Minister: Marv Vose

John 1:35-42

When I was about 11 years old, I wanted a new bicycle in the worst way.  Nowthis wasn't just any bicycle that I wanted.  It was a very specific bicycle.I wanted an English racing bicycle-the kind with three speeds!  My bestfriend has a bike like that and I wanted one, too.  But it had to have morethan just three speeds.  I wanted it to be red with chrome fenders!  Can youimagine how cool that would look?  Now I lived in a small town, so there wasn't any bike shop.  I didn't evenknow that there was such a thing as a bike shop.  But I had found my dreambicycle in a catalogue and I spent hours looking at the picture of thisbicycle, reading the description of its many charms and dreaming about howwonderful it would be to ride it.  Finally, I had saved enough money from mowing lawns and the paper route tobe able to order this magnificent bicycle.  (I think my Mom put in somemoney, too.)  And, of course, it took forever to arrive.  Day after day Iwaited for that bike.  Then month after month.  Year after year!  Well...itdidn't really take that long.  It just felt like that long.  Then it arrived and I was so excited!  That was when the first shockoccurred.  It was in a box!  The picture in the catalogue didn't sayanything about a box!  And when I opened the box with such anticipation,that bike didn't look anything like the one in the catalogue.  This was myfirst introduction to those dread words.  You know the ones I'm talkingabout? These few, little words strike terror in the heart of any man whoowns a screwdriver.  You know the ones I mean.  "Some assembly required!"   I had to figure out how to put this thing together!  That took alittle of the sparkle off a new bike.  And it didn't go together quite likeit was supposed to.  I'd never put a bike together before.  I barely knewwhat a screwdriver was, much less a wrench.  And so there was a disconnectbetween dream and reality!  But finally it all came together and I was ableto ride the bike of my dreams.  During that period of my life, if someone had asked, "What do you want?" Icould have told them without a moment's hesitation and in greatdetail-probably more detail than they had ever wanted to hear!  I knew whatI wanted! What do you want?  That's what Jesus asked two of John the Baptistsdisciples.  They were following him, possibly too timid to say anything.After all, John had just called him the "Lamb of God."  That's pretty lofty.But in that little comment, we see the initiative of God.  God is alwayswilling to take the initiative, always willing to make the first comment andJesus did it with these two.   The question is kind of unusual.  "What do you want?"  In myimagination, I would guess the two disciples were a little surprised by thequestion.  Wouldn't you be?  And there answer is a little unusual as well.The real answer was probably something like, "John says you are the Messiahand we'd like to check you out and see if he is really right."  But theycan't say that so they ask where he is staying and he again takes theinitiative and invites them to come and talk.  And they do!  It is such amomentous occasion that Andrew even remembers the precise time!  If Jesus were to ask you that question today, what would your answerbe?  Can you imagine Jesus slipping into the pew next to you and at theclose of the service, smiling at you and asking, "So, what do you want?"What would your answer be? If you don't mind, I'd like you to write it down.  In your bulletinthere is that little blank space at the bottom of the page.  It is justperfect for you to write it down.  Somehow it becomes more real if you writeit down instead of just thinking it.  And my guess is that most of you don'twant to answer out loud.  So just take a moment and write it in yourbulletin. You don't have to show it to anyone.  This is just for you and Jesus.  Ifyou have only one bulletin, then you'll have to share and if that person isyour spouse or a family member or close friend, you surely won't mindsharing with them what you want.  Doesn't need to be a long answer.  Justjot it down.Now my guess is that some of you aren't writing anything down, because youdon't really know what you want.  No one has ever asked before.  And becauseno one ever asked, you haven't thought about it.  So now that we are in theseason of Lent, it is a great time to do some self-reflection.  What do youwant?Some of you aren't writing anything down because you are busy filtering.You could same some things other places than in church, but this is kind oflike the Miss America pageant where everyone is supposed to want worldpeace.  But let me assure you, this is just for you and Jesus.  No filteringis necessary.  You can be honest with Jesus.  Some of you aren't writing anything down because you don't think you reallywant anything.  And that may be right, but if that is the case, then you aresettling for far less than Jesus intends to give you.  In John 10:10 Jesussays he came to give us abundant life!  Not just life, but abundant life!In the gospel of John, there is very little talk about the Kingdom of God orthe Kingdom of heaven.  Instead, we hear about abundant life!  Now...what do you want?  Got something in mind?  Written it down?    It is really important for us to ask ourselves that question and tobe able to answer it! Knowing the answer can be very helpful.  Not knowingthe answer can get you in trouble.  You know, we are in the midst of a presidential campaign?  Did all of youknow that?   In keeping with the season I have a story about a Senator whodied and went to heaven.  He was greeted at the Pearly Gates by St. Peterwho was a little flustered.  St. Peter explained that they didn't get manySenators at the Pearly Gates and they had a special procedure they had tofollow.  The senator would have to spend 24 hours in Hell before he came toheaven.  Then after spending a day in heaven, he could decide where hewanted to go.The senator wasn't very excited about this idea.  He definitely wanted tostay in heaven, but St. Peter was adamant, so the senator took the elevatorto Hell.  When the doors opened and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him. Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had.  They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and champagne. Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who has a goodtime dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that beforehe realizes it, it is time to go.  Everyone gives him a hearty farewell andwaves while the elevator rises... The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where St. Peteris waiting for him. "Now it's time to visit heaven." So, 24 hours pass with the senator joining a group of contented souls movingfrom cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good timeand, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns."Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity." The senator reflects for a minute, then he answers: "Well, I would neverhave said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I wouldbe better off in hell." So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of abarren land covered with waste and garbage. He sees all his friends, dressedin rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trashfalls from above. The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around hisshoulder. "I don't understand," stammers the senator. "Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?" The devil looks at him, smiles and says, "Yesterday we were campaigning. Today you voted." Knowing what you want can be really helpful.  It tells you somethingabout yourself.  It tells you what you are lacking in your life.  It'sreally important!   Remember what I was saying about the bright, red bicycle with thechrome fenders?  I wanted that bad.  Now I wasn't self-aware enough to knowwhy.  I didn't care why.  I just wanted it.  And as I look back, there werelots of reasons for wanting it.  In my eyes, it was a thing of beauty!  Andit meant freedom!  I could move around quickly and effortlessly!  I wasfree. But more than that, I wanted it because only really special peoplewould have such a special bicycle.  I knew that.  So if I had a bicycle likethat, I would have to be really special.  And I wanted to be special.  I waspretty sure I wasn't special.  But that bike would make me special.     What do you want?  What do you really want?  I'm convinced that if we keep asking that question long enough and wellenough, it will somehow lead us to Jesus.  That's what happened to the twodisciples. It lead them to Jesus and their lives were never ever the same.If we keep asking, sooner or later, the question will lead us to somethingthat only Jesus can really answer.Remember my red bicycle?  It didn't take long before it got a dent.  Itwasn't so special anymore. And I didn't like it quite as much as I didbefore.  And that's what it had really been about-making me feel special.What I didn't realize was that I was already special.  I had been createdthat way.  Somehow I had missed the story in Genesis where God looks at hiscreation of man and woman and says, "That's really good!"  I didn't knowthat applied to me.  No one had every told me that.  No one had ever said tome that I was created by God to be a unique, unrepeatable, miracle of God.Of course, you were created that same way-to be a unique, unrepeatable,miracle of God.  Did anyone ever tell you that?  Has anyone mentioned thattoday?  You are a unique, unrepeatable, miracle of God!  Would you say thatwith me.  I am a unique, unrepeatable, miracle of God.  You have been given special gifts by God to be used for the building up ofthe body of Christ.  It says it right there in Ephesians 2:10.  "For we areGod's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which Godprepared in advance for us to do."  But I don't remember anyone ever tellingme that.  And even if they had told me, at that point in my life, I couldn'tbelieve it.  You see, I was just an 11-year-old kid whose parents weredivorced and in that time and place, that meant I was somehow defective.There was something wrong with me. I didn't know what it was, but I knewsomehow I'd made it happen.  And we were poor and that somehow meant I wasdefective.  Something was wrong with me.  I know that doesn't make any sensebut 11-year-olds don't always make sense.  But I learned a good lesson.  Red bikes aren't enough.  I needed somethingbetter than a red bike.  Took me a long time to find it, but I kept looking. Here is why it is so very important to know what we really deep downinside want.  It's because God can meet us in our "wants."  Did you hearthat?  God can meet us in our "wants."  If you forget everything else I saidtoday hang onto that.  God can meet us in our wants.   What do you really want?  As soon as you know, then you can askJesus for it.  He's just been waiting for you to ask.