Come and See!

Read John 1:35-51

Dear Friends,

We call Friday's "All Daddy, All Day" at our house. Friday's are my day off; my wife works at the library most Fridays; and my 5 year old is not yet in school. So Friday I am available for my daughter's every whim. I usually enjoy this. Usually.

Last Friday, I had one email that I needed to send. It wasn't even church related - I am the Cubmaster of Pack 57 and I needed to update the Pack calendar. So I asked my daughter to entertain herself for 10 minutes so I could stare at a computer screen.

It took me nearly 45 minutes to send that email.

"Daddy, come here - look what I did!"
"Daddy, come here - I'm doing a puzzle."
"Daddy, come and see - do you like this picture. I colored it just for you."
"Daddy, come and see."

Each request conveyed excitement and eagerness to share the experience. All Daddy, All Day, indeed.

In John's gospel, when Jesus calls Philip he simply says, "Come and See." In turn Philip tells his friend Nathanael, "Come and See." It's a simple invitation to check out what God is up to.  In John's gospel, Jesus is at his best when he is encountering people. It starts with these disciples, continues with a certain Pharisee named Nicodemus, and then the Samaritan woman at the well and the man born blind. Jesus encounters Peter, Pilate, and even Thomas, who doubts.
To all these, Jesus says in one way or another: "Come and See."

Come and see - what God is up to.
Come and see - what God might do with your life.
Come and see - a new future is possible.
Come and see - God's grace is at work around you.
Come and see - God's love is real - and is available to all people.

Come and see.

What if we invited our friends, our colleagues, our co-workers and neighbors to come and see what God is doing in our lives and in the lives of Community Presbyterian Church?

I believe that God is working here in this place. God is up to something - and it is good. I have discovered that this is a special place - a place to worship, to experience fellowship, to grow in relationship both with one another, but more importantly with God in Jesus Christ. Come and See for yourself what I have discovered to be true about this place.

I have no doubt that the future of the church - and this church in particular - are in God's trustworthy hands. I have no doubt that the same spirit of God that was present when Jesus was baptized is still working through us. I have no doubt that the same spirit that worked through Phillip when he asked Nathanael to "come and see" is working through us. Might we trust that spirit to continue working as we say to others: "Come and See."

Amen and amen.