What Are You Seeking?

Intro

We follow the baptism of Christ last week with a move to the Gospel of John, where we pick up again that story, but now move on - as we all must do - beyond Christ’s baptism. And for us today, I want us to think beyond our baptism too. Beyond the obvious, beyond the superficial, beyond the basics of our faith, and venture a little farther into ourselves today as we allow God to speak to us - whether happy or not - so that we might grow a bit more into the faith we are called to.

John 1:29–42 ESV

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

Pray

[pic of young person leaving home]

Pretty much everyone, at some point, gets to the point in life where they want to get out and leave. They want to find something. They believe, sometimes correctly, that they can only find it if they leave this place of comfort and safety.

I am sure some of you can remember that feeling. And for those who haven’t, I can tell you that without a doubt, one day, you will.

We all get to the point where we just feel like we are looking for something that we can’t find where we are. We are looking for ourselves, looking for independence maybe. Maybe we are just looking for freedom. But no matter what, we all look for something sometimes.

[Peter and Andrew]

These two disciples are right there with us. They were no doubt searching for something, that much is clear if only because of their following John.

Understand, that at the time, John’s message would have been pretty radical. So anyone who was following Him would have been searching for something more than life and faith like the world around them.

But what about you? Are you looking for faith like the world has, or something more?

I think it is so easy for us to look around and actually model our faith on what we think the world thinks of faith. This is clear for lots of reasons, but it is most clear to me in the mail we get at church.

Every piece of mail tells the same story. They ask for the same things. They offer a packed faith that is as easy as ABC! Admit, believe, confess! That is all there is to it!

Sadly, for many that is it. After all, it’s a lot easier to abide by a dress code, to carry a specific translation of the Bible, to attend three services a week wearing your Sunday best than it is to keep your mind stayed on Jesus and further, to allow Him to change everything about ourselves.

But what about you? Do you think your job as a follower of Christ ends there at the beginning? Do you think that if you say the right things, and look the part that you have made it? Or do you want something more and feel like there is a bigger world of faith and life out there waiting for you?

I pray you feel the latter. And so for us today, we need to start that process of breaking away from the start line. Just like a child preparing to leave the home, we too must look at our lives and our faith and want something more than what we can get right where we are in our spirit.

John 1:37 ESV

The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

John 1:37–38 ESV

The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?”

Verse 37

Verse 37

So we follow Him. We break away from what we thought was our reality, from our foundational faith and chase after this new thing. And church, I need you to know today, this text is speaking to you and me in the very voice of Jesus. It is speaking to those who follow Christ everywhere! Those who believe that they are doing all that that they need to be doing. Jesus asks them, and us, the very same question!

What are you seeking?

What are you seeking? To be called a Christian? To be accepted in some social groups? To be liked on Facebook? To get a raise at work? To figure out this thing called life? You might get that stuff! You might find it! But finding it doesn’t mean that it is what God wants for you. Bigger than that, wanting it doesn’t mean that is what God wants you to look for!

And when we stick with just the ABC’s of faith, we don’t ask ourselves if getting those things - the things we want - is what God wants for us. Further, we don’t ever even ask if they are, in fact, things that would help us experience God and share Him with others.

What are you seeking?

So what are you seeking? What draws you back to Christ every day? Church, you need to know that Jesus is asking us every day to come and see what He is up to. To stop what we think we need to be doing. To give Him our attention and allow Him to guide us toward Himself.

But all those other things just get in the way! Self-satisfaction. Control. Popularity. Approval of others. All those things are garbage! They offer only an illusion, a thin veneer of superficial faith that honestly couldn’t be further from what Jesus wants for us!

On top of that, those things aren’t what we are called to come and see! That isn’t the point of all this, church!

That is made very clear by these disciples here. You see, when Jesus invites them to tell what they are seeking, they defer. They change the subject! They suddenly want to know where Jesus is staying, just so they can be near Him.

They are like us. We want to know the bare essentials so that we can abide near Christ. Feeling His presence without ever changing.

But church, your faith was never intended to remain stagnant! Finding Christ is just the first step! Our jobs, though, extend out from there and into the deepest parts of our souls and our faith!

[pic of monks]

So what are you seeking? What should we even be seeking?

I don’t know the full answer, only God can tell you that, but I think I can get us pointed in the right direction.

There was a man who wanted to become a monk. And so he came to the monastery to find out if he could become a member - a disciple if you will. He was looking for something. Like we all are.

So to get in, he had to pass a single test. The monks all circled around him, eager to examine this man, to see if he would become one of them. A brother in Christ.

So they administer the test - one that had disqualified more people than they could count. One that, time and time again, guided them to pass on people. So they ask him, what are you seeking?

So they stared at him, some expecting to hear what they always hear. Waiting to hear him say he wants peace. He wants love. He wants salvation. He wants comfort. All things that they had heard too many times to count.

But not this man. He looked at them, then looked at the ground, and gave the only answer that the other monks needed to hear.

I seek mercy

Mercy.

One of the very core lessons of the entire Bible, the thing that God - time and time again - drives us towards understanding. The very quality of God made apparent in countless moments throughout time and throughout scripture! That is what we must be looking for!

That is our job. Not to find those other things - things that God may or may not ever give us. Not to only find salvation. To only find love. But to go before the God of creation and beg for mercy. And at that moment, to acknowledge that the road of life and of faith will be hard. You see, mercy doesn’t need to know that things will go our way. In fact, mercy understands that things won’t always go our way! It understands that there is an obligation to which we have become a slave. A Savior for whom we now live. A God in whose Grace we now stand - and to whom all our actions, thoughts, and desires are now accountable!

Mercy, when found, reminds us that all people are looking for it - whether they know it or not - and more importantly, all people need it to find Christ.

So what are you seeking? Are you finding Christ and asking Him where he is, like these disciples? Changing the subject. Not addressing the real needs in your life. Not understanding that the Creator stands before you asking you what you are looking for?

Mercy. That is what we must look for. That is our job - to come to Christ and look for those things that help your faith grow. To come to grips with what we are willing to give up to find Christ.

Further, to come to peace with the God who invites us to come and see!

Come and see Him change our hearts! Come and see Him redo all that we are - not because we are so bad - but because of what we can be if we only give up our hurt, our hate, our wants, our expectations, and rest fully in the mercy of the God who loves us as we are, and sees all that we can be!

Come and see. Come and see the God who can move those mountains! The God who can change your perspective! The God who is running to you with open arms, ready to bring you to the mercy that we all seek in this life!

Here’s the thing church, when you look for mercy, you find find everything else you are looking for. You find Christ! You find love! You find peace! You find joy! You find grace! But you can only find it if you are looking for mercy!

So do your job. Seek mercy. Ask yourself the hard questions. Allow God to work in you and challenge you. Begin this never-ending process that is so much more than ABC’s. So much more than what you see on TV and at work. It is a change to everything inside of us. A change toward becoming a disciple, and toward a faith that allows God to mold us and make us vessels of His mercy.