We want to see Jesus; Sunday 21 March 2021

We want to see Jesus

I wonder why you come to Church.

What is it that you are wanting or looking for when you walk through these doors, (or join via zoom)?

There are probably as many reasons as there are people here!

The gospel reading today starts with some Greeks coming to the festival and asking to see Jesus.

We don’t know why they are there, why they want to see Jesus, or what they are expecting, and we aren’t told anything more about them for the rest of the passage. But somehow these words “we want to see Jesus” are powerful.

They resonate – maybe we understand this desire, maybe we too want to see Jesus. And as an aside…. it’s interesting to think about our motivations for wanting to see Jesus – do we want to ask him for things – to help us, to heal people, to fix situations? Do we want to express anger and frustration at why things are a certain way?  Do we want to express gratitude or praise? Do we want to listen to him? Anyway, back to the passage….

These words might also challenge us – after all, I’m not always sure I do want to see Jesus, I don’t always want to listen – it might be more comfortable not to!

Just look at the rest of the passage – we don’t know what the Greeks wanted when they asked to see Jesus – maybe to witness a miraculous healing, or hear an amazing speaker, but Jesus’s teaching gets increasingly uncomfortable – he talks of needing to die, to lose our life and to hate our life – is this really what we want to hear? Is it really what the Greeks came to hear?

I sometimes forget that part of our Christian journey is that of being challenged. It’s not simply about being given comfort, although that is important, but it’s also about being taken out of our comfort zone.

Rather than just projecting our own perceptions of what God should be onto God, we are asked to open our eyes and ears, to lay down our lives, to serve. None of that has to do with our own comfort!

So maybe it’s a good thing when sermons provoke us – when they make us angry or uncomfortable.

After all, Jesus’s teaching was very radical and provocative – he upset a lot of people – he challenged the status quo and rocked the boat!

Have you ever felt challenged in church? If not, perhaps we preachers are not doing our jobs properly!

After all, our relationship with God should be exactly that – a relationship. Not a theoretical analysis of texts, or empty words that might give us a lot of information but don’t really help us know the person.

I remember hearing an example about being in love with someone – you couldn’t do that by reading a book about all their wonderful qualities – to really love someone you have to encounter them, spend time with them, experience both the times of joy and comfort, and the times of challenge and frustration. You can’t have a real relationship without this.

So I wonder again, what the Greeks were looking for when they asked to see Jesus – was it to deepen their relationship with their heavenly Father – or was it just interest in observing something exciting without any desire to really engage?

Now the reality is that for many of us, we probably have had all the motivations for wanting or not wanting to see God. We have probably all cried out for help or support, expressed our anger, but also praised and thanked and maybe even tried to listen. We may also have had times when actually, we haven’t really wanted to see God at all, because we’ve been getting on with life perfectly happily.

But the good news is, that God does want to see us – God created us and loves us and, in spite of our very mixed ability to love him and connect with him, he isn’t going anywhere. At the end of the gospel passage, we hear God’s voice, and Jesus says he will be lifted up, to draw all people to himself.

It is God who draws us in – God who is constant in spite of our inconstance – God who continues to love us and welcome us into relationship – who sent his son to show us the way and help us understand a little more of what relationship with God means.

So my challenge to you today is to listen afresh to what Jesus is saying.

As we approach Holy Week, and the shocking events of the passion – can we see Jesus with fresh eyes – see, not just the challenging and strong Jesus, but also the fragile, broken Jesus. Can we allow ourselves to feel the shock and grief of the events of Holy Week afresh?

I remember one Good Friday over 20 years ago,  I went to a 3 hour service at church which slowly worked through the passion narrative, with a very powerful speaker re-telling  the story. And I don’t mind admitting that it traumatised me – I felt the mocking of the guards, the horror of Jesus’ treatment, and the appalling sadness of his death. Despite having grown up knowing the whole story – it was like I was hearing it for the first time. I have never forgotten that service, and it helps to remind me, that when I’m getting too comfortable, I need to look again, to listen again.

Because seeing Jesus, means seeing the stuff we don’t like as well as the stuff we do. It means taking the whole, not just picking out the bits we relate to and feel comfortable with.

God sent his son so that we might see Jesus, know Jesus, so that we might have a meaningful and deep relationship with the God that created us and loves us – and the invitation is always there to come and see Jesus, just as Jesus can always see us – with all our flaws, our mixed motivations and our inconstancy. He sees who we really are, he loves us anyway and invites us in! How will we respond?