Come and See

On Seeking and the Invitation to Abide

Photo by Ksenia Yakovleva on Unsplash

How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, indeed it faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
to the living God.
Psalm 84

A LITURGY OF PRAYER

Opening Prayer

Take a few slow deep breaths. What do you seek?
Stay with the question for a few minutes to find your deepest answer.

1^st Reading

John 1.29-42

The next day he saw Jesus coming towards him and declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.’

And John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.’

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’

He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.

One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter).

Reflection

This passage is a spiritual director’s idea of a good time! It contains much of what we need to engage the spiritual journey authentically.

Testimony
The journey of faith often begins with the testimony of another. I saw the Spirit descending like a dove and it remained on him, says John the Baptist. In my more evangelical days, we would regularly either share or listen to someone else give their testimony. These stories of how we had come to the Lord were an important part of being both inspired to begin or encouraged to continue along the way.

These days, when many of us refuse to be either glib or dogmatic, we may be shy of such stories. Yet, in contrast to both superficiality and certainty, a good story of faith is always one of honest encounter. In a world of false hopes and fake news we need to hear - and to become the sort of people with - genuinely compelling stories of encountering Love. That is what the rest of this passage is about.

The next day, John’s further testimony draws two others to follow. Presumably they are curious. Jesus turns to them and asks:

What Do You Seek?
Wherever we might be on the spiritual journey, we are seeking something. We do well to give voice - deep down, day by day - to what we seek. Doing so moves us out of self-sufficiency. It opens the heart. It takes us beyond ourselves.

I’m over sixty years into the journey, and this question still applies. It still challenges. What is it I am I looking for, longing for? What do I really, really want from God? To articulate this today feels as profound as it did in my earliest childhood prayers for comfort and help; in those heady adolescent requests for vision and vocation; or in mid-life cries for forgiveness and healing. What do I seek? What do you seek?

Those men following Jesus answer his question with a question of their own.

Where Are You Staying?
This response to Jesus’ question may look evasive, but I sense in it an already deepening encounter. They do not respond immediately with what they seek; instead, they want to know more about him in the here and now. They ask where he lives.

Where are you staying? is not simply a question about which part of town he’s hanging out in? Apparently, it is better translated as Where do you abide? What is your dwelling place, your home?

And then comes the gold of spiritual direction. Jesus responds.

Come and See
Eureka. This is not a philosopher offering wise and well-meaning answers. It is not a therapist providing insight and support. It is not a politician trying to get us on side. It is not a preacher ready with a polished sermon. All of these may have their place. But this! This is something else entirely.

This is a man full of the Holy Spirit inviting us to come and to see where he dwells. The life of prayer is essentially about finding our way to the dwelling place of God. And if you are tempted to imagine this as a cosy, private corner – think again.

God is love and we who abide in love, abide in God and God in us.
1 John 4.16

That love is potent enough to transform the world. And although it will ultimately take us beyond our comfort zones - as it did Jesus - it begins here: abiding in Love. And so, as always, I encourage you to find your way there, by whatever route you know.

Jesus does not explain. He does not persuade. He invites. Come and see. Stay long enough to notice where love dwells. Stay long enough to be changed by it. Stay long enough to be given your truest identity and name. Stay long enough to have a truly good-news story to tell.

Ponder and Pray

What is your most engaging, authentic testimony of encounter with God?
What do you seek now? Today?
How do you best open to the experience of abiding or dwelling in Love?

Widening the Circle

Take another moment to imagine whatever grace you have received in your prayer rippling outwards to the people and places on your heart and mind today. Imagine that together we are building dwellings of love and hospitality for those most vulnerable in our world.

An Epiphany Lord’s Prayer
by JDunstan

Holy and ever present God,
May your love enlighten our world.
May your light illuminate our darkness.
Brighten our spirits, shine in our hearts.
Forgive us because we often stumble in the dark, hurting others.
Help us to forgive those who in their own darkness hurt us.
Lead us by stars of grace towards the revelation of your truth and presence with us.
And deliver us from the shadows of evil.

For yours is the light of love,
which no darkness can overcome
and we are you beloved,
forever and ever.
Amen.

2^nd Reading

The choice of my first poem arises from a whimsical but, I think, meaningful association with the scripture text this week. How many of you noticed the line: It was about four o’clock in the afternoon? Tea time!

Here’s a poem about tea-time by the Palestinian American poet Naomi Shihab-Nye. It’s also about hospitality, of course. I think God is in this sort of old-world, slow-time hospitality.

Red Brocade

The Arabs used to say,
When a stranger appears at your door,
feed him for three days
before asking who he is,
where he’s come from,
where he’s headed.
That way, he’ll have strength
enough to answer.
Or, by then you’ll be
such good friends
you don’t care.

Let’s go back to that.
Rice? Pine nuts?
Here, take the red brocade pillow.
My child will serve water
to your horse.

No, I was not busy when you came.
I was not preparing to be busy.
That’s the armour everyone put on
to pretend they had a purpose
in the world.

I refuse to be claimed.
Your plate is waiting.
We will snip fresh mint
into your tea.

This second poem is a slight adaptation of a blessing by John O’Donahue, to describe the Dwelling Place of God’s Love.

The Dwelling Place of Love
adapted only slightly from A Blessing for a New Home
John O’Donohue

This house shelters your life.
When you come home here,
All the weight of the world
Falls from your shoulders.

Your heart will be tranquil here,
Blessed by peace the world cannot give.

This home is a lucky place,
Where the graces your life desires
Always find the pathway to your door.

This is a safe place
Full of understanding and acceptance,
Where you can be as you are,
Without the need of any mask
Of pretense or image.

This home is a place of discovery,
Where the possibilities that sleep
In the clay of your soul can emerge
To deepen and refine your vision
For all that is yet to come to birth.

This is a house of courage,
Where healing and growth are loved,
Where dignity and forgiveness prevail;
A home where patience of spirit is prized,
And the sight of the destination is never lost
Though the journey be difficult and slow.
There will be great delight around this hearth.
It will be a house of welcome
For the broken and diminished.

Here, you will have the eyes to see
That no visitor arrives without a gift
And no guest leaves without a blessing

Blessing
And so, may we learn to abide in the house of God’s Love, finding shelter and tranquility, new possibilities and courage, healing and hospitality.

May we refuse to be claimed by self-important busyness and welcome another instead.

May we learn our truest name and deepest identity.

And the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, evermore. Amen.

Music:

My favourite version of Psalm 84. Sung by the sweetest voice I know - my twin sister Debbie! Tune by Donna Collins.

How lovely are thy places, O Lord of hosts.
My soul longs for thy courts. My heart sings for joy.
How blessed is the one who dwells in thy house.
Forever praising thee.

O Lord of hosts, are blessed are we who trust in thee

One day in thy courts, is worth more than a thousand outside.
I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God
Than to dwell in the land of palaces.
A sun and shield, giving grace and glory.