This Week’s Sermon

 

~ January 19, 2025 (Contemporary Worship) ~
~ January 19, 2025 (Traditional Worship)~

“Come and See!”

Isaiah 62:6-12, John 1:35-51
January 19, 2025

Last week, I asked you to remember the beginnings of your faith.  I asked you to think about the time you first decided to follow Jesus.  And then, as part of the service, I had you renew your baptismal vows.  And I think that’s a good thing to do at the beginning of each new year!

Now this week, having remembered the beginnings of your faith, I’m asking you to think about your being disciples.  Because that’s the next step in believing, isn’t it?  Yes, we proclaim Jesus to be our Lord and Savior, we acknowledge his atonement for our sins, and we heed John the Baptist’s call to “repent”  But then we are called to answer Jesus’ call, and he says, “follow me.”  And that means being disciples!

I want you to think about that as we consider today’s scripture reading.  This is John’s account of Jesus calling his disciples.  (And now we’re talking about John, the Gospel writer!)  As we remember this story, keep in mind that the word “disciple” can be a bit confusing.  There were 12 specially chosen disciples, who we later would call “Apostles.”  But there were many disciples.  There were many people who “followed” Jesus.  And I know sometimes those two words are used interchangeably.  But just remember, an Apostle is a Disciple, but a Disciple isn’t necessarily an Apostle.  It’s like that old thing that says, “A square is a rectangle, but a rectangle isn’t necessarily a square.”  (Think about that later on!)

Suffice it to say that there have been many disciples, but there were 12 chosen disciples.  And that part of the story is very important, because Jesus chose those 12 disciples the way a rabbi would choose disciples.  Yes, rabbis had disciples, and Jesus was seen as a rabbi.  We can’t forget the whole Jewish background of the story of Jesus.

As I’ve said before, rabbis would choose their disciples from among the best of the best of their students.  And those disciples were often seeking to become rabbis themselves someday.  But in contrast to that, Jesus chose, who?  He chose fishermen!  He chose a Zealot, a revolutionary.  He even chose a tax collector!

And those choices didn’t go over very well with the religious leadership!  I’m convinced that when the Pharisees complained to Jesus about something his disciples were doing, or not doing, there was a measure of cynicism in their voices.  “Teacher, your ‘disciples’ are not following the law.”  (And they may even have used “air quotes!”)

The bottom line is, Jesus didn’t choose people who rabbis would be expected to choose!  And I think the great thing about the disciples Jesus chose is that they weren’t “the best of the best.”  They were ordinary people.  They were people like you and me!  And I think that’s great because it helps us to relate to this story where he chose these 12 special men.  And it allows us to think of ourselves as being among the many disciples of Jesus who weren’t the chosen disciples.

That’s what I want you to think about today.  I want you to remember that you have been called to be disciples.  And that means more than just being believers.  It means heeding the call of Jesus.  He says, “follow me.” – the same words he gave them.  Because it’s too easy for us to think, “Those guys were “the disciples.”  We’re not like them.”  But we are!  And that may be hard for us to grasp.  But I think it was hard for the men in these stories, too.

So Let’s think about them for a moment.  The first two disciples that Jesus chose were fishermen, and one of them was Andrew.  We’re not told who the other one was.  But we’ll soon find out that Andrew was the brother of Simon, who would later be called Peter.  And when we meet these first two men, they were actually disciples of John.  John the Baptist, that is.  (I know, sometimes the Johns can get confusing!)

They were standing with John.  And he looked at Jesus as he walked by, and said, “Behold, the lamb of God.”  And these two men started following Jesus – literally.  They were walking after him,  So Jesus turned and asked them why, and they said, “Rabbi,” – and there’s the rabbi thing again!  “Rabbi, where are you staying?”  You see, at first, it was a logistical thing.  They were curious about where Jesus was going.  They wanted to be near him – especially after what John said.”  And his answer was, and I love this, “Come and see” – which is my sermon title.  In other words, “Walk along with me and you’ll see where I’m staying.”  “And you’ll learn more.”  And they were curious.  They wanted to learn more.

So then, John – the Gospel writer now – tells us that Andrew went to his brother Simon, and he said, “We have found the Messiah!”  That’s quite a bold statement!  Think about it!  They had just met Jesus!  And yet now, they’re already thinking “Messiah!”  And before Simon even says anything, Jesus gives us a hint of who Simon would become.  Jesus said to him, “You shall be called Peter.”

So those were the first two chosen – well the first three, with Simon in there.  In the next part of the story, John tells us about two more disciples.  The first was Philip.  And Jesus simply says to him, “Follow me.”  That’s all we have of that exchange.  But there was something there.  Maybe there was a feeling Philip got.  Maybe there was a conversation we don’t have.  But whatever it was, Philip went and found his friend Nathanael, and he told him something equally as bold.  He said, “We have found the one Moses and the Prophets told us about, Jesus of Nazareth.”  Moses and the Prophets!  That’s big.

And you’ve got to love Nathanael’s response.  It’s very “human!“  “Oh really?” he said.  “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”  We don’t know why he said that.  Maybe it was some sort of “regional thing.”  Maybe a small town rivalry!  But, whatever it was, Philip answered him with the same words Jesus said.  “Come and see!”  And this time it wasn’t logistical!  This time it was, “Come and see that what I said is true!”

And I was thinking, isn’t that an important thing for us to say to people?  Sometimes when we’re talking to somebody about our faith, we think we have to tell them, and prove to them, everything about Jesus.  Sometimes we think we have to answer all their questions.  But a lot of the time, the best thing we can do is invite them to “Come and see.”  “Don’t take my word for it, come and see for yourself!”

So Nathanael does that.  And when he does, Jesus tells him of this vision he had of him “under the fig tree.”  And whatever that looked like to Nathanael, it really impressed him!  And he said yet another very bold thing!  “Rabbi, (and there’s that word again) Rabbi, you are the Son of God.  You are the king of Israel!”  That’s incredible!  Because remember, they didn’t know what we know about Jesus!  But when Nathanael answered the call to “come and see,” that’s all it took!

If you think about it, as we follow Jesus, as his disciples, that’s what we’re able to give people.  We’re able to relate to the experience of Jesus, not just the teachings about Jesus.  That’s one of the reasons it’s important to think about ourselves as disciples – as followers – not just believers.  Because in following Jesus, we get to have the experience, not just the knowledge!  And that’s what we can offer the world.

That’s important, considering what I think is one of the greatest things about Jesus!  I believe in a God who is all powerful, and all knowing.  Do you believe that, too?  Well, if there’s one thing God did not know, it was what it was like to be us.  That’s why he took on human form.  Yes, he did so for all the great theological reasons, like the atonement.  But he also did it so he could know what it was like to be a human like us.  And as a human, he was tempted, like us.  He hurt, like us.  He wept, like us.  He was beaten down by adversaries, like us.  He was betrayed by friends, like us.  He experienced fear and anguish, like us.  And he suffered and died, like us.  So, Jesus understands us!

Isn’t it true that one of the most comforting things we can do for someone who is hurting, is to tell them that we know how they feel.  We call that “empathy.”  We tell them that we know what they’re going through.  We don’t say they shouldn’t feel the way they do, because we sure did when we were in their shoes, right!  Well, it’s the same with God!  When we’re hurting, we have a God who doesn’t just say to us, “I love you.”  He also says, “I know how you feel!”  And I think that’s huge!

So, Jesus calls us to be his disciples, not just believers.  He calls to us, down through the ages, saying, “Follow me.”  And he calls us, not just to believe in him, but to follow him, and to have the experience of him.  And as his disciples, we don’t have to have all the answers.  We don’t always have all the proper theology, or Christology – meaning “the knowledge of Jesus.”  And we don’t have to.  But what we can do, is we can say to the world that God loves us, and he understands us.  Because he became one of us.  “He gets us,” as the TV campaign says.  And because we’re his disciples, we too can say to the world, “Come and see!”

Prayer

Eternal God, we are amazed by the love you have for us, love so great that you wanted to be like us, to understand us, to know how we feel, and to know what we go through.  Help us to have that empathy for others, and help us to tell them, and to show them, what we have found in you.  For these things we pray in the name of Jesus, who is our Lord, our Savior, and our friend.  Amen.