Sermon - 2015-01-18

Today within the Gospel, we hear of two disciples of Jesus Christ, Nathaniel and Philip.  As we encounter these two disciples, their names alone speak volumes as to who they are. Nathaniel is a good Hebrew name.  This is a man who knows and understands the Jewish traditions that are so very important as being a Chosen People of God.  Phillip bears the name of a foreigner, a Greek, someone outside of the Hebrew faith or at the very least someone who has recently converted to the faith.  

As we hear these two men together, it is Philip, the foreigner, who actually introduces Nathaniel to Jesus.  However, in the very introduction, Nathaniel hears that Jesus is from Nazareth.  This is something that the people of this time knew about that we as readers need to know.  Nazareth to Nathaniel is a small town.  Phillip is thinking of Nazareth as a place out in the country that does not know of the modern breakthroughs. They are behind the times. They are slow on the uptake and the people in the area of Nazareth would have been kind of like a modern day “hillbilly”.  Nazareth is found in the northern part of the lands of Israel. In the hill countries many of the people were married to people outside of the faith, and so they were also seen by many as unworthy or half Jewish.  When Nathaniel is saying, “What good can come out of Nazareth?”, he is sharing much of the common thought that many also have.  

However, when Jesus enters, he shares that he knew Nathaniel from the very time that Philip spoke to him below the fig tree.  (Which was the prime location for any Jewish person to learn and grow in their faith in the Torah.)  Upon hearing this, Nathaniel knows that this Jesus is the Son of God and the King of Israel. From a few short sentences, Nathaniel goes from wondering about this man to knowing that he is the ruler of all things, including himself.  

Great, so what does all of this mean for us in our own modern days.  Three things in particular:

1. Where we worship does not matter. What matters is who we are worshipping.
2. Jesus is fully human and fully God even in our modern life.
3. We don’t have to understand everything fully because we are still learning, and so we make this our home to learn and grow.

Jesus comes to Nathaniel and reminds him of a very important lesson in all of Scripture. It does not matter if we worship under a fig tree, in a library, in a large cathedral, in small country church, or in a field of grain.  What truly matters is that you are worshipping the loving God who comes to you and particularly the one who is standing right before you, Jesus Christ.  This sounds so simple.  We can so easily begin to worship something that is a thing within our churches, or worse yet, the church building itself. We need to see that faith and worship is the way in which we live out our life and care for others, but above all fear and love God in all that we do.

Jesus being fully human and fully God within our modern life is also a great challenge for us.  Especially in our scientific world.  How can anyone be 100% human and 100% God?  It is just not possible.  It is not possible but it is still real.  For God is the scientist who created all the natural laws and principles that we are still discovering with our modern science.  However, that does not mean that those same laws and principles apply to God.  However, when we honor that relationship that our Creator and Sustainer has created us to be a part of, life seems to make so much more sense.  Our modern Science has shown that a person of faith has lower blood pressure, stronger relationships with others, and above all a better life.  Why is that?  They are living out the relationship that they were created for.  

As we are beginning, growing, and are laying in the loving arms of our Savior and Lord, we are learning and understanding what God is calling us to be and do within the world.  Part of living within our modern Scientific world is that faith seems old fashioned and no longer needed.  However this is not true.  There is a truth and depth there that we encounter.  We make our church a place where we and others can encounter God to have that relationship available to them and with us.  So as we gather here, it is important that we welcome people to come and learn, relearn, grow, be nurtured in their faith and cared for in their life.  God is so complex that it takes more than a lifetime to understand God. Yet when God comes to us, his message is so simple and that is: “We are loved! Go and love others!”

As we live out our own faith and God comes to us, may we experience and share that God, that surrounds us always.