35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.
Not long ago I spent an evening with a couple of friends, each of which is what I would call a "seeker". The time spent together was great. We drank a little wine, enjoyed a deliciously-prepared meal, and talked about everything from the policies and politics of Uber to the meaning of America. We also talked about God, if there is one -- the qualifier being that not everyone at the table was sure that there is.
On nights like these, I see my role as that of trying to create community, to engage questions and ideas, but not to set out to refute or "prove" anything -- if God felt the need to prove something I'm not sure I would have been His first choice as a messenger. I made a C in college philosophy, after all. No; my role is presence, engaging, laughing, being with.
The seekers came to Jesus and he asked them, "What are you looking for?" They did not know what they were looking for. They could not answer.
"Where are you staying?" they asked back.
"Come and see," he said.
So they went with him. They stayed the night. Well, they were supposed to stay just a night. But they ended up staying three years.
And somewhere along the way they must have realized something profound, yet hidden. Somewhere along the way they realized that when Jesus said, "Come and see," he was answering not only their question to him -- "Where are you staying?" -- but also his question to them -- "What are you looking for?"
What are my seeker friends looking for? The answer cannot be summed up in a single sentence or discovered in a single night. What they are looking for is deeper and more wonderful than a slogan or a tweet or a night of philosophizing. What they are looking for is a a place to stay awhile and a generous host to stay with, someone who will welcome their stay and perhaps even over welcome their stay. Someone who will welcome them until they come to discover that it is not so much a "what" that they are looking for, but rather a "who".
Now, after 2,000 years the Galilean still has his arms open in a generous, beckoning wave, and his words fall hospitably on the ears of a pair of seekers once more, "Come; come and see."
~Ryon Price, 2nd Thoughts
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