The Rev. Dr. Patricia Ramsden                        First Presbyterian Church

John 1: 35-51                                                            1/16/11

            There is a story about what happened one day after Jesus went back to heaven.  An angel met Him on the golden streets and asked Him, “So, Jesus, now that You are back here, what’s the plan to let people on earth know what you’ve done?  How are they going to learn about God’s grace and love?” 

            Jesus looked at Him and replied, “They’re going to tell their neighbors and friends and share the Good News with their families and  teach it to their children.” 

“That’s it?” replied the angel.  “The entire plan is to trust them to talk about the love they’ve found in You?  Have You really looked at these people Jesus?  Please tell me you have a plan B.  Because this isn’t going to happen.” 

“There is no plan B.  That’s it.  If they don’t tell the story, it dies.” 

No glitzy campaign.  No posters or buttons or clever bumper stickers.  Just you and me telling other people how much God’s love has meant in our lives and how we want them to know what we have found in Him.  That’s the plan --- and it works. 

They’ve even done research to prove it works.  Only 2% of all people come to church because they saw an ad in a paper.  Only 6% come because a pastor has asked them to and only 6% show up because of some organized campaign to get them there.  86% of all people who finally walk through the church doors come because a friend or a family member has asked them to come. 

And why did they ask?  Because they knew they had something worth sharing.  They had good news to tell.  They had found something here that they knew their friends needed to know about.  They had found the answer to the questions we all have.

Isn’t there something more?  Isn’t there someone who will care about me --- the real me --- the me no one really knows?  Isn’t there someone out there who will love me no matter what?  Isn’t there something I can believe in when everything else is falling apart? 

And we know the answer is yes.  Yes.  God will.  Yes. God does.  And we have found a place where we are reminded about that, a place where people care about each other in very real, very personal ways, a place where every week we are reminded about how much God loves us and how He is there in both the good and bad times of life. 

In a world with real problems and real questions we have found a place that shares real love – a place where love grows.  That’s not just a slogan with us.  It can never be just a clever marketing gimmick.  It must be a reality.  This has to be a place where we not only love and care for each other but a place where we grow in the incomprehensible knowledge that God loves us, a place where we grow in our love for Him.  Those are, in the end, the only reasons there are to invite other people to come and see. 

That’s why Andrew went to His brother Peter and said “We have found the Messiah!”  He had found the answer, the answer he had been searching for his entire life long and he couldn’t wait to share it with his brother.  It’s why Philip went to Nathanael.  

Now I have to tell you, I like the story of Philip and Nathanael a lot better than Andrew and Peter.  I’m glad that story is in here.  Why?  Because Peter was ready to go.  Andrew invited him, told him what he had found and Peter got up and went. Now that’s the way it’s supposed to happen.  That’s the dream response. 

We tell our friends about Jesus and how He will make their lives fuller and better, about how He is the answer they’ve been looking for and they say, “Great!  I want to come too.  Can I go to church with you this Sunday?  It sounds like just what I need.”  Yep.  That’s the dream.  Unfortunately it doesn’t always happen that way.  Everybody doesn’t always give an enthusiastic response the first time we ask. 

They are much more like Nathanael than Peter.  They are much more likely to say “Yeah.  Right.  I’ve been to church before or I’ve heard about church on tv.  What on earth makes you think I want to go there?”  Like Nathanael, they tell you, “What possible good can come out of Nazareth?” 

And they’ve got a point.  To be honest, Churches don’t have that good of a reputation.  When most people hear the word Church, they don’t automatically think of some place that celebrates God’s love.  They don’t think about a place where people laugh and cry together, where concerns are shared and prayed for, where we are comfortable enough to be who we really are, and where we find what we need to make it through another week. 

What they generally think of first is a place where you dress in uncomfortable clothes, sit in uncomfortable pews, sing songs that sound like funeral dirges and are bored half to death with a sermon that is way too long.  (Well, maybe that last part is true.) 

They think about a place where people are condemned and where they judge one another.  They think about a group of hypocrites rather than a group of people who are just trying to live better lives.  And why on earth would they want to go to a place like that?  What possible good can come from Nazareth?

To be honest that might be the response you get.  It’s the response we are afraid of.  It’s one of the reasons we don’t ask.  But it can never be enough to stop us – not if we believe we’ve found the answer, not if we believe we have found what they are looking for --- what they need. 

Still, the brutal truth is, you may have to be persistent, you may have to ask them more than once.  Actually you’ll probably have to ask them more than once, but it’s worth it. 

If you have found here what I pray you have found here, it’s worth it.  For we have found the source of love.  We have found the Messiah, and our answer to the question “Why should I get up and go with you? Why should I believe?” should always be, “Just come and see.”