Come, See

 "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?" John 4:29

These words were spoken by a woman after she'd had an encounter with Jesus at the well outside her Samaritan town. Jesus, a stranger to her, probed deeply into her heart, seeing her as she really was, and as He probed, she somehow, if only in a small way, began to see who He really was. So impacted was she that she immediately went into her town and began inviting all to "Come, see," this man Jesus. It is a simple but direct invitation, and it's extended to each of us....even those of us who believe we've already come, and we've already seen. We need constant fresh sightings of Jesus Christ. We must never tire of coming to Him. We need daily, to come, and see, the One, the Man-God who knows us as no other can.

Mark Buchanan tells a story of a church plant on the east side of Toronto, a place where drug dealers, gang members, drug addicts, and prostitutes dwelt in abundance. One Sunday a prostitute came to the service. She was bruised and shaking. The church celebrated communion each week. As the pastor prepared to serve, he explained that in taking it, they received His healing, forgiving, cleansing, and redeeming life into their very being. That they "feasted on Christ's forgiveness, love, and promise of newness of life." As the communion bread was passed, the streetwalker took a handful. At the invitation to take the bread, she ate it all, even licking the crumbs from her fingers. When the cups came, she did the same, taking 6 or 7 and consuming them all. As she did so, she wept. Buchanan said that she didn't do so because she was hungry or thirsty for bread or drink. She was "starved for love....parched for grace. She could not get enough of Christ." She had come and seen a man. She had come and met the man. Have we....really.

Do we regular church goers and attenders have such a hunger and thirst for Him? Do we seek to drink and eat of His life to the full? No matter how much we receive of Him, and He gives to the full, do we continue with a thirst and hunger that though He will moment by moment satisfy, we will always crave more? More of Him. All of Him. Do we run to see this Man? Do we long for others to see Him as well?

From the high powered corporate executive to the lowliest street person, and from the layperson sitting in a pew to the one filling the pulpit, we are all filled with a hunger for what only He can give. Sadly, we more often seek to satisfy that hunger with the food and drink of this world. Sometimes, we who say we are His are the most guilty of this of all. Wherever you are, in whatever state, you, me, all of us, need to hear anew, "Come. See. Meet a Man." Partake of Him to the full. And more than the full. And after we have come, may we go, and extend the invitation to all our fellow starving wanderers. Let us come and see...now.

Blessings,
Pastor O