Come and see

 In our society today, many people have come not to expect the church to fit in to their lives.  In today's gospel text from John, Nathanael didn't expect much from the guy from Nazareth.  But Nathanael's friend simply repeats the invitation Jesus had given to his friends just before, "come and see."  Come and see that the Messiah came from a nowhere town, but came bringing unexpected new life to the world.  Come and see that God forms the church out of ordinary people, and that we can expect the Holy Spirit to keep surprising us.

2^nd Sunday after the Epiphany (Year B) – Sunday, January 15, 2012

Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, Lancaster, PA

Texts: John 1:35-51

Around the water cooler, on the street corner, or these days more likely on message boards and facebook, we love to share our expectations. Who's gonna win the Super Bowl? Who will be the Republican nominee? I'm not touchin' that one, folks! Who's gonna make it to the next round of American Idol or whatever reality show you watch?? But in all corners of American society these days, people especially love to share their expectations and perceptions about this fascinating guy named Jesus and the Church that bears his name.

You might hear people trying to answer questions like these, and you might have struggled with them yourself:

Why don't people come to church anymore?

What have we done wrong?

Will we make it?

And from growing numbers of people, particularly from people my age, we hear:

Are Christians only about judgment and telling me how to live? When will I see a Christian church practicing what they preach?

Why should I go to church? What will I find there that has anything to do with my life, or the real world?

Our expectations are as varied and different as are our backgrounds and life experiences. But the questions are being asked. The Christian Church of which we are a part is being discussed and evaluated. Even our congregation is being talked about. Our neighbors are forming their perceptions and expectations of us and of the Church in general. 

 

Do people out there, our neighbors, expect to be accepted, heard, and fed here? Do they expect to find people here who remind them of the Jesus they've heard accepts everyone? 

 

On the other hand, do we expect our witness to matter? Do we expect it to really change lives and thereby change the world? 

 

In the gospel reading from John today Israel is waiting for the Messiah to come and bring back the good ol' days. John was baptizing people to prepare them for the Messiah's arrival. The day before, John had seen the Spirit descend and remain on Jesus and so he knew this Nazarene was God's Anointed One, the Messiah, the Christ. He sees Jesus coming and sends two of his disciples to go meet him. Jesus asks these two, “what are you looking for?” John has told them they should expect the Messiah, and having found him they reply with another question, “where are you staying?” This word can also be translated remain, or dwell, or abide. John uses it frequently. Just like the Spirit stayed with, or abided with, Jesus, so they ask where, Jesus, are you staying or dwelling or abiding? And Jesus replies simply, “come and see.” 

 

The next day Jesus finds Philip and Jesus tells Philip to follow him, which he does. The first person Philip chooses to tell this amazing news that the Messiah is here is Nathanael. Andrew had told his brother, Simon Peter. So since Philip chose him, this Nathanael was probably a pretty solid guy, a good and faithful friend. 

But what does Nate say when he hears that this Jesus was their Messiah?? “Seriously? The guy from Nazareth? The Messiah? Since when did anything worth my time come from there?”

Out there, in our world today, in the homes of people all around, on street corners and online they're saying, “Seriously? Church? Since when did it have anything to do with me? Can anything good come out of the church? Can anything good come out of Christ Lutheran?”

And when we hear Christ's call to follow him sometimes I think we say, “Really? What does it matter? Are you really abiding here because sometimes it feels like you've abandoned us? When will we see some people coming through the door?”

But Philip, he doesn't get defensive, he doesn't throw Nate's snarky comment back in his face. He stands there, and gives Nathanael a simple, open invitation, the same one Jesus gave the day before to his friends. “Come and see.” 

 

These are not words of judgment. Philip doesn't say, “if you don't come to see Jesus, you're going to hell. Do you know where you will spend eternity?” He doesn't say, “God heard that and you're gonna regret those words!” He says, “come and see.” Come and see what I have seen, that in Jesus, God has come to dwell and abide with us. 

 

When Nathanael comes up to Jesus and is amazed that Jesus already knew who he was, Jesus tells him, “you will see greater things than these.” Basically, you ain't seen nothing yet! You will see heaven opened right here with me. When you meet me, Jesus says, you meet God. So Jesus is inviting these disciples of John into a face-to-face encounter with the God of Israel. Philip is asking his friend to come and see the God who loves us enough to become one of us and suffer death for our salvation.

Gathered around these simple things like words, water, bread and wine that God fills with the Holy Spirit, we are made into the church. Jesus is inviting us to come and see who we are. As the church, we are the gathering of all those who are both saints and sinners at the same time. The beauty of this is that every human being meets the entry requirements – we're all sinners made saints by grace of God and the dwelling of the Holy Spirit in us. Just like he found Philip, God found each of you. Maybe through your upbringing, or through a friend, or in some other way God called you to come and see him broken and poured out for you right here today. 

 

Many of our neighbors probably don't expect they will find much here. But each of us is called to invite maybe just one person to come and see that the church is not a building nor a club for the do-gooders and the self-righteous. We're called to help someone come and see that we are sinners who gather to be forgiven, that we are hungry and we gather to be fed (both spiritually and literally), and that all of us who are or have been lost, left out and lonely gather to be reminded that Almighty God, the creator of the universe, not only knows who we are and cares about the quality of our lives, but died for us so that we may have life everlasting. Through our actions, decisions and also words, each of us is called to help someone come and see that God cares about things like affordable housing, the environment, immigration laws and even our nation's enemies. 

 

In the church of Christ, we gather not only with the people who agree with us, not only in our comfort zone, but as the people of God called to be members of one another, people who know that our lives are woven together with each other's and with the life of our three-personed, relational God. The Church is deeply broken because it it made up of human beings, but it is also forever blessed because in Jesus, God chose to dwell here, to abide here, to send the Spirit to abide in our hearts. People need the same washing waters, incarnate Word, bread of life and cup of salvation which God so graciously lavishes on us in this place. So we're called to be relevant, to be humble, to be hospitable and attentive to the newcomer, and to be willing to be changed by those we meet. We're called to speak and act in the manner of beggars telling other beggars where to find bread.

As I look out from this pulpit today, I see a lot of Philips out there. I see children of God who have been through all this sinful world dishes out, but who here have heard the gracious and liberating words “this is my body, given for you.” I see disciples who have tasted the sweetness of forgiveness. I see all of you, my sisters and brothers who know that the God who created the whole universe knit you together in your mother's womb. I thank God for you. I thank God for the faith God is giving you – the faith that God has ministry for us to do here. I thank God for your faith that God is working to equip and empower all of you baptized ministers here today. I think we can expect a lot from the Holy Spirit in the days ahead. I can't wait to come and see.  Amen.