“What Are You Looking For?”

John 1:29-42

January 16, 2005

St. Paul Church, Little Rock

Rev. John Andrew Fleming

Why are you sitting here in church this morning? Now please understand me. I am not trying to run you off. I am not asking you to get up and leave your place in the sanctuary. I just want to know what possessed you to climb out of your warm bed on such a cold and quiet morning. What made you swing your legs from underneath, perhaps, an electric blanket? What made you get out of your pajamas? What made you run across the cold tile bathroom floor on your way to a hot shower or a warm bath? What pulled you away from the thickest newspaper of the week and the hot cup of coffee that you probably were drinking while reading it? If you have kids who know how to test you on Sunday mornings, what made you fight the battle that you sometimes have to engage in to get your precious angels to Sunday School and Church? What made you rush up here on, perhaps, the only day when rushing is not on the menu? What made you come to church, again?

Christmas is over. You know that, right? Christmas trees are down. Ornaments have been tucked away with care, Christmas doo-dads and the Christmas tree plates have been put away, hibernating for their long winter and summer naps. Easter is not here yet. The season leading up to it, the season of Lent, a time of spiritual preparation is not here yet. You know that, right? Today is not Mother’s Day, another high and holy day at the church house, a day when the pews are usually full. There is no great and glorious liturgical celebration planned for this morning. You are not hoping to hear my Christmas Eve sermon this morning, are you? I wrote it and tucked away in a great place for safe keeping when the ice and snow kept us from worshiping on that special night? That is not why you are here this morning, is it? I do not want you to leave, but I think that you should know that nothing out of the ordinary is going to happen in this worship service unless the Spirit decides that it will. And yet there you sit. I see you!

Pardon the abruptness of my question and do not misunderstand it. Your presence in worship services, at church events, and in my life, means more than you could ever know. There are not words to express how important your presence is to me. But why are you here this morning? What is it that you are looking for?

I think that you will agree with me that pretty much our world is a destination based place. We are a world that is on the go. We want to do something. We want to go somewhere. Sitting still is not something that we often do. In my first assignment out of seminary, I was the pastor for a couple who took what they called a vacation every year. I would not call it that. I would call what they did a journey. Joyce was a school teacher and her husband was a retired basketball coach. When school dismissed for the summer, Ira and Joyce would get in one of their cars and drive for a month. They had no destination in mind, just a direction. The first year that I was their pastor, they went west and saw places like the Grand Canyon and spectacular mountains. The second year, they went north and perhaps visited cities like Chicago and New York. The third year they went east and maybe visited places like Asheville, North Carolina. My final year as their pastor, they went south and saw, well, you know about southern things. Ira and Joyce made few, if any, reservations. Just getting in the car and going with no destination in mind seems crazy to me, especially in a world where people want to go somewhere and do something and be someone. I wonder. When was the last time that you slid behind the wheel of your car, perhaps on a Sunday afternoon, without a destination in mind, without a clue where you might want to end up? Whatever happened to the idea of a Sunday afternoon drive?

We are too busy to do that kind of thing these days, aren’t we? As a pastor, one of the things that I hand out and receive in return are business cards, three inch by four inch pieces of heavy and durable paper, that tell both that I have stopped by and the several ways that you can reach me. On these cards are names and addresses, phone numbers for the office, someone’s house and their cell phone number (all of which have voice mail or answering machines attached to them). On these cards, also, are fax numbers, pager numbers, and web site addresses that seem to say, “I am driven. I am important. I am reachable. Call me anytime.” We have so many places to go, so many things to do, so many appointments to keep, that we almost never walk about with this question on our hearts, “Now what was it that I was looking for?”

Please allow the pastor in me to say this, this morning, I think that we are looking for something, desperately searching for it. The problem is that we do not always know what it is that we are looking for. Maybe we realize that something is missing, but putting our finger on what that something is, is difficult. Could I name at least one of those somethings? I think that we are searching for something more. In fact, I think that that is why you are here, why you keep coming here, to worship. You want, I want, something more. We want a sense of awakening. We want the renewal that lurks behind our scheduled chaos. Now I know, not everyone recognizes that they are looking for something more. Some simply feel the emptiness and wonder if there is more. Some of us try to fill that emptiness with things that, in the end, do not satisfy. I know that. I know all of that. But when we do realize it, sometimes we try to find a quick fix in Christian bookstores. We look for the latest and the best that is out there. Look at the success of these resources, these books. Books like The Purpose Driven Life. That book, written by Rick Warren, has sold billions of copies. It has been studied at home, in small groups, and in Sunday School classes. The book says, among other things, that there is a purpose in your life, a meaning in it, and you should discover it. We often hope for a quick fix, a quick read that will change our lives. Sometimes books do that, or at least start the journey towards that.

There is another place that we look to fill the void. The place is the church. In the church, we spend a little time with the one who set the movement in motion, Jesus the Christ. Our scripture lesson from John’s gospel this morning, paints a wonderful scene. By the way, we will spend a little time in this gospel during the lenten season, hearing the great stories of Nicodemus, the woman at the well, and what happened when Jesus showed up just after Lazarus’ funeral. John’s gospel is different. Dr. Jouette Bassler, one of my professors at Southern Methodist University, liked to say that John’s gospel is so different, it is as if the gospel writer wrote the words while standing on his head. John, you will remember, begins, with the powerful words, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.... in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” So from the very beginning of this gospel, Jesus is set up as the savior, the light of the world. But John’s role is important to. Listen to another line from John’s gospel, “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.”

John was the one who testifies, who points to the one more powerful than him, and in our lesson for this morning, that is exactly what he does. The baptizer points to Jesus and John, the gospel writer, paints the scene using words of the day when John and two of his disciples were walking about when Jesus came near. John’s eyes meet Jesus’ eyes and John said for the second day in a row, “Look, here is the Lamb of God.” John tells us that the followers of the baptizer left his side. The gospel tells us that these two followed Jesus. Maybe they were following at a short distance behind Jesus. I don’t know. The gospel does not tell us. What it does tell us is that Jesus turned to them and in the first words spoken by Jesus in this gospel, asks, “What are you looking for?” Jesus could have said something else. He could have said, “Come and we will fish for people.” He did not say that. Jesus does not give one of his powerful and pithy parables. There is no great story that would have kept them listening to his every word. There is no gentle discipline. What Jesus says is more of a spiritual interrogation. He turns and asks an abrupt question, “What are you looking for?”

Think about the ones who would follow Jesus around in his three years of public ministry. His reputation spread, crowds of people followed him around with their diseases and their ailments. They were looking for healing. His popularity spread. There were scribes and Pharisees and Chief Priests who wondered why he said some of the things that he said, did some of the things that he did, hung out with some of the people that he hung out with. They were looking for a fight. When Jesus went away, to the top of a mountain, to be by himself, lost in prayer, his disciples searched for him, found him, and said, “Lord, everyone is looking for you.” Everyone is. Everyone is looking for the living spirit of God to be in their lives. But before any of this happens, watch Jesus as he turns around, looks in these disciples’ eyes, and asks, “What are you looking for?” I will be honest. The answer that the would be followers give is a little strange. It seems out of context. They answer, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” Perhaps what they are really saying is this, “Teacher, let us join your ranks. Let us learn from you. Let us sit at your feet for a while.” Jesus’ question is a great question. “What are you looking for?” His answer is equally great. It is this one, “Come and see!”

In the spirit of asking what we are all looking for and answering it, come and see how the church of Jesus Christ is doing on Durwood Road, I would like to let you know how the church is doing. On the third Sunday of January, every year, I take this chance, this opportunity. In 2004, January through December, thirty-two persons joined our church. Ten of those had never been a member of a church before. Fourteen found a new United Methodist homes here. Ten more are members of a United Methodist Church for the first time. In 2004 eighteen left St. Paul. Six went on to eternal life. Six went to other United Methodist Churches. Six more went to churches in other denominations. So that is a net gain in membership of fourteen. That is not bad, is it? Our job is to make disciples for Jesus Christ. These numbers, of course, do not include the sixteen babies that were born in our congregation this year. The baptismal waters were often used in 2004. Twenty-five times we baptized either a baby (or in the case of the Nichols’ triplets, babies) or adults. Because we usually only baptize one child a Sunday, that means that we had a baptism, on the average, on almost half of the Sundays. Our average worship attendance rose from 238 persons to 242 persons in 2004. That is something to celebrate. What concerns me is that Sunday School attendance, in that same time period, dropped from 146 to 128. Together I would like to work on inviting people to Sunday School in 2005. Small group ministries continue to be important for our church. Short term Bible based studies like Companions in Christ, Bad Girls of the Bible, and Disciple IV and III have happened. I would like for us to have more groups, more people involved in small group ministries. I believe that small groups are the future of any church. Speaking of small groups, let us not forget our ministry with our younger and older children, our KIDS club and our VISION ministry. Did you know that thirty-five or more children come here on Wednesday nights for Kids’ Club? One of our church members was eating dinner with his wife at a local restaurant. They saw a couple that they knew. Our members asked, “Where are your children tonight?” They answered, “At St. Paul United Methodist Church. They have a great ministry for children on Wednesday nights. They really reach out to the community!” I liked hearing that. It made me proud. Our United Methodist Women group boasts a membership of fifty-one. The UMW is the backbone of any United Methodist Church. Our youth group boasts of twenty-one members. They are not the future of the church, they are the church of today, just as much as any of us are.

We have been financially responsible this year, paying all of our bills, including our apportionments. We paid over $227,000 on our building fund debt this year. The amount that we once owed, a little over a million dollars, is now under $200,000. Our ministries for 2005 are fully funded and have what I call, a little wiggle room. You are being faithful in your stewardship. Some of you are giving sacrificially. Some are tithing for the first time. I appreciate every gift.

All these are numbers, but our growth is more than numbers. We are preparing disciples for ministry. We are preparing for a plan of ministry where everyone will have the chance to sign up and to have a ministry in the church. I covet your prayers as we prepare. I want to be a pastor who knows about spiritual growth and how important it is. We can no longer talk a good game, we must play it. Your Staff-Parish (personnel) Committee has filled out the paper work asking me to return to pastor here for another year. I have filled out a form that tells our Superintendent to not think about assigning me anywhere but St. Paul. I only want to be here if I am a good pastor and leader for our church. I want to be a part of something great. It is a rosy picture, friends. It has not always been. Things are going well. I have said this many times over the last few months, and I believe it, “I believe that the best days are ahead for St. Paul Church.” And God is leading us. “What are you looking for?” Jesus asked. Many have come and have seen and have found what they are looking for, a home. Let us pray.