tim keller, "come and see"

(33:30) jesus christ knows you at the bottom, praises you to the skies, there has never been a friend like this, there has never been a counselor like this, there has never been a lover like this. this is the wonderful counselor, this is the friend you've always been looking for. some of you know that kathy and i consider c.s. lewis kind of a mentor, someone whose writings have meant the world to us. and a few of you might know that when kathy was 12 years old, she wrote lewis, and she got four letters back from him, which of course we've kept. and in those letters-- it wasn't that long ago that she was pondering those letters, and they're astounding letters. because first of all, he treated her very seriously. she was just a little 12-year-old kid, and he would write back saying, "yes, we writers have to suffer like that, don't we?" and he was absolutely-- took her absolutely seriously, telling her things in some cases that were definitely beyond what a 12-year-old could know but they were wise... and, he wrote her even eleven days before he died, when he said, "i can't use my legs" and he wasn't even able to use his hands to do handwriting so he had to type it. and he wrote a 12-year-old little girl in america. and then suddenly two thoughts hit kathy: and the first thought went like this. she says, "c.s. lewis thought of me. a man that i respect, a man that i love, thought of me." and he was willing - even when he was in pain - to take a little girl that he hardly knew at all and to treat her seriously and to answer her letters." and then she suddenly had a second thought: she says, "wait a minute." i know, she told me this by the way. she says, "wait a minute. if a man that i respect and love decided he wanted to know me a little at the expense of his time, what does it mean that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, whose voice call all the stars into existence, has wanted to know me completely at the expense of his life. not just the expense of his time-- c.s. lewis wanted to know me a little bit at the expense of his time, but jesus christ is willing to know me completely at the expense of his life! and she says, "if that moves me and thrills me to think that c.s. lewis knew me, and loved me, and took me seriously, and thought of me -- what should it do, how much more should it thrill me, how much should it empower me, how much should it lift me up to know that Jesus Christ thinks of me, knows me, loves me. and of course, by even asking that question, it did all that to her. (36:17) (36:50) he makes you, by his call, what he calls you!! he's not just describing you, because you're not that way!