17 Mar Come and See

Their eyes wide with wonder, the children watched as I made them hot cocoa. Then, they sat and savored their warm beverages, each choosing precisely when to eat their marshmallows. Some saved them until the end and others couldn’t wait that long and picked them off the top to eat immediately.

After chatting briefly with my kids and their friends, I retreated to the living room couch with my seminary reading for the day. Just a few paragraphs in, I was ripped away from thought by my seven-year-old goddaughter, Sadie, who ran down the stairs wearing a look of delight. “Ms. Laura! You have to come and see! Joseph’s caterpillars are attaching to the top of the cup and cocooning!”

Well. That was that. I put the book down and immediately ran after her up the stairs. She pointed her finger at the cup and said “See! Look at them!” I peered in the little cup that came with the Caterpillars in a Cup kit that Joseph received as a Christmas present from his grandmother. Sure enough, caterpillars were attaching to the top. I expressed my appreciation of this marvelous natural phenomenon. Of course, I also gave my necessary adult speech about not shaking the cup (“Let’s just leave them alone and watch what happens!”) Then I made my way back to my spot on the couch and was soon engrossed in my book.

Not fifteen minutes later, I heard Sadie walking down the stairs. I glanced up to see a gorgeous sunset beginning through the window behind her. “OH! Sadie, look at the sunset! Let’s go see it.” So we walked into our sunporch and stood for a few moments, staring at the sky. Then she re-entered her fort-making process with Joseph and I re-entered my book.

Several minutes later, she stood before me once again. “Ms. Laura, I think you should come back to see the sunset again – it’s even redder now.” What do you think I did? I went to see the “even redder sunset,” of course.

Sadie and I, we do a dance between the “come and sees” and the “show and tells” until a story begins to be written between us – a liturgy of friendship marked by presence and captured in shared moments. The sweetness of hot cocoa, the wonder of a caterpillar, the warmth of a red sunset.

We know each other well enough by now to sense when we see something the other will want to see. And we trust each other. As I sat down for one final attempt to read my book, my mind drifted to another friendship marked by a “come and see” moment – that of Philip and Nathaniel:

I gather from the text that Philip and Nathanael had been friends for a while. They were close enough that when Philip found Jesus he thought to himself “I’ve got to get Nathanael to meet him!” Sure enough, when Nathanael met Jesus, he was immediately impressed  by this man who knew everything about him before they’d even met!

Whether it’s a sunset or caterpillars or the Son of God, when we encounter something or someone that delights or inspires us, we can’t help but want to share with those around us. The authentic sharing of our faith is as natural a thing for a Christian to do as it was for Sadie to tell me about those butterflies.

“I have come to know Jesus,” we may say to a family member or friend, “…and He has changed me forever. I am a new person! Come and meet him for yourself!” Scripture doesn’t record it, but I can only imagine Philip’s joy when he introduced his friend to Jesus and Nathanael said “Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel.”

Sadie couldn’t force me to enjoy that sunset, or even rise from the sofa to look. But she could invite me, and by her own obvious interest inspire my own. We don’t know how people will respond to Jesus. But we can, with a heart of joy and excitement invite them to “Come and see!” the one who has transformed our lives with his love.