"Come and See"
Sermon preached by the Rev. Lowell E. Grisham, Rector
January 15, 2012; 2nd Sunday after Epiphany, Year B
Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary
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."
All of us have prejudices. We learn many forms of cultural bias from childhood and throughout our life. Even when we have done a lot of conscious work to be fair and open-minded, we carry some implicit judgments with us, much of it below the level of our conscious chosen thoughts. Inevitably, all of us interpret and judge information based on implicit unconscious associations.
“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" asks Nathanael. When Nathanael hears what town Jesus is from, Nathanael thinks he knows just about all he needs to know about Jesus. 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 his active ministry. 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, maybe sarcastically. “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. They have some more conversation, and Nathanael asks Jesus, “Where did you get to know me?” A more literal translation of Nathanael’s 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 speaking, Nathanael might assume that Jesus already knows all he needs to know about him. He's from Bethsaida. Bethsaida vs. Nazareth. Fayetteville vs. Springdale.
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, long enough to be 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 adjust and change his thinking. He's able to let some new truth in. His new observations and new experiences 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 good 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, and some of the classes. There's something that sounds interesting at St. Paul's next Sunday. Come and see. You wouldn’t believe the scene at Community Meals each Monday and Wednesday when St. Paul's serves lunch to anyone who comes in. It touches my heart. Come and see.
Sometimes people come and some of 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 consciously recall your centeredness in God. Maybe you’ve started reading a meaningful 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 we share with each other in community. Whenever 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 in order to walk in his way.
Whenever we discover 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," as Jesus promised Nathanael.
posted by Lowell @ 1/14/2012 03:30:00 PM
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