John 1.43-51
Nathanael. What a
guy, huh? What a transition. He goes from skeptic to cynic to believer, in a
few sentences. WOW. Wouldn't it be great if all faith conversions were that
easy?
It gets me thinking -
what else is happening in these scriptures to facilitate that conversion? What
happens to make that change not only possible, but probable. I think it's all
about the attitude.
We start off, and
Nathanael gives us some great snark. Philip is kinda excited, yes? HEY! WE
FOUND JESUS! And Nathanael says NOPE. It can't be him. It can't be the Messiah.
Because he's coming from Nazareth.
Icky Nazareth. Nazareth we don't like. Nothing good comes from that place, so surely
God's chosen one, the anointed, the Messiah - would not come from there.
Now at this point, it
would have been VERY easy for Philip to either join in on the joke, Philip was
from Bethsaida, after all, which was a great place to be from.
Or, Philip could have
gotten a bit defensive. Nazareth can't be ALL bad, you can't blame a person for
where they were born, etc.
Instead, Philip puts
the responsibility onto Nathanael himself. He changes the whole scope of the
conversation with one simple phrase:
Come and see.
It's an invitation,
not just to go and visually witness something, but to experience something
completely different. Without preamble, without prejudice, without
pre-judgment. Come and see.
And Philip doesn't
force the issue - Nathanael could have said no, and that would have been the
end of it. But perhaps in that simple invitation, Nathanael recognised that
there was something more than ordinary going on - something so amazing that it
spoke for itself, that it didn't need introduction or emphasis. Something in Philip's
very demeanor - Philip had been changed by this person, this experience, and he
wanted to share it.
Come and see.
What a wonderful
invitation. What a wonderful opportunity. What a great example in leadership
that Philip gives to us all.
Come, and see. Jesus
is there, and you're invited to come and see. Experience the presence of the
Christ for yourself; get your own experience, your own feelings, your own
reality. Come, and see.
It's powerful, isn't
it, what can happen when someone chooses to accept that invitation. Look at
Nathanael - from snarky and cynical, he has one brief conversation with the
Lord - about sitting under a fig tree, of all things! And suddenly, Nathanael's
world changes. "RABBI!" he calls out, "YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD!
YOU ARE THE KING OF ISRAEL!"
Perhaps we need to
remember this when we want to invite someone to come to church, to come to
Christ. Nathanael was not changed by logic, or by force, or by anything that
Philip did - he was changed by his own encounter with the living God. Philip
ignored the snark and cynicism, he ignored the excuses, he ignored the
presumptions. All he did was extend an invitation.
And we too *should*
be inviting people to come to church. It's in this wonderful community of being
church that we celebrate our own experiences with God, through Christ. But our
invitations need to be careful - like Philip's - to make sure they're not
loaded with innuendo or guilt or pressure. Just an invitation: come, and see.
People - all people -
have pre-conceived notions of what it means to be a Christian, of what it means
to come to church. I asked some social media friends to give me what they think
when they hear the word "Church." My churchy friends - which, let's
be honest, are most of my friends - answered with things like "belonging"
and "community" and "fellowship" and "an old white
rectangular building with a steeple and stained glass windows along the sides,
arched double doors at the front." What we would expect, being in that
group of people.
From some of my non-churchy friends I got: "boring" and
"judgmental" and "spontaneous human combustion, but that's just
me." (Ironically, this was from the friend who stood up for me at my ordination. I assure you; there were no flames!)
Wow - what a
difference in perception, in attitude! What weight is in the words of those who have a good experience of church; what weight is in the words of the people
who do not have an active and healthy relationship with the church, or with
Jesus.
So the invitation that
we extend to others to come to Jesus needs to respect where these people are
coming from, without making them feel that they are in the wrong place. The
invitation is just that - an invitation - to come and see for themselves. It
may happen in our time, it may happen in their time, it may not happen. But the
invitation - gentle, honest, faithful - well it's always the right time for
that.
I pray that we move
forward like the Philips, sharing our experience of an active and living
relationship with God to the world around us. I pray we can celebrate just how
much that relationship means to us as individuals, as family, as church. And
then we can share it with the world: come, and see.
Come and see how your
life can be changed by establishing and maintaining a connection with Jesus.
Come and see the
world as God made it, beautiful and good.
Come and see what it
means to be forgiven, loved, saved.
Come and see what it
means to live in the reality of joy and hope and faith.
Come and see the
light of Christ that is burning deep within you, overcoming all hints of
darkness.
Come and see.
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