Sermon Notes for January 15th
January 15, 2006
“An Israelite in whom there is no Deceit”
John 1:43-51
1. Since I preach my sermons mostly by following the lectionary, which is a series of biblical passages which are assigned over a three year period and are called year A – B and C … and I should say that this year we are now in series B … which focuses on the Gospel of Mark … as we did last Sunday … but today, for some reason, today we are reading from the Gospel of John.
The idea of having a lectionary is rather new to Protestants. It grew out of a decision at the Second Vatican Council in Rome in the 1960s which called for lectionary revision. It proclaimed that:
The treasures of the Bible are to be opened up more lavishly, so that richer fare may be provided for the faithful at the table of God’s Word. In this way a more representative portion of the Holy Scriptures will be read to the people over a set cycle of years.
Well, it took Protestants until 1983 to come up with a Common Lectionary … and then a Revised Common lectionary … which is the one I use … there is also an Episcopal and Lutheran lectionary (which are similar) and, of course, the Roman Catholics have theirs.
2. The idea, as was mentioned, is that by following the lectionary over a period of years, most, if not all, the important passages of the Bible will be read in church. Some churches read three or more every Sunday: Old Testament, Psalms, Epistle, and Gospel. In the interest of saving time, we usually have only one scripture reading each Sunday … which is the one on which the sermon is based. Although, I often will introduce other scriptural readings into the sermon – as I will do this morning.
So, since there are four different readings for each Sunday and there are three different cycles … and, assuming I choose a different passage each time … it would be theoretically possible, assuming you never missed a Sunday for twelve years in a row, to actually hear every major passage in the Bible read and explained! But, if you missed a Sunday or two, you have to wait for another three years to catch up. However, if you are a regular Bible reader, you can find the assigned texts for each Sunday are in our newsletter every month and if you read all of them you can go through the entire lectionary in just three years.
Or, if that isn’t quite your cup of tea … I suggest you consider picking up the Upper Room Devotional which is in the Narthex. It has a scripture reading for every day of the week and a little thoughtful commentary. And, we also have the year long Upper Room Disciplines available in the church office for $ 10.00.
3. Now when I came to the assigned passage for this morning, I did not particularly remember preaching on this text. So, I went back to my computer files and looked at my sermons for 2003 … but I didn’t find anything …hhmmmm … so then I looked in my appointment calendar I discovered that Brian Manly preached on the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany in 2003. Well, that explains that. By the way, Brian has just informed me that he is applying to go to seminary. That is pretty exciting news, don’t you think?
Well, how about going back further, I thought, since I am now in my seventh year here … So, I looked up the year 2000 – Another earlier year B – and there it was … on the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany … the text and the sermon were also about John 1: 43-51 – the story we just read about Jesus and Philip and Nathaniel.
Probably no one here even remembers it – what a shame!
Well, I didn’t exactly remember it either … until I read over again … and then it all came back to me … and what I said on that occasion was that a lot of what Jesus was all about …demonstrated the ultimate importance of communication … one to one communication…person to person…for I said that no amount of argument…or fancy promotion…works nearly as well as having a positive relationship with someone else…first.
We see this all over again in today’s scripture reading from John …for as we read it is Philip who goes and finds Nathaniel…and tells him about Jesus…and when Nathaniel questions him by asking “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”… Philip doesn’t argue with Nathaniel … but, instead, says “come and see…” and when Nathaniel meets him -- Jesus immediately sees that Nathaniel has faith…and they connect on many levels …And finally Jesus says… “do you believe just because of what I told you?…I tell you, you will see much greater things than this….!”
4. Now, it was back in the 1960’s, that the media guru Marshall McLuhan said the famous words -- “the Medium is the Message”…. And this is terrible important for all of us to understand … for in many ways the medium is the message - especially for people who are communicators …like teachers …and it is from this understanding that we all must realize that Jesus was the Medium and the Message all in One…because it was who Jesus really was that allowed Nathaniel, in turn, to be who he was…and from that genuinely deep relationship…the message of Jesus came into reality in Nathaniel’s life … and Nathaniel became a disciple of Jesus. This was also why Jesus was often called Rabbi – which means teacher.
And so, we must realize, especially in teaching, that it is not just the words we say and preach which are important ...but also it is the medium…of who we and what we do that makes the difference…in whether there is anything to be really communicated…and whether or not the message is received and understand and ultimately believed.
5. So, let’s go back to the lectionary for today. The way it is set up in the Revised Common Lectionary allows for the story about Nathaniel to be linked with another very interesting story … in the Hebrew Bible about Samuel … which I will read to you now:
1The boy Samuel was serving GOD under Eli's direction. This was at a time when the revelation of GOD was rarely heard or seen. 2One night Eli was sound asleep (his eyesight was very bad--he could hardly see). 3It was well before dawn; the sanctuary lamp was still burning. Samuel was still in bed in the Temple of GOD, where the Chest of God rested.
4Then GOD called out, "Samuel, Samuel!"
Samuel answered, "Yes? I'm here." 5Then he ran to Eli saying, "I heard you call. Here I am."
Eli said, "I didn't call you. Go back to bed." And so he did.
6GOD called again, "Samuel, Samuel!"
Samuel got up and went to Eli, "I heard you call. Here I am."
Again Eli said, "Son, I didn't call you. Go back to bed." 7(This all happened before Samuel knew GOD for himself. It was before the revelation of GOD had been given to him personally.)
8GOD called again, "Samuel!"-the third time! Yet again Samuel got up and went to Eli, "Yes? I heard you call me. Here I am."
That's when it dawned on Eli that GOD was calling the boy. 9So Eli directed Samuel, "Go back and lie down. If the voice calls again, say, "Speak, GOD. I'm your servant, ready to listen.'" Samuel returned to his bed.
10Then GOD came and stood before him exactly as before, calling out, "Samuel! Samuel!"
Samuel answered, "Speak. I'm your servant, ready to listen."
11GOD said to Samuel, "Listen carefully. I'm getting ready to do something in Israel that is going to shake everyone up and get their attention. 12The time has come for me to bring down on Eli's family everything I warned him of, every last word of it. 13I'm letting him know that the time's up. I'm bringing judgment on his family for good. He knew what was going on, that his sons were desecrating God's name and God's place, and he did nothing to stop them. 14This is my sentence on the family of Eli: The evil of Eli's family can never be wiped out by sacrifice or offering."
15Samuel stayed in bed until morning, then rose early and went about his duties, opening the doors of the sanctuary, but he dreaded having to tell the vision to Eli.
16But then Eli summoned Samuel: "Samuel, my son!"
Samuel came running: "Yes? What can I do for you?"
17"What did he say? Tell it to me, all of it. Don't suppress or soften one word, as God is your judge! I want it all, word for word as he said it to you."
18So Samuel told him, word for word. He held back nothing.
Eli said, "He is GOD. Let him do whatever he thinks best."
19Samuel grew up. GOD was with him, and Samuel's prophetic record was flawless. 20Everyone in Israel, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, recognized that Samuel was the real thing--a true prophet of GOD.
6. Pretty good story, don’t you think? In fact, I am currently reading a very fascinating book by a modern Jewish Biblical scholar and expert in ancient languages at Harvard and the University of Israel. He raises the very interesting question of how it was that back in the earliest part of the Bible people actually believed that God could just show up -- either in person or in the person of an angel -- as in the story of Moses and the burning bush or in the one about Jacob wrestling with an angel.
Well, I haven’t quite finished the book so I will have to wait to share with you the complete idea until later in February. Perhaps it will be right before Lent when we will encounter once again the account of the Transfiguration.
But, for the moment, let me share with you another Biblical story of immediate confusion which was also followed by recognition of the presence of God. It comes from the book of Judges and concerns Gideon:
11 The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior."
13 "But sir," Gideon replied, "if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian."
14 The LORD turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?"
15 "But Lord , [a] " Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."
16 The LORD answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together."
17 Gideon replied, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you." And the LORD said, "I will wait until you return."
19 Gideon went in, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah [b] of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.
20 The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And Gideon did so. 21 With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the LORD touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the LORD disappeared. 22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he exclaimed, "Ah, Sovereign LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!"
23 But the LORD said to him, "Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die."
Notice, in the end, it is no longer the angel who talks to Gideon, but God himself … which occurs only when Gideon finally realizes what is going on and is actually ready to listen. The Bible often refers to this kind of event in terms like “his eyes were opened” or “his ears were opened. Just as in the words from the opening hymn we sang this morning - “Open My Eyes That I May See.” Have there ever been times in your life when this happened? When suddenly your ears were opened and you really understood something in a totally new way? (Incidentally, I should also point out that the place in the story named Ophrah is not where Oprah Winfrey got her name. Her name was supposed to have been "Orpah," after a biblical figure in the book of Ruth. But it was misspelled somehow.)
7. Well, the point of all this seems to be … that if God were to actually appear … or even to just speak to any one of us … our first reaction would probably be something like … “What? Who? Or… Who, me?” Isn’t that right?
So, also, then, is Nathaniel’s response in the Gospel lesson for today when his friend Philip first tells him about Jesus.
“Huh? Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ he responds.
But, as I said, Philip wisely doesn’t try to overcome his objections … but instead says … “Come and see.” Good idea. Have you ever had to do something like that yourself? “Let’s stop arguing,” you say. “What you need to do is just come and see for yourself and make up your own mind.”
Now, Jesus, it seems, has already had his eye on Nathaniel, for he says … “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit …” or, in some versions, it says “in whom there is no guile.”
Well, Nathaniel is still not convinced, and says: “Where did you get to know me?”
Jesus responds … “I saw you under the fig tree.”
Now, Nathaniel is even more convinced … and, according to John, he outright proclaims that Rabbi Jesus is no less than the Son of God. If that seems a bit much, this is the way John writes. The other Gospels show the disciples as being a little more confused at times.
Finally, Jesus says … in return … “Do you believe, just because I saw you under the fig tree? You will see much greater things ….”
8. And that is pretty much all we know about Nathaniel. He appears from time to time with the other twelve disciples. But he does not say or do anything significant which John cares to comment about. In fact, he is not even called Nathaniel in the other Gospels where is name is actually Bartholomew
The name (Bartholomaios) means "son of Talmai" (or Tholmai) which was an ancient Hebrew name. (The word Bar in front of a name means “son of”) This shows, at least, that Bartholomew was of Hebrew descent.
This confusion is not too hard to believe because there is evidence to the effect that the Gospel of John was probably written by someone who was unacquainted with the other Gospels (which also explains a number of other dissimilarities in John compared to Mathew, Mark, and Luke).
9. Have you ever been called -- if not by God – at least by some other person? Have you ever met someone who challenged you to be somebody or other, or to be something, or to do something with your life? Have you ever met someone you admired? Someone who inspired you? Someone you looked up to? A friend, a teacher, an uncle or aunt, perhaps?
What was it about them -- some ability or skill or talent? Or was it their manner, their insights, or their wisdom? What was it?
Was/or is there someone right now without whom you would not be the person you are today?
Who was it?
How did you meet that person? Was it instantaneous … did you know right away or did it take a while? Were you skeptical at first? Were you uncertain? Were you confused, at first, about what this person meant to you?
Looking back on it all … how do you think God was at work through this person to change your life?
10. The first person to spiritually impact my life … as I have noted before … was my great aunt … a school teacher for over 50 years and a kind of nanny to me … when I was young. Although, at the time I had no awareness of her influence … she was just there. I had no idea! It was only later … much later, even after she had died, that I understood how important she was to my becoming a minister. She never really let on what she was up to … and I still marvel at it today. That is how good a teacher she was. And, of course, she, no doubt, had a lot of experience.
One day, after I had gone into the seminary … and I was still in a state of some confusion about why I was actually going there … and what it all was going to mean for my life … I went to see my great aunt … (she happened to be in the hospital at the time) … and I announced to her with some amazement …”Ella, I am going to become a minister.” And all she said was, “Well, well, we’ve never had a minister in our family before.” That’s all she said! That’s all she needed to say, really. Because, I suppose, she knew all along! I am still impressed to this day at her remarkable spirituality … which allowed her to be a rather unassuming and humble person and yet gave her a sense of profound insight into other people. To quote, McLuhan, it wasn’t so much just what she said – but it was who SHE WAS that made all the difference.
11. The second person … to inspire me … appeared exactly three months after I arrived as a freshman at the University of Minnesota. But, again, I didn’t know it at the time. He was a Lutheran pastor and being away from home, I had decided to check out some of the different churches on campus.
I wasn’t sure what I was looking for … but he so intrigued me that I kept coming back again and again until finally, after four years … I got up the courage to actually go and talk to him … after that we became lifelong friends. He was a teacher, a friend, and a mentor.
Who was it in your life? Why do you think it happened? What was your situation in life at the time that caused you to be influenced, inspired, or challenged by this person?
12. The Episcopalian spiritual writers John Sanford and Alan Jones identify three stages in the process of entering and growing in the religious life. The first stage is called the “crisis of meaning.” This especially affects young people but can occur at any point in life … even for people who, for the most part, have had little to do with the church or even people like Gideon who have had little religious faith.
In fact, the Bible is full of stories where God just shows Up and calls out some of most unlikely people … Gideon, for instance, who God calls upon to be a mighty warrior … is such a pathetic fellow and so afraid of the Midianites that he is busy hiding his spare grains of wheat inside a winepress!
So, never rule out the possibility that God has something in store for you … which may come in the most unexpected way. It could just happen all of a sudden or it may take many years – you just can’t predict how God will work in spiritual matters!
13. One thing is often clear, however, according to Jones and Sanford. And that is that often a crisis of meaning creates in us a sense of seeking. And it is often in the midst of uncertainty, doubt, and trouble, that we are forced to become seekers. In these kinds of situations our sense of reality can be disturbed by personal events like an illness, a career change, service in the military, a death in the family, a divorce, or just going away to college in a strange and different environment.
But, you might ask, in the midst of difficulty, how do we just go out and find the wise friend or teacher that we need? That, in all truth, is sometimes a great mystery. But it often can and will happen. For there is an old Chinese proverb says … “When the student is ready, the teacher appears.”
But, a word of caution is in order, here. For the only danger in all of this is that people, in the midst of their need, sometimes fall into the hands of false and manipulative teachers and preachers and in the midst of their vulnerability they can led astray. There is no end to that kind of stuff going on these days, I can assure you.
In fact, Jesus, himself, warned of this continuously in the Gospels. And Paul also struggled with false prophets and so-called apostles and frequently wrote about it in his letters to the churches in Asia Minor.
14. So, was Nathaniel a seeker … was he acquainted with the Hebrew Scriptures … and why was he sitting under a fig tree? Well, we don’t know for sure, but some scholars suggest that the writer of John may be referring to the common Hebrew practice of sitting and meditating under the shade of the fig tree -- which was likely what Nathaniel was doing when Jesus first saw him. If that was true -- then Nathaniel also may have been, like all Jews at that time, meditating on the promises of God such as are found in the prophet Micah who said:
2 Many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
3 He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
4 And Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken.
Along these lines, perhaps, too, Nathaniel was also hoping for the day of the Lord to come …as was prophesied by Zechariah:
10 " 'In that day each of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and fig tree,' declares the LORD Almighty."
And …since, as Jesus put it, “there was no deceit in his heart,” which allowed him to see clearly that Jesus was no ordinary man but, in fact, a spiritual and physical manifestation of the presence of God …Nathaniel was ready to follow Jesus and become one of his disciples right then and there.
So, I ask you, what fig tree are you sitting under these days?
Or, like the young Samuel, have you been hearing any voices in the night?
Or, like Gideon, could it be under an Oak tree that the angel of the Lord will suddenly come and tap you on the shoulder?
Whatever it is, dramatic or not, I believe we are all called by God in some way or other … and nothing expresses this better than a little song in our black paperback hymnal … it is on page 2172 … let all stand and sing it now …
“An Israelite in whom there is no Deceit”
John 1:43-51
1. Since I preach my sermons mostly by following the lectionary, which is a series of biblical passages which are assigned over a three year period and are called year A – B and C … and I should say that this year we are now in series B … which focuses on the Gospel of Mark … as we did last Sunday … but today, for some reason, today we are reading from the Gospel of John.
The idea of having a lectionary is rather new to Protestants. It grew out of a decision at the Second Vatican Council in Rome in the 1960s which called for lectionary revision. It proclaimed that:
The treasures of the Bible are to be opened up more lavishly, so that richer fare may be provided for the faithful at the table of God’s Word. In this way a more representative portion of the Holy Scriptures will be read to the people over a set cycle of years.
Well, it took Protestants until 1983 to come up with a Common Lectionary … and then a Revised Common lectionary … which is the one I use … there is also an Episcopal and Lutheran lectionary (which are similar) and, of course, the Roman Catholics have theirs.
2. The idea, as was mentioned, is that by following the lectionary over a period of years, most, if not all, the important passages of the Bible will be read in church. Some churches read three or more every Sunday: Old Testament, Psalms, Epistle, and Gospel. In the interest of saving time, we usually have only one scripture reading each Sunday … which is the one on which the sermon is based. Although, I often will introduce other scriptural readings into the sermon – as I will do this morning.
So, since there are four different readings for each Sunday and there are three different cycles … and, assuming I choose a different passage each time … it would be theoretically possible, assuming you never missed a Sunday for twelve years in a row, to actually hear every major passage in the Bible read and explained! But, if you missed a Sunday or two, you have to wait for another three years to catch up. However, if you are a regular Bible reader, you can find the assigned texts for each Sunday are in our newsletter every month and if you read all of them you can go through the entire lectionary in just three years.
Or, if that isn’t quite your cup of tea … I suggest you consider picking up the Upper Room Devotional which is in the Narthex. It has a scripture reading for every day of the week and a little thoughtful commentary. And, we also have the year long Upper Room Disciplines available in the church office for $ 10.00.
3. Now when I came to the assigned passage for this morning, I did not particularly remember preaching on this text. So, I went back to my computer files and looked at my sermons for 2003 … but I didn’t find anything …hhmmmm … so then I looked in my appointment calendar I discovered that Brian Manly preached on the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany in 2003. Well, that explains that. By the way, Brian has just informed me that he is applying to go to seminary. That is pretty exciting news, don’t you think?
Well, how about going back further, I thought, since I am now in my seventh year here … So, I looked up the year 2000 – Another earlier year B – and there it was … on the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany … the text and the sermon were also about John 1: 43-51 – the story we just read about Jesus and Philip and Nathaniel.
Probably no one here even remembers it – what a shame!
Well, I didn’t exactly remember it either … until I read over again … and then it all came back to me … and what I said on that occasion was that a lot of what Jesus was all about …demonstrated the ultimate importance of communication … one to one communication…person to person…for I said that no amount of argument…or fancy promotion…works nearly as well as having a positive relationship with someone else…first.
We see this all over again in today’s scripture reading from John …for as we read it is Philip who goes and finds Nathaniel…and tells him about Jesus…and when Nathaniel questions him by asking “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”… Philip doesn’t argue with Nathaniel … but, instead, says “come and see…” and when Nathaniel meets him -- Jesus immediately sees that Nathaniel has faith…and they connect on many levels …And finally Jesus says… “do you believe just because of what I told you?…I tell you, you will see much greater things than this….!”
4. Now, it was back in the 1960’s, that the media guru Marshall McLuhan said the famous words -- “the Medium is the Message”…. And this is terrible important for all of us to understand … for in many ways the medium is the message - especially for people who are communicators …like teachers …and it is from this understanding that we all must realize that Jesus was the Medium and the Message all in One…because it was who Jesus really was that allowed Nathaniel, in turn, to be who he was…and from that genuinely deep relationship…the message of Jesus came into reality in Nathaniel’s life … and Nathaniel became a disciple of Jesus. This was also why Jesus was often called Rabbi – which means teacher.
And so, we must realize, especially in teaching, that it is not just the words we say and preach which are important ...but also it is the medium…of who we and what we do that makes the difference…in whether there is anything to be really communicated…and whether or not the message is received and understand and ultimately believed.
5. So, let’s go back to the lectionary for today. The way it is set up in the Revised Common Lectionary allows for the story about Nathaniel to be linked with another very interesting story … in the Hebrew Bible about Samuel … which I will read to you now:
1The boy Samuel was serving GOD under Eli's direction. This was at a time when the revelation of GOD was rarely heard or seen. 2One night Eli was sound asleep (his eyesight was very bad--he could hardly see). 3It was well before dawn; the sanctuary lamp was still burning. Samuel was still in bed in the Temple of GOD, where the Chest of God rested.
4Then GOD called out, "Samuel, Samuel!"
Samuel answered, "Yes? I'm here." 5Then he ran to Eli saying, "I heard you call. Here I am."
Eli said, "I didn't call you. Go back to bed." And so he did.
6GOD called again, "Samuel, Samuel!"
Samuel got up and went to Eli, "I heard you call. Here I am."
Again Eli said, "Son, I didn't call you. Go back to bed." 7(This all happened before Samuel knew GOD for himself. It was before the revelation of GOD had been given to him personally.)
8GOD called again, "Samuel!"-the third time! Yet again Samuel got up and went to Eli, "Yes? I heard you call me. Here I am."
That's when it dawned on Eli that GOD was calling the boy. 9So Eli directed Samuel, "Go back and lie down. If the voice calls again, say, "Speak, GOD. I'm your servant, ready to listen.'" Samuel returned to his bed.
10Then GOD came and stood before him exactly as before, calling out, "Samuel! Samuel!"
Samuel answered, "Speak. I'm your servant, ready to listen."
11GOD said to Samuel, "Listen carefully. I'm getting ready to do something in Israel that is going to shake everyone up and get their attention. 12The time has come for me to bring down on Eli's family everything I warned him of, every last word of it. 13I'm letting him know that the time's up. I'm bringing judgment on his family for good. He knew what was going on, that his sons were desecrating God's name and God's place, and he did nothing to stop them. 14This is my sentence on the family of Eli: The evil of Eli's family can never be wiped out by sacrifice or offering."
15Samuel stayed in bed until morning, then rose early and went about his duties, opening the doors of the sanctuary, but he dreaded having to tell the vision to Eli.
16But then Eli summoned Samuel: "Samuel, my son!"
Samuel came running: "Yes? What can I do for you?"
17"What did he say? Tell it to me, all of it. Don't suppress or soften one word, as God is your judge! I want it all, word for word as he said it to you."
18So Samuel told him, word for word. He held back nothing.
Eli said, "He is GOD. Let him do whatever he thinks best."
19Samuel grew up. GOD was with him, and Samuel's prophetic record was flawless. 20Everyone in Israel, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, recognized that Samuel was the real thing--a true prophet of GOD.
6. Pretty good story, don’t you think? In fact, I am currently reading a very fascinating book by a modern Jewish Biblical scholar and expert in ancient languages at Harvard and the University of Israel. He raises the very interesting question of how it was that back in the earliest part of the Bible people actually believed that God could just show up -- either in person or in the person of an angel -- as in the story of Moses and the burning bush or in the one about Jacob wrestling with an angel.
Well, I haven’t quite finished the book so I will have to wait to share with you the complete idea until later in February. Perhaps it will be right before Lent when we will encounter once again the account of the Transfiguration.
But, for the moment, let me share with you another Biblical story of immediate confusion which was also followed by recognition of the presence of God. It comes from the book of Judges and concerns Gideon:
11 The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior."
13 "But sir," Gideon replied, "if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian."
14 The LORD turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?"
15 "But Lord , [a] " Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."
16 The LORD answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together."
17 Gideon replied, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you." And the LORD said, "I will wait until you return."
19 Gideon went in, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah [b] of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.
20 The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And Gideon did so. 21 With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the LORD touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the LORD disappeared. 22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he exclaimed, "Ah, Sovereign LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!"
23 But the LORD said to him, "Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die."
Notice, in the end, it is no longer the angel who talks to Gideon, but God himself … which occurs only when Gideon finally realizes what is going on and is actually ready to listen. The Bible often refers to this kind of event in terms like “his eyes were opened” or “his ears were opened. Just as in the words from the opening hymn we sang this morning - “Open My Eyes That I May See.” Have there ever been times in your life when this happened? When suddenly your ears were opened and you really understood something in a totally new way? (Incidentally, I should also point out that the place in the story named Ophrah is not where Oprah Winfrey got her name. Her name was supposed to have been "Orpah," after a biblical figure in the book of Ruth. But it was misspelled somehow.)
7. Well, the point of all this seems to be … that if God were to actually appear … or even to just speak to any one of us … our first reaction would probably be something like … “What? Who? Or… Who, me?” Isn’t that right?
So, also, then, is Nathaniel’s response in the Gospel lesson for today when his friend Philip first tells him about Jesus.
“Huh? Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ he responds.
But, as I said, Philip wisely doesn’t try to overcome his objections … but instead says … “Come and see.” Good idea. Have you ever had to do something like that yourself? “Let’s stop arguing,” you say. “What you need to do is just come and see for yourself and make up your own mind.”
Now, Jesus, it seems, has already had his eye on Nathaniel, for he says … “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit …” or, in some versions, it says “in whom there is no guile.”
Well, Nathaniel is still not convinced, and says: “Where did you get to know me?”
Jesus responds … “I saw you under the fig tree.”
Now, Nathaniel is even more convinced … and, according to John, he outright proclaims that Rabbi Jesus is no less than the Son of God. If that seems a bit much, this is the way John writes. The other Gospels show the disciples as being a little more confused at times.
Finally, Jesus says … in return … “Do you believe, just because I saw you under the fig tree? You will see much greater things ….”
8. And that is pretty much all we know about Nathaniel. He appears from time to time with the other twelve disciples. But he does not say or do anything significant which John cares to comment about. In fact, he is not even called Nathaniel in the other Gospels where is name is actually Bartholomew
The name (Bartholomaios) means "son of Talmai" (or Tholmai) which was an ancient Hebrew name. (The word Bar in front of a name means “son of”) This shows, at least, that Bartholomew was of Hebrew descent.
This confusion is not too hard to believe because there is evidence to the effect that the Gospel of John was probably written by someone who was unacquainted with the other Gospels (which also explains a number of other dissimilarities in John compared to Mathew, Mark, and Luke).
9. Have you ever been called -- if not by God – at least by some other person? Have you ever met someone who challenged you to be somebody or other, or to be something, or to do something with your life? Have you ever met someone you admired? Someone who inspired you? Someone you looked up to? A friend, a teacher, an uncle or aunt, perhaps?
What was it about them -- some ability or skill or talent? Or was it their manner, their insights, or their wisdom? What was it?
Was/or is there someone right now without whom you would not be the person you are today?
Who was it?
How did you meet that person? Was it instantaneous … did you know right away or did it take a while? Were you skeptical at first? Were you uncertain? Were you confused, at first, about what this person meant to you?
Looking back on it all … how do you think God was at work through this person to change your life?
10. The first person to spiritually impact my life … as I have noted before … was my great aunt … a school teacher for over 50 years and a kind of nanny to me … when I was young. Although, at the time I had no awareness of her influence … she was just there. I had no idea! It was only later … much later, even after she had died, that I understood how important she was to my becoming a minister. She never really let on what she was up to … and I still marvel at it today. That is how good a teacher she was. And, of course, she, no doubt, had a lot of experience.
One day, after I had gone into the seminary … and I was still in a state of some confusion about why I was actually going there … and what it all was going to mean for my life … I went to see my great aunt … (she happened to be in the hospital at the time) … and I announced to her with some amazement …”Ella, I am going to become a minister.” And all she said was, “Well, well, we’ve never had a minister in our family before.” That’s all she said! That’s all she needed to say, really. Because, I suppose, she knew all along! I am still impressed to this day at her remarkable spirituality … which allowed her to be a rather unassuming and humble person and yet gave her a sense of profound insight into other people. To quote, McLuhan, it wasn’t so much just what she said – but it was who SHE WAS that made all the difference.
11. The second person … to inspire me … appeared exactly three months after I arrived as a freshman at the University of Minnesota. But, again, I didn’t know it at the time. He was a Lutheran pastor and being away from home, I had decided to check out some of the different churches on campus.
I wasn’t sure what I was looking for … but he so intrigued me that I kept coming back again and again until finally, after four years … I got up the courage to actually go and talk to him … after that we became lifelong friends. He was a teacher, a friend, and a mentor.
Who was it in your life? Why do you think it happened? What was your situation in life at the time that caused you to be influenced, inspired, or challenged by this person?
12. The Episcopalian spiritual writers John Sanford and Alan Jones identify three stages in the process of entering and growing in the religious life. The first stage is called the “crisis of meaning.” This especially affects young people but can occur at any point in life … even for people who, for the most part, have had little to do with the church or even people like Gideon who have had little religious faith.
In fact, the Bible is full of stories where God just shows Up and calls out some of most unlikely people … Gideon, for instance, who God calls upon to be a mighty warrior … is such a pathetic fellow and so afraid of the Midianites that he is busy hiding his spare grains of wheat inside a winepress!
So, never rule out the possibility that God has something in store for you … which may come in the most unexpected way. It could just happen all of a sudden or it may take many years – you just can’t predict how God will work in spiritual matters!
13. One thing is often clear, however, according to Jones and Sanford. And that is that often a crisis of meaning creates in us a sense of seeking. And it is often in the midst of uncertainty, doubt, and trouble, that we are forced to become seekers. In these kinds of situations our sense of reality can be disturbed by personal events like an illness, a career change, service in the military, a death in the family, a divorce, or just going away to college in a strange and different environment.
But, you might ask, in the midst of difficulty, how do we just go out and find the wise friend or teacher that we need? That, in all truth, is sometimes a great mystery. But it often can and will happen. For there is an old Chinese proverb says … “When the student is ready, the teacher appears.”
But, a word of caution is in order, here. For the only danger in all of this is that people, in the midst of their need, sometimes fall into the hands of false and manipulative teachers and preachers and in the midst of their vulnerability they can led astray. There is no end to that kind of stuff going on these days, I can assure you.
In fact, Jesus, himself, warned of this continuously in the Gospels. And Paul also struggled with false prophets and so-called apostles and frequently wrote about it in his letters to the churches in Asia Minor.
14. So, was Nathaniel a seeker … was he acquainted with the Hebrew Scriptures … and why was he sitting under a fig tree? Well, we don’t know for sure, but some scholars suggest that the writer of John may be referring to the common Hebrew practice of sitting and meditating under the shade of the fig tree -- which was likely what Nathaniel was doing when Jesus first saw him. If that was true -- then Nathaniel also may have been, like all Jews at that time, meditating on the promises of God such as are found in the prophet Micah who said:
2 Many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
3 He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
4 And Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken.
Along these lines, perhaps, too, Nathaniel was also hoping for the day of the Lord to come …as was prophesied by Zechariah:
10 " 'In that day each of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and fig tree,' declares the LORD Almighty."
And …since, as Jesus put it, “there was no deceit in his heart,” which allowed him to see clearly that Jesus was no ordinary man but, in fact, a spiritual and physical manifestation of the presence of God …Nathaniel was ready to follow Jesus and become one of his disciples right then and there.
So, I ask you, what fig tree are you sitting under these days?
Or, like the young Samuel, have you been hearing any voices in the night?
Or, like Gideon, could it be under an Oak tree that the angel of the Lord will suddenly come and tap you on the shoulder?
Whatever it is, dramatic or not, I believe we are all called by God in some way or other … and nothing expresses this better than a little song in our black paperback hymnal … it is on page 2172 … let all stand and sing it now …
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