At the Kitchen Table

At the Kitchen Table

Text:  John 1:29-42

            Pristine pictures give a glimpse into the lives of pop stars and royalty.  On the glossy pages of HELLO and OK photos reveal beautiful people in luxurious surroundings.  All is immaculate.  Not a hair out of place.  Smiles betray gleaming white teeth.  Couples embrace and children pose giving the impression of perfect happiness. 

            Behind the carefully choreographed images and words is an untidy truth.  Pillows will not always be plumped to perfection on the settee.  Dust will fall on furniture.  Fuzz balls will lurk in dark corners.  Laughter will echo.  Tears will be shed.  Arguments will be had.  Fame and blue blood does not immunise one from ordinary experience.

            Is there something of a HELLO magazine mentality in our faith?  Are we not spell bound by glossy images of Jesus who is good looking and never ruffled?  Do we not harbour feelings of envy as we hear tales of murderers, drug addicts, and alcoholics who encounter Jesus and whose lives are spectacularly changed?  Our story is snooze worthy by comparison.  Some of us can’t pin point when we started following Jesus.  Aren’t we riveted by picture perfect saints who’ve done amazing things?  Mother Teresa...Billy Graham...Brother Andrew...Corrie ten Boom...  We wish we could tell stories like those who’ve had visions, seen miracles, performed miracles, heard the voice of God, and encountered angels.  Do we not secretly hope for a divine bolt from the blue – a voice from heaven – an e-mail from the Almighty – a letter from our maker? 

            We might be forgiven thinking that God is experienced in the extra-ordinary.  The baptism of Jesus in John’s Gospel is so different from the other Gospels. Matthew, Mark and Luke directly refer to Jesus’ baptism whereas in John’s Gospel it is not.  We totally depend on what John the Baptist sees and says.  What he recognises and what he declares is not exactly run of the mill everyday experience.

            John the Baptist has spent a life time looking for the Messiah.  He didn’t know who the Messiah was.  But what he did know was that his baptism would prepare the way for the Messiah to be revealed.  What he did know was that the one who is coming ranked higher than him because he is before:  the Word who spoke all that is into being and became flesh.  John had been given the heads-up to look for the one on whom the Spirit would descend and remain.  This was the one he was looking for – the one who would baptise with the Holy Spirit.  This is all pretty spectacular stuff.

            All we have is John’s word too.  We see Jesus approaching John.  After that, everything else we know is on John’s say so.  Here is the Lamb of God, Son of God.  Here is the one who takes away sin.  Here is the one who is greater.  John the Baptiser is sure because has seen the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove and remain on Jesus.  Can John’s disciples believe him?  It all smacks of sleight of hand journalism, HELLO-magazine-style.  Somehow John’s story is too good to be true.

            Two of John’s disciples stand next to him.  He watches Jesus amble past and in urgent tones erupts, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!”  These two students decide to test their teacher’s claims.  They strike out and follow Jesus.  But if they think they can trail along in the distance and be fly on the wall observers of Jesus they are mistaken.

            Jesus turns and sees them following.  I imagine he met their eyes with his gaze.  “What are you looking for?”  This is the question every would-be disciple must answer.  John had spent a life time answering it.  He had been looking for the Messiah and had found him in Jesus. 

            “Rabbi...  Teacher...  Where are you staying?”  Isn’t this a little surprising?  Why do they want to see where Jesus’ lives?  Why didn’t they say that they were looking to see the amazing things that John the Baptist saw?  Why didn’t they say they were looking for evidence that Jesus was the bona fide?

            “Come and see,” Jesus invites.  And so they go and see where he is staying.  They are with him from 4 pm onward.  So simple.  So ordinary. 

Do you see them sitting at the kitchen table?  A big loaf of bread ripped in pieces and hands dip fragments into olive oil.  Salt is liberally scattered on ripe slices of tomato.  It is an ordinary meal generously prepared and shared.  Do you see the disciples stealing glances around the room?  Through a half open door they see the rumple of an unmade bed.  Dirty dishes stacked high fill the sink.  The earthen floor could use a good sweeping.  Do you hear the conversation?  Voices ebb and flow in a tide of conversation.  Laughter echoes through the house as Jesus laughs at their jokes.  Then a silence fills the room, the contentment of full stomachs and new friends who can simply ‘be’ together.

            When the two disciples ask Jesus, “Where are you staying?” the Greek word behind stay is menein.  It means ‘remain, abide, stay’.  John the Baptist knows that Jesus is the one who baptises in the Holy Spirit because the Spirit remains or stays on him.  Jesus, the one on whom the Spirit stays invites the two disciples to come and see where he stays.  Later on we discover that abiding, remaining, staying in the love of God means loving others as we have been loved.  Jesus paints a picture of this relationship of love as branches remaining, abiding, staying in the vine. 

            The HELLO magazine approach to faith leads us to believe that Jesus is found in visions and voices.  Surely Jesus can only be revealed to us if we have a incontrovertibly miraculous answer to prayer!  Surely Jesus can only be revealed to us through amazing mountain top experiences!

            Yet the witness of John the Baptist to Jesus as Lamb of God, Son of God was confirmed to his two disciples at the kitchen table.  One of them, Andrew, was so profoundly affected by what he experienced in Jesus’ home that he went to his brother Simon and announced that he had found the Messiah. 

            Jesus invited Andrew to ‘Come and see’ in response to Andrew’s desire.  Jesus didn’t say, “Come and hear.”  He didn’t invite him to a lecture or a seminar in theology.  “Come and see” was an invitation to sit at the kitchen table – to see where Jesus lived – to discover by being in his presence that he was the Lamb of God.

            “What are you looking for?”  Jesus asks.  I don’t know about you, but I’m looking for Jesus the Messiah to put the world to right – to solve the world’s problems - to stamp out evil.  His birth, death and resurrection were an awfully long time ago.  The routine of each day, month and year rolls on.  Sometimes I’m looking for a Messiah who gives me ecstatic experiences – fabulous spiritual highs.

            “What are you looking for?” Jesus asks.  What if, instead of superman, I simply ask, “Where do you stay?”  What if the Messiah is found in ordinary life:  in a dishevelled home, with unmade beds and dishes heaped up waiting to be washed?  What if the Messiah is found in the sharing of a meal?  What if the Messiah is found in everyday relationships?