February 15, 2026 · Rev. Derek van Gulden · Psalm 40:1-10; John 1:32-47
As Lent approaches, Rev. Derek van Gulden asks how we'd answer Jesus' invitation, 'Come and see', and the congregation answers back. Drawing on a course on spirituality in the second half of life and a reading from Henri Nouwen, the call is to seek God right now, in this moment, not as we did in the past.
Transcript
Friends in Christ. Would you join me in a moment of prayer? Gracious and holy God, this morning I ask you to move the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts by your love, and help each of us this day not to be the instrument of our own or anyone else's oppression, but to be an instrument of peace in every step, in every breath, in every moment of every day. Amen.
Last night I sent out a email to everybody. Fairly late. I figured, wake up to this morning and read it. And I asked two questions. How do you feel led to respond to Jesus's invitation to the disciples to come and see where I live? And to us, come to me, all you who are weary, which comes from Matthew, a well-known passage. Come to me, all you who are weary, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and so on and so forth.
At the start, getting ready to walk into lent, I want us to really look at. Our spiritual aspect of how we follow Jesus. In that beautiful passage from John. You hear the soon to be disciples asked Jesus, where are you staying? And he simply says, come and see. Later on in the passage, he also says, follow me. He doesn't give him any instructions. He just says, follow me. And they did.
One of the things that I. love reminding myself, is that the disciples who we know their names, we hear about them. None of them. Their lives ended in a good way. Not that. But. And they gave themselves over to Jesus to walk with him for three years, to listen to him, not always understanding what he said, listening to his parables. And at the end one betrayed him. One denied him. They all scattered, but they all came back together.
Now these men mostly were fishermen, rough, rough hands, sailors working with their hands every day. If a company Or someone else. I won't go there. Decided they want to interview people for twelve disciples. They get their resumes. They'd interview them. Do you think in this day and age, any one of those twelve would be given a job? They were people of the earth, of the sea, humble, hard working, and yet they dropped everything that they were doing left. Their boats behind, left their way of life and follow Jesus when he said, come and see where I live.
So a few of you have said that you read that last night or this morning, but you haven't told me what you. Your thoughts were. Does anybody have a thought on that simple thing? How would you respond to Jesus invitation to the disciples? Come and see where I live. It's going to be a really long sermon. This is assuming that you don't know it. It's complete. Stranger. No, it's assuming you are you. Now, today, I don't think I know. I didn't know him. Do you know Jesus? Do you know who Jesus is? Well, I do. Well, that's what I'm saying. This question is for who you are right now in your life. In this world. Is that a no? Let's get that right. Oh. Thank you. Okay.
Yes, I would go. Anyone else? Well, he's supposed to live in our hearts. Good point. I would go. Anybody else? Yes. Are you taking the ring? It's okay.
As we come together as a community, the body of Christ, we see love which Christ embodies in each of us. And we're called to see Christ in one another. Come and see. Come and see. Thank you. Anybody else? It's okay. There is no right or wrong answer to this.
No, I'm struggling with this because my answer isn't exactly to your question. But I mean, to me, I perceive Jesus as the Son of God, but in a personal way. I think of him as a big brother. God is our father. We're all God's children. And when I feel frightened or troubled, my prayers are that God will allow me to feel Jesus hands on my shoulder, walking beside me. Beautifully said. Anyone else?
Amy. Thank you. I have. I also am not going to speak directly. I've been trying to get my words to fit. I like when Elsa said, and Camilla, and I'm beginning to know that the unity is already here because. And I think one important word on this planet is survival. And it is my belief that every single person, whether very conscious of it or less conscious of it, have love. Even the contract murderer. His love is put toward whatever he needs that money for. He's protecting somebody himself, his family. I'm just saying, we do things out of some reason and everyone has a reason for their part. Today I don't know how we can adjust these, but we must. Thank you. Anyone else?
So what I'm trying to get you to do is to. Seek God through Christ, or whichever way you seek God today, in this moment, in this time of your life. Not how you've done it in the past, not how you'll do it in the future, but right now. Looking for God or seeking God in the present.
Over the last five weeks, I've been attending a webinar put on by an amazing Spiritual director who actually runs the school of Spiritual Direction. At Adeline Ruud. It's been going on for a long time. This webinar, there was about fifty of us taking it. It was called spirituality in the second half of life. Sarah signed me up for it. As we know, I'm approaching retirement. But it was amazing. And one of the things that I came out of from the last one that was this week, that resonated with me because I could understand it more in the present time. Drawn to peace with uncertainty called the curiosity, awareness and love. These are the things that I'm feeling willing to step out in faith. Summon to hear and follow God's Word. Each one of those is an action oriented word drawn, called, willing, and summoned. For me, it's the third one that I need to work on. Willing to step out in faith. Not that I don't do it. That's been my life's vocation, but finding new ways for me to do it in a different way.
As we go into lent, I encourage you to consider seeking God here, not just here, because this is a sanctuary seeking God in the present, in your life. Where do you find God? Where do you hear God? How are you willing to answer the call that God may be giving you right now.
I want to end with a reading from one of my favorite theologians, Henri Nouwen. And from his book Here and Now. He wrote this brief little part that always jumps out at me. A new beginning. We must learn to live each day. Each hour. Yes, each minute has a new beginning. Has a unique opportunity to make everything new. Imagine that we could live each moment as a moment pregnant with new life. Imagine that we could live each day as a day full of promises. Imagine that we could walk through the new year, always listening to a voice saying to us, I have a gift for you and can't wait for you to see it. Imagine. Today. Amen.