Come and See (2)

John 1:43-50

Second scene:

One of the two of the disciples who heard the call and followed Jesus was Andrew. Andrew was the Simon Peter’s brother. We don’t know much about Andrew. His name is mentioned in the Bible only three times. His brother Simon Peter or is the well-known person. But Andrew?

However, according to our passage, Andrew was the person who invited Simon Peter to follow Jesus. We read, “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). ⁴²And he brought him to Jesus.” (41-42)

Who is Andrew? It seems he is the man who can take the second seat. He is the man who lived a quiet life, yet it did not mean he was doing nothing.

-He lead Simon to Jesus; yet his brother became the “rock” that Jesus wanted to build his church on.

-Jesus gave a new name to his brother and not to him. Did this bother him?

-He was not with Jesus when they went to the mountain and had the extraordinary experience of transfiguration. He was not one of the three: Peter, James and John.

-He was not called the beloved disciple of Jesus; John was.

It seems these “things” were not issues. He was the man behind the curtain. He knew that his role was to invite people to Jesus, as he did to his brother.

As I mentioned earlier, we read his name three times and in all these three incidents, he invites or brings someone to Jesus.

1. First, he invites his brother to Jesus (1:40)

2. In John 6:8-9, he brings the young teenager to Jesus with two fish and five loaves of bread.

3. In John 12:22, there were Greek individuals who wanted to see Jesus. Philip brought the matter to Andrew, who took the matter to Jesus.

He is a man who brings people or situations to Jesus.

Many of you can identify with Andrew.

Many of you are not preachers, or prophets.

Many of you are serious Christians.

Many of you once heard a calling to follow Jesus Christ.

Many of you took the decision to receive Jesus Christ as your personal Savior.

Your names are not mentioned as celebrities. Yet your names are registered with God.

Your names are not on the first page. Yet you all have to learn from this man called Andrew, that we have important roles we need to do.

The second part of our slogan says, “To make Him known.”

This is not an invitation to proselyte. This is not invitation for stealing people from other churches.

No, this is an invitation, a challenge to you CACC, to make Jesus known to the world.

Last week I gave you an example of a friend who runs a signage business. I told you how he is an example of a Christian business man in his workshop. He wins many young people to Christ.

I am asking you to take the message to your business, to your schools, to your homes and neighborhood, to your friends with who you play card, to your friends with whom you play “tavle.”

I was praying for a man who was having doubts in believing in Jesus. I visited this man many times. We spoke, we ate, and we spent time together. I also asked a friend to join me in these visitations. He continued to visit this man without me. They became friends. They talked, played “tavle,” went to doctor’s visits and so on. This man lately told me that he was ready to accept Jesus as his personal Savior. He told me that my “quiet friend”, the man behind the scenes became his friend, and his words of encouragement led him to come to God. Now, without God’s Spirit, no one comes to God. Without prayer, nothing can happen. Yet God used the “quiet friend” to say “Come and see.” Sometimes, God wants us to be “Andrews”. Sometimes God wants us to be like Peter or Paul. We all have different gifts.

Third scene:

Let me go further. One can say, Badveli, although Andrew is not well known, yet, he is one of the chosen disciples of Jesus. Who am I to be compared to Andrew?

How about the Samaritan Woman?

We read in John 4 about Jesus and his disciples on a journey from Samaria. They were thirsty. They stopped near a well. The disciples went to city to bring a bucket. A Samaritan woman came for water. Jesus asked her for water. The woman was surprised that a Jewish man would talk with her and ask her for water. The conversation went deeper. In the end, this woman was touched by Jesus and she asked him for LIVING WATER.

When the life of this woman was transformed, she did something which is incredible. “Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" They came out of the town and made their way toward him.” (John 4:28-29)

God can use ordinary people to do great things.

Forth scene:

The last scene is when Philip goes to invite his friend to follow Jesus. This man is called Nathanael. This man is a skeptic man. On one hand he is waiting for the Messiah, on the other hand he can not see that anything good can come from Nazareth.

Do you know people like this?

Can anything good can come from believing in Jesus?

“Why in the world you all CACC people are living in an imaginary world?” one can ask.

Others can say, “When are you going to come back to real life?”

Philip’s answer was very clear, let us look at the Bible: “Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked.
      "Come and see," said Philip.”

The answer to all these questions looks simple, yet very important. Come and see.

They asked a famous pastor from Korea, whose church was growing (they have 13000 members), “What advice would you give us?” “Three things,” he said, “Pray, pray, pray.”

God’s Spirit brings people to God. Yet, we are as church should be alert to be like Andrew, like Philip, like John the Baptist, like the Samaritan woman, to invite friends to God.

Therefore go out and say: “Come and SEE.”

Amen