Come and See”
John 1:29-51
[Imperatives in this sermon:
1. Awaken deep hopes and expectations about Jesus.
2. Help people experience a real relationship with Jesus so that they can become his disciples.]
The Case of Derek and Debra
Derek and Debra, a young married couple, represented a campus ministry organization at the local branch of the state university system. Before beginning their ministry, they spent a week in prayerful reflection and study.
As they began to pray and study, Derek was led to John 1:35-51. He noticed that the attention of four or five prospective disciples was captured by introducing them in turn to a series of Old Testament expectations that Jesus would fulfill. When Derek mentioned this passage to Debra, he announced,
“Our first responsibility will be to awaken deep hopes and expectations about Jesus.”
Debra almost immediately saw another dimension of the text, that those who hear the expectations are interested, but skeptical, until they get to spend time actually relating to Jesus. Only the real relationship to Jesus persuades them to become his disciples. Debra concluded,
“Our second responsibility will be to help students experience a real relationship with Jesus so that they may become his disciples.”
We will revisit Derek and Debra’s ministry at the end of today’s sermon.
Principles of Successful Outreach
The imaginary story of Derek and Debra introduces the principles on which we must build our own ministries of outreach. Successful outreach must operate on two levels:
- Awakening deep hopes and expectations about Jesus, and
- Helping people experience a real relationship with Jesus so that they may become his disciples.
Finding the Principles in the Scriptures
Let’s look at these principles in our text.
Awakening hopes and expectations will be in red.
Helping people experience a real relationship with Jesus will be in blue.
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, So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas (which means Peter or Rock).
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote (refer to Deuteronomy 18:15, 18), Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!"
Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"
Jesus answered him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than these." And he said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
We have seen evidence that the evangelism principles in this passage are:
- Awakening deep hopes and expectations about Jesus, and
- Helping people experience a real relationship with Jesus so that they may become his disciples.
Now, let us consider how these two principles might be applied in our settings.
1. Awakening deep hopes and expectations about Jesus
The key to awakening deep hopes and expectations about Jesus is testimony, the recounting of words, events, and evidence that relate to Jesus.
Sometimes the testimony can be filtered through works of art: books, drama, movies, music, paintings, poetry, and so forth. With the right discussion guides, popular books and movies can be excellent launching pads for awakening hopes and expectations of Jesus.
Biographies of Christian leaders can tell powerful stories; for example, the story of John Newton’s transformation from a blasphemous, drunkard, raping and murdering slave-trader into a loving priest, songwriter, and abolitionist is powerful in any era; it is truly a story of “Amazing Grace,” the best-known song that Newton wrote.
Contemporary stories of how Christian faith operates may be even more compelling. I cannot think of another time in my life when there has been so much and such compelling Christian testimony in the sports pages as following the recent suicide of the son of Tony Dungy, the devoutly Christian coach of the Indianapolis Colts football team. For instance, assistant coach Jim Caldwell said that Coach Dungy fulfills the desire expressed by Oswald Chambers that he might live as broken bread and poured out wine. That quotation could start some interesting conversations about how Jesus can transform our lives.
The most persuasive testimonies are not about saints and celebrities, but our own personal stories of how Jesus has changed our lives or how he has changed the lives of people we know well. We need to develop the way we tell our true stories so that they highlight what Jesus can do for others.
Finally, the Bible, with its prophecies of the Old Testament and its eyewitness accounts of the apostles, offers the most authoritative testimony. For instance, we could explore the various dimensions of the titles Lion of Judah and Lamb of God and show how Jesus fulfills both of them in such a way that, in the end, evil is defeated and sin may be put behind for the faithful. What great good news for a world in which it sometimes seems that evil prevails and that sin is in charge!
Whatever the source of the testimonies—artistic, historical, contemporary, personal, or biblical, it is important to offer them in ways that point to Jesus, in ways that spotlight benefits he offers to his disciples, in ways that help the people to whom we are testifying begin to hope in Jesus.
2. Helping people experience a real relationship with Jesus so that they may become his disciples.
When we speak of a real relationship with Jesus, we have an issue that was not an issue for the first disciples. We cannot introduce people to the physical, earthly Jesus. Jesus said in John 16:7, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.”
The point is that Jesus from his exalted place in heaven sends to us the Holy Spirit to convey to us and through us the meaning of his words and life. When people encounter the Holy Spirit at work in us, they are encountering Jesus, and opportunities to encounter Jesus are thus multiplied many-fold. It is to our advantage that Jesus went away.
The Holy Spirit is visible in our lives:
- when he enlightens us to understand what God is saying through scripture or what God is doing in our lives,
- when he guides us into making the right and timely response to his presence,
- when he assures us of our faith and of his promises,
- when he transforms our lives by convicting us of sin, by enabling us to repent, by producing newness of life and the fruit of the Spirit in our daily existence, and
- when he equips and empowers us with gifts of the Spirit to serve him in the fellowship and mission of Christ’s church.
So, where can people see the Holy Spirit at work in our lives and be invited to let it happen in their lives? Usually in some sort of spiritual friendship circle, a time when people gather to study, pray, and share personal support and spiritual experiences. I am inclined to think that small groups ranging in size from three-to-twelve are about right, but the size of the circle may vary widely from two people taking a walk or sharing a hot beverage together to a large, packed worship sanctuary.
The important thing is that the Holy Spirit is welcome in that circle so that people can relate to Jesus. Where Holy Spirit is welcome, those who are looking for Jesus will find him, and he will invite them into a relationship with him. Our job is to create the time and space where the living Jesus can meet and make disciples.
What happened with Derek and Debra in their campus ministry? Here is what I imagine:
Derek and Debra offered a weekly evening series of meetings on popular culture: books, movies, music, art, and so forth. They provided the atmosphere in which the students could begin to develop Christian discernment in discussing these works, learning to see how Christ was present or was not present in particular cultural expressions. The discussions were directed in a way so that they began to awaken deep hopes and expectations about Jesus.
Another weekly series, this one at lunchtime, allowed students to meet special guests for discussions about Christian perspectives on academic work and practical life issues, learning to see the difference Christ makes in daily life. Again, the discussions began to awaken deep hopes and expectations about Jesus.
On Big Question weekend retreats, Derek and Debra gave students an opportunity to ask their spiritual questions and to hear Christian responses in a safe, loving atmosphere where they could also begin to experience a real relationship with Jesus.
On other weekends, they trained Christian students in developing ongoing spiritual conversations with their non-Christian friends, showing them how to introduce people to Jesus. This greatly multiplied the opportunities on campus for having hopes and expectations awakened and experiencing a real relationship with Jesus.
Finally, they had weekly worship gatherings where people could seek God’s guidance, help, healing, and blessing through prayer and through interactive spiritual learning centers. These were the settings in which awakened students often met Jesus and began to experience a real relationship with him.
Summary and Conclusion
With all this and more, everything worked together to:
1. Awaken deep hopes and expectations about Jesus, and
2. Help people experience a real relationship with Jesus so that they could become his disciples.
Derek and Debra were successful because they followed the keys to success. Here are those keys:
- have a Bible-based message and strategy,
- pray, pray, pray,
- know who you are trying to reach,
- know why you are trying to reach them,
- know how you are trying to reach them,
- know that the outcome depends on people meeting Jesus so that he can do the real work in them.
When we follow those keys, we also will be successful in our outreach.
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