Sermon preached at St. Alban's, Spirit Lake, on January 20, 2008
(Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A, BCP Lectionary)
by the Rev. Carl D. Mann

Texts:   Isaiah 49:1-7
Psalm 40:1-10
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
John 1:29-41

Ever since Jane and I have arrived in the lakes area there have been a number of firsts in my life. Besides the momentous experiences of being a priest for the first time in my first parish, presiding at my first baptism, wedding, and funeral, I’ve also had my first taste of goose. I’ve also had my first taste of escargot. Now I have to say that I much prefer the goose although the sauce on the escargot was excellent enough to momentarily forget what I was eating so as to swallow quickly. Never before has a snail moved so fast.

I’ve had my first chance at watching fireworks from a boat, which was a breathtaking experience looking straight up at the original big screen of the sky. I have seen the largest collection of bank notes at the Higgins Museum. I have witnessed my first live Nativity program. And I have had my first excursion to the Clay County Fair, which will definitely not be my last.

Although I have hunted small game most of my life, I’ve had my first experience hunting with dogs at a game farm, which also gave me the first opportunity to shoot a hen pheasant. And very soon I will be making my debut as a duck hunter. Who knows, maybe some day I’ll get my first deer without the use of the front bumper of a Chevy.

Most recently I have been taught how to fry fish, which will come in handy when I re-learn how to catch and clean them next spring. And with any luck, I will be able to make my first mission trip this summer and my first international mission trip this fall.

The one thing that all of these firsts have in common is that I was able to experience each one of them because somebody invited me to come and share in the experience. Sometimes it was because they wanted me to experience what they themselves had experienced and enjoyed. Sometimes it was because it was new to them as well and they thought it would be fun to experience it together. And the snails were perhaps just a subtle dare, I don’t know. But without an invitation, chances are that I wouldn’t have necessarily taken the opportunity to try something new.

Today’s Gospel is a recap of last week’s Gospel except that is from the perspective of a different author and I won’t take the time to rehash the story except to say that it is appropriate for the season of Epiphany. The main purpose of Epiphany is to emphasize the universality of Jesus Christ. On Epiphany Sunday, the wise men from the east or the Magi come to give honor to the Christ child signifying his manifestation to the whole world. Last Sunday, the Baptism of Jesus signified his identity with each and every one of us thus manifesting that the New Covenant was for the whole world. And today we hear John the Baptist declaring that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world thus manifesting the universality of the salvation message.

But I think it’s the second part of the Gospel that speaks the loudest to me because it deals with invitation.

John the Baptist is with two of his disciples and points out to them that Jesus is the Lamb of God whatever that means. Undoubtedly it fit in with John’s teachings and they either understood what he meant or it piqued their curiosity enough to further investigate the matter or both

These two disciples followed after Jesus, and when he noticed them trailing behind he turned and asked them what it was they were looking for to which they replied, "Teacher where are you staying?" And Jesus said, "Come and see."

Now there is a lot going on here. John has testified to the true identity of Jesus, which had been ratified by the sign of the dove at his baptism. Jesus is the focal point of John’s whole ministry, and now he realizes that his mission is winding down and Jesus’ is just beginning so he essentially sends his disciples off to follow Jesus. He has given them their diploma from the school of John and is sending them off to begin their undergraduate studies. By calling Jesus teacher and asking him where he is staying John’s former disciples are enrolling into Jesus’ school and becoming his disciples. And the deal is sealed with Jesus’ invitation to come and see. And after spending just one day with Jesus, one of the disciples whose name is Andrew is so excited that he runs and finds his big brother Simon and tells him that they have found the Messiah, God’s Anointed One, and then the next verse, which we did not read today says that he brought Simon to Jesus.

Now it is interesting that scripture tells us that they found Jesus. First of all Jesus was never lost and wasn’t in need of being found, and secondly it was Jesus who extended the invitation to them. Of course they weren’t looking for Jesus like he was a lost child in the timber but rather they were looking for something that was missing in their lives, and when they "found" Jesus it was more like they had discovered something new for the first time. In fact, the Greek word that is translated "found" is where we get the word "eureka!" But they didn’t realize the value of their discovery until Jesus afforded them the opportunity to come and fully experience that which they had found. In reality Jesus found them, and it was such a life changing experience that Andrew felt the need to share his good fortune with his older brother, and through Andrew Jesus extended the same opportunity to Simon.

That my friends is evangelism. Inviting someone to share something that has changed your life is what Jesus is calling us to do. Just as I have been given the opportunity to experience new things because you cared enough to invite me so should we invite others to come and see what we experience in our relationship with Jesus Christ as manifested in our worship in Church. It should be and is just that easy.

Now scholars like to speculate on this passage as to who is the other disciple with Andrew. Some argue for Philip because he and Andrew are usually mentioned together in Scripture, others argue that it could be Matthias or Justus, the former who later became the replacement for Judas. But a majority believe that it is the author of the Gospel, the disciple whom Jesus loved, John. In all probability, that’s who it is but I would suggest to you that perhaps the unknown disciple is you and me.

As mentioned earlier, the main purpose of Epiphany is to emphasize the universality of Jesus Christ. He came to teach, heal, and to offer salvation to each and every one of us. Jesus is inviting everyone to come and see what is missing in their lives. In today’s Gospel Andrew is presented as an example of what it is to be an evangelist. It was Andrew who brought his brother Simon to Jesus. It was Andrew who brought the little boy with five loaves and two fishes to Jesus, and it was Andrew who brought certain Greeks to Jesus at the feast of the Passover. So perhaps the unknown disciple is presented as a symbol for all of us humble followers of Jesus in order to learn from Andrew’s example of bringing people to Jesus Christ, and to share the Good News with everybody so that they may discover Jesus and be found by him because it is quite possible that if we don’t they may never hear Jesus’ invitation to come and see.

Gloria Patri