What do you want?!?!

The Bible that I read for my own personal devotion is a New International Version. I tell you this because it is the version from which I start reading the scripture, and when I first read it, a question Jesus asks has stuck in my head all week. I tried to block it out and think of something else to preach on, but I haven’t been very successful. I’ve been sick all week with what others have named the “Katrina Cough” and because of that, I’ve tried to weasel out of writing what God wanted me to say. I have twice tried to rewrite a sermon I had given 2 years ago, but just yesterday morning, I went to a small discussion group in a Baptist church and suddenly realized what the Spirit wanted me to say.

The version that we read from the pulpit, the New Revised Standard Version has in verse 38 Jesus asking “What are you looking for?” It is so philosophical. That question makes me sense that Jesus already knew the answer of these two men. It feels as if Jesus can just turn around and look into someone’s soul. That isn’t such a bad view of Jesus, but my translation has Jesus asking a different question with a different edge to it.

Let me set up the story again for you. The day before, Jesus had just been baptized by John. John knew then and there that this was the Lamb of God. He had seen this dove descend upon Jesus after the baptism and heard God’s voice reaffirm this thought. This was certainly an exciting day. The very next day, Jesus was passing by John, apparently all alone, when John the Baptist saw him and told two of his own disciples, “Look, the Lamb of God!” With those five words, the two disciples of John left him and began to follow Jesus. In my version, it doesn’t say how long it was, but eventually Jesus turned around, saw them following and asked “What do you want?!?!?”

When I read this question, it does not penetrate the soul like in the NRSV. It’s rough, it’s got an edge. It’s blunt. Jesus even seems a little annoyed that these two people are following him around. What do you want? He asks… let me answer your questions and leave me alone. It seems pretty clear that John the Baptist knew what Jesus was all about, but Jesus didn’t quite know himself just yet.

They didn’t ask Jesus a religious question. They didn’t ask about salvation, justice, politics, love or hate, right or wrong. They simply wanted to know where he was staying. Jesus still doesn’t give an exact answer… his reply is “come and you will see” There is no, meet me at the corner of Washington and Bridgeboro later in the evening. Just come, and they spent the day with Jesus.
The best part of this story is its blandness. The gospel writer does not record anything really special happening on this day. None of the conversation that happened the rest of the day made it into the gospel. Just the few sentences I just told you about. To me, the remarkable thing happens is the day after the two disciples spent the day with Jesus. Andrew is so excited about this man they call Jesus that the first thing he does is find his brother Peter and tells him that they have found the Messiah, they have found the Christ.

My original intent was to preach the rest of this sermon on evangelism. I hoped that I would get others excited about the workshop that was supposed to start yesterday but nobody signed up for. I wanted to be energetic about what we had just learned; how we were practicing to be like Andrew and tell our friends and family that we too have found the Messiah. Unfortunately I cannot go in that direction this morning, but it does allow me to think a bit more freely about something else. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

He is the perfect character to discuss in relation to today’s Gospel story. Many people tend to equate Dr. King to Jesus. He was such a revolutionary leader, he inspired, he lead, he dreamed. But I don’t see this preacher playing the role of Jesus. I see him in the role of Andrew. I imagine that one day, God asked Martin, “What do you want?!?!” and he replied, “where are you staying?” Jesus then answered back, “Come and you will see.”

And so Dr. King followed where Jesus was going. He followed the God of Israel who called to let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never failing stream (Amos 5:24). He followed the man from Nazareth to bring healing to the disenfranchised. He followed the Holy Spirit who gave power to the multitude to do mighty works in Jesus name.

When Jesus asks the question, “What do you want?!?!” What will we answer? Will we be put off by his tone? Will we decide to meet up with him sometime in the future, but not follow right away? Or will we seek where Jesus is staying and follow him no matter where he goes? Within each of us lies the potential to be like Andrew, to be like Dr. King. Unfortunately, we tend to say we love God but pick a funny way to show it. Rarely do we share with enthusiasm that we have found the Christ and we have chosen to follow his teachings. Rarely do we stop following the path we wanted to take on our own and take up the new path which God leads us down together. If we do not do the rare thing, if we do not come and see where Jesus is going, we will continue to find it difficult to tell others that we have found the Christ. We will see sharing where Christ is going as a chore instead of a gift.

Dr. King saw Jesus’ question of” What Do You Want?!?!” as a gift. I want to go where you want to go. I want to see what you see. I want what you want. I want to follow, and I want everyone else to know that I’m doing it.