Monday, January 15, 2018

Sermon on John 1.43-51

The Rev. Joseph Peters-Mathews
January 14, 2017
St. Joseph-St. John, Lakewood
Epiphany 2, B
John 1.43-51

I don’t know what to say this week.
The annual meeting is right after this,
            and Jesus calls to Philip
            and Nathanael and us,
                        “Follow me.”
We’ve also got Philip saying,
            “We have found him
about whom Moses in the law
and also the prophets wrote,
Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.
How does Nathanael reply?
He asks,
“Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
[Sigh]
That sounds a lot like
            A comment the President made this week,
                        doesn’t it?

The sentiment sounds the same.
A temptation is to let the comparison  
            stand on its own.
Giving in to that temptation
            is giving in to white supremacist rhetoric.
Nathanael may have thought
            that Nazareth wasn’t anything
            but that doesn’t make it nothing
                        even if it was in the back woods.
It’s where Jesus,
            the savior of creation,
                        grew up poor.
Jesus changed the world,
            just like the people of Haiti.
I couldn’t get in this pulpit
            and not mention the analogous comparison.
But saying anything more about it
            isn't the sermon that I
am called to preach to you
            today.
And I tried to write one.

When Nathanael dismisses Jesus
            simply because he is from Nazareth
                        Philip replies to “Can anything good?”
                                    with “Come and see.”
What Nathanael finds is
            a man who essentially
has done a magic trick.
Jesus says, “I saw you sitting under the fig tree.”
Jesus knew where Nathanael was,
            and that’s all it takes to convince him
                        that Jesus is the son of God,
                                    the king of Israel.
I’m with Jesus:
            that's a pretty low bar.
Despite Nathanael’s dismissing Nazareth,
            Jesus doesn’t dismiss Nathanael.
Jesus says,
            “You will see greater things than these.”
From what we know of Nathanael,
            he does what Philip does at the beginning of this passage.
He follows Jesus.

This short passage
is part of John’s Gospel
                        where Jesus is assembling
his core group of disciples.
Some of them
were followers of John the Baptizer.
Others he recruits along the way
            and convinces to follow him by his teaching.
They seek out new people to follow Jesus
            because they are convinced
                        that Jesus is the one written about
                                    in the law and the prophets.
This is only John Chapter 1
            and Philip is evangelizing —
                        sharing the Good News with —
                                    Nathanael.
From John’s disciples,
            to those he invites,
                        to those they invite
and Jesus persuades,
            the number of Jesus’ followers grows.
Jesus says,
            “Follow me” then
                        “You will see greater things than these.”

Our annual meeting is today,
            and I think more clearly that ever
                        Jesus is saying,
                                    “Follow me.”
Jesus the living Christ
has made all things new.
There are some new announcements
we’ll get at the annual meeting in a bit
            including some new Bishops Committee members.
I hope.
Following Jesus who has made all things new
            requires as I talked about last week
                        dying to old habits,
                                    including habits of clinging to things.
It means trying new things
            with new people.
It means being like Philip,
            and telling those we encounter
                        the Good News of Jesus.
It means saying,
            “Come and see”
                        about how you’ve known new life in Christ
                                    at St. Joseph-St. John.

When Philip and Nathanael follow Jesus
            he promises them,
                        “You will see greater things than these”
They leave their immediate families.
They quit their jobs.
They risk their social standing and even their lives
            to follow Jesus.
“You will see greater things than these.”
This assurance of Jesus is ours too,
            but we have to take risks —
                        personally and as a body.

One risk Episcopalians are scared to take, often,
            is inviting someone to church with them.
The Season after the Epiphany,
            has historically been a season about evangelism.
This has been a few weeks of focusing
            on sharing the Good News of the incarnate Christ
                        salvation made available to all
If you have someone in mind
            to invite for next week,
                        don’t hesitate.
But if you’ve got some trouble,
            some anxiety with that risk…
                        if you’re not quite comfortable saying
                                    “Come and see” like Philip…
            spend some time in prayer and discernment.

Think about who might need to be reunited
with the church,
            with our church or any church.
Think about who might need to hear
            that their sins are forgiven.
Think about who might need to be reminded
            that they are dust, and to dust they will return.
Spend this next month
            wondering who you might invite
                        to our one Ashes to Stay service
                                    after Community Dinner on February 14.
Jesus tells Philip, “Follow me.”
Philip tells Nathanael,
            “Come and see.”
Jesus tells Nathanael and us,
            “You will see greater things than these.”
Let’s take the risks.
Let’s follow Jesus.