Epiphany II B Gospel 2008
Theme: Personal invitation
Let us pray.
Most holy, Lord God, when we hear something that sounds great we can’t wait to share it with someone else just like Philip did with Nathanael; remind us how great you are and your love for us and how great your son is that we too may share this great message with others, through your son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
One day St. Francis of Assisi invited a young monk to join him on a trip into town to preach. The young monk was so honored to get such an invitation from St. Francis that he quickly accepted. All day long he and St. Francis walked through the streets and byways, alleys and suburbs, and they rubbed shoulders with hundreds of people.
At the end of the day, the two headed back home, however, not even once had St. Francis addressed a crowd, nor had he talked to anyone about the gospel. The young monk was greatly disappointed, and he said to St. Francis, “I thought we were going into town to preach?” St. Francis responded, “My son, we have preached. We were preaching while we were walking. We were seen by many and our behavior was closely watched. It is of no use to walk anywhere to preach unless we preach everywhere as we walk!”
It’s no secret that we, the church, have forgotten what it means to preach the gospel, what it means to bring to others the good news, what it means to evangelize. The word evangelism has become a dirty word in some churches, and if it isn’t outright dismissed altogether, then it is relegated as a task for only those who have been ordained, or for those who are the professional speakers, who make a living giving their testimonials and asking for altar calls, or for those who are missionaries overseas.
Preceding the story of the call of Philip and Nathanael in John’s gospel, there is the story of the very first call of Jesus’ disciples. Two disciples of John the Baptist heard John say as Jesus was passing by, “Look at the Lamb of God!” So these two disciples of John started following Jesus. The gospel only identifies the name of one these disciples, Andrew. Andrew then goes to find his brother, Simon. Andrew tells him, “We have found the messiah.” Andrew brings Simon to Jesus. Jesus then promptly tells Simon that from then on his name will be Cephas, which means Peter.
Next week, we will hear Mark’s version of the call of Andrew and Peter. Most scholars accept Mark’s version over John’s version.
John continues to say that the next day, Jesus travels from the Jordan River region to Galilee. It is there that he encounters Phillip and commands, doesn’t ask, to follow him. Phillip is from the same hometown as Andrew and Peter. It is a small town. The three men must have known each other. Perhaps Andrew and/or Peter recommended Phillip to Jesus. It seems to have been a good pick.
Phillip goes off to find Nathanael. Nathanael means “God has given.” He tells Nathanael that they have found the One. The One about whom the law and the prophets wrote about and he is Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth.
Nazareth was a back water town in a hick region. Archeologists estimate that Nazareth’s population was about 400 during Jesus’ time. Surely, the messiah would come from a more prominent town than Nazareth. Nathanael is from that hick region of Galilee. Even then Nathanael shows his disdain for Nazareth by asking if anything good can come from there. Philip, wisely, does not argue the point. Philip replies with a simple, but profound answer, “Come and see.”
My own experience of moving beyond my racial, gender, homophobic, regional and class prejudice has never been based on rational argument. My prejudices began to disintegrate as I got to know individual people. Because very few people, if you get to know them, really fit the stereotype. Especially if you get to know them well. So the best response, when we encounter such attitudes in ourselves or others, is to “come and see.”
This is how Episcopalians and Anglicans typically do evangelism. If someone wants to know what the Episcopal Church is all about, the answer should be, “Come and see.” Theologians call this lex orondi, lex credeni. In other words, we believe in what we do. Or more specifically for us, what we believe is expressed in how we worship.
The Book of Common Prayer is a book of worship. It is through that worship that we express what we believe. There is a tremendous amount of theology in the Book of Common Prayer. Who we are, as our branch of Christianity, is found in the prayer book. It is through this book that we derive our identity.
When Nathanael did go and see, Jesus saw him coming. Jesus said, “Now here is a true descendant of Israel. There isn’t a false bone in his body.” This is highly ironic. God renames Jacob as Israel. It is hard to find a character in the Bible so full of falsehood as Israel. Yet, here is an Israelite without a false bone in his body! Nathanael is almost an anti-Israelite. Times change. Stereotypes don’t work. Jesus calls a new Israelite for a new Israel.
So Nathanael was curious about how Jesus knew him. Jesus responded that he saw Nathanael under a fig tree before Philip called him. Now today, if someone heard a statement like that, the hearer would assume that he or she was dealing with a stalker. But that is not how Nathanael reacts. Chucking his bias about Nazareth, Nathanael declares Jesus to be the Son of God and King of Israel.
This is made more significant when we remember that Jesus called Nathanael a true Israelite. This Israelite proclaims Jesus as his king! Jesus seems to also react to Nathanael’s response as hyperbole when Jesus tells him that seeing him under a fig tree is no big deal. He will see far greater things than that. Jesus promises Nathanael that he will see the heavens open up and God’s angels will ascend and descend upon the Son of Man.
We recall the ascent and descent of angels one other time. Jacob or Israel had a dream when he saw a ladder from heaven that had angels going up and down. Jacob made an altar there to set aside that holy site. Jacob named the place, Bethel, which means “House of God.” Now the holy site is not a piece of ground, it is a person. Jesus is the grounded source of God’s messengers. Jesus is the dwelling place of God.
“Proclamation should keep in mind the basic function of this text. First, the simple story of the selection of two disciples is full of signs identifying Jesus and his ministry. Second, the naming of apostles is critical in identifying Jesus and in grounding our hope in their witness and proclamation. The church is not incidentally apostolic. It is genetically apostolic. The Word of God does not come to expression in a vacuum. Neither does it leave one. It creates a community in which it is proclaimed, believed, and lived, and that community is necessarily apostolic because the apostles are our direct link to Jesus. We need Philip and Nathanael. We need Andrew and Peter.
“The call of Philip and Nathanael is about Jesus and who he is. It is about God and how he provides for his people. In precisely this sense it is gospel. It is good news that God thus provides for his people.”[1]
It is easy for us to allow our preconceptions to blind us about a place or a person. Such was the case of Nathanael. Our preconceptions can also blind us to divine encounters. They can blind us to the Word of God. God, through the Holy Spirit, is very active in the world. We tend to look for scientific explanations of things and dismiss experiences when they don’t fit into a scientific box. We may become cynical and dismiss divine encounters as having a source that cannot be from God. Sometimes there are natural explanations. Sometimes a little dose of cynicism is appropriate. But sometimes God is trying to say something to us and we would be better off if we listen.
We now pray: Gracious God and giver of all good gifts, give us the gift of gab, that through this gift we may share our excitement of your great gifts for us: of your love, of eternal life, of the forgiveness of sins, of your great grace; all given through your Holy Spirit to us and personified in your son Jesus Christ, through whom we pray. Amen.
Text: John 1:43-51 (NRSV)
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49 Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you,m you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
[2]
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[1]Van Harn, R. (2001). The lectionary commentary: Theological exegesis for Sunday's texts (488). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans.
m Both instances of the Greek word for you in this verse are plural
[2] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. 1989. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.