A Sermon
Presented by Rev. Merlin T. Batt
Intentional Interim Pastor
St. Matthew’s United Church of Christ
Maiden, North Carolina
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
January 20, 2008

Scripture Lesson: John 1:29-42
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Teaching is a noble profession. To a great extent, our lives take the shape they do because of the effect teachers have had upon us. I am confident that each of you right now could name several or more teachers in elementary and middle school, high school and beyond, who have left their mark upon your life.

If our context and time allowed, I would ask you to say their names and a word about each one. But, of course, we don’t have that luxury here this morning. However, if you will allow me a moment of personal privilege here at the outset of my sermon, I will mention some names of teachers who have shaped my life profoundly – McLaughlin, Horpel, Ambrose, Beck, Sinclair, Peterson, and Wright.

I’d like to tell you about each one and the effect he or she had on me, but I must restrain myself. I will tell you briefly about one teacher, my English teacher, Mrs. McLaughlin, who, were she living today, would be shocked to know that she helped me to understand the Gospel. And of course, I know you’re here today not to hear about me, or about my teachers, but about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you’ll be patient with me, I assure you that is where I’m headed.

Mrs. McLaughlin taught 7th grade English at Sudbrook Junior High in Pikesville, Maryland. In those days we had junior highs (grades 7 through 9), not middle schools. Because of her reputation, rising seventh graders lived in fear of Mrs. McLaughlin, fear of going to Sudbrook one day and being assigned to her 7th grade English classroom.

Her appearance was severe – a tall, thin women who seldom cracked a smile. Her hair was always wrapped tightly in a bun. Her stare could wilt a flower. Mrs. McLaughlin was strict all the time, demanding of her students’ attention, obedience, and performance. There was no “down time” in her classroom. She was all business, all the time!

I was one of the lucky ones who got Mrs. McLaughlin for 7th grade English. I say “lucky” not only in the ironic sense, but also in the sense that she was the best, as I came to understand years later! She taught me how a sentence is constructed. I don’t know if English teachers still make their students diagram sentences, but after a short time in her classroom, I could diagram a sentence in my sleep. Subjects and predicates, adjectives and adverbs, conjunctions and prepositional phrases – I could connect them all up in a complicated diagram and get it right, except for an occasional dangling modifier. Until then, homework assignments and tests came back covered with her corrections and sharp comments recorded in bold, red ink.

Well, after Mrs. McLaughlin taught me how to write a sentence, she proceeded to teach me how to write a paragraph. I can hear her say even now, “The first sentence of a paragraph is the subject sentence. Everything that follows the first sentence must be connected to it thematically.” This took a while to sink in. Lots of red ink was spilled in getting that notion into my head and hand, but once it did, writing a paragraph, then writing an essay, then writing a term paper, then writing a sermon, became easier, sometimes even pleasurable.

You are surely wondering by this time how all this relates to the Gospel. So let me tell you. Having learned from Mrs. McLaughlin how to write, much later in life I began looking at the four Gospels with her principles of composition in mind. That is to say, since each of the Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – is about Jesus, I looked for the very first sentence which Jesus speaks in each Gospel as a clue to understanding what the author wants us to know about Jesus. After all, the first sentence should be the “subject sentence.” From it, everything else should follow, just like from the subject sentence of a paragraph. At least, that’s what Mrs. McLaughlin taught me.  Now let me share with you the result of my search.

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus’ first recorded words are spoken to John the Baptist as the two meet at the Jordan River. You may recall this story was the preaching text for last week’s sermon. In the story, John insists that he ought not to baptize Jesus, but that Jesus should baptize him.   Here follows Jesus’ first recorded word in Matthew’s Gospel. Do you remember what it is? “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” So that it becomes anchored in our memory, would you say these first words of Jesus following me?

“Let it be so now;
 for it is proper
for us in this way
to fulfill all righteousness.”

Remember now, according to Mrs. McLaughlin, the first sentence sets the organizing theme for what follows. So, apparently, what Matthew wants us to know about Jesus is that He is the obedient Son of God who is committed to doing all that God requires of Him, even when it goes against the grain of what others expect, or need, or want. You see how it works?

Let’s see what Mark, the writer of the next Gospel in line, wants us to know about Jesus. What we find there is Jesus going from village to village preaching about the coming kingdom of God. And these are Jesus’ first words in Mark’s Gospel: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” Again, say them following me,

“The time is fulfilled,
and the kingdom of God has come near;
repent and believe in the good news.”

If Mrs. McLaughlin is right, Mark’s placing these words as the first words of Jesus in his Gospel alerts us that the author wants us to understand Jesus in the light of his central message – a message about the kingdom of God. That is, God’s kingly rule is breaking in upon the kingdoms of this world and demanding change in the way people live with one another before God. Are you getting the hang of it now?

Let’s take a look at the third Gospel, Luke. For this one I want you to remember the story about the time Jesus’ family took him to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. At this time Jesus was a young teenager, barely 12 years old. The family spent several days in the crowded city celebrating Passover. Then Mary and Joseph and their kids left the city to return home to Nazareth, but they didn’t realize Jesus wasn’t among them.

After some time traveling, they realized to their horror that Jesus was left behind in Jerusalem, so in panic and fear they turned round and headed back to the city to search for their missing son. Finally, they found him in the Temple area talking with the elders. His mother said to Jesus, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” Now, if you’re a parent, you will know exactly how Mary was feeling, the mix of fear and anger and relief!

It’s at this point we hear Jesus’ first words spoken in Luke’s Gospel. They form a question asked rhetorically to his mother, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Come on, say the words following me again:

“Did you not know
that I must be in my Father’s house?”

If Mrs. McLaughlin is correct about writing, then by his choice of what words of Jesus to put first in his Gospel, Luke wants us to know that Jesus is simply not explainable by looking at his family of origin. His identity and his mission are rooted deeply and mysteriously in the very being and purposes of Israel’s God.

Now, I suspect that all this material is a bit confusing coming at you all at once, so let’s step back and pause for a moment, and get our bearings before going on to our text today in John’s Gospel.

Let’s remember what we’ve learned so far using Mrs. McLaughlin’s method. From the first words of Jesus recorded in Matthew, we learn that He is the obedient Son of God; in Mark, that Jesus’ ministry has to do with the in-breaking kingly rule of God; and in Luke, that Jesus’ identity and mission are rooted in the being and purposes of Israel’s God. Now that’s quite a lot to learn about Jesus from three brief sentences, isn’t it? Were it not for my 7th grade English teacher, I might have missed that!

This brings us to John’s Gospel, in fact, to today’s Gospel lesson. Remember the scene? It is now one day after Jesus was baptized. John sees Jesus coming toward him, and John says to two of his followers, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

The two followers of John who hear his words take off and follow after Jesus. Jesus then turns around, sees them walking toward him, and speaks for the first time in John‘s Gospel. He says to them, “What are you looking for?”

That’s odd, isn’t it? Jesus first words in John’s Gospel ask a question rather than make a statement. By extension, it’s a question addressed also to us, “What are you looking for? Why have you come here today? Do you know what brings you here this morning?”

For some here today the answer comes quickly and easily, “I am here today because God has taken the initiative in my life, sought after me, and found me. Christ has laid claim to my life in such a powerful way that I can’t imagine being anywhere else than here – worshiping, praising, listening to God’s Word, desiring to honor and obey God in my life.”

But I suspect there are others who might have a different kind of response to Jesus’ question, “What are you looking for?” I’m sure there are people here today, as there are in every congregation, who are searching. It may be the case that the old childhood faith is no longer adequate to the challenges and demands of adulthood. Or it may be that some traumatic event has happened in one’s life, and as a result there’s a more serious search for answers, for comfort, for strength, for reason to go on. Who knows what might make a person come to church searching for something?

Of all the four Gospels, John’s Gospel, you see, is the one above all which tells us about a Jesus who welcomes those who are searching for him. If you read on in John’s Gospel you meet characters like curious Nathanael, like Nicodemus who comes to Jesus by night, like those Greek visitors to Jerusalem who ask Philip to take them to see Jesus, and like these two followers of John the Baptist who themselves later become disciples of Jesus, and rather famous ones at that - John and Andrew, and later Andrew’s brother Simon Peter.

“What are you looking for?” asked Jesus of these two men following Him down the street.

“Rabbi, where are you staying?” they responded.

“Come and see,” said Jesus.

This the One who Matthew tells us is God’s obedient Son. This is the One whose life, Mark tells us, is focused on ushering in God’s kingdom on earth. This is the One whose identity and mission, Luke tells us, are rooted in God’s very being and purposes. And now John tells us that this One gets personal and asks you and me, “What are you looking for?”

And hearing us respond out of our love, or our curiosity, or our doubt, or our distress, Jesus invites us to draw near to Him. “Come and see,” says Jesus. “Come and see. Stay with me a while. Try me on for size. Learn from me. Come to my table. Be among my friends. Go where I am found. Follow to where I go. Watch what I do. Do what I do. And before you know it, you will find, in spite of yourself, that you are becoming more and more like me – loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; and loving your neighbor as yourself.”

Come and see!