CHECK IT OUT
Samuel 3:1-10
John 1:43-51
Rev. Gary Paterson
January 18, 2009
Well, it was a wonderful holiday; a great couple of weeks… time with my daughter; traveling in Lao, Cambodia and Bangkok; time to relax; exciting food. Decided I like chili peppers; Tim discovered the reverse – I thought that was funny; Tim didn’t. Heard you had a lot of snow, and then rain, and then some more snow. That sounds awful; I’m really sorry. But this tan you see… it’s real, not spray-on.
But there’s a dilemma with being away for three weeks… when you miss three Sundays in a row, you start slipping out of the patterns of sermon-writing. And that means that your re-entry week becomes a real challenge. What to do? I know, I know, I can hear you all whispering, “Keep it short; keep it short.”
I thought about talking about how I spent my winter holiday, a travelogue of sorts. Perhaps talking about the great temples at Angkor Wat, massive structures from the 12th century, now monuments of empty grandeur, some sliding into ruin as the jungle slowly reclaims them; it could lead into a powerful meditation on how time passes, on how ephemeral our lives are, even the greatest works of our hands. Somehow seems to fit the sadness of this week as we grieve the deaths of Marnie Tunbridge and Rick Harron.
Or perhaps, I thought to myself, I could talk about the Buddhist monks in their bright saffron robes; of their morning ritual of gathering alms, their long hours of study and meditation; and the expectation that all young men are to become monks for at least three months, discovering humility through begging, and humanity through facing their mortality. When I watch the news about what is happening in Gaza, I think asking young men to spend some time as monks might not be a bad idea.
However, I recognize that this is a bit of a cop-out for a sermon, which needs to be rooted in the story that shapes and defines who we are as a faith community; a sermon needs to be informed by Scripture and must struggle with how the Bible becomes an instrument through which we might receive a word from the Spirit.
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church;
Thanks be to God.
So all week long I have been sitting with a couple of the Scripture passages that the Lectionary has suggested for this day. They’re great stories actually, exploring the experience of being “called” – young Samuel hearing a voice in the night – “Samuel, Samuel” -- and eventually responding, “Here I am, Lord…. speak, for your servant is listening.” And then there’s the Gospel reading, which takes us into that moment when Jesus is calling his first disciples, with Philip and Nathaniel.
So, once again I found myself slipping into that familiar sermon rhythm, of study, prayer, wrestling with the text, like a terrier shaking whatever it has found, hoping for response, hoping, frankly, to hear a word. Initially I wondered about sticking with the story about Samuel, and focusing on the opening verses, “The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.” A sermon about not hearing… well, a bit strange, perhaps, but I suspect one that would be familiar to many of us. I’ve always been a bit envious about the clarity of Samuel’s call – I don’t often hear voices calling in the night. Muddled dreams is more like it.
But the more I sat with the two stories of Samuel and Nathaniel, the more a particular phrase kept clamoring for attention… that short response Philip offered to his friend Nathaniel when he was talking about Jesus…. “Come and see.” Three words… come and see; see for yourself, don’t take my word for it; it’s your experience that matters; you want to discover who Jesus is? … Well, check it out, yourself.
Come and see – the phrase sounded like a bell ringing; come and see; come and see -- an invitation into our very humanity. Like a Mum, outside in a Calgary backyard, dancing around in the year’s first snowfall, calling out to her little daughter, whose face is pressed apprehensively against the window, staring wide-eyed at flakes tumbling from the sky, gathering over the steps, the lawn, the street, all now a cold, fresh white. Come and see, come and play in the snow. Or like a Dad in the swimming pool, arms outstretched to a little person, standing anxiously at the edge, nervous, worried – come and see, no, it’s not cold; come and see, the water will hold you and bear you up; you’ll be safe, I’ll hold you; you’ll enjoy it.
Come and see – how else are we to learn about love… making love, falling in love, staying in love. Words are a beginning, but it’s our hearts and bodies that will make the difference. Come and see say the lovers to each other.
Come and see, says a daughter to her father. You want to know what my life and work are like across the ocean, on the other side of the world? My emails are only a beginning – you need to taste the curry, smell the incense, listen to a language that is foreign to your ears. Come and see how human beings can live their so lives so differently – but just as well and as beautifully as you live yours.
Come and see – surely this invitation lies at the heart of every journey in faith. A faith which is not just a set of intellectual propositions, a list of rules, a cultural routine that you have already discarded, a collection of stories that feel distant and irrelevant. Come check it out… for yourself; let the snowflakes fall on your skin; feel the water around your body; fall in love. “Come and see,” says Philip to Nathaniel.
Nathaniel, who is a kind of everyman. Who is you and me. Indeed the passage concludes with Jesus using a plural form of “you” at the end of his words; it’s clear that the message is not just directed to this individual Nathaniel, but also to the rest of us, whoever hears the story to “y’all”.
Now, you don’t hear much about the disciple Nathaniel in the rest of the Bible. Oh, he makes into a couple of lists; he’s one of the twelve, for sure. But it’s a pretty open slate… which I kind of like, because it means there’s room for imagination. The one thing we are told by the gospel writer is that Nathaniel was sitting under a fig tree when Philip approached him. You’ve got to wonder about that detail… seems a bit pointless; a small stage direction perhaps, setting things up for a momentary miracle pronouncement by Jesus. But what if we let our imaginations roam a little. Nathaniel sitting under the fig tree… kicking back, checking out; maybe lighting up a spliff, not wanting to engage with life – he’d rather be distracted. Or maybe Nathaniel was exhausted – working nine to nine, twenty-four seven… the job, the kids, the mortgage, the economy… worried, on the go, trying to hold things together… he’s sitting under the fig tree, head bowed, hardly able to see straight. Or maybe just bored; too much time on his hands; frustrated, irritated; is this all it is? Or maybe content… a man happy with his life; no big problems… and yet ready more something more, if someone came by with an invitation. Or maybe, in fact, it was a prayer moment – oh maybe not in a formal way, but Nathaniel was sitting there, thinking things over… taking some pondering time… maybe even a “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” kind of time.
And that’s when his buddy Philip arrives; he sits down beside him perhaps. Maybe they’re quiet together for a few minutes. And then Philip speaks, “Hey Nat; something’s happening; I met someone.” And when Nathaniel turns and smiles, Philip interjects, “No, no… not that dark-haired beauty we saw at synagogue last Friday. No, believe it or not it was a rabbi. From up Nazareth way. I’ve sort of been hanging out with him… just listening. But I like what I hear. His ideas makes sense. But it’s more than that… I feel better about myself when I’m with him; I am caught by hope, and challenge, and possibility. His name is Jesus.”
I love Nathaniel’s flip rejoinder… he’s a 21st century kind of guy; a little bit ironic, a bit more cynical; worldly, dismissive… “Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Come on, who are you kidding? Jerusalem, maybe; Rome, sure. But a hick town like Nazareth.” And that’s when Philip responds… not with argument, or further conviction, but with a simple invitation, “Come and see.”
And he did. Nathaniel got up and went with Philip to check it out for himself. That first step is important – and I’m not always sure what precipitates it. Curiosity? Desire? Discontent? The witness of a trusted friend? Theologians actually have a fancy word for it… “prevenient grace”… that movement of the Spirit that nudges us into taking that first step, that gets us into a situation where an encounter with God might actually happen. Because Nathaniel could have just as easily rolled his eyes, “Oh, come on Phillip.” … and simply gone on with whatever it was that he next was planning to do. But he didn’t -- he took that first step… out the door, into the snow; off the edge of the pool, into the water; onto the plane to fly to Bangkok.
Now, you need to understand that the writer of the Gospel of John is a master at keeping things short – the condensed version, if you will. He might have made a good editor for the Reader’s Digest. You don’t get a lot of detail in the stories he presents. So Nathaniel’s response to Philip’s invitation is followed immediately by an encounter with Jesus. And “encounter” is the key word; that’s what brings change and transformation.
Jesus says to Nathaniel, “Here is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” I’ve wondered about that phrase… and would like to suggest that rather than being a description of how Nathaniel lives now, it is instead a prediction of what life will be like; Nathaniel, in relationship with and to Jesus, will live a life with no deceit. All will be known; no games, no pretensions; no defenses. Can you imagine what it would be like to live a life with no deceit? Completely known by God; completely honest with yourself; completely open to others. What’s the magic psychological language – congruent? no cognitive dissonance? transparent? I think that’s what Jesus is offering Nathaniel… and each of us. A very different way of living… a life of no deceit.
Nathaniel responds… and again, remember this is spiritual shorthand….he cries out, “Rabbi, you are the son of God! You are the King of Israel!” It’s not what I would ever imagine myself saying… at least not that immediately, that directly. But what is clear is that a response of some sort is called for. Come and see – encounter… response. Snow, water, strange lands… surprise; startled and amazed; I never imagined; I didn’t know. Exclamations of wonder and delight; joy.
Nathaniel responds with adoration… with praise and rejoicing; with gratitude. I have a sense that it is something like falling in love. Saying, “Tthis is the one for me… who invites me into a life of no deceit; who calls forth the best in me; in whose presence I know joy.” Now, this is going to sound a little sentimental, but at this stage in the sermon’s unfolding, Thursday morning I think it was, I was driving to work, listening to CBC, and the strangest of songs was played…. George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord”. Whoosh… I’m walking down memory lane. But as I hum along, and sing the words, I realized that Harrison was singing about a Nathaniel moment, an encounter with Holiness, a falling in love with God. Sure, he was exploring Hinduism as a spiritual path, but he clearly felt comfortable singing this song to Krishna or Christ, both, for him, incarnations of the God who call us into new life. Listen….
blockquote> I know, I’m dating myself – but the words ring true; I could imagine Nathaniel singing them to Jesus; I could imagine myself singing them to Jesus.My sweet LordHmmm … my lordI really want to see youReally want to be with youReally want to see you lordBut it takes so long, my lord (hallelujah)Really want to know youReally want to go with youReally want to show you lordThat it won’t take long, my lord (hallelujah)
But Jesus is quick to undercut any sentimentality. He looks at Nathaniel and says,
“Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the son of Man.”
This is just the beginning, Nathaniel; the first step. You are falling in love, but just wait… your encounter with God will grow deeper and deeper. The heavens will open, and you will experience moments that you could never have imagined. Which reminded me of another old song…
Day by day, day by day,Oh, dear Lord, three things I pray:To see thee more clearly,Love thee more dearly,Follow thee more nearly,Day by day by day by day.
That’s what it means to encounter the Christ: invitation, first step, encounter, response… falling in love; and staying in love.
This is our call, at its most basic. When we are in love, everything else flows from this. Each of us will experience different specifics, according to our gifts, times and context. And our calling, what we do in the world, it will change over the course of our lives. Like Marnie whose life we celebrated last Wednesday, who found herself serving as a missionary in Japan; like Rick, so sadly missed, who offered food, friendship and hospitality to so many. I look out and know that each of us is called – I see teachers, judges, parents, politicians, house-cleaners, students, music-players, travelers to Guatemala, committee members, story-tellers, environmentalists … so many calls, but all rooted in our encounter with Christ, in our love affair with the God is revealed and embodied in this Jesus.
Come and see…. and that will make all the difference. Let me finish with a poem, some words from Pedro Arrupe, a Jesuit from Central America who was for many years the Director of the Order. Several years ago I undertook the Jesuit Spiritual Exercises, a forty day retreat, the focus of which was encountering Christ, falling in love. Part way through my spiritual director offered me these words from Arrupe:
Nothing is more practical than finding God.That is, falling in love in a quite absolute final way.What you’re in love with,what seizes your imagination,will affect everything.It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning;what you will do with your mornings,how you will spend your weekend,what you will read,who you know,what breaks your heart,what amazes you with joy and gratitude.Fall in love,stay in love;and it will decide everything.Come and see.