- Invited
Today is the 2nd Sunday of the season of Epiphany.
It’s the day before the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, when our nation honors the prophetic voice of justice of that great leader, whose crusade against the three evils of society - the evil of racism, the evil of poverty, and the evil of war - continues today.
Our church continues King’s work. Led by people like Disciples pastor William Barber and the Poor People’s Campaign, it’s more important than ever that we take a stand against the three evils King identified: racism, poverty, and war.
Today is also a day on which three of our young people are at Loch Leven for long weekend of camping ministry with other youth from around the region. David, Rahail, and Rajal are up there - keeping warm, I hope - having fun, and growing in faith...
Our scripture today from the gospel of John is about an invitation.
John the Baptist said, “LOOK!”
Look!
That word - look - is an invitation.
“Look! Here is the Lamb of God!”
Two of John’s disciples heard him say this, and they accepted the invitation. They looked. They saw. And they followed Jesus.
Jesus turned and saw them, and said to them, “What are you looking for?”
They replied by saying, “Rabbi, where are you staying?”
And Jesus said, “Come and see.”
Another invitation.
Come and see.
- From Nazareth?
One of those two disciples was Andrew. Andrew went and found his brother Peter, and invited Peter to join him in following Jesus.
Another invitation.
The next day Jesus found Philip and said to Philip, “Follow me.”
Another invitation.
Philip then went to Nathanael and said, “We’ve found him! The one about whom Moses and the prophets wrote. It’s Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth!”
But Nathanael was skeptical. “From Nazareth, you say? What good comes from Nazareth?”
Nevertheless, Philip responded to Nathanael’s skepticism by extending the invitation to him. “Come and see,” he said. “Come and see.”
I’m intrigued by Nathanael’s skepticism. It’s skepticism that borders on prejudice. “What good can come from Nazareth?”
Well, Nathanael, what have you heard? What have you heard about Nazareth, that makes you so skeptical?
I imagine Nathanael hearing my questions, and responding with a look of surprise. “You don’t know? You haven’t heard about Nazareth?
“It’s a place from which nothing good ever comes. It’s filled with poor, uneducated peasants; and, worse, artisans!
“And the Jews there - well, they’re different. They seem a little out of touch with Jerusalem, the heart of Judaism. You know what I mean?
“I’m not saying it’s all their fault. But the Messiah? From Nazareth? Really?”
I wonder to what extent Nathanael’s ideas about Nazareth are based on truth. I mean, Nazareth was a small, rather insignificant town. No one of real importance really claimed Nazareth as their hometown, because to that point in time Nazareth had failed to produce any real heroes.
And Nazareth was a long way from Jerusalem. And the people there were among the poorest of the poor.
But certainly, prejudice also came into play. People from Nazareth spoke with a Galilean accent. Some of their religious beliefs and practices varied from what those who lived closer to Jerusalem believed and practiced. Their beliefs and practices didn’t differ nearly as much as the Samaritans did - the Samaritans practiced a very different form of Judaism. But the beliefs and practices of people in Nazareth were different enough that I suspect some closer to Jerusalem questioned whether those in Nazareth should even be considered real Jews at all.
I’m intrigued by all this.
- Not Convinced
Because it reminds me of similar skepticism and prejudice that exist today.
On the one hand, we have some Christians - evangelicals, mostly - who are so quick to say that anyone who doesn’t follow their particular brand of Christianity and subscribe to their particular Christian beliefs, isn’t a real Christian.
What? You don’t believe in a literal virgin birth? Then you’re not a real Christian. You don’t believe that the universe was created in 7 24-hour periods? Then you’re not a real Christian. You don’t believe that the Bible condemns homosexuality and abortion (but allows us to ignore the needs of the poor)? Then you’re not a real Christian.
I think the attitude of Jews in and around Jerusalem toward those living in places like Nazareth was similar.
On the other hand, there are many skeptics outside of Christianity who look at Christianity and say, “Can anything good come from Christianity?”
Someone says to them, “Look. We’ve found love. We’ve found hope. We’ve found truth.”
And they respond: “In the church? Nothing good comes from the church. Just look at history…”
“The church is a place from which nothing good ever comes. It’s filled with hypocrites, people who ignore science, and who cover up a long list of abuses. People in the church are out of touch with the real world. They claim to follow a peaceful, nonviolent messiah, yet are always calling for the nation to go to war. They protect those in power, rather than protecting those who are most vulnerable. They don’t even allow women to lead.”
I find it very hard to argue with them.
Because they have an endless stream of historical examples to back up their argument.
Instead, I try to respond the way Philip did.
“Come and see.”
Come and see what the church is doing.
- Show & Tell
There are many, many examples of the church doing holy work, bringing wholeness to a fragmented world.
There are many, many examples of people finding a genuine welcome in the church. I know not every part of the church does this well, but many parts of the church do do it well, and if you come and see, I can show you.
I can show you people preparing food for the poor and the hungry.
I can show you programs giving people a chance to thrive, even in positions of leadership, when no one else would take a chance on them.
I can show you genuine friendships that extend across generations, and across differences of race, and where else do you see that in our world? It’s quite remarkable, really.
I can show you many small churches combining resources to respond to disasters all around the world. Because they are so small, each one doesn’t feel like they are really doing a whole lot, but together, what they are doing is actually quite significant, and is making a huge difference in thousands of lives.
I can show you young people finding a home, a family, a place where they belong, a place where they feel lifted up and not torn apart, a place where they feel their broken lives being put back together, and discovering a true purpose for their lives.
I can show you old people finding friendship and companionship among a community of people who will not forget about them the way society often forgets about old people.
I can show you people praying for and working for an end to those three evils Martin Luther King, Jr. talked about; the evils of racism, poverty, and war. In fact, church people are calling out the flagrant racism of the republican party, and calling out the democratic party for not talking about poverty in their debates.
Come, and see.
Come and see for yourself what God is doing through the church today.
- Come and See
The truth is, we’re not very good at saying, “Come and see.” It feels like bragging, if we’re talking about our own work. It feels like intrusion, because a lot of people don’t want to hear about religion.
And we’re afraid people might get the wrong idea, that we’re only saying “Come and see” because we want more butts in the pews and more checks in the offering plate.
And, we’ve been taught to be humble. To walk humbly, to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord.
And, yes, we do know that God calls us to go into the world, and not just try to bring people in to the church...
But we need to remember that what takes place in the church is often a glorious sign of hope that people are desperately longing for. Faced with the brokenness of the world, it is hard to have hope.
There is so much hope alive and present in the church - who are we to deny that hope to others by not sharing the news of what God is doing through the church? Multiple times, visitors have expressed delight at finding hope and affirmation by attending one of our worship services.
And if we extend an invitation to “come and see,” pointing to what God is doing through us, how God is using imperfect people like ourselves, people who still have a lot of learning to do, people who still make mistakes…
Then it’s not really bragging. As it’s been said before, it’s more like one beggar showing another beggar where to find bread. It’s more like one desperate person showing another desperate person where to find hope.
In fact, it would be rather selfish of us to not extend the invitation, to keep all that bread and all that hope for ourselves. It would be rather selfish of us to not say to others, “Come and see.”
Other people and organizations have no problem saying, “Come and see.” Every fourth post on my instagram feed and my facebook timeline is actually someone who has paid money to basically say, “Look! Look at me! Look at what I’m doing!”
Churches like ours don’t have a huge advertising budget. But guess what? Neither did Jesus. For him, it was pretty much all word-of-mouth. One person said to another, “Come and see,” and that person then said to someone else, “Come and see.”
They didn’t even try to explain it all. Maybe they felt they didn’t even understand, completely, what was going on.
They just said, “Come and see.”
Next week is our congregation’s 74th anniversary. It’ll be a small celebration, nothing too grand, but still, it does seem like a good time to invite someone to come and see.
Come and see what we’re all about.
Come and see what Jesus is all about.
Come and see that there is a God who loves you very much, accepts you, welcomes you, affirms you - no matter who you are, or how many times you’ve been rejected in the past.
Come and see that when life is difficult and challenging, that there is still hope to be found.
Come and see that, in the midst of the brokenness of life, there is one who is always present, always working to make you whole.
Come and see that there is a community of people intent on bringing that wholeness to others, bringing healing to the world.
There is so much skepticism in the world today in regards to the church, and much of that skepticism, we have to admit, is appropriate. When people present arguments against the church and against the religion, it’s hard to present any good counter arguments.
But we can say, “Come and see.”
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