run the other way from that word, “evangelist” – and
having some negative experiences myself, I don’t blame you! But our Gospel
lesson today gives us a different look at what it means to be an evangelist.
First of all, let’s understand what
that word even means. “Evangelism” comes from the Greek word for “good news.”
Hence an evangelist is one who tells good news to someone else, and
specifically the good news about Jesus Christ. So in that sense, the children
at our young friend’s lunch table weren’t evangelists at all, because even
though they may have thought their intentions were good, they packaged Jesus as
bad, hateful news.
Okay, now with that understanding in
mind, let’s look at our Gospel text and see what we can learn from it about how
to be evangelists.
The first example we see is John the
Baptist. What is he doing there in the first half of this passage? … First he
points out Jesus, calling him “the Lamb of God,” and adds, “This is the guy I
was telling you about.” Then he talks about him in relation to his own story
and experience. “All this baptizing I’m doing – that was so you could know this
guy.” And then he tells a story about him: “I didn’t know him before, but I’ll
tell you what, what he was baptized the Holy Spirit came on him like a dove and
stayed there. I saw it with my own eyes! God said that would happen to the Anointed
one, and it happened to this guy, so that’s how I know he is legit.”
Well that formula isn’t so hard, is
it? First he points to him, then makes a connection with the people he’s
talking to. Then he connects further with the listener by telling a personal
story. This whole little speech he gives – it isn’t fire and brimstone, it
isn’t judgmental. It is simply telling stories, and hence, building a relationship.
And so evangelism, too, is telling stories – sharing with someone about when
you were maybe having a hard time, and what got you through was an experience
you had with Jesus, or with the church.
So that’s one model of evangelism. The
next example of how to be an evangelist comes from Jesus himself. This is the
day after John’s little speech, and he’s talking to some guys and there walks
Jesus. “Psst,” says John, “There he is again – the Lamb of God!” Well, the two
men had been mulling over the story John had told the day before, and now they
saw their chance to learn more and see for themselves. They follow Jesus for a
while. Finally, Jesus turns around, sees them, and asks them, “What are you
looking for?”
This response from Jesus has
intrigued me all week. First of all, that John the Gospel-writer specifies that
Jesus first saw them. That is really
the first step in evangelism, isn’t it? To see
the person or people you are talking to. Not to assume you know something about
them and foist what you presume their need is upon them. But to see them, to
behold, to take in who they are… and then, to ask: “What are you looking for?”
If it were me being followed, I’d have asked, “Why are you following me?” or,
“What do you want?” But these questions are more accusatory, aren’t they?
Jesus’ question strikes me as a much more inviting question, asking them to
share a piece of themselves. “What are you looking for?” Really, who is not
searching for something? We’re looking for peace, for love, for resolution, for
focus, for companionship, for guidance, for forgiveness… There is always
something we are looking for.
And Jesus knows this. So instead of
launching into a sermon or a lesson he thinks they should know, the first thing
he does is see these two men, and
invite them into a conversation. In fact, he doesn’t preach to them at all that
day – instead he invites them to “come and see.” Come hang out at my house for
the afternoon, he says, and we’ll get to know each other. Let’s build a relationship.
And then this next part is
remarkable. These two men are so taken with their encounter with Jesus that
they want to tell other people about it. So Andrew goes to tell his brother
Simon about Jesus, and brings him to see. And this is perhaps the most
effective type of evangelism of all: inviting! Think about this: when was the
last time you went to something new all by yourself, without having seen it
before or having heard anything about it? I can think of a handful of times I
have done this, but even as a well-adjusted extrovert, I don’t like doing it. For
example, I have been meaning to go play pick-up volleyball at Hot Shots ever
since I moved here, but I never have. I think, “What if I don’t know anyone, or
I’m dressed wrong, or I don’t know where to park, or it’s terrible and I have
no way out, or I don’t know how I’m supposed to act and everyone will know I
don’t know what I’m doing, that I don’t belong there?” If I knew there would be
even one other person there that I knew, especially one person who had been
before and whose lead I could follow, I would go. But I’m too scared and uncomfortable
to go alone.
If I feel this way about volleyball,
just think how someone who hadn’t been to church in years, or maybe had never
been, might feel about just walking through the door one day by their own
volition? And what a difference it would make to be invited, and to know even
just one other person there?
Did you
notice that we know the name of one of the two men, Andrew, but the guy with
him doesn’t seem to have a name? Perhaps that is so that we can put ourselves
in that place. Having had an encounter with Jesus, we are in a position to
invite, to be that one person someone knows, that one person that makes it safe
to try going to church. So how do we go about inviting? We can follow the
examples of John, Jesus, and Andrew: think about why it is meaningful to you to
be a part of this church, and then engage in a conversation with someone,
building a relationship. Have you ever thought about why you come to church
here? Take a moment right now to think about it, and then tell your neighbor:
what is something you love about your church, something you think is worth
sharing with someone else. …
You see, it
isn’t hard! If you can do it here, you can do it out there. If you can think of
one reason your church is good news to you, you can think of two. If you have
one experience with Jesus that leaves you feeling better than you would have
without him, you can tell someone else about it. Just as Jesus invites people
to “come and see” what he is about, we are called to do the same.
Let us pray…
God of grace, you saw us and invited us
into life with you. Give us the courage to do the same, so that more people
might come to know your love. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the
Holy Spirit. Amen.
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