Being With

“Rabbi, where are you staying?” and He said “Come and See.” They came and they remained with him that day.

Which reminds me of an exploratory trip I made to see my school friend Charles then already up at St. Catherines who invited me and two people I did not know to his college rooms. We spent the afternoon there, talking of fine things, I mostly listened being only a lowly sixth former, but I remember our talking about William Golding’s novel The Spire, watching abortive attempts to toast crumpets on the wall mounted electric fire and discovering another way of learning, by coversation, by sharing, by being with. 

Andrew and his companion are alerted by John the Baptist that Jesus is worth getting to know; so they already recognize his potential as a teacher. “Rabbi” they say and Jesus invites them, two people he has only just met, to his lodging. This account of the calling of Andrew is so very different from those in Mark’s and Mathew’s Gospels where the fishermen immediately leave their nets as Jesus calls them to be fishers of men. Here in John’s Gospel we find an encouragement for us: The stories of sudden conversion, by the sea of Galilee, those abounding in the book of Acts and more recent ones for example that of John Newton, author of Amazing Grace, converted when saved from imminent shipwreck, perhaps leave us looking for and expecting moments of brilliant revelation. But it is not always the case, actually I suggest more rarely the case. The number of blinding flashes on the road to Damascus are outweighed by stories of a gradual dawning of understanding and a deepening of belief from the faithful imbibing of God’s teaching, from scripture, from theology and yes from conversation with and participation with others.

Andrew’s perspective is so changed by his long afternoon with the Lamb of God, the presence, charisma and astonishing attraction of Jesus must have been there, but Andrew gains far more from being with him - now he has a depth of belief which leads Andrew to “straight away” find his brother and tell him (he cannot keep it in) “We have found the Messiah.” From Rabbi to Messiah in an afternoon is a big jump, a huge learning. John, who was himself a leader of a learning community, seems to be telling us not to simply wait but to actively take the chances to be exposed. We heard this New Year in the census that the number of people  declaring to be Christian has again fallen - one of the things that I have been noticing for a long time is the paradox that our multimedia world narrows rather than widens our knowledge. It is just so easy to find a group or a programme which conforms to one of our interests or point of view that we do not find the others. How will secularists discover Christianity?

Which brings me (at last you say) to Jesus. You notice ini the account that he is walking by. He is on his way somewhere but when Andrew and his friend call he stops. He makes time for them, so much so indeed that he invites them, two strangers, to his room to spend time together. We can imagine them discussing the world, studying scripture, toasting crumpets maybe, in any case getting to know one another. That is after all the reason to meet with people, to get to know them better. When did you when you were walking by last begin a conversation with a stranger, someone you meet in the supermarket, the post-office, the pub, the marketplace?

To get to know God better we need to copy Andrew, and spend time with him

To bring others to know God we need to copy Jesus and invite them into the conversation.

Amen