A while back I read the story of a long-married couple named Doug and Sylvia whose annual celebration of their wedding anniversary always included a delightful time of reminiscing about their most unusual wedding night fiasco. The wedding itself came off exactly as planned, but things took an unusual turn when the exhausted newlyweds finally escaped their wedding reception late in the evening and headed off to the honeymoon suite they had reserved at a highly recommended nearby bed and breakfast.

The owner of the B & B greeted them warmly but could tell that they were clearly worn out so he handed them the key to their suite, told them where it was located and then left them alone. Doug and Sylvia quickly found the suite but were a bit dismayed at what they discovered inside: a beautiful sofa, exquisite chairs separated by an antique lamp and reading table, beautiful artwork throughout the room. The room was absolutely delightful. The only thing it lacked was a bed.

After some moments of bewilderment, the groom began to explore the couch and, sure enough, from deep within the bowels of the sofa he slowly extracted a pitiful excuse for a sofa bed: a lumpy, sagging, paper-thin mattress atop some very sharp springs. The newlyweds were stunned. This was not the way that they had envisioned spending their wedding night. But it was so late and they were so tired that they dropped their bags onto the floor and without even bothering to unpack, collapsed onto the most uncomfortable bed imaginable and tried…key word, tried…to get some sleep.

The next morning, they were not only exhausted from tossing and turning on that rotten mattress all night long; they were also sore from being jabbed by the springs that protruded from the mattress. In short, they were a mess. And they were also mad. So, after hastily dressing they made their way downstairs, found the owner and gave him the tongue lashing of his life.

The owner responded to their anger with genuine dismay. Clearly, he was not used to this kind of response from his guests. Trying to make sense of the couples anger he eventually asked them, “Did you, by any chance, open the door in the back of your room?” The couple said, “You mean the closet door? No, we didn’t open it because we’re not staying here another moment?”

And with that the owner led them back to their room and opened what they had assumed to be the closet door. And they got the shock of their lives as they looked through that door into the most beautiful bedroom suite they had ever seen. A bedroom suite that the owner had prepared just for them—a huge Jacuzzi tub surrounded by scented candles and bath oils, a bouquet of flowers, a box of chocolates, a basket of fruit and a bottle of champagne. And right there in the center of the room was the largest, most comfortable looking bed that they had ever laid their eyes upon. Doug and Sylvia slowly realized that they had spent their wedding night in the living room on a worn out sofa bed while a beautiful bedroom suite was waiting for them just on the other side of the wall.

Now, let me quickly say that there’s nothing wrong with sleeping in the living room. And there’s nothing wrong with sleeping on a worn out sofa bed. I’m guessing most of us have done both. The question is, why would you choose to do so when a luxurious suite is available to you?

Last week, we began a journey that I’m calling, “Fresh Encounters with Jesus.” We’re going to spend the next several weeks walking through the Gospel of John…a gospel written by one of Jesus’ closest friends…and as we do so, we’re going to make several stops along the way to take a look at the way that Jesus interacted with the people that he met in a wide range of settings. And as we watch Jesus engaging these people my hope is that we’ll really get to know him. As I said last week, my goal for this journey is two-fold:

--For those among us who don’t yet know Jesus, I’m hoping and praying that you’ll come to know him by our journeys’ end.

--And for those of us who do know Him…even those of us who’ve known Him for a very long time…I’m hoping and praying that we will be blessed with some fresh encounters that will help us to get to know Him even better.

And having walked with Jesus for many, many years now I can tell you that it’s been both my experience and my observation that going through life without really knowing and experiencing Jesus in a personal way is kind of like spending your wedding night in the living room on a broken down sofa bed when, waiting just on the other side of the wall, is a lavish honeymoon suite that’s been prepared just for you. It’s not that you can’t go through life without knowing Jesus. The question is—why would you want to? Why would you settle for just a little bit of life when Jesus is offering you life at its’ very best?

Last week, in the opening verses of John’s gospel, we met Jesus the creator, the sustainer and the very essence of life itself. This morning, as we journey deeper into John’s gospel, the theme of “life” is still front and center in the text as we begin to see that God is constantly working to draw people to Jesus so that Jesus can give them life.

Still in chapter 1, let’s read verses 35-42. It says,

The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?”

“Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”

So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.

Now, let’s walk back through the story to make sure that we understand what has happened. John…not the author of this gospel, but John the Baptist—is teaching two of his disciples, Andrew and another disciple who is not named here. In the midst of John’s lesson, Jesus suddenly walks onto the scene and continues past them down the road. And as he does so, John interrupts his lesson, points to Jesus and says, “Look and see the Lamb of God.”

That phrase, “Lamb of God,” has roots deep in the Old Testament system of sacrificing lambs to cover the peoples’ sins. But John uses the phrase differently. This is not just a lamb. Jesus is the Lamb of God. And he’s not come simply to cover our sin…he’s come to take our sin away. Finally, permanently and completely settling the problem of sin that keeps us separated from God. “Look and see the Lamb of God.”

And, immediately, John’s two disciples leave him and begin to follow Jesus. Which is fine with John, because his ministry is all about pointing people to Jesus. Jesus quickly realizes that he’s being followed, turns to the men and asks the most basic of all questions, “What do you want? Why have you come to me? What is it that you’re looking for?”
And the men respond, “Well, we were just wondering where you’re staying?” In other words, “Would it be OK if we hung out with you for a while?”

And Jesus said, “Come on.” And they stayed with him for the rest of the day.

Now, the truth is that we don’t have a lot of details about what all happened over the course of that day. This is just one of the many instances in which the scriptures don’t give us the kind of details that we just love to hear. But what we do know, based upon Andrew’s actions here and in subsequently in the scriptures, is that whatever happened during the time that these mean spent with Jesus was enough to absolutely convince Andrew that Jesus was the real deal. He was the Lamb of God…the Christ…the Messiah. And Andrew trusted Jesus as his Lord and Savior that very day. He went and told his brother, Simon, about Jesus and brought Simon to meet Jesus for himself. And he continued to bring others to Jesus from that day forward.

So, that’s the essence of the story. The question we need to ask now is—what lessons can we draw from this story of Andrew’s encounter with Jesus? There are a number of lessons here but I want to focus on one that just happens to be one of the most life-changing lessons that we can ever learn. And to help us get to it, I’m going to ask you a question. The question is—Who initiated the encounter between Andrew and Jesus on that road, that day? Who initiated that contact?
--Andrew is talking to John.
--Jesus comes walking down the road.
--John says, “That’s the Lamb of God.”
--Andrew says, “See ya.” And heads off to follow Jesus.
--Jesus turns and says, “What do you want.”
--Andrew says, “I’d like to hang out with you.”
--Jesus says, “Sure. Come on.”
--And by the end of the day, Andrew’s life is totally changed through his encounter with Jesus.
Question—Who initiated that encounter?
Was it Andrew? Did he initiate the contact when he left John and walked off to follow Jesus?
Or was it John who interrupted his lesson to say to Andrew, “Look, there goes the Lamb of God.”

Who initiated that encounter? Answer? It wasn’t Andrew…and…it also wasn’t John. The person who initiated Andrew’s encounter with Jesus was God. That encounter that totally transformed Andrew’s life was not John’s doing and it was not Andrew’s doing. It was God’s doing. That’s what God does. He is constantly working in all kinds of ways to draw us to Jesus so that, through Him, we can experience life. And, folks, it’s a good thing for us that He does because none of us would ever turn to Jesus on our own.

And the reason I can make that statement is because of a universal problem called, “sin.” God is holy. And, God hates sin. And even though we go to incredible lengths to deny it, ignore or to convince ourselves that sin…our sin…is no big deal, deep down inside of us we know that it is a big deal. Consequently, the natural inclination of sinful people like you and me has always been to run and hide from the reality and the presence of God. It started with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (read Genesis 3) and it continues to this very day. No one in and of themselves just decides to turn to Jesus. Jesus made that really clear in John 6:44 when he said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him…”

How many people come to Jesus just because they decide one day to do so? No one. And with that, we come to the huge, life-transforming lesson that I’m hoping and praying everyone here takes from this message. And the lesson is this—Every time you take even the slightest step in the direction of Jesus you can know with certainty that God is working in your life at that very moment.

 

How can you know that? Because no one comes to Jesus unless the Father draws them. No one. Every step that brings us closer to Jesus is prompted by God working in our life.

--And that means when you tell me, “I’m thinking about joining you on your next mission trip to Mexico,” God is working in your life. That kind of thought doesn’t come naturally. God planted that desire in you.

--And that means that when you’re making plans for the weekend and you say, “I think I want to go to church this Sunday,” God is working in your life at that very moment. He gave you that desire. He’s drawing you closer to Jesus.

--When someone at church shares a testimony and says, “The other day during my prayer time…” and you think, “I wish I was more consistent in my prayer life,” God is working in your life at that very moment. That kind of thought doesn’t come naturally. God gave you that desire. He’s drawing you closer to Jesus.

--And if right now there’s a little voice in your head asking, “Can this really be true? Can I really know Jesus? Can He really change my life? Is God really working in my life?” He is. Right now. Those kinds thoughts don’t come naturally. God is drawing you closer to Jesus.

And as I invite you, right now, to respond in whatever God leads you and you’re thinking, “I ought to go forward and ask Pastor Tom to pray with me about this,” that’s God working in your life. He gave you that desire. He’s drawing you closer to Jesus.

And if you’ll follow that prompting and take that step you’ll discover what Andrew discovered. When we come to Jesus, He never turns us away.