John 1:43-51
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” 46Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” 48Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” 51And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
That was the sales pitch
from one of my high school youth friends, following what was apparently the
best weekend of her life. And it was all
the detail she gave me until I stopped her and said, “what are you talking
about…”
"TEC! You
have to come and do TEC!"
"Do TEC," I said?
What is TEC and how do I do it?"
"TEC! It’s Hand-in-hand
Teens Encounter Christ."
Now she paused at that
moment...as though the name alone would register some major epiphany within me.
I suppose my continued blank stare cued her to explain a bit more.
As it turns out, TEC
stands for Teens Encounter Christ, and it is a weekend retreat for high school
youth and intentionally led in part by mostly high school youth. It is a highly
structured, well-thought-out weekend retreat that intentional focuses on
renewing faith. Some of you may have heard of Via-De-Cristo, which is an
adult weekend retreat with a similar focus. Both have their roots in the Roman
Catholic Church.
Now in truth, these
weekend retreats are powerful, informative, challenging, affirming, and
emotional. The weekend is filled with talks given by peers, fellowship
activities, interactive team building, skits, songs, etc... and many, many
surprises. So many surprises in fact that it becomes very difficult to talk
about your experience of these weekends without giving away all of the
surprises. This was the problem for my
high school youth group friend. She was so excited and overwhelmed with
joy from her weekend retreat that she just couldn’t put it all into words.
And so she was only able to invite me to come and see.
And I suspect the
majority of us have at one time or another been frustrated or annoyed by
someone who desperately wants you to experience the same thing they did. Oh
you have to come see this show or movie. Oh you have to hear this
song…you have to watch this YouTube video or see this cat meme. Whatever it may be, you
just have to see it for yourself. I can’t explain it, you have to
experience it on your own. It’s the old LaVar Burton on Reading Rainbow…“but
don’t take my word for it.” Come and see for yourself.
And I suspect the
majority of us have also been that person at one time or another...desperately
eager to share our experience with someone, and we just can’t quite put it into
words or do it justice by your own reinterpretation, and so we hope that if
they would just come and see for themselves then they might experience at least
a fraction of our joy.
That was my high school
youth friend coming off her mountain top experience...full of joy and
excitement...desperate for others to come and see. She jumped up and
down, she did the best she could to describe her experience without spoiling
too much, but ultimately words failed, and I just have to come see for myself.
Today’s gospel text
marks the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in the gospel of John. A
ministry of come and see. Jesus has been baptized and declared the lamb
of God by John the Baptist. Jesus has encountered Andrew and Peter,
previous followers of John the Baptist and he’s bid them to come and see.
Today Jesus continues on to Galilee and encounters more disciples-to-be
along the way. I like to envision Jesus as though he’s on the recruiting
trail. Moving town to town, shore to shore, meeting unsuspecting people
along the way who in the end become major characters in the genesis story of
Christianity.
Jesus calling from the
shores come and follow. Jesus encountering folks in their various walks
of life, nestled in the comfort of their daily routines...bidding them to come
and be a disciple. Bidding them to come
and see.
Today Jesus first meets
Philip from Bethsaida. Now I find Philip’s calling into discipleship just
remarkable. Jesus says, “Follow me.” That is the extent of Philip’s
interaction with Jesus.
That’s his call story.
It’s as though Philip’s consent and entrance to discipleship is so
guaranteed after meeting Jesus that the gospel writer needs not spend any more
time on Philip. No follow-up statement that says, and Philip followed
Jesus. Just “follow me.”
Perhaps I’m so aghast by Philip’s entrance into discipleship because it is so counter to most of our lives. I can’t imagine myself every consenting so fast to such a life changing decision. I’m an over thinker, an analytic, a processor...weighing the options, assessing the risk. If writer of the gospel wrote, And Jesus found Daniel and said “follow me….” the writer would exhaust all ink explaining away the process by which I eventually would respond with … “ok, sure.”
When was the last time
someone bid you to come and see something and you just did. No hesitation
or debate, you just consented whole-heartedly because you believed in the
invitation?
My friend went on for
weeks, raving about her experience ….until finally three other youth group
friends and I consented and hesitantly agreed to come and see for ourselves.
Her invitation to come and see was so vague and I was so skeptical.
She offered very little description of the weekend and even less in
way of expectations. It seemed that rule
number one of TEC was that you don’t talk about TEC. I was hesitant
because I didn’t know what was going to happen. I was nervous that I would have to be vulnerable and share in small groups. I
was scared that I would hate it and be miserable. Or even more scared that
I would love it and that I would just like her after my weekend, unable to
articulate my experience, but certain that others should come and see. Can
anything good really come out of this weekend retreat. I was skeptical at best. But if nothing
else, we hoped that she would leave us alone if we decided to go see for
ourselves. So we went.
In our gospel text,
Philip, the immediate follower of Christ finds Nathanael. He says, “We
have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus
son of Joseph from Nazareth.” 46Nathanael said to him, “Can
anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
Ah, I find Nathanael to
be a refreshing character in today’s story. He seems so much more
relatable. It’s not that he’s opposed to the invitation of come and see, but he
has his doubts. He has managed expectations. He’s open to hear and
see more, if for no other reason then to oblige his friend Philip.
TEC: Teens Encounter
Christ. As it turns out, TEC was a remarkable experience. It was a
challenging and affirming retreat, in which faith was renewed and cultivated. And yes, I left TEC just like my
friend...jumping up and down, unable to articulate my experience, but I
desperately wanted people to share in my experience. You just have to
come and see for yourself.
Whether you relate best
with Philip and his humble and immediate entrance discipleship or with Nathanael and
his skeptic, yet open response to the opportunity to “come and see” the emphasis within
today’s text is not so much the response, but rather the invitation itself.
Jesus invites the
disciples and us to come and see. Jesus calling from the shores come and
follow. Jesus meeting us in our various walks of life, nestled in the
comfort of our daily routines...bidding us to come and be a disciple.
To come and see.
In the waters of
baptism, God claims us through the death and resurrection of Jesus and invites
into the fellowship of the body of Christ to come and see, for God is making
all things new
In the bread and wine, God
welcomes us to the table with the whole company of saints to partake in the
body and blood of Christ, a foretaste of the feast to come, to come and see; come
and taste.
And the good news this
day is the God never resends God’s invitation to fellowship, and God never
stops inviting. God, jumping up and
down, desperately wanting to share in God’s joy, desperately wanting us
to experience God’s love and then share it. God empowering us to find
others and say,
“We have found him about whom Moses and law and also the
prophets wrote!"
We have found him who forgives sins and loves
unconditionally…We have found him in whom our salvation is promised and fulfilled…
We have found him...Jesus Christ.
Invitation to
fellowship. Now the statistics can be staggering so I want present them, but when was the last
time you bid someone to come and see? Your neighbor or co-worker, someone
at the gym, a classmate or friend, a stranger in the street? Come and taste.
Invited someone to the fellowship in Jesus Christ?
After all, if the
forgiveness of sins IS really a good thing; if the abiding and never
failing love of God is a good thing; if community within the body of Christ, sharing
in the joy and sorrows daily life with brothers and sisters in Christ really is
a good thing;
Then we should be
bouncing out of worship, like Tigger into the streets, desperate to share our experience, desperate to articulate
the good news to the best of our ability ...desperate for others to come and
see for themselves. And maybe our challenge this week is to be bold in our
invitation, take a risk, seek out a sibling in Christ and invite them to
fellowship, invite them to come and see.
Because friends God is
for all people, in all times, and in all places, and until all the world has
come to know God’s love, we can’t help but share in the ministry of invitation.
God never resends God’s
invitation to fellowship.
God never stops
inviting. And neither should we.
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