John 1:43 51
The Next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. There he met Philip. He said to him, follow me. Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, we have found the one Moses wrote about in the law and about whom the prophets also wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Nathanael asked, can anything good come from there? Come and see, said Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said, here is a true Israelite in whom there is nothing false. How do you know me, Nathanael asked? Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you. Then Nathanael declared, rabbi, you are the son of God and the king of Israel. Jesus answered, "did you believe me just because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than that. He then added, I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open and the angels of God descending and ascending on the Son of man."
I share with you a story, a story about an important executive who was boarding a train from New York City to Chicago. He gets on board and seeks out the porter. Upon finding him, he gives these instructions. He said, "sir, I'm a very heavy sleeper and at 3:00 a.m. when we reach the Buffalo station, I have to get off. So, please, wake me up and see that I get off the train. Now, I know I'm going to resist because I'm grumpy when I wake up. I may say things or do things. Ignore all of them. It's vital that I get off in Buffalo at 3:00 a.m.. So the train pulls out of the station. This important executive wakes up the next morning as the train is pulling into Chicago. Startled, he gets up and immediately grabs his stuff, seeks out the same porter, begins to give him a tongue lashing, using some very abusive words. Finally he stalks off the train and down the platform towards the station, and as he's walking away, one of the other passengers walks up to the porter and asks, "how can you take that from that man? All that anger and that abuse? And the porter says, "oh, that was nothing. You should have heard the guy I left in Buffalo."
Confusion. Certainly I believe that sometimes we get confused when we hear Jesus' call upon our lives. Sometimes we assume too much or sometimes we misunderstand what that call is when Jesus says, come and follow me. Now, I've known a few people and I fell into that category many years ago when I thought that part of being a type of Christ meant that I needed to be prepared and ready to explain Jesus, or defend Jesus, when something didn't go right in someone's life; or when they were angered or insulted by some of the things that we read in the bible.
But I learned a long time ago that being a disciple does not mean you need to explain or defend Jesus in that way. In fact, that is something that my wife and I do with our relationship with one another. We have agreed never to explain or try to defend each other by the actions that we do. I would never do that, because I believe in her. And I trust fully in what she is doing when I'm present and when I'm absent. I would never diminish her decisions by trying to explain them away or defend them in that way.
Now, if she's in trouble, I will be there to defend her, but not to defend what she has done. That's what a loving relationship does. When we're called into that loving relationship with Jesus Christ, we don't have to explain or defend what God is doing.
So, what is it that we are called to do? What does it mean to be a disciple? I think it's very clear in this story where Jesus calls Philip and Nathanael. If you read in that story, when Philip goes to tell Nathanael I have met the one that they claim is the Messiah, the one that the prophets wrote about, I have met him. And Nathanael's response is, oh, if he's a from Nazareth, nothing good can come out of Nazareth. You don't hear Philip explaining, or defending Jesus, at that point, do you? Instead he says, very simply, come and see. That's what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. To live and share the invitation that Jesus gives to all of us, come and see.
A former chaplain of the Boston Red Sox I know there are not a lot of Red Socks fans here but this former chaplain once had a rooky playing for the team who started quoting scripture the minute he walked into the clubhouse. That's all he did was quote scripture. Finally, the chaplain calls him over to the side and says, young man, don't quote scripture to these boys until you start hitting home runs.
What he was saying is, don't deliver the word if you're not living it. If you're not witnessing the invitation of come and see.
And so, really, it doesn't begin with us having the right words to say, it begins with us having the right relationship with the one who is doing the inviting so that that invitation can be delivered through us. You see, the responsibility is not ours, but it's Christ's. We're just merely the conduits through which it is delivered.
So, if we want to know what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, it means to be a living invitation of come and see.
Before I went into the ministry, while I was still going to school and working full time, I worked at maintenance in a chemical factory. One of my co workers at the plant, her name was Debby, she came up to me one day and she said to me, Jay, I'm aware of all the tragedy that you've had in your life. I'm aware that you buried three children and two parents. But I see a peace in you that I hunger for. She said since my father died, I have been lost. I have been in turmoil. And she asked me, very frankly, how can I find that peace that you find? And you know what I told her? Come and see the One who is the Prince of Peace. Come and see the One who, in His love, no one ever dies, but lives forever. I had already lived it and now I had the opportunity to share it. That's what we're called do.
So, as we celebrate the renewal of our membership, be aware that there is an addition now that the methodist church has added. It used to be that we always supported the church with our prayers, our presence, our gifts, and our service. Since our last general conference, they added one more. It says, and our witness. That we are living the invitation. Come and see. Let us hear that call, and by God's grace, may we live it to all those around us. Thanks be to God. Amen.