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A Sermon from St. Paul's Episcopal Church -- Fayetteville, AR
"Come and See"
Sermon preached by the Rev. Lowell E. Grisham, Rector
January 15, 2006; 2nd Sunday after Epiphany, Year B
Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary
(John 1:43-51) -- The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." Now Philip was
from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 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." Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come
out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, "Here is
truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!" Nathanael asked him, "Where did you get to know me?"
Jesus answered, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you." Nathanael replied, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God!
You are the King of Israel!" Jesus answered, "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."
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All of us have prejudices. Even when we have done a lot of conscious work to be fair and open-minded, we carry implicit judgments
below the level of our conscious chosen thoughts. This week I took a little on-line exercise called the Implicit Association
Test. The IAT offers a series of ten-minute rapid-choice visual options that can help reveal the unconscious ways we implicitly
make value judgments about age, race, religion, and other things. I was saddened, but not too surprised to find that I associate
good qualities somewhat more strongly with images of people with lighter skin rather than darker skin. There are so many
ways that we interpret and judge information based on implicit unconscious associations.
“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” asks Nathanael. Nathanael thinks he knows just about all he needs to
know about Jesus when he learns what town Jesus is from. I remember getting similar vibes when I went to seminary in New
York City. I could see the narrowing eyes silently wondering, “Can anything good come out of Mississippi?” (Tell
me you’ve never thought that.)
Archeologist Charles Page argues that Jesus’ hometown Nazareth was a small, somewhat isolated village. Nearly everyone
living there was part of an extended family of the clan of David. He says it was likely that they were an ultra-conservative,
orthodox, separatist sect of Judaism expecting the Messiah to come from among their own family line. That’s the town
Jesus comes from.
Philip, and presumably Nathanael, were from Bethsaida. Page says that Bethsaida was probably much like the nearby town of
Capernaum where Jesus eventually settled for awhile. Those towns were fairly cosmopolitan, influenced by their proximity
to the Via Maris, the primary highway connecting Egypt and Mesopotamia. Their synagogues were led by Rabbis from the School
of Hillel, the more progressive version of Judaism from which today’s Reform Rabbis trace their heritage.
So we’ve got a potential cultural clash when Philip tells Nathanael We’ve found the one. Jesus. He’s from
Nazareth. // RIGHT!? says Nathanael doubtfully. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” And it seems okay
with Nathanael if all Jesus knows about him is that he’s from Bethsaida. A more literal translation of his question
to Jesus is “from where do you know me (to be)?” – something like, “what do you believe to be my hometown?”
Maybe that gives us a clue to the meaning of Jesus’ comment, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called
you.” In many Old Testament passages, the fig tree is a metaphor for one’s home. Maybe Jesus was saying, I saw
you at your home. So, culturally, Nathanael might assume that Jesus already knows all he needs to know about him. He’s
from Bethsaida.
The significant thing for me is that Nathanael is able to set aside whatever he thinks about some prophet coming from that
isolated backwash Nazareth, and Nathanael is willing to investigate a bit. He asks questions, and he listens to the answers.
That takes some suspension of implicit associations. Then when he hears things that don’t fit with his prior assumptions,
Nathanael is willing to change his thinking. He’s able to let some new truth in. New observation and new experience
change some of his categories. This guy from Nazareth is not so bad. In fact, he’s wonderful. From now on, Nathanael
will be doing a lot of mind expanding things. When he throws his lot with Jesus, he’ll find he’s on a journey
that will require him to change a lot of inherited categories. Over and over.1
That’s what happens when people accept the invitations -- “Come and see.” “Follow me.” I’m
particularly partial to the words, “Come and see.” That’s what we can say when we invite friends to visit
here at St. Paul’s. Come and see. This is a pretty cool place. There is good worship and ministry here. Come and
see. See if it is a fit for you.
Most people visit St. Paul’s because a friend invited them. “Come and see.” It’s not that different
from telling someone about a restaurant or a movie you’ve enjoyed. Saying, for instance, I really get a lot out of
the worship and music at St. Paul’s. Come and see. I’ve loved some of the speakers we’ve had at church.
There’s somebody who sounds interesting who is going to be at St. Paul’s next Sunday. Come and see. You wouldn’t
believe how efficiently so many people are served when St. Paul’s distributes Angel Food next Saturday. Come and see.
Sometimes people come and their implicit assumptions get changed. I just thought the Episcopal Church was “Catholic-lite.”
I thought y’all were stuffy and puffed up; you’re really pretty nice. I didn’t know there were so many
kids at your church. Being here makes me realize, you folks really are trying to live out your faith. We hear those kinds
of comments from people who come and see.
I think it’s important for us to share with one another with a Philip-like openness. What is feeding your spiritual
life now? What gives meaning or peace to you? Tell the Nathanaels in your life about that. Maybe you’ve started reading
Morning Prayer, and it helps to begin your day in the scriptures and prayers. Maybe you’ve started using times when
you are just waiting, to remember your centeredness in God. Maybe you’ve started reading a book and saying nighttime
prayers, with a child or with your own adult self. Tell somebody about that. Tell them, “I think I’ve found
something that makes a difference for me.” It echoes Philip’s words: “We have found him about whom Moses
in the law and also the prophets wrote...” It might be you’ll get a dismissive response, like Philip did. But
you never know what may follow.
We live in community. And when we share with each other in community, when we offer to each other the important things that
are making a difference to us, Spirit is exchanged. And whenever Spirit is present, things tend to get shaken up a bit; they
change for the good.
Without those Spirit-prompted exchanges, we’d all just live in our preconceived worlds, comfortable and somewhat blinded
by our implicit assumptions and our customary neighbors. When we are blind, we don’t even see the Nathanaels out there
sitting under their fig trees. Oh, that’s just some guy from Bethsaida. He might as well be invisible. Come and see
also means for us to see the other, especially the other who is different from you. The other who might be easy to overlook
or ignore.
Can anything good come out of St. Paul’s? Who knows. That’s all up to us, isn’t it? Jesus invites us,
like Philip, to follow him. So we have to take responsibility for our spiritual lives and walk in his way. When we discover
the things that bring meaning and coherence to our lives, then, like Philip, we can share them with the Nathanaels in our
lives. We can tell about what we’ve experienced and invite others to “come and see.” When we encounter
something new that is contrary to our implicit assumptions, like Nathanael we can investigate a bit. We can ask questions
and listen to answers. We can be willing to change when we learn things that don’t fit our categories.
Live like that for a while, and there is no telling what you’ll see. Live like that for a while, and it may be that
you too “will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
“Speak. Lord, for your servant is listening.”
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The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church
is to explore and celebrate
God's infinite grace, acceptance and love.
For information about St. Paul's Church and it's life and mission,
please contact us at P.O. Box 1190, Fayetteville, AR 72702
or call 479/442-7373
Please visit our partner web ministry site www.ExploreFaith.org
Several years of St. Paul's sermons are archived at www.stpaulsfay.org/id9.html
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