The Call
Awakens
Pastor Mathew Magera – 1/14/18 – Sermon 265
St. Thomas Lutheran Church, Trufant, MI
To God be the Glory!
44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45
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.”
46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and
see,” said Philip.
Grace and peace to you from
God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
You know how you have those
thoughts that go around your head? Those thoughts that you feel fine thinking
but would never actually say out loud? I say we are all aware of having
thoughts that we just don't express with words. You might remember the phrase,
"if you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at
all." What a common phrase that we all know but what a terrible piece of
advice. But, what happens when these thoughts come out as words? What happens
when something that was meant to be only a thought is spoken whether it should
be or not, whether it is true or not?
This might happen to us more
often than we’d like. We might say it happened to our nation’s president
earlier this week with all the new covering his alleged comments about
immigration. I couldn’t help but dwell on that news story and our Gospel
reading this morning and just how similar they are. I’m certainly not going to
be preaching about politics but this alleged remark describing other countries
in a way that I won’t mention is a good example of something that may have been
best not spoken, much like Nathanael, who we’ll talk about shortly. The thing
about thoughts that inadvertently get spoken like this is that we might not be
able to deny that we may have had similar thoughts at some point in time too.
Everyone is thinking it, but I’m just saying it. Now that something is said, I
think it is time we let it stretch out across our laps and get some attention.
In the early parts of John's
Gospel here we learn quite a bit about the disciples Jesus is choosing and
calling to follow him. When we think of Jesus' followers, and Jesus himself, we
tend to envision them like a fairy tale. We have soft spots in our hearts for
fairy tales and for how they end. The same can be said for Disney movies as
well. In any of these, a transformation takes place where we find out that the
frog is really a handsome prince or that the ugly duckling is really a swan.
Yet, as I look at the covers for movies like The Princess and the Frog, Beauty
and the Beast and Cinderella, I notice that the picture on the cover is not of
the original character but instead what they were transformed into. Tiana, Bell
and Cinderella appear on the covers of these movies not in the way they are
displayed at the beginning of the story but how they are remembered by Belle in
that golden dress, Cinderella with her Prince.
Likewise when we think of
Jesus and his disciples, our first vision of them is to think of them being
neatly groomed, older, wiser, without blemish and with a full set of teeth.
Even though the Bible clearly paints a picture of their imperfections and draws
on the fact that they all come from relatively poor backgrounds, we still
imagine them as having a better reputation. Sure, maybe they didn't live the
best life, but we certainly don't want to bring it up because it would be so
depressing if we saw every nook and cranny of their faults. But, I get it. I
understand that we picture them in a cleaned up fashion because of what they
mean for us and for our faith but we cannot forget or deny the fact that Jesus'
followers were a pretty messed up group of guys. We all know Peter for being
the one who tends to put his foot in his mouth but Nathanael takes this a
little further in speaking about that which would have better been kept to
himself.
So, after calling Philip,
Philip finds Nathanael and shares this good news. You would expect anyone
hearing about the much anticipated Messiah would go crazy and get up and find
this person. But, this is not exactly how Nathanael responds. For Nathanael, he
is focused on one part of that entire announcement. It's not Moses, it's not
the prophets. It's certainly not Jesus or his father Joseph. For Nathanael, the
party was over as soon as he heard Nazareth. "Nazareth! Can anything good
come from there?" This is something Nathanael probably should have kept to
himself, one of those things his mother might have referred to when she taught
him "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." But,
Nathanael, whether by accident or on purpose, shares his opinion about that
town of Nazareth from which Jesus originates. It’s as if he is saying, “Why would
I care about someone coming from a terrible place like that?” I mean, how
offensive to say something like this. If you had overheard something like that
said about Trufant, would you be offended? Trufant! Can anything good come from
there?
In some sheer amount of
luck, Philip gets Nathanael to come with him. Whether Nathanael was truly
intrigued and wanted to catch a glimpse of the Messiah or whether he wanted to
be there the moment Philip realized that he had just been talking to one of the
town drunks, Nathanael went along.
When they finally reach him,
Jesus is the one to speak first. The words that Jesus says to Nathanael when
they meet each other for seemingly the first time are a bit confusing and when
we understand them become words we really don't expect or even want Jesus to
say.
He says, "Here truly is
an Israelite in whom there is no deceit." There are a few different
translations for that word deceit. Some translations say here is an Israelite
in whom there is nothing false or others say, here is an Israelite in whom
there is no guile. Guile meaning crafty or tricky or underhanded. For Jesus to
mention this to Nathanael we wonder if Nathanael is an exception to what Jesus
normally sees when he looks at the rest of the nation. We also might think that
Jesus is comparing Nathanael to Jacob in the book of Genesis who is known for
his craftiness and cunning ability to get his way by bending or withholding the
truth. Either way, whether Jesus thinks ill of Israel or whether Nathanael
isn't one to exaggerate or lie, it tells us that Nathanael’s outburst to Philip
earlier wasn't just his own opinion, but rather the down and dirty truth. Can
anything good come from Nazareth? Nazareth was truly not the best place to be
and you might not have the best reputation if you came from there.
Nazareth was a dump town.
Sure it's where Jesus hails from but other than that, Nazareth is that dark
alley you wouldn't find yourself walking down even in the middle of the day. It
gives a whole new image to Jesus living in such a place. Imagine the things
that Jesus overheard on a daily basis. Imagine him being solicited by a
prostitute while walking down the street. Imagine him being offered drugs or
alcohol as a means of drunkenness. Imagine him waking up early in the morning
and having to step over people who were passed out after a long night of
partying. Nazareth was no Vatican City, it appears.
Do you wonder how Nathanael
would know this information? Sure word travels fast but is it hard to imagine a
guy like Nathanael having been there and maybe seen it or participated in it
himself? Perhaps he knows from and eyewitness experience about the town of
Nazareth.
Now let's bring this back to
today. Whether or not a comment about the quality of other countries in our
world was said or not, the truth behind it remains truth. There are countries
in our world that have fallen into unpleasant situations. There are terrible
places in our world. There are places where violence rules over peace, where
crime is rampant, disease and hunger and poverty are the norm. There are places
where we don’t understand the culture or the way of life. Yet, even within our
own borders can we find these unpleasantries. We have a good amount of
corruption and greed and sin just as we find elsewhere. We might think in our
minds, Africa, can anything good come from there? Or, the Middle East, can
anything good come from there? We might need to also think of places close to
us, to believe that we are not immune either. When these thoughts buzz around
our minds I want us to remember this story about the calling of Nathanael. Nathanael
pointed out a critical fact in his outburst to Philip and that fact is that we
live in a sinful world, no matter the way you look at it. We live in a world
where we do have thoughts like, can anything good come from a place like that?
And yes, we should be ashamed of ourselves for thinking something like this but
when we look at the world with our eyes, it’s difficult to see anything other
than sin. Whether our nation’s president said it or not, people were thinking
it. I’ve personally been to third world countries, I have seen it. I’ve seen
some terrible things but I’ve also seen beauty. We just celebrated Christmas
less than a month ago where we sing praises about the light that shines in the
darkness and the darkness has not overcome it yet here we are saying, “can
anything good come from there?”
God reigns over the best of
our world and the worst. God rules over those who sin on accident and those who
sin on purpose. And that's just it. God still reigns. God still calls people
from places that are flooded in sin, hatred, and violence. God calls out of the
worst because God is a God of transformation. What are we doing to promote
Jesus in places where the Gospel is not the norm and source of life?
I mean, can we even neglect
our own town? Sure when we hear about Trufant we think about the flea market or
the Jubilee, but do you hear what others say about Trufant also? Trufant? That
meth lab full of heroin shooters and alkies. These are things I heard. Could
you believe that someone might look at our town and say "Trufant! Can
anything good come from there?" But, God still reigns. There is still
light shining in the darkest places and God still calls us out of those dark
places and into His light.
The obvious answer to
Nathanael's quick and offensive response to Philip, “can anything good come
from Nazareth?” is a full hearted yes! But, Philip doesn't say that to
Nathanael, he only invites him to come and see. Nathanael would not have
believed it. He had to see it. Nathanael had a simple faith, more like that of
how we perceive Thomas, yet Jesus still called him to be one of the 12. Yes,
something good can come from Nazareth. Something good can come from Bethsaida,
namely, Nathanael. Something good can come from Africa. Something good can come
from the Middle East. Something good can come from the United States. Something
good can come from Trufant.
Jesus comes from the least
desirable places and circumstances in life and that is also where he meets us.
In places and circumstances where others would give up, that's where Jesus
calls his followers. When our hearts are so broken that even we believe we
can't pick up the pieces, that's where Jesus calls us. If you have ever sat
down and wondered what God could do with you. If you have ever sat down and
said, I just need someone to show me my place in all this. That's where Jesus
calls you out of. Jesus. He calls to you. Let him in. Let that call awaken
within you so that you can perceive what he wants to do in your life, where he
wants to transform you and restore you, where he wants to bring new life and
forgiveness.
Jesus is building a new
kingdom, a kingdom that is established not by the most powerful or the most
wealthy but rather by the weakest and the sickest and the most humble. Jesus
takes them and transforms them. Jesus takes us and transforms us. Jesus'
disciples, as it turns out, are the frogs that are turned into princes. When we
look at ourselves we know that we are no more impressive-looking than these
disciples we meet in Scripture. The world still perceives the church as a dead
end but like a good story, in the dark and terrible parts of our world, good is
still present and good wins in the end. We won't stop noticing the bad but our
eyes are not focused on how bad the bad will get but rather on how much more
good is coming. We see more and more why Jesus went to the cross and just how
powerful his death and resurrection were for us. Can anything good come out of
Nazareth? Can anything good come out of Trufant? Can anything good come out of
you? Come and see. To God be the glory, now and always. Amen.