Called into the Light

You may remember several months ago, when we were going through the depictions of Christ in the gospels, we heard a lot about the “servant songs” of Isaiah. A series of passages which prophecied the coming of Christ, his humilation, death, and resurrection, and the salvation He would bring to the nations.

Today we return to the servant songs, in a passage which the NRSV gives the heading “the servant’s mission.”

It’s a passage which describes the suffering servant as being chosen by God before even before his birth in order to restore God’s people to Him.

It says that the servant would be given as a light to the nations, so that salvation may reach the ends of the earth.

And now in John’s gospel we see that light in action.

The story picks up shortly after we left off last week: John the Baptist recounts seeing the spirit ascending on Christ like a dove, citing this as proof that Christ is the son of God. And then Christ begins to gather his disciples.

And notice that there’s a pattern here: the first two disciples, one of whom was Andrew, followed the Messiah because they heard John say “look, here is the lamb of God.”

And then after they had spent the day with him, Andrew went to his brother Peter and he said “we’ve found the messiah.” And then he brought him to him.

The faithful Servant gather’s God’s people to him. And he does so not simply by a direct and active call - although in the following passages we see that at times he certainly does simply tell people “follow me” - but also by the testimony of others. Andrew and the second disciple are encouraged by the testimony of John, and Peter by the testimony of Andrew.

Now we don’t know who that second disciple was, although given the exact details regarding the hours of the day it seems that it may well have been John the author of the gospel. But right now, I want you to try something. Imagine that the unnamed disciple is you. You see this man from Nazareth passing by and you hear him described as “the lamb of God”, and so you want to find out more.

Why?

What are you thinking?

You approach him, and he turns and he asks “what are you looking for?”

“What do you want?”

What do you want?

What is it that’s driving you to find out more about this man, simply because you heard a few words said about him?

It’s a question that you recognise is pointing straight to your deepest driving motivations.

A question pointing to the spiritual longing which you’ve tried to fulfill as a follower of John the Baptist, but now find that there’s still something missing.

So is it a surprise that instead of giving a straight answer you dodge the question and instead respond with your own: “where are you staying?”

And somehow you know that his reply isn’t just talking about the house he’s staying at: “come and see.”

Come and find the answer that you’re looking for.

So they came, and they saw, and they remained with him because they had found the messiah.

And for many people, that is how they experience the gospel.

They’re searching for something.

Maybe they don’t know what it is, but they recognise that they have a spiritual longing.

Something that isn’t being fulfilled.

And then they see a light in the darkness.

And they follow the one who shows them the answer that they’ve been searching for.

But as we see, it isn’t simply a case of seeing Jesus and immediately knowing that he will provide.

And it’s unlikely that any of us have had that experience, or know someone who has.

No, rather we tend to find Christ because somebody tell us. Maybe like the followers of John we’re directed to him by a teacher, a religious leader, an authority figure.

Or maybe like Peter we’re led to Christ by family - certainly that’s an experience that many born into the church can relate to.

But whoever it is that points us to Christ, when we accept his invitation to ‘come and see’, we find the fulfillment of our deepest spiritual longing.

And when we’ve seen and we’ve found, we remain with him.

But more than that, we want to tell others about what we’ve found.

Andrew’s instinct wasn’t to simply stay with Jesus and follow him around. No, he went out to tell others - we’re told that Peter was the first person he found and that implies that he wasn’t specifically looking just for him. Maybe he had a list of friends and family, or maybe he was just looking for someone to tell.

But he had to tell somebody that he’d found the messiah.

It’s a common pattern seen again and again in the gospels. Christ enters someone’s life, someone who has some great need. He supplies that need. And then they go and tell others of what he has done for them.

In isaiah’s servant song the Lord says “I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

And it isn’t as simple as Christ being a light which shines worldwife.

Christ’s followers, the church, are tasked with carrying that light into the darkness.

Salvation will reach the ends of the earth because the gospel creates a looping effect: people are told of Christ, they come to Christ, and then they go out and they tell others.

And so the circle of those who hear and who tell grows wider and wider.

Which leaves us with the question: what are we looking for?

What are you looking for?

How will Christ provide the answer to that question?

And how will he do so, not only for you but for your friends and neighbours and all those in the community?

Christ call us, and he provides salvation.

And are we responding, like the apostles, by telling others and inviting them to also accept that call?

Are we carrying Christ’s light to the nations?

Ultimately, are we extending that simple invitation to all?

Come and see.