For Sunday, January 18, 2015 – John 1:43-51
“Come and see,” Philip says to Nathanael. “Come and see who this Jesus really is.” Philip has full confidence that in this one extraordinary, ordinary man, son of Joseph and Mary from Nazareth, can be seen everything they long for, everything promised by Moses and the prophets. When Nathanael expresses some reasonable doubt, Philip says, “Check it out for yourself. Come and see if anything good can come out of Nazareth.”
What about your hometown? What would people “come and see” if this were said about you or me? I am tempted to say, “Wait a sec! I’m not Jesus!” But is there any resemblance at all? Do we leave at least some trail of evidence that grace shows up in plain human form? Imagine Philip saying about each of us, come and see what redemption looks like. Come and see what happens when someone says yes to God’s way. Watch whom we seek out and whom we avoid. Attend the events we attend; go to our movies, read our magazines, see how we spend our money and time. Worry as much as we worry. Frequent the same web sites, read what we read, write the letters we write, make our phone calls. Help others as often as we help, show kindness to the extent we do, be as honest as we are honest. Allow the injustice we allow. Carry the burdens we carry. Offer up the prayers we pray. Come and see who we are behind the scenes, what makes us cry, what makes us laugh. See if the rumors of our inspirited life are true.
What did people see in Jesus? We tend to make him into a paper-thin replica of our ideas of “holy” rather than let him be the full range of human emotion and being. I see a peacemaker, reconciler, voice for the voiceless, full of compassion and truth-telling. As well as provocateur, uprooter, sometimes a bit sarcastic and short-tempered. He is a loyal friend and trusted confidant, steady in times of trouble. Even so, he tires of our whining, urges us to grow up and take responsibility for repairing our sorry messes. What kind of God did people “come and see” in Jesus? What can they expect to see in the likes of you or me?
