"See For Yourself"
Go ahead - invite someone into the faith!
Sermon Preached by
The Rev. Dr. Andrew Stirling
Sunday, March 5, 2006
Text: John 1:35-46
I don't know if, like me, you have been following the interesting story in the paper this week on the sale of rock star Avril Lavigne's home. As someone who follows both celebrities and house prices in Toronto, with their fluctuations and challenges, I have been fascinated. I wanted to know what would happen. As it turned out, my sermon was ruined! I thought Avril's home was going to sell for a great deal of money because it had been owned by a rock star, only to find out as the week progressed that that was not going to happen after all.
It seems that the provenance of something - who has owned it or where it has been used or where it is from - often gives property or a particular item value way beyond its actual worth. I recall an episode of Seinfeld a number of years ago, where George Costanza bought a car that he believed had been owned by the actor Jon Voigt, and he went everywhere bragging that he had Jon Voigt's car. The car was a piece of junk, mind you, but everyone seemed to be impressed by the fact that it had been owned by a superstar, only in the end to discover that the Jon Voigt in question was an unknown man from Queens who had no relationship to the actor whatsoever! But for the moment, everyone had been enthralled with the car, because it had belonged to a star. The provenance of things sometimes gives it worth even if intrinsically, it might be absolutely worthless.
All of this took me back to when I lived in Bermuda just before I began university. I was invited by a very close friend to an auction at the Princess Hotel in Hamilton. This particular event was outstanding, for they were auctioning off items left behind by famous guests in the hotel. The idea was to auction these off to support charity. So, thinking that I might get in on a piece of the action cheap, I decided to take my friend up on his invitation.
One of the items, I recall, was a set of golf clubs used by John F. Kennedy when he played at the Castle Harbour golf course in Bermuda. The set went for a great deal of money, although the clubs themselves, I thought, had very poor grips! Then, there was a set of cufflinks evidently owned by Ian Fleming, who visited Bermuda regularly. He, of course, is the author of the James Bond books, and is now believed to have been a spy in Bermuda in the Second World War. The cufflinks went for a ridiculous amount of money. On and on it went - all these items belonging to famous people right down to a matchbox believed to have been used by someone who was very important, and which fetched $100!
I soon realized I was out of my league at this auction, and I left a little depressed but quite bemused that things of such inconsequence were being sold for such ridiculous sums of money. I went out into the hallway and sat down on a bench next to a gentleman I knew on the other side of me sat a complete stranger. Not recognizing the stranger next to me, I said, “Hello.” Then the gentleman who knew me introduced me to the other man, who invited me to spend some time with them. The gentleman in question was none other than Senator Barry Goldwater, and the two of us sat for about half-an-hour or 45 minutes and talked about government and politics and the law, as well as constitutions and international security and weapons control. Here was a man whom I knew was very contentious - I had heard his name and I knew that many things he said sparked controversy wherever he went. He was known for being a hard and rather crusty type of gentleman, but in fact with me, he was warm and charming. He was willing to impart his knowledge and ideas about the state of the world to me, a young student getting ready to go to university.
Two weeks later, I started my first year at Mount Allison University. As a result of the conversation with Barry Goldwater, I decided to take a course in American government that was to take me into a whole academic realm that I would follow for years - all on the basis of one conversation with a man. It got me thinking that it is not really the value of items that is important. It is the value of people. It is character and personality that give the provenance.
I want you to keep that in mind as we look at our text from John's Gospel this morning. It is set at the very beginning of Jesus' ministry, in Galilee. Jesus had just been, in a sense, appointed and anointed as the Messiah. He had been chosen. He was about to embark on his ministry. John the Baptist had confirmed it, the Holy Spirit had descended upon him. Next, Jesus immediately sought followers - disciples. We are familiar with the story of the call of Andrew and Peter and James and John, but there is another story found only in John's Gospel, about the call of two other men, Philip and Nathaniel. Jesus went directly to Philip as he had with Andrew, Peter and the rest, and invited him to “Follow me and come and see what I am doing.” But then, we have a unique introduction. Rather than Jesus asking Nathaniel, it is Philip now who takes it upon himself to go to Nathaniel and say, “Come and see.” He invites him to come and meet Jesus. He takes Nathaniel into the realm of his life, and draws him into the life of Christ.
This passage has a profound message for us all, whether we are cynical or skeptical and keeping Christianity at a distance, not quite sure whether it is for us; or very religious and holding to the outward form of the faith but never really making any major commitment at heart; or deeply faithful and deeply believing, but never having taken the time to invite anyone else into the experience of faith.
Whatever you might be amongst all of these, this passage has something for you, for it speaks first of all of the power of the invitation. Philip goes up to Nathaniel and says, “Do you know that everything that we have been looking for and waiting for has arrived in Jesus of Nazareth, both the law and the prophets?” “Both the law and the prophets” sums up, by the way, the entirety of the Old Testament. “The law and the prophets:” Here they are, we see them in Jesus. The things of which Moses and the prophets spoke, we now see in Jesus Christ. And then, Philip invites Nathaniel to come and to follow Jesus. But, Nathaniel has an amazing response. He simply asks, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
Now, you have to understand that Nathaniel is from Cana, the rival town to Nazareth in that part of Galilee. It is sort of like the rivalry between the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs in hockey, or the Toronto Argonauts and the Hamilton Tiger Cats in football: It is that kind of a rivalry that exists between these two towns. And so, in a skeptical and cynical, but I think quite humorous way, Nathaniel asks, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” I mean, really, you tell me that the Messiah, all that Israel has waited for, has come from that dump? Are you out of your mind?
Philip doesn't argue with him, he doesn't defend himself, he doesn't get into philosophy, he doesn't engage him at the point of his own obsession about these towns. He simply says, “Come and see.” Come and see for yourself. You don't believe me - just come and see! Come and meet Jesus and you will find out what I am speaking about.
My friends, here is the power of invitation. I know that many people are skeptical about the Christian faith. They have looked at it from a distance and have some deep concerns about it. They question its logic, question its authenticity, and question its integrity - and there is probably much ammunition in the history of the church to give them reason to feel that way. But there are also some people who genuinely misunderstand what the faith is all about. They may have heard from a friend who read something in a book or thought they understood something seen or heard in a movie or a television program or a newspaper article, but they have never really engaged in it themselves. They have stood at a distance and misunderstood and thought faith is all just work and hardship and a grind. They have no idea what it is really about! It seems to me that it is when people are skeptical, or particularly when they misunderstand, that there is a wonderful opportunity for Christians to invite them to see for themselves.
Look, for example, at those people who came to see Jesus and realized that in him there was some real power and some real love and some real healing, and changed. Whether it was the leper, the nobleman with the sick daughter, the refugee, the woman caught in adultery, the lame or the blind, the tax collector, Zacchaeus the outcast - whoever it might have been, the scriptures go to great lengths to show no matter who they are or what they were or what the burden or what the barrier might have been between them and God, when they actually came and saw Christ for themselves, that fell away.
Therefore, it seems to me that as Christians, and now I am talking to Christians, it is important to issue invitations to come and see. Now, I know that we are often reluctant to do that, and I ask you this question, which you can answer privately in your own heart: “When was the last time you invited anyone to come to church with you? When was the last time you invited someone to come and see for themselves?”
You see, I don't believe the growth and nurture and the expansion of the church occurs with big projects and big plans, or with the marvellous things that we establish to publicize to the world. I believe that the church grows like it did with Nathaniel. Philip went up to him and simply said, “Come and see.” You might think, “Who am I? What is one person that I would make any difference in the world?”
I read something fascinating by Paul Lee Tan a number of years ago, and it shows how one person makes an enormous difference in the context of the world. He wrote: “In 1645, one vote gave Oliver Cromwell control of England; in 1649, one vote called Charles I to England to be executed; in 1845, one vote brought Texas into the Union of the United States; in 1868, one vote saved President Andrew Johnson from impeachment; in 1875, one vote changed France from a monarchy into a republic; in 1876, one vote gave Rutherford B. Hayes the Presidency of the United States; and in 1923, one vote gave Adolph Hitler control of the Nazi Party.”
People often say, “But one person, one invitation, what does it mean?” Well, one invitation by Philip brought Nathaniel to Christ and Nathaniel, whose first name was Bartholomew, became one of the 12 disciples: One of the foundations of the Christian church. One invitation made all the difference! The power of the invitation!
There is also the power of intention. Now, I don't want to steal from the writer Wayne Dyer, who has written a book about it, but there is power in intention. When you look at the story of Jesus, it is interesting to note that Jesus actually knew about Nathaniel and how he would respond before Philip ever gave him the invitation. That is why the second part of the text is as important as the first. We read that Nathaniel was sitting under a fig tree, and Jesus identified him as a man without guile who would respond to the invitation that Philip gave. And here is the lesson: So often my friends, we get hung up about how we think people will respond to the invitation, rather than simply giving the invitation itself. We worry about whether people are going to be concerned with the invitation, whether they will take us up on it, rather than simply saying, as Philip did, “Come and see.” We don't need to worry, and we don't need to be absorbed with the response, because Christ already knows the sincerity of the heart that responds. Sometimes this is misunderstood as predestination. It is not. It is foreknowledge. It is Christ knowing how people are going to respond. But here is the crux: If we don't issue the invitation, if we don't say, “Come and see,” then all the foreknowledge in the world is pointless.
I know that people's hearts are sometimes hardened; sometimes they are a little bit like Macbeth in Shakespeare's play, where Lady Macbeth advises him to be devious: “Your face, my thane, is as a book where men may read strange matters. To beguile the time, look like the time. Bear welcome in your eye, your hand, your tongue. Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it.” Sometimes, there is this perceived religious response, but it is not really in the heart, it is not really sincere. It is the serpent under the flower. Christ knows that, but that is not what should trouble us. That is not what should be on our minds. What should be on our minds is the invitation. Christ knows the intention; we give the invitation.
There is one last thing and that is the power of insight. Everything in this text it seems to me depends on one thing: What did Philip expect Nathaniel to see when he gave him the invitation? I think the answer lies in two things. First, I think he wanted him to come and see a new covenant, a new Israel, a new nation unfolding as a result of the work of Jesus. It is clear that he believed that the law and the prophets was seen and found and consummated in the life and the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth. Philip believed that a new Israel was emerging, and that something exciting and dynamic was going to take place. Never in their wildest dreams, though, could Philip or Andrew or Simon or any of those who were called first ever imagine that in Toronto, 2,000 years later, we would be talking about them! Never in their wildest dreams would they believe that the man they were inviting others to come and see would die and rise from the dead! Never in their wildest dreams would they believe that this was the man who would make the blind see and the lame walk. Never in their wildest dreams - but Jesus knew! He said to Nathaniel, “You are going to see greater things than this.” It was a journey into excitement. It was a journey into a new world. It was an invitation to a glorious life.
I believe, then, that the call of the Gospel is just that. It is a joyful invitation to the new life. One of the reasons is that in our denomination in particular, but in the church as a whole, we struggle for social justice: We want a righteous and a just world. It is because in Jesus Christ a new world emerges, and the church stands and reflects that new reality. The reason we challenge the world is to push back its boundaries of doubt, to push back its political oppression, and to liberate people. Sometimes, though, we challenge the world to set the boundaries, to let people know that there are limits to what we can do as children of God, and because of our sin, to know what those limits are, and to live within them. Either way it is a new world, either way it is a gospel of redemption, either way it is a message of hope. Sure, there are times when we are cynical and skeptical and we misunderstand. There are times when we feel that this Kingdom is not unfolding with the speed and the pace and the glory that we wish, but does that mean that we stop and do nothing, or that as individuals we do not seek to invite, in the knowledge that Christ already knows the response?
I read a lovely story some time ago about a boy who was standing on the beach. He was throwing starfish back into the ocean. These starfish had been swept up onto the beach, and in the heat of the sun after the tide had gone out, they were drying and dying. A man came along and saw this boy picking up the starfish one at a time and throwing them back into the sea, and he said, “Young man, look at this beach! It goes on for miles, and look at all these starfish. Do you think what you are doing, in the light of all the problems in the world, makes any difference?”
And the young boy picked up one starfish in his hand, and said, “To this starfish it does.” If your heart is convinced that Jesus is who he is, then it is incumbent upon you to invite and to welcome others into the great and the glorious and the beautiful journey of walking with Christ, and in walking with Christ, to create a new world. The power of the invitation! Amen.
This is a verbatim transcription of the original sermon.