The homily delivered by Pastor Will Rose emphasizes the profound question posed by Jesus: "What are you looking for?" This inquiry serves as an invitation for individuals to reflect deeply on their spiritual journey and relationship with the Divine. Will elucidates that, akin to the first disciples, we are called to explore our own call stories and to discern where God is leading us. He articulates that such reflection is crucial for understanding our vocation and the ways in which we may contribute to the world around us. Ultimately, this message challenges us to engage with the essence of our faith, urging a closer examination of our desires and pursuits in relation to the love and grace of God.

Pastor Will Rose's homily at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church on January 18th, 2026, delves into the profound significance of Jesus's identity as articulated in the Gospel of John. Central to this discourse is the pivotal moment when John the Baptist identifies Jesus as the 'Lamb of God,' a title rich with theological implications that invites the faithful to reflect on their understanding of sacrifice and redemption. Pastor Rose elucidates how John's role transitions from a baptizer to a witness, emphasizing the importance of testimony in recognizing the divine. He encourages the congregation to engage with the question posed by Jesus—'What are you looking for?'—as a means of self-exploration and spiritual growth.

The homily challenges us to consider our own spiritual journeys and the call to deepen our relationship with Christ, thus enriching our capacity to love God and our neighbors in tangible ways. Within Will's homily, delivered at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, the essence of discipleship is profoundly examined through the lens of the Gospel of John. The narrative of Jesus calling the first disciples is framed as a model for modern believers, inviting them to contemplate their own responses to Jesus's inquiry about their desires and spiritual hunger.

Pastor Will emphasizes the importance of community and shared experience in discerning one's vocation, positing that each individual's calling contributes to the collective mission of the church. He illustrates this through personal anecdotes and reflections on the call stories within the congregation, ultimately weaving a narrative that underscores the importance of listening, paying attention, and responding to the divine invitations present in everyday life. This homily serves as both a challenge and an encouragement to embrace the complexities of faith and the continuous journey of following Christ.

Takeaways:

1. Pastor Will Rose's homily emphasizes God's unconditional love and grace for all individuals.
2. The Gospel of John presents a unique Christological perspective, focusing on light, revelation, and the identity of Jesus.
3. A central theme is the invitation to 'come and see,' encouraging deeper exploration of faith and relationship with Jesus.
4. The narrative illustrates the calling of the first disciples, highlighting the importance of recognizing one's vocation in life and spiritual journey.
5. The discourse challenges listeners to contemplate their own spiritual questions and what they seek in their lives.
6. The homily calls for community engagement and sharing personal call stories, fostering connection and support among believers.

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Foreign.

Thank you for engaging with the homily by Pastor Chill Will from Chapel Hill.

I hope this message encourages you, challenges you and moves you to go deeper in your faith and enrich how you love God and love your neighbor in your day to day life.

Just a reminder.

Like the Scriptures and Gospels themselves, this homily was written for a particular community in a particular, particular context, time in history and yet, like our sacred texts, I hope that these words hold timeless truths about God's unconditional love and grace.

We hope these words speak to you in a meaningful way.

The Holy Gospel According to John the next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

This is he of whom I said, after me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.

I myself did not know him, but I came.

But I came baptizing with water for this reason that he might be revealed to Israel.

John testified, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.

I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, he on whom you see the Spirit descending and remain is the one who baptized with the Holy Spirit.

And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Chosen.

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, look, here is the Lamb of God.

The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

When Jesus turned and saw them following him, he said to them, what are you looking for?

Said to him, rabbi, which translated means teacher, where are you staying?

He said to them, come and see.

They came and saw where he was staying and they remained with him that day.

It was about 4 o' clock in the afternoon.

One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew Simon, Peter's brother.

He first found his brother Simon and said to him, we have found the Messiah, which is translated anointed.

He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, you are Simon, son of John.

You are to be called the which is translated Peter.

This is the Gospel of the Lord, the name of the Father and the Son of the Holy Spirit.

He's back.

By by he I mean John the Baptist.

This time he's back, not situated in the season of Advent.

He's not shouting in the wilderness, causing a scene and yelling at the onlookers to prepare the way of the Lord.

And this week he's not even baptizing Anyone?

This time we see what could be compared in college sports as a transfer portal.

Dumb disciples switching teams there any nil money involved?

I don't know.

Probably not so far.

In the season of epiphany, we began traveling with foreigners, following a star that leads to the Christ child going by another road.

We are then led to a body of water.

As God speaks and the spirit descends and hovers, the identity of beloved is formed.

New life emerges out of that new life.

This morning we get some call stories.

The calling of the first disciples.

The Gospel of John is different from the other synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.

John does tell some similar stories and he never loses the plot thread of who Jesus is and the overall climactic build to Holy Week and the cross into Easter morning.

But he does use a lot of creative images, imagery when he shapes his Christology.

It's a fancy word of who we understand the Christ to be.

And that is why we read from the Gospel of John here in Epiphany, situated right here today, the Gospel of John is filled with references to light and awakening, seeing, looking, revelation.

John's gospel doesn't have a traditional Christmas story.

Rather he chooses to go further back and starts with this cosmic call back to Genesis by starting with in the beginning was the Word and with him all things came into being.

In him was life and light to the people.

The light shines in the darkness and it did not overcome it.

This word became flesh bided among us.

In the Gospel of John, we don't see John the Baptist baptizing anyone.

Rather we hear from him describing Jesus's baptism and what he witnessed and experienced.

He's witnessing and testifying the epiphany he had when he baptized Jesus.

And then we get this.

I yeah, it's a strange and mysterious story of John and his disciples just kind of hanging out together in town where they are, I don't know.

And they see Jesus in the wild twice.

They are hanging out and I assume minding their own business and Jesus comes walking by.

John the Baptist is like, you see that guy right there?

Remember the one that I was talking about, who I baptized?

And there was this voice and dove and yeah, well, that's him.

That's the chosen one.

What?

You serious?

John?

I'm sure they had lots and lots of questions.

The next day the same thing happens again.

Jesus walks by, he's like, there he is.

That's the guy that John was talking about.

John is like, yep, that's him.

The Lamb of God.

The Lamb of God.

The two of John's disciples start following Jesus.

John's disciples switching teams seems kind of abrupt and maybe like they betrayed or left him or broke up with him or whatever.

Yet if John's students are paying attention in class, John has been talking about and calling for people to get ready for the chosen One.

Why wouldn't they start following Jesus?

There are a lot of titles and labels and Christology attached to Jesus just in these verses that we see today in our Gospel reading.

We hear of the Lamb of God, the chosen one, rabbi, anointed Messiah teacher.

During the season of Epiphany and the Sundays that follow, we will build on this and we will see how Jesus fulfills these titles and how he lives and how he loves.

But notice Jesus doesn't say, yep, I'm him, and then explain once and for all the mystery, all the mysteries of God and what magic prayers to pray to reach enlightenment.

Rather the first words out of Jesus's mouth in the Gospel of John.

Question, what are you looking for?

What a question, huh?

This is a question we should ask and ponder and meditate and pray on each every day.

What are you looking for?

Are you searching for?

Are you hungry for?

Are you longing for?

I love it that the disciples also don't give an answer right away, like duh, the Messiah.

That's why we're following you either they ask a question back.

Remember, they are students of John the Baptist.

Most likely they've learned that there isn't a quick and easy answer to the important things of life.

And so they ask, where are you staying?

Where are you abiding?

How about Jesus?

In order to have a thoughtful answer of what you're looking for, they know that they need to spend some time with Jesus, who Jesus extends to them an invitation on thee.

So this morning I hope that you'll hear that question and take it to heart.

What are you looking for then?

How are you spending time with Jesus, Abiding with him and looking and seeing where he abides, where he is staying?

Then where is Jesus asking you to come see?

On this Sunday in this season of epiphany, we begin to see some call stories of how God calls people to come and learn, to come and see, to come and follow and and to learn from Rabbi Jesus, Teacher Jesus have a calling or to search for.

A calling is a pretty religious and spiritual and churchy word and yet that is where we get our word vocation from.

Voco in Latin means call or a call in your work and life and vocation where Is God calling you?

Where do you feel called?

And the hope and prayer is that your gifts meet up with the world's needs.

I don't have time this morning to go in depth of my own personal call story.

I'd be happy to share a coffee or meal with you, to share with you my call story to seminary and what I'm doing with my life and how I've grown over the years.

But there have been lots of people in my life who invited me, come see to come and see the love and grace and mercy of God discovered in the person.

Life, death, the resurrection of Jesus and youth directors and Sunday school teachers and pastors and friends and family who brought me to church, who are patient with me when I was a rowdy, couldn't sit still, Little William.

And along the way, seminary professors and other colleagues and friends and people who I work with who have invited me over and over and over again to come and see who this Jesus is and how we can learn from him together.

And there are so many call stories among us here and around us in our lives.

When I think of call stories, I think of Mandy, our new church council vice president, who is hearing a call to go to seminary.

I think of my friend Joshua, a member here at Holy Trinity, who mostly worships online, who is also wrestling with the call to go to seminary or not.

And there are call stories all around us that are not just wrestling whether to go to seminary or not.

Perhaps God is calling you to into the sciences to help make the world a better place, to understand it deeper.

Perhaps God is calling you into social work to help our neighbors who are in our midst.

Perhaps God is calling you into finance who seek economic prosperity and justice.

Perhaps God is calling you to advocate, to advocate work, to help speak up for those whose voices are silenced or drowned out amidst the noise of this world.

And although these call stories and experience and discernments through them, God is calling our community of faith to discern and use our gifts for a world hungry and longing for belonging, for safety, for grace.

Indeed, there is a lot going on in our world right now, along with you.

I feel overwhelmed and scared and sometimes frozen by it all.

And yet, as Isaiah calls us to, as we pay attention, we listen.

There are still people in our midst and beyond these walls who invite us to come and and see what God is up to in our world.

At this table, at that font, and within our collective voices, I hope and pray that we can still love up close and have real and honest conversations and the relationships that are entrusted to us as we walk together as a community of faith.

There are so many call stories around us.

I hope that we can pay attention.

I hope that we can listen.

I hope that we can continue to share these with one another and our show and tell of what God is doing in our lives and where we see Jesus abiding today.

Taking our lead from John and from those first disciples, let us continue to ask, what are you looking for where we see Jesus?

To invite people to come and see body and blood waters of grace.

God's unconditional love and grace for all.

Amen.

Foreign.

Thank you for listening.

If there is anything that stood out for you, or if you have a question or you just want to have a conversation, you are always free to reach out and contact us.

And remember you are not alone and.

That you are loved with a love stronger than death.