You have to be Here

I love language. I love playing with it, I love using it in conversation. I’m always trying to learn new words or phrases that will further my communication. Because that is the line of work we all should be in…communication. Conveying to others what it is we are trying to say as best we can.

And Howard Thurman said this. He was one of the major inspirations of Dr. Martin Luther King’s work. Because bad communication leads to misunderstanding, which leads to frustration, which leads further and further away from relationship. I think in the immediate wake of the shootings in Arizona, we have seen a first-hand account of how bad communication only exacerbates the problem…and we have also seen instances of how good communication can heal.
Dr. King who we recognize and honor today showed how communication can heal. He offered a dream, that was given to him by God, and he helped organize and end oppression. Healing deep-seated wounds left by slavery and segregation with words, and action. He communicated the love of God to all people, and non-violently faced violent oppression.

Good communication, especially in important matters, is so vital.

Have you ever been having a conversation and sort of threw up your hands exasperated and said…but that’s not what I meant?

That happens to me a lot. The problem is that those words are already out there, and you can’t take them back. My grandmother used to always say, “Say what you mean, and mean what you say.”

One of the more famous of a communication difficulty came from President John F. Kennedy. When he went to the Berlin Wall and announced proudly, “Ich Bin Ein Berliner.” Which roughly translated means, “I am a jelly doughnut.”

But that is a rough translation. It turns out, he didn’t make a mistake at all in this speech! That everyone there, when they heard him say this often misinterpreted phrase, “Ich Bin Ein Berliner,” heard, “I am a person from Berlin.” Stating his solidarity with a city and country that was struggling after World War II. It would be equivalent to someone saying they were a New Yorker, and people interpreting that they were the magazine. Someone would never do that! So what people have claimed was a stupid mistake, wasn’t really a mistake at all. All because of multiple layers of miscommunication.

Good communication is so important, and it is so vital, that is a wonder that we aren’t better at it.

But sometimes, language falls short. There are things that I can’t put into words. And it is at these points where I say, “You had to be there.”

I can’t put into words what it felt like when Georgia was born. I can’t put into words culmination of joy, and fear, and happiness, and love…I can’t do it. You had to be there.

I think it is that way for a lot of things that are important. You have to be there. Words can’t really describe it. The only way to communicate it, is to experience it.

So one day, while John was walking along with two of his disciples, he saw Jesus. And he tried to put it into words for them. He said, here is the lamb of God!

They have already heard John say what happened at Jesus’s Baptism where the Spirit of the Lord descended on him, and he heard a voice from heaven. They have heard John say that Jesus is greater than he is. But now, what John is saying is surprising.
A Lamb…not a King? This carpenter out of Nazareth is whom we are hoping for? Is that the best God can do? Or as Philip says in just a few verses later, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Showing our predisposition for presumption and prejudice, even when we are talking about Jesus, and even in churches.

The disciples wanted someone who they could rally behind. One who made the current power structure nervous. One who could protect them. One who could save them. Jesus was just so…ordinary, or so it seemed.

But maybe John was onto something, so they began to follow Jesus, and he asked them a very probing question, “What are you looking for?”

I ask you that same question this morning. What are you looking for? Are you looking for power? Are you looking for prestige? Are you looking for an argument? Are you looking for healing? Are you looking for the power to forget? Are we looking for the power of memory?

What are you looking for?

What are all of us looking for when we come to church? Are we looking to see who is here and who is not? Are we looking for validation, or are we looking to feel good about ourselves?

Or are we looking for Jesus, and are we willing to accept Jesus how he comes to us rather than what we think he should be?
The disciples ask Jesus where he is staying and he says, Come and See.

Another brilliant thing to say in communication…Come and See. And in turn, Andrew goes out and excitedly tells Simon what is going on. But instead of brushing off his communication by saying, You just had to be there to understand. He turns it into an invitation; into excitement with, You have to be here!

That is a turn we all need to make with our invitation to follow Christ.

The first question is, What are you looking for?

We are all looking for different things, but what we believe as Christians is that what we are all truly looking for is Christ. We are looking for Jesus who is our Savior and our Friend. Who calls us to be his disciples. To live lives worthy of that calling. That is what all of us are looking for.

Then, we help show people what they are looking for is here. At Bold Spring. You have to be here.

And that is what I am saying to you this morning. You have to be here. I am excited about what is happening at this church. People are meeting Jesus for the first time, and people are meeting Jesus all over again.

The children are meeting Jesus. This past week families got together to sled and fellowship, that is meeting Jesus because it is being a community together enjoying God’s gifts of health and creation. Jesus’ Lap, if you have never been, is FUN! We eat together, we hear stories, we play. It is so much fun, you have to be here. You have to be here when we meet Jesus.

The youth are meeting Jesus. Asking good questions, being good friends, and giving back to our community by packing food and raising money. You have to be here for when we meet. Because we are meeting Jesus.

You have to be here for our meetings. I know that sounds funny, but good decisions are being made. We are exploring new avenues of ministry. We are building a building. We voted last week, and it is happening. You have to be here, because we are meeting Jesus.

You have to be here for choir. We get to fellowship and sing because sometimes just saying words does not express the joy in our hearts. You have to be here for choir practice, because we are meeting Jesus.

The other day, on one of the snow days, I wanted to make some pancakes. I don’t know why the craving hit me, but it just did. I think I mainly wanted the syrup and needed something to get the syrup from the plate to my mouth. I got some mix from the store, and on the front of the box it said, just add water! And they were right, I just had to add the water, and my pancake batter was ready to go. Instant pancakes!

There are a lot of instant things in our world that make us think it is an instant world. Instant Messaging, instant coffee, instant grits. If we could just find that magic thing, everything would change in an instant.

With the Christian life, it is rarely instantaneous. Yes, Jesus can change your life in an instant, but it is a lifetime of following. There is no magic water that is going to make everything nice and perfect.

In our instant world we think it applies to instant church. You hear “All we need to do is…” We cannot just add water, and everything is ready. There is no “all we need to do.” Because meeting and following Christ is not instant, it’s for eternity. Eternal life.

We do not become instant parents, it is a lifetime. We do not become instant human beings, and we do not become instant Christians. Because it is not easy, and it is a lifetime of following.

But you have to be here. Words cannot describe the richness and the fullness of life that Christ offers. The joy you get when you give of yourself to your brothers and sisters in the world. The love you feel for your family and friends, and even complete strangers! The blessings that you once took for granted are shown all around you. You have to be here. Come and See.

It is my hope that in our following of Jesus we want others to join us in this journey. I know there are people in this community that are not in this church. I’m excited about being here so I am constantly saying, “you have to be here!” come and see what is going on at Bold Spring. Come and see our children and our youth. Come and see our study of Scripture and our community and how much we care for one another. Come and see the new project we are about to undertake and what it will mean for this community. Come and meet Jesus.

It is my hope that you say this to your neighbors too. Not because of numbers, which seems to be the thing that so many churches are interested in, but because of love of God, and love of neighbor.

Come and see what God can do.