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Mark Wheeler
John 1:43-51
“Why Might We Believe?!”
01/17/2021
Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church
Why are we “here” today? I mean, really, why? Not why do we exist? Not why were we born? Those are fine questions, but I mean, why are we HERE?! Why “in” church today? As we worship and pray together today, consider that question: what brings you to worship at Lidgerwood Church on January 17, 2021?
And, Friends, I ask that with the personal realization that – it is SO good to gather, whether in house or on-line, as we worship and pray together.
We gather today, with aches and pains, worries and fears, doubts and debts, and in the midst of all of that we gather to focus on our Savior and Lord.
Holy God, we thank You for the glimpses we catch of Your gifts of peace, love, joy and hope, and light. Even in the midst of fear, of challenge, of struggle – even when we have not been sure of tomorrow,
You have ignited the Light within us … that we might glow with its brilliance from the inside out. Keep reminding us how to Believe … even when …. Amen.
Let’s take a second to greet each other, and those in the room, look at the camera and say HI to your friends who are at home. Tell your loved ones, “May the Hope of Christ be in you.”
Welcome to this “gathering” in God’s name. We are assembled in NorthEast Spokane, WA, along with people from all over the world. We are very glad you are “here” with us.
For those who made it into the building this morning – thank you for wearing your masks and following the seating and walking protocols. We do this not to protect ourselves from others, but to protect others from ourselves. Because we love each other, we wear masks and keep distance to keep each other safe from this “invisible potential enemy”. COVID numbers are way up in our area – let’s not give them an opportunity to climb even higher. Our Elders are listening to CDC guidelines and deciding on what seems best practices for each others’ safety. We love you, and we want everyone to be and to stay well.
Be filled with God’s Holy Spirit presence and power, in your homes, through your phones and computers, in this building here, and in your lives. Pray with us … and hear and be transformed by God’s Word.
Listen now and join in as Linda Soderstrom leads our Call to Worship from Psalm 139 – and listen for and proclaim aloud Who knows us better than we know ourselves!
Our song of praise today sings a proclamation of our God’s wondrous love! – Love Sent My Savior to Die in My Stead –sung by Sherry Park!
Through the Written Word,
And endorsed by our spoken word,
May we know Your Living Word,
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
When something good happens to us, it is the most natural thing in the world to want to tell others about it. It may be something like making a good grade on this week’s spelling test at school. Or showing off on Facebook that we know what some obsolete item used to be used for. Or a baby was born, or a grandbaby, or great-grandbaby…. Or a new job, or a negative COVID test….
When something good happens to us, we can’t wait to tell someone about it.
So, let me ask Oran and Hope: Did something good happen to you this week that you would like to share with us?
Isn’t it great to tell others about good things that have happened to us? When we get a chance to tell someone about something good that happened to us, it’s almost like experiencing the good thing all over again.
Remember I asked you to consider the question of why you are here today? Why “at church”?
Today’s Gospel lesson addresses that question.
Hear the Word of God … John 1:43-51 …. —- [The screen will show this passage.]
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”
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.
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”
50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”
This story tells us how it works: The Christian faith is passed from person to person. That’s how it started with Jesus, and that’s how it’s been for nearly 2,000 years.
What was it about Jesus that caused people to believe in Him and follow Him with no evidence? We don’t know. I mean, it’s impressive, right? I imagine that there was some kind of angelic orchestral soundtrack, like in the movies. (I always wanted a theme-song to play when I was about to speak [like what Gob Bluth had on the sit-com Arrested Development: “The Final Countdown”]). But, Jesus did not really have that. Jesus didn’t need background music to impress people. There was something about Him that drew people to Him.
Had Philip and Nathanael known Jesus before? Had Philip heard about Jesus from Andrew and Peter, since they lived in the same town? John doesn’t say. It only says that Philip follows Jesus straightaway, then he tells Nathanael that “we” have found the one promised in the Old Testament. Is the “we” Philip spoke of other people who were following Jesus? We don’t know.
When Nathanael expressed skepticism about anything good coming out of Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth, Philip simply says, “Come and see for yourself.” When Jesus tells Nathanael that He saw him already, Nathanael is so impressed that he impulsively calls Jesus the “Son of God” and the “King of Israel.”
What was there about Jesus to have this kind of effect on people? The New Testament gives us a hint. The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel concludes with the observation, “for He taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes,” a phrase repeated in all four Gospels (Matthew 7:29; Mark 1:22; Luke 4:32,36; John 5:27; etc).
No doubt there was something about Jesus that drew people to Him. When British biblical scholar J.B. Phillips translated the Gospels, he was struck by the personality of Jesus and how He drew others to Himself. J.B. Phillips concluded that there must have been something extraordinary about His person that affected those with whom He came into contact. He described his own reaction in his 1967 book Ring of Truth, that there must have been something magnetic about Jesus’ personality to have such an immediate effect on people.
When we read the Gospels it’s easy to note the profound effect Jesus has when He meets people: the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:21-28), the blind man at Bethsaida (Mark 8:22-26), the Roman centurion (Luke 7:1-10), the woman at the Pharisee’s home (Luke 7:36-50), Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10), the woman at the well (John 4), the sick man at the Bethesda pool (John 5:1-9), the thief crucified next to Jesus (Luke 23:40-43), the centurion at the foot of the cross (Mark 15:39, Luke 23:47) — to name only a few.
People meet Jesus, and they are changed. Whatever their deepest need was, Jesus meets it. Then they tell others what happened.
And that’s how it has worked ever since. One person says to another, “I follow Jesus and invite you to do so too.” Later on as the church grows, parents bring their infant children to Jesus in baptism and then bring them up to follow him.
It’s always person-to-person.
Follow the story throughout the New Testament. An Ethiopian eunuch is puzzled by a passage in the Old Testament, and the evangelist deacon Philip “proclaimed to him the Good News about Jesus” (Acts 8:35). Peter went to the household of the Roman centurion Cornelius and told him about Jesus, and “while Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word” (Acts 19:44), which was the breakthrough of the Christian faith to the Gentile world.
The spread of the Christian church across the world is the person-to-person story of the thousands of people who fanned out across the globe to tell the story about Jesus and what Jesus had done for them.
People become Christians because they have seen what the Christian faith has done for those whom they know. The saying passed down from the early years of the church still rings true: “See those Christians, how they love one another.” (Tertullian, church historian, late 2nd, early 3rd centuries)
… Hmmm. What are they saying today?
I have heard of only two people who came to faith by reading: C.S. Lewis’ account of his own conversion, Surprised by Joy; and Chicago Tribune investigative reporter Lee Strobel in his The Case for Christ. But even their stories was person-to-person: one through the medium of the printed page, and the other because of his wife’s new-found faith.
Our Call to Worship from Psalm 139 reminds us that God knows us, has known us, good and bad and ugly. And then God’s love sends His Son to die in our stead! Jesus tells Nathaniel that He knows Nathaniel, really knows him, because “I saw you under the fig tree”.
Something good happened to Philip — he met Jesus. He shared it with his friend Nathanael and he met Jesus too.
Has Jesus brought happiness into your life? Share it with your friends!
Our task as Christians is not to “prove” the truth of the Christian faith, although many scholars have done that persuasively. Our task is not even to persuade others to become Christian.
Our task is to simply to do what is natural: say, “Come and see.” Philip could have given Nathanael some of his own opinions. He could have said, “This Jesus knows a lot about the Bible.” Or he might have said, “There is something about this man Jesus that draws me to Him.” Even when Nathanael expressed skepticism about “anything good coming out of Nazareth,” Philip might have listed some successful people from Nazareth.
But no: Philip simply said, “Come and see,” as if to say, “You don’t need me to advertise for Jesus; come and see for yourself.” Nathaniel came and saw for himself.
That now becomes our task, to tell people, “Come and see.”
Come and see what Jesus has done and is doing for you!
Why are you here? If you can, tell whoever invited you to “come and see”, thank you. And invite the next person to do the same.
Father God, we are thank You for the happiness that Jesus brings into our life. May we share it with our friends so that they might also know the happiness that Jesus brings. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Prayer Page –
And now – call out a name, a place, a people, a situation, you are lifting to the Lord in prayer …. “Have mercy on us, O Lord.” [Lord’s Prayer] Amen.
Offering (4449 N Nevada St, Spokane, 99207 ; or click HERE, or text 833-976-1333, code “Lidgerwood”)
Expedition Song – I Have Decided to Follow Jesus! …. sung by Dick & Micki (our suggestion is no congregational singing, but if you’re wearing your masks appropriately, who would know who is singing?).
Next Sunday, like we did today – please RSVP to us if you plan to attend so we can properly set up – and please CALL IN or email or text – so we can share with you what the plans will be – whether we will be allowed to continue to meet or not.
We close with this benediction: Friends –
may we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ,
becoming more faithful with each passing day of struggle and victory,
with each encounter with the Holy Spirit,
giving glory to God today and forever!
Resources:
https://sermons4kids.com/tell your friends about Jesus.htm
Rogness, Michael; https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/second-sunday-after-epiphany-2/commentary-on-john-143-51-3
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