SERMON 1 – SUNDAY 15 JANUARY 2012

SERMON 1 – SUNDAY 15 JANUARY 2012 – All Saints Parish Church, Winterslow

John 1:43-51

I love that Gospel Reading - whenever I hear it – John’s account of the calling of Philip and Nathanael to be disciples;  Nathanael’s words of cynicism – “Nothing good ever came out of Nazareth” – I am reminded of an event in my own life when, as a young trainee lawyer or articled clerk as we were then called - I arrived for the first time at my new office in London. I had been transferred from the cold climes of my home fishing town of Grimsby, in Lincolnshire, was young, naïve and probably spoke with a bit of a northern twang.  As I was introduced to my new colleagues, few of whom seemed to have ever ventured above Luton, I was greeted with jokes about Grimsby pilchards or pollocks or, I recall, some such words - and the comment “We have been told that the only good thing to come out of Grimsby is the 06.30 express train to King’s Cross”  - Pause - Perhaps after this morning’s sermon you will entirely agree with them!

I have to be honest,  before leaving for my new life in London and home in Ilford, my own head was filled by others with all sorts of nonsense about Londoners, southerners and particularly the morals of Essex girls! (who definitely did not live up to my expectations!)  My prejudices, and obviously the prejudices of my new colleagues, were fed by preconceived ideas gained, very often, through a lack of personal experience; - in other words - what they had been told by others.  I wonder how many of you have been the object of similar prejudices or have yourself exercised that prejudice against others?   Perhaps you’ve not even known it!   I know I have been guilty more than once of having a preconceived notion of something or somebody – simply from the way they dress, where they live or the way they speak; perhaps even by what church they attend.  In this bible passage, as in many places elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus is the subject of such prejudices.

Note Jesus’s response to Nathanael, through the newly converted Philip - “Come and See” – yes see for yourself.  Experience what I, Philip, have experienced and now believe.

Let’s explore the background to the story for a moment.  A day or so before at Bethsaida, according to John  - and here John’s gospel deviates from the accounts of Matthew, Mark and Luke, - Andrew, a fisherman (we are still with the fish theme), the brother of Peter and we are told already a disciple of John the Baptist together with another (we are never told the identity of that other person) heard the John the Baptist’s testimomy about seeing the dove of the Holy Spirit descending at Christ’s baptism in Jordan and the revelation or manifestation of Him as the Son of God. As Jesus was passing them by, the two disciples left John’s side and immediately started following behind Christ. Sensing them behind him, Jesus turned round and asked what they wanted. They responded – probably rather embarrassed –“Where are you staying?”  Christ’s response was an enigmatic “come and see”.   They then spent the day with him.

What a fantastic day that must have been – just imagine, a whole day with Jesus the man – wouldn’t we all want to have that opportunity? - probably knowing Jesus there would have been food and the odd goblet or two of wine as well!   Andrew, having enjoyed his time later introduced Jesus to his brother Simon (Peter).  The following day Jesus issued the same invitation to Philip to follow and Philip in turn told his friend Nathanael.

In telling Nathanael, Philip makes three important statements about Jesus – first, he is sure he is the one whom the prophet Moses spoke about, the Messiah, secondly he is from Nazareth and thirdly he is the son of Joseph the carpenter.  Nathanael might have accepted the first and third on their own – that he could be the one spoken of and as the son of Joseph he probsbly knew of the direct linkage back to King David– but Nazareth!  Surely not - that blows it!  You must be kidding! He will certainly need some convincing if that is the case. 

You see, in those days Nazareth or Nazarene was a synonym for despised.  Today it might be a bit like saying – look we’ve seen our next home secretary and he is a scouser from the inner city streets of Toxteth or in 1960’s southern USA, it won’t be too long before we have a black President.  Disbelief, skepticism and cynacism must have been Nathanael’s immediate reaction.

Philip responds by using exactly the same words Jesus himself used to Andrew – “come and see”.  What incredibly powerful words they are – they place in the hands of the recipient a wonderful invitation and the choice as to whether to accept and continue with the prejudice/pre-conceived notions already carried, without investigating any further, or to explore and expand their knowledge and experience – in other words, whether to shut off your mind or open it. 

Nathanael does indeed take up that invitation and approaches Jesus.  To Nathanael’s astonishment, Jesus once again reveals his God-given powers of prophecy by saying “Here is a true Israelite in whom there is no deceit”.  Nathanael is clearly taken aback and responds – “How do you know me?”  By this time Nathanael is beginning to realize that this is no ordinary person.  Jesus’s answer, as is often the case, is a simple one –he had observed Nathanael sitting under a fig tree.   To us in the modern western world this seems as bit of a disjointed answer.

However, as so often the custom, students and devout Jews would often sit under the shade of the large fig leaves to pray and read scripture.  It is probably the case that Jesus had seen Nathanael engaged in such activity on a previous occasion and Nathanael was probably very well versed in the scriptures – but still he makes the comment about Nazareth – a comment probably endorsed by his devotional study –Nazareth gets not one single mention anywhere in the Old Testament.   His comment should really not then really surprise any of us – can any good come from Nazareth?  A perfectly logical response within the historic context.

I have rather a warm feeling for Nathanael, in the same way I can often identify with Simon Peter.  We often cannot see what is staring us in the face – or we are cynical or worse still, we think that we have got it all sussed and can easily put God in a neat box.  That’s where and when our beliefs will get shaken.  That’s when we need to come and see for ourselves and revisit our beliefs – it’s called growing spiritually.

Jesus extends an invitation to us all to do just that, everyday, to “come and see” – to see what is happening in his world, to see our faith challenged and tested, to call us to mission – just as he did to those early disciples – ordinary men doing ordinary things like fishing.  

Some may think, well, we have been called or “saved”, we have accepted Jesus, we have accepted the Holy Spirit. Job done! We should always concentrate on bringing others to Him.  As these gospel stories show, one disciple did indeed lead another to follow – to extend that invitation; and we must indeed do that – in our everyday lives -witness to God’s love and grace in everything we do or say.  But we must also be acutely aware of our own failings, cynicism and prejudices at the same time so as not to fall into the trap of some of the Pharisees.  Kenneth Clark, the famous art historian once said – “We can destroy ourselves with cynicism just as effectively as with bombs”

Jesus’s parting phrase to Nathanael still has much relevance today: “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” 

One commentary on John says this: Not everybody present at Jesus’s ministry really perceived; much of what Jesus said and did was only understood after the resurrection.  Jesus is in effect saying: subsequent generations of disciples will see, hear and do greater things than these.   Blessed are those who have not seen and yet who believe – echoing Jesus’s words to doubting Thomas after his resurrection

When I was trained as a lawyer, I was taught that the best form of evidence is that provided by first hand witnesses.  Those who had seen the incident and could reliably report it. Unfortunately, on quite a few occasions, that reliability crumbled away to dust in the witness box – much to my embarrassment .  But at Bethsaida there were three very reliable witnesses - John the Baptist himself, Andrew and Philip – all of whom passed on the Good News to the other. This functioning of “witnessing” is part of the meaning of discipleship – we can’t function as good disciples without it.   

After Jesus departed at his Ascension, the Holy Spirit was left with us at Pentecost.  Nathanael was so wrong.  Much good came and still comes out of Nazareth. -  I am afraid -  that as far as Grimsby is concerned the Kings Cross train has now been axed!.  Jesus’s call to come and see is as strong today, if not stronger, than it was 2,000 years ago.  We have the ability and good fortune to look back through the window of the crucifixion and resurrection, As Christians, therefore, we have no excuse for cynicism.   

But … and there is always a “but” – when our notions are shaken or challenged - how often do we take up that call to “come and see”? 

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