Seeing with God

Sermon planned for Sunday, January 15th, 2012

Texts: John 1:43-51; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

It’s another year and there’s so much I have to be thankful for. So I’m going to spend just a minute on that. First of all, I want to thank you, as a congregation, for inviting me to serve you for another three years. It has been a tremendous blessing to serve you these past years. To get to know you better. To walk with you in moments of profound joy – in baptisms, welcoming babies into the community, fellowship meals, communion, youth events, and many good visits. And it’s also been a blessing to walk with you in those holy moments that aren’t happy at all – I remember those loved ones who have died. Thank you for inviting me into your community, into your lives, and for the invitation to join you in this discipleship journey. I’m thankful for the care that Karen and I have received personally, as we’ve learned of our infertility, and that you’ve been an encouragement and a support for us. And thank you for eagerly giving us some time-off for holidays.

The first week of this month was especially restful. Karen’s mom and dad graciously invited us to join the Kruger family in Mexico on vacation. I had never been there before. It is a beautiful place and the people there, that I met, are a happy and friendly people. I learned some more about the Mayan culture and its near extinction. We were able to see not only the beauty of the countryside, but also the wondrous beauty of the ocean and its inhabitants. We stayed in what people call a ‘5-star’ resort – which just means that they feed you well and you’ve got some great cushy beds to sleep on. It was restful, but I’m actually quite glad to be back with you… and I’ll tell you why in just a bit.

The scripture passages that we heard earlier are unrelated, on the surface. In the gospel reading from John, we heard about Jesus’ meeting with Philip and Nathanael. And then, in his letter to the Corinthians, Paul instructs believers to glorify God with their bodies and to avoid sexual promiscuity. On the surface, these passages seem completely unrelated. But I want to suggest that both of them deal with a very important part of the gospel. Both of these passages show us that God views us quite differently than we view ourselves and also how we view others.

First of all, let’s look at the story from the gospel of John. It takes place in the very first chapter of that gospel. Jesus is going around and building up his team of apostles. Jesus found his first two apostles near the place where John the Baptist was baptizing people. The first one he found was Andrew, who then went and told his brother Simon, who was latter named Peter. After this, Jesus went on a journey to Galilee, and that’s where he found Philip. After calling him to follow, Philip ran and told Nathanael. This is the story we heard earlier.

There’s just a few things I want to highlight about this story before we get to the main point. The first thing I want us to notice is that in both of these accounts of Jesus calling disciples, Jesus calls one of them and then that one goes and tells another, and the message spreads. This is an important point for us, in the church. We need to remember that this is how the message spreads. Church growth – discipleship growth – is not primarily about strategies, programs, worship styles, or other gimmicks… it is about disciples going out and telling people that the Messiah has come.

Another interesting side piece, in this passage, is that it includes several titles and names for who Jesus is. As Christians, who worship and serve Jesus, we want to know more about Him. In this passage we get some unique glimpses into who He is. Right off the bat we learn, from Philip, that Jesus is the one that Moses and the prophets spoke about. The earliest Jewish followers of Jesus recognized him as being profoundly connected to Old Testament promise. For them, there was no disconnect between their Hebrew scriptures and the ministry of Jesus. He was the fulfillment of those scriptures. Nathanael also later professes that Jesus is the Son of God, the King of Israel. Among the early Jewish Christians, Jesus was viewed as heir to David’s throne, but also, in a much more important way, Jesus was the one who sat down at the right hand of God, on a heavenly throne.

There’s lots of good stuff in this one short story, and I’d encourage you to take some more time, on your own, to study it in detail. But for now, let’s move on. The key part that I want us to focus on, from this passage, is this conversation between Jesus and Nathanael. After Philip told him about Jesus, Nathanael made a fairly derogatory comment. Philip told him that Jesus was the son of Joseph from the town of Nazareth, and Nathanael’s response was: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Our text doesn’t really tell us if this was a common view about Nazareth. From the surface, it seems that our brother Nathanael was prejudiced to the extreme. Part of me wonders if this was intended to be read as a joke – but either way, it’s a generalization that should bother us.

That said, Nathanael doesn’t let Jesus’ hometown keep him from coming to see Jesus. And as he approaches, Jesus says something absolutely astonishing. He says about Nathanael, “Here is an authentic/true Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” “No deceit”? really? Tell me, have any of you met someone that is completely forthright? Completely transparent and honest? Are any of you completely honest? You never lie? Not even a teensy weensy little one? Here Jesus says that Nathanael is completely true, without any deceit in his character. How can Jesus say this, since we just heard Nathanael speak as a generalizing prejudiced loudmouth? How is it that Jesus gives such a good rap to such a foul-mouthed person?

This is where we get to a key part of the gospel, and it’s a point that Paul gets at later. This passage shows that God views us quite differently than we view ourselves and also how we view others. After Jesus spoke those words about Nathanael, Nathanael asked “where did you get to know me?” Nathanael was just as shocked as we are at Jesus’ description. If someone came up to me and said, “Marco you are a spotless child of God with a pure mind, and full of trust in God”… I would ask similar question: “where did you ever meet me, bro… and are u sure that was me?” Nathanael was floored. How can you give me this kind of review, Jesus? A ‘true Israelite with no deceit’? Where did you get to know me, brother?

You see, Jesus viewed Nathanael way differently than Nathanael viewed himself… and differently than we view him – to us, he seemed like a bigoted prejudicial jerk. What’s his problem with Nazareth anyways? And yet, when Jesus sees the guy… its way different. “Here is a true Israelite in whom there is no deceit”. There’s the saying, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” There’s a theological truth behind this saying – our identity is in the eye of the beholder – our identity is in the eyes of God.

Earlier I told you that I was glad to come back to work after holidays. Well, that’s mostly because I really love my job. But the other part was that it was actually quite sickening to hear some of the comments from tourists, especially Canadian tourists, in Mexico. They were whining about this, about that. They complained that it too cold. They complained that their resort was too far from the beach. I haven’t heard that much whining in the midst of so much beauty in quite some time. It was shocking. After coming home, I went on the internet, to the homepage of the resort we stayed at. I wanted to give it a good review, but got distracted by other people’s reviews. Many of them were negative. It was like they went to a completely different resort.

The rating systems for these resorts are based on a number of things, and ours had been given a 5-star rating. But if you based your assumptions on the online reviews, you would have guessed that we went to a slum. People complained about the food, about the service, about the beach, about the weather. I’m telling you… vacationers can be some of the most whiny people I have ever met – and so I’m glad to be back home. Where the complaints I hear are at least a bit more realistic. The reason I tell you about this is because it illustrates this important point from the gospel of John. For me, my vacation was absolutely fantastic – relaxing, pleasant, the people were sooo friendly, the food was good, and the weather was perfect for my liking. All I could see was a 5-star resort… and yet people right beside me acted as though we were slumming it out in some terrifying place. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

When Jesus looked at Nathanael, we get his description of what he sees – a true Israelite; is that how we describe the people we see around us? Didn’t I just call vacationers all ‘whiners’? How does God see them?

In the passage from Paul to the Corinthians, we hear Paul’s concern about the immorality in the lives of the Corinthians. This is quite understandable – the city of Corinth was a city of filth and immorality. It was a city of lust and unbridled sexual appetite. The Christian community struggled to separate itself from the surrounding culture – much like most Christians even today. Paul’s warning against sexual promiscuity is not all that surprising. But what’s shocking, for me, is the last verse: “for you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body”.

Glorify God with our body? Isn’t it precisely the flesh that is the problem? Why not push our flesh, our body, and its habits, way down and to the side, and let our hearts and our spirits do the glorifying? Why glorify God with our body? Can a sinful fleshly human body even bring glory to God, who is Spirit, completely holy and true?

In both of our passages we hear something astounding. How can Jesus say to Nathanael that there is no deceit in him? How can Paul say that our fleshly human body can bring glory to God? They key part to this puzzle is Jesus Christ. Jesus, the one whom Nathanael calls Rabbi, Son of God, the King of Israel, the one whom Philip says is the fulfillment of Moses and the prophets – this Jesus is the key. In Jesus eyes, Nathanael is a true Israelite. In Jesus’ body, as Paul writes, our own bodies are made to be members of Christ, our body is made to be a temple of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ eyes and in Jesus’ body, you and I are new creations – we are completely different than what we can say about ourselves or think about ourselves.

In Jesus’ eyes, and in his body, the most rotten scoundrel & terrorist becomes a minister of the gospel – just think of the Apostle Paul. In Jesus’ eyes and in his body, the outsiders have been brought into the fold – just think of the Samaritan women at the well and the folks she led to the Lord.

Who are we going to be? Are we going to be like those tourists in Mexico, who see nothing but the negative in their surroundings? When you describe people, are you building them up, focusing on their strengths; or are you tearing them down with words like piercing arrows. Is life not challenging enough that we don’t need to push each other further down? Are you the one who all too easily notices the specks in other people’s eyes? I’m all for talking behind people’s backs – but let us say good things, building each other up with encouragement, exposing people’s strengths and virtues. And I’m not talking about the tricky kind of gossip where you shroud your words with the veneer of concern, but all you’re really doing is thriving on perverse curiosity. If you don’t know how to speak well of one another – read some of Paul’s letters where he mentions the strengths of his coworkers.

Your tongue was not meant for gossip, but for truth and reconciliation! By trash-talking others behind their back, you are using your body for the purpose of sin – you might as well be a Corinthian visiting a prostitute. In baptism, you threw your body into the body of Christ – therefore, glorify God with your body, with your tongue.

When you look around, what do you see? Do you just see a bunch of 3-star people, not meeting your expectations, failing, waffling on their responsibilities? Do you know how much that sounds like Nathanael? “How can anything good come from Nazareth?” When you look around, what do you see? Because what Jesus sees is 5-star children of God that he loves, that he died for, that he’s calling you to minister to.

That’s right! When Jesus looks at you, you know what he says about you? “Now there’s a true child of God in whom there is no deceit!” That’s what he says about you! Believe it, because it’s true! Do you believe the Word that God has spoken about you in Jesus Christ – that you are a dearly loved child of God? Do you believe it?

If you’re anything like me then you’ll also find yourself constantly second guessing this Word. You’ll find yourself believing the lie that Satan wants us to believe – that we’re not good enough, that we’re not measuring up, that we’re failures. Or you’ll start believing a different lie: that it is your responsibility to know how bad others are, and to make sure and talk about how others are failing and missing the mark. The common denominator in both these lies is that they ignore the Word that God has spoken about us in Jesus Christ. When he sees Nathanael, he sees a true Israelite in whom there is no deceit. When he sees a sister in the city of Corinth, he sees a woman who’s called to give glory to God with her body. In Jesus’ eyes and in his body, you and I are children of God, temples of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

May you celebrate this truth, revel in it, and put away from your mouth any form of slander. May your tongues, and the rest of your body, bring glory to God, so that His name be praised in our community and in our world. Amen.