INSTANT REPLAY – The Practice of Posting Last Week’s Sermon Manuscript

“COME & SEE!” – June 7, 2015 – Shawnee Church of the Nazarene

Author: Jason T. Rowinski

Calendar: Ordinary Time

Sermon Series: “SALT & LIGHT – Becoming a People of Radical Hospitality”

Sermon Text: John 1.43-51

Homiletical Method: Paul Scott Wilson’s “4 Pages of a Sermon”

Note: (1) The small variances between manuscript & live sermon is because I preach from a one page outline. Consequently, I don’t say everything exactly the same. For my personality, it’s just as important to be physically engaged and relational in my preaching disposition.  (2) The images you see here are the visual media I use with the text on screen as I preach, similar to a Ted Talk. 

 JOHN 1.43-51

 John 1.43 “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.”

 INTRODUCTION

Come and see.

Three little words with the power to change destiny. They’re not pushy words – hospitality is never pushy. Invitation by its very nature is inviting. It’s warm, friendly, open. An invitation just puts it out there.  A person wants you to experience something they believe is worth your time, something they believe might benefit you.

Much of our lives are determined by our responses to invitation.

Come and see! Says the Tweet about the extra tickets till available to the Royals game.

Come and see! Says the letter from Point Loma Nazarene University to the High school senior.

Come and see! Says the note attached to the flowers of the guy preparing to propose to his fiancé at the gazebo in Loose Park.

Come and see! Says Disneyland (Universal/MGM/Sea World/Busch Gardens) Lots of fun in Florida!

Come and see! Says the wedding announcement in the mail. Please R.S.V.P A.S.AP. Also – the couple is registered at Target (the 11th commandment: Thou Shalt register at Target).

You don’t get the whole picture with an invitation – just a glimpse, a chance, an opportunity participate in something. Sometimes it’s a normal activity, like going to a movie or a birthday party. Sometimes that invitation leads to something that alters your life and makes a difference. How can you tell? You can’t.

As the invitations say, you just have to “Come and see.”

God is a “come & see” kind of God. Always inviting, extending hospitality. Only this time, we’re not invited to see a burning bush, parted waters, or a Promised Land. No. Wait…there’ more! We find out very early in the Gospel of John that…

God-in-the-flesh-Jesus moved into the neighborhood and invites us into community.

What does it all mean? What difference does it make? Does it really make any difference that God is a God who shows up in the flesh and moves into the neighborhood?

Come and see.

PAGE ONE: TROUBLE & CONFLICT IN THE TEXT

Jesus found Philip in Galilee – Philip was easy to find.  He seems to be a “man about town.” One of those types that liked to be where the action was – meeting travelers by the city gates, talking about unfair Roman taxes by the watering well, flirting with the baker’s daughter in the market.  “Follow me.” Jesus said, and that’s all it took. There was no sign, no miracle, no teaching, nothing.  Jesus’ words were enough. Philip would follow Jesus, but there was something he had to do first. He does something that’s usually a “no-no” in the Gospels – he doesn’t immediately follow Jesus. He goes to share this good news. Philip couldn’t keep this invitation to himself.  Nathanael needed this good news.

Philip knew where to find Nathanael. He was 98.9% sure he’d be at his favorite spot under the fig tree.

Have you ever wondered what Nathaniel was doing sitting under that tree?  It’s not just that he was under a tree, he was there alone. I don’t know about you, but on the rare occasion I need some alone time – I get out in nature too – so maybe Philip was the social butterfly with thousands of friends of Facebook and Nathaniel was more the brooding introvert who preferred listening to vinyl records of British Punk Rock in his bedroom.

Maybe he needed the solitude to pray – as it’s common in religions with roots in the Middle East to pray throughout the day. He was after all, a “true Israelite” a man without “guile” or deception, sincere in his faith. Maybe Nathanael is avoiding everyone so he could be alone with his disappointment with the world around him and the fact that up to this point, no Messiah had come to the rescue.

Philip finds Nathanael – and after catching his breath – says: We’ve found the One whom Moses, the law, and the prophets spoke about. It’s Jesus of Nazareth. Joseph’s son.  Maybe Nathanael was none too pleased that his alone time was interrupted – but his response to this AMAZING NEWS is SKEPTICISM.

Can anything good come out of Nazareth?  Now, you have to understand something about the Gospel of John to grasp the full force of this statement. John uses a lot of literary techniques to “reveal” the true nature of Jesus to the world. One of the ones he uses is dramatic irony – when the character in the story says something not knowing the full meaning of the words but the audience, with the benefit of greater vision, knows the whole story.  Irony is meant to be a little bit funny but also revealing. 

Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth was a town of a few hundred people. Nathanael’s hometown of Cana was just a stone’s throw away & not much bigger. The irony is that when Nathanael says: Can anything good come out of Nazareth? It’s like someone from Rozell, Kansas throwing shade at someone from Burdett, Kansas.  Those are real towns I found on Google!  Understand that in Kansas ALL of the people live on the East-side of the state. I don’t really know what’s out West. It feels like the entire state of Kansas is just a through-way to Denver.

The irony is also that the answer to anyone who has followed God’s ways through the Old Testament that is “of course!” God is the kind of God who uses unexpected places and people to accomplish his purposes in the world!

The irony John wants us to see, also, is that we, the readers, already know that Jesus of Nazareth is more than the Messiah, he’s none other than the eternal Word, God-in-the-flesh.

Philip could’ve responded in-kind to Nathanael’s rude, somewhat racist, or tribalistic skepticism, but he doesn’t.  He extends graciously the invitation…

Come and see. 

PAGE TWO: TROUBLE & CONFLICT IN OUR WORLD

I don’t blame Nathanael for being skeptical.  Nathanael asked: Can anything good come out of Nazareth? We live in a broken world for of broken promises & broken people. We ask: Can anything good come out of this broken world?  We’re understandably skeptical.  It’s tough for people of faith to trust in this broken world. If we can’t trust, we can’t be vulnerable. If we can’t be vulnerable, we can’t be truly hospitable.  It’s hard to trust in this day-and-age. 

How do you trust a music industry that continues to churn out bands like One Direction & call it music?

How do you trust a movie industry that spent $200 million dollars making Jupiter Ascending?

How do you trust politics in light of Watergate, Iran Contra Scandal Monica Lewinsky, and those who believe corporations (and their money) are people too?

How do you trust religion in light of a global sexual abuse cover-up? Or the Islamic state? Or a evangelical preacher trying to guilt his flock into buying him a $60 million dollar plane?

How do you trust in marriage when so many end in divorce or unhappiness?

How do you trust in the future, with the threat of global annihilation due to nuclear war, climate change, over-population, or some random comet smacking into the earth?

It’s easy give up. In the light of so many potential threats, it’s easy to close ourselves off to hospitality. To shutter the windows to our souls and quit being real. We close our eyes and hold on tight.  Sitting under our proverbial tree.  After time, like Nathanael we end up there alone. 

Churches can give up, too. It’s easy to close ourselves off to hospitality. It can be tough to be people of faith. The world often openly mocks faith, while some people of “faith” pervert it so much its unrecognizable. Easier to just circle the wagons, hang on to our memories, and hand on our church to our kids and grand-kids.  After time, people stop coming. Our kids & grand kids aren’t interested.  We end up empty and alone.

We ask: Can anything good come out of this broken world? 

Come and see.

PAGE 3: GRACE & GOOD NEWS IN THE TEXT

Those words were enough to get Nathanael moving.  Maybe it was look in Philip’s eyes, or something about the way that he smiled like a kid who had Schlitterbahn all to himself.  Perhaps there was the intrigue of the unknown.  But those words – come and see – they’re easy, warm, inviting. It’s hard to reject a genuine invitation.  So he went.  

When Jesus sees skeptical Nathanael coming toward him. He doesn’t shame him. He doesn’t debate him. He compliments him: “THIS GUY! This guy is a good dude. His faith is real. He’s an honest man.” (Also – great taste in music).   It’s an unexpected, simple kindness – being KNOWN.  Kind of the opposite of how you feel when the barista at the Starbucks you frequent never learns how to spell your name (Example: probably like “Marc” felt when after telling them his name was Marc with a “C” they spelled his name “Cark.” It’s depressing).  

Nathanael asks Jesus, “Umm, Do we know each other?” And this is where it gets really weird (like – did Jesus Google Earth stalk Nathanael?).  Jesus says – I SAW you sitting under the fig tree BEFORE Philip called you!  This little bit of prophetic knowledge was apparently enough for Nathanael.  He launches into a litany of Messianic titles: TEACHER! SON of GOD! KING of ISRAEL.  It’s like he’s so overwhelmed that he’s just throwing out any honorable, respectful title he can think of: Professor! Reverend! Doctor! Your Majesty. Gov’ner! Czar! Sensei!  

IRONY AGAIN. Even though Nathanael is right about every title he applies to Jesus…he really has no idea what he is saying – though we (the readers) do.  This is the first time he’s met Jesus. He hasn’t heard a sermon, hasn’t seen a miracle, and hasn’t had so much as a crumb of communion.

Jesus, thinking this is humorous – effectively says, “That’s why you believed? You ain’t seen nothing yet. There’s more – so much more. Feeding the hungry. Eating with the despised. Teaching to love. Forgiving enemies. Dying for the sins of the world. Rising to inaugurate the new creation.

“In fact, Nathanael” Jesus says, “You’ll see more than Jacob saw in the desert when he had a vision of God’s angels. You’ll see me – the Son of Man (confusing, I know, but the title Son of Man is actually reference to Daniel 7 and a claim of divinity) – as the ladder connecting heaven and earth. No. Nathanael – this is just the beginning.”

Now – Jesus lets Nathanael in on what we’ve known since the first words of John’s Gospel.

God-in-the-flesh-Jesus moved into the neighborhood and invites us into community.

John shows us that God-in-Jesus makes the first move toward us. He moves into the neighborhood. He becomes one of us.  Jesus is the first to extend the invitation “Come and see.” 

Thank God Philip believed enough to offer a life-changing invitation to his best friend Nathanael with three little words…

Come and see!

PAGE 4: GRACE & GOOD NEWS FOR US

There’s power in an invitation.  It can make all the difference in the world.  As God-in-Christ is invitational, so are we…As we pursue our 2015/16 Vision of SALT & LIGHT – we are focusing on developing the habit of “radical hospitality.”  Hospitality is an invitation into relationship.  As we met as Pastors and Staff for our Ministry Team retreat, we felt God leading us to a tangible expression of this goal. 

MARBLES.  We’ll have two colors of marbles on the prayer tables in the back.  Here’s what I’m asking you to do (Reader’s Note: This portion was physically demonstrated for the congregation with the use of a chalice, two colors of marbles, and an empty clear jar). 

The darker marbles represent our personal decision to be a hospitable person. Invite people to share life with you. This is an act of vulnerability, of friendship – hospitality. Invite people to share your love of music or movies, of fishing, or art.  Invite them to your home, or their family to the park.  EVERY TIME you invite someone into your life, celebrate this hospitality by taking a dark marble from the communion chalice and placing it in the clear jar.

The lighter marbles represent our corporate discipline to become a hospitable community. Our goal is 5,000 (like feeding the 5,000) invitations to Sunday morning church. It’s a big goal, but the purpose is greater. Let me be clear, the invite is our offering. EVERY TIME you invite someone to church, celebrate this hospitality take a light marble from the communion cup and placing it in the clear jar.

CONCLUSION

Remember, this is the practice of being a people of radical hospitality.  The results of convicting and converting are up to God. The offering of hospitality that is our responsibility.  As the Bible says, “How can they hear if no one tells them?” 

Our joyful obedience as disciples, Jesus followers, is simply to say…“Come and see.”

Three little words with the power to change destiny. They can change a life. They can change a family. They can change a church. They can change a community. They can change the world.  Many people are out there sitting under a tree: Waiting for good news. Praying for healing. Searching for a more meaningful life. 

They need a person – they need  a church –  to extend the gracious invitation: “Come and see.”

Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Can anything good come out of my life? Can anything good come out of Shawnee Nazarene? Can anything good come out of this world?  

Come and see!