Weekly Sermon: 01/18/2026 - Season of Light, Love and Mission

The Holy Gospel according to John.

John the Baptist 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 testified that this is the chosen one.

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?

And 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 on 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 as Peter. The Gospel of the Lord.

You may be seated.

So, in the 90s, there was this little fag going on.

And I don't know if you remember it, if you're around, but there were these

little bracelets that were stamped with four letters, WWJD.

And they stood for, What Would Jesus Do?

And these bracelets were everywhere. And the whole country seemed like they

were wearing them. I even had one myself in elementary school,

and at the time, it seemed like a movement that would never fade.

On the surface, they were innocent enough, and they seemed well-attentioned,

because they were meant to help people remember Jesus in their everyday decisions. Amen.

You were a victim of peer pressure? WWJD.

You feel like yelling back at your parents? Well, WWJD.

And my mom would say WWND.

Thinking about staying out past curfew? Well, all you have to do is look down

at your wrist, and you would see the letters WWJD.

And for many people, it worked.

And if you had the double whammy of wearing the bracelet

while growing up in a church culture sets of mind you got that added benefit

of double guilt reminder every time you try to make a decision and it did help

though a lot of young people make great decisions by most measures it was very successful.

But all these years later, and six and seven fads later as well,

I think something else was happening with these bracelets as well, looking back at it.

Those bracelets had transformed faith into kind of a self-surveillance,

a constant reminder that you're always one bad choice away for messing everything up.

And they were kind of like a constant checking in with yourself where you'd

be asking yourself, am I crossing the line?

Am I failing God in this moment?

And over time, WWJD became less of a call to live like Jesus and more like a

quiet voice inside of us asking, am I doing enough?

And am I doing this Christian thing well enough?

I think this kind of discipleship is a little exhausting.

It's faith reduces simple moralism, which can keep us in line for a while.

And it helps a lot of people.

And many of us don't get in trouble because of this kind of discipleship.

But for others, it can be wearing down.

It leads to burnout and shame. and this flavor of faith, this connects us from

the joy God actually desires for us as followers of Christ.

For years while I was struggling with who I was and my identity,

while hearing messages from the pulpit that told me directly or indirectly that

something was inherently wrong with me, I came close to walking away from the church altogether.

And if I hadn't been for spiritual and theological curiosity,

if I hadn't believed that there had to be more to Jesus than what I was being

handed, I don't think I would be standing here today.

But for every person who has stayed and wrestled with these questions of faith,

there are countless others who haven't.

I hear all the time from my friends in the LGBTQ community who are just tired

of church and think faith is a joke and a lie.

And there are other people who were labeled too political or too progressive

who left the church because what they believed Jesus had said contradicted what the church had said.

And people of all ages who didn't lose faith in God but lost faith that church

had any room for them anymore. Amen.

But for, I think that discipleship of moralism failed to address the deeper

hunger in their hearts and ours.

And often contradicts the very way of Jesus.

It claims to uphold. And some of you recognize yourself in this very same story.

Some of you kept trying and it wore you down. Some of you quietly set it aside

because you stopped loving God. Not because you stopped loving God,

but because you couldn't live under that pressure anymore.

And as we move deeper into the 21st century, I don't think this kind of discipleship

is for us personally. I don't think it's needed.

And I think it's inadequate for the world that we're moving into.

Because every day when we turn on the news, we are confronted with fear.

Whether it's the threat of war or families living scared in their neighborhoods,

some all over the country and some right here in Texas.

And as job disappear and hunger grows for many.

And all this is being done while truth itself is being dismissed in the story

right in front of our eyes.

And underneath all this going on in our world, I keep hearing this urgent thought.

There needs to be good disciples of Jesus today.

That is what the world needs.

But if discipleship isn't only about policing behavior if it's only about asking

what would jesus do then i don't think it's strong enough or honest enough for

our world today and i think the kind of discipleship we need for this time i

believe can be found in today's scripture,

And what we find in today's gospel lesson in John is Jesus doesn't begin his

ministry with commands or a list or a prophetic declaration.

Instead, all those things are left up to John.

And what we find Jesus doing is when two disciples begin to follow him,

he turns around and he asks, what are you looking for?

Notice this isn't believe this or do better or get it right.

Rather, it is a question that assumes desire and calls for truth from the recipient

on this question. What are you looking for?

Jesus asked this question in a world that is anything but calm.

This is a world shaped by violence and empire.

And people living in it live with uncertainty about their future and their safety and their worth.

But Jesus asks this question with curiosity and calmness.

And he forms his disciples in this passage by asking them an honest question

of what they're looking for.

A question many of us have had to answer for ourselves throughout our entire

lives as we seek meaning to our lives.

And it signals this question that deep human part of our faith is not about

action, but instead yearning for answers only God can provide.

And so the scripture continues and disciples do answer Jesus.

But at first read, it doesn't look like they even answer the question well.

They ask him, Rabbi, where are you staying? And this response isn't theological

and doesn't even seem confident in tone, but rather is a relational response.

Their response to Jesus' inquiry of their desires to simply be near Jesus.

And he responds to their relational question with the statement, come and see.

In a world where faith is measured by what you do, how well you do, and how much you give,

whether it's today or back then when the scripture is written,

Jesus doesn't give commands or rules. He doesn't send them on a mission.

And there's no apparent world-changing event happening in this moment.

The only thing happening is presence.

And Jesus invites these disciples with the response

of come and see which they do

and they go and they stay with Jesus that day because

Jesus doesn't form disciples by asking

them what would I do Jesus forms his disciples by

asking what are you looking for and then inviting them to

stay close enough to him so that their desires can be reshaped by love and when

desires transform through closeness with Jesus This is when the action follows

is only after they stay with Jesus, the angel goes out to seek his brother.

And what he says isn't even isn't even that crazy.

He simply shares that they had found the Messiah and extends the offer to Simon,

who is later named Peter, to be near Jesus as well.

Because when the disciples stay near to Jesus, this is where witness becomes possible.

And when people learn where to stay in a world that is shaking,

they become the kind of disciples that the world desperately needs.

And for many of us who are taught that discipleship means simply what would Jesus do?

It's refreshing to hear Jesus doesn't start building disciples with this phrase,

but rather by asking his followers what they desire. And when the disciples

ask, where are you staying?

Jesus invites them to follow him. And this is where the transformation begins.

And as we ask this question, where are you staying?

As we move into the 21st century, the answer to this question, where are you staying?

Doesn't need to be abstract or some kind of spiritual riddle,

But a question that can serve as a reminder to ourselves of our orientation, our hearts.

And it speaks to the invitation that Christ gives us to align ourselves to the

work and ministry of God in our world.

And in this world full of fear, of brokenness, we are invited to bring trust

in God's promises to the world.

When outrage is being fed to us, we are invited to have compassion to those on the margins.

When others numb themselves to the reality of the world by either ignorance

or addictions, we can be present to what God is inviting us to do in that moment,

whether it's through prayer or through action.

And in a time when the news cycle seems to be changing each and every hour.

We are invited to focus our intention to what God is doing in the world.

And so when discipleship transforms from WWJD as a question of morality and

instead towards where is Jesus in this moment and desiring to be in that place,

we learned that discipleship is not just wanting to be good,

though it's part of it.

But instead, a desire to accept Jesus's invitation to be close to God and God's

work and to have our desires, our hearts tune in to what God is doing.

And so we no longer have to have our hearts rooted in fear or outrage but instead

into the same kind of love that jesus practiced in his ministry the kind that

transforms us and encourages us to go out and witness and invite others to come

along and be a part of god's work in the world,

in a world full of debate whether it's over social media or over the dinner

table this kind of discipleships asks us to pause and ask ourselves where am i staying right now.

Am I staying outraged and fear?

Or am I speaking to these people out of a place shaped by God's love?

And offering that love and compassion to that person, whether it's at the table or on social media.

And it also invites us to slow down and to think before we react.

Where is God in this moment?

And to check in whether or not we are in tune with God's heart.

Or are we just trying to own somebody this

kind of discipleship also shows up in presence when our neighbors are hurting

whether out in the community or in our homes it asks us to stay close enough

to listen to our neighbors and our loved ones before we try to fix anything,

we don't have to have all the answers we don't have to be you know have all

the plans to fix the problems in this world,

but instead just ask us to be close and to be present and be where God is at.

This kind of discipleship asks us to notice who God has already placed in our

lives, whether it's a co-worker who is overwhelmed, a family member who is afraid,

and the neighbor who feels unseen.

Instead of asking, what should I do? Begin with, can I stay here with you in this moment.

God's presence with humanity teaches us that often we just need to practice

staying and listening to those of us, to those around us.

And as we stay where Jesus stays, we can become a kind of witness,

the kind of presence that reminds others that they are not alone,

that God has not left this world to fend for itself.

And if that's what discipleship looks like, if it's as simple as staying close

to God, that love shapes who we are, then the question becomes not just how we live.

But in making the kind of future where God's love is made possible.

It's not an escape from the world, but it's rather a way to live faithfully

inside us. It imagines a church shaped less by fear of getting it wrong and

more of a desire to have our hearts where Jesus' heart is.

It's a church that stops measuring faith by how loud or certain we are and said

by whether love is forming us and informing our decisions.

In a world that is anxious about violence or being divided by misinformation,

this is a world where God's love and God's truth is made possible and real,

and this is the kind of world that makes room for people who have been pushed

to the margins our world doesn't need more Christians asking what would Jesus do,

and these people and disciples who say where is jesus staying where is jesus

heart and willing to stay in that place too.

It's a place where if fear is loud, Jesus stays with love. When power overwhelms,

Jesus stays with the vulnerable.

And when truth is bent, Jesus stays honest.

So come and see, so that we may be a people who stay, staying curious of our

neighbors, staying compassionate to those in need, and staying rooted in God's presence.

And as we do, as we come and stay where Jesus stays, May we see in our discipleship

and our following of Christ, not perfection or certainty,

but simply love as we declare with our hearts and our actions to the whole world,

we have found the Messiah.

Go in peace to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly, shining the light

of Christ as you love, serve and welcome all.

Thank you to God and we will. If you're inspired by this week's podcast, please.