To know Christ and to be known by Him.
Today’s readings focus on God’s call. We tend to think of that in an initial sense of coming to know Christ, but it includes the ongoing, continuous call to follow Christ wherever he leads, and thereby grow into the people he is calling us to be.
We don’t really know what we can do until we’re pushed and pressed beyond our limits. That’s true for each of us individually and it’s true for us as a church. We didn’t know what we could do until we had to do it.
Ten months ago we had a challenge, a big challenge. Bishop Brewer closed us down and suddenly we didn’t know how to worship under those conditions. But within just a few days we figured out how to live stream worship, thanks to Spencer Carter with a big assist from Shawn Perkins. As we worked at it, there were a steady stream of obstacles to overcome and problems to solve. Our Wi-Fi wasn’t strong enough in the church and especially up in the altar area. The sound wasn’t good enough. The altar area was like a stage; we had to move into and out of camera range. It felt odd to talk to a camera instead of to you. I saw a meme of Forest Gump that said, “And just like that my pastor became a televangelist.”
By the time we were able to open church again to limited worship, we had the SingStudio so we could offer a better service for the folks watching online. Then we recruited more help for Spencer; Amelia Ingley, Andrew Motis and Christian Perez. At each step each of us were learning and adapting in new ways. We didn’t know what we should do and what we could do until we faced a challenge and overcame it. In that we grew, never again quite the same person we were before the challenge.
And that has been true for all of us during these 10 months. We’ve all had to adapt, we’ve all had to grow. That is life, at least a life well lived.
And so it follows that we don’t yet know who we will be. Consider that as we join Nathanael under the fig tree. Sometimes people get directly called by Jesus but most often our faith comes to us through our families or friendships, a referral of sorts. And so Philip found his friend Nathanael. As we approach Nathanael we should note that his name means “a gift God has given” or, more simply, “A gift of God”. (That may be more of a nickname for Bartholomew, like Simon who is called Peter, because of the transformative moment that we see unfolding here.)
Nathanael is understandably skeptical at Philip’s news. It is a rather outrageous piece of news, that “We have found him about whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote.” The law anticipates a new prophet in Deuteronomy, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet. (Deuteronomy 18:15) and there are many references to a coming messiah in the prophets, notably Isaiah 53, the “Suffering Servant” passage, which includes,
“Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” (Isaiah 53:1-2)
Nathanael asks a question that illustrates a recurring obstacle for people, which is “Why him?” Nazareth was tiny, just a few hundred people. We never hear about any “no form or majesty” about Jesus, that he was super handsome or had a great singing voice. The witness is always about who Jesus is and what he does that reveal him as the fulfillment of the Law and Prophets. Rather than explain everything, Philip simply says, “Come and see.”
And when he does, Jesus nails him. His greeting, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no guile!” is a play on words that ties back to Jacob. Jacob’s name means literally “usurper” or “trickster” because at birth he was grasping his twin brother’s heel and later tricked him out of his birthright. Jacob was shrewd and lived by his wits. But eventually he comes to a point when all of that fails him and he’s in mortal danger. He wrestles with God all night in Genesis chapter 32, after which God renames him Israel which means “Wrestles with God” or “Contends with God” because Jacob will not let go. He will not let go.
And there is a fundamental shift in his being, from one who lives by his wits to one who is sorting out is life with God. The clear inference here is that Nathanael was likely wrestling with God, trying to sort out his life and times in his mind
Then when Jesus tells him he saw him under the fig tree before Philip called him, Nathanael suddenly realizes his is known by Jesus on a level that is impossible except through Jesus being who he is. The Lord knew Nathanael before they met. This is very much like the encounter Jesus will have with the Samaritan woman at the well in chapter 4. He asks about her husband and she says she has no husband. He says, that’s true, because she has had 5 husbands and the one she is currently with is not her husband. She runs and tells her friends, “He told me everything about myself.”
The sudden realization is also like Doubting Thomas’ encounter with the risen Jesus. When Jesus says, “Touch my hands” it shocks Thomas into the sudden realization, epiphany, of awareness because how could Jesus have known how he declared his doubts, “Unless I touch the marks of the nails…”
1. We don’t know who we are, who we shall be, until we answer his call.
2. Our life as a church is built around this invitation to, “Come and see.” If you cannot come physically out of precautions during a pandemic, we will use whatever means we have to bring you here virtually no matter how far away you may be.
3. And as you come and see, you will come to realize you are known and you are loved by the God who created you and is calling you to him.
My best advice for how to do this is to get really quiet, really listen, and pray the prayer that Samuel prayed as a boy. “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”
AMEN