“Come and See!”
St. John 1:43-51

Day by day, day by day,

Oh, Dear Lord three things I pray:

To see thee more clearly,

Love thee more dearly,

Follow thee more nearly,

Day by day.

You may recognize that from the musical Godspell.  But you may not know that although the music is modern, but the lyrics are ancient – from the 13^th Century.  These words are nearly a direct quote from 13^th Century Bishop Saint Richard of Chichester.  It was the prayer spoken on his death bed:

Thanks be to Thee, my Lord Jesus Christ
For all the benefits Thou hast given me,
For all the pains and insults Thou hast borne for me.
O most merciful Redeemer, friend and brother,
May I know Thee more clearly,
Love Thee more dearly,
Follow Thee more nearly

We are in the Epiphany Season and our prayer this morning is - Oh, dear Lord, may we see Thee more clearly.

Epiphany is the season of light the season of sight – new insight.  This morning’s Gospel reading deals with seeing.  Did you notice the exchange between Phillip and Nathaniel?  Phillip hears the call of Jesus and is so excited that he runs off to Nathaniel. 

It is like Christmas and the opening of presents – remember how excited you were as a child running down in front of the Christmas tree?  You would go and find your sisters and brothers and jump up and down and say, “Come and see!”

Phillip is so excited that he cannot contain himself.  So he runs to best friend and scholar – Nathaniel.  We don’t know much about Nathaniel – in fact his name only appears in the Gospel of John. 

Knowing how John uses metaphor word play, we can begin to understand what the message is. Nathaniel’s name means ‘gift of God.’  Scholars speculate that he is the Bartholomew of the 3 other Gospels.

So Jesus – the Word made flesh – ‘the God with us’ encounters the ‘gift of God’ and the two have an exchange.

Phillip tells Nathaniel that he has found ‘him whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote.’  Now had Phillip stopped there, his invitation would have been more convincing, but, no, he has to go on and say, ‘Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth.’ 

Nathaniel is a scholar of the Torah – a person of integrity and wisdom.  How do we know that?  The image of ‘sitting under the fig tree’ is often used as a metaphor for a wisdom figure who is contemplating or reading.

So this Torah scholar scoffs and even laughs:  “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”  Nazareth is a backwater hick town and no true prophet would come from there.  It might be like saying, “Can anything good come out of Cleveland?”

Phillip does not give up and is not put off by his comment but instead responds:  “Come and see!”

Phillip does not try to convince Nathaniel that he is right or argue ‘Torah’ with him, but rather invites Nathaniel into an epiphany:  ‘come and gain insight, come and see.’

See Thee more clearly – day by day!

“Come and see!” these are the very words of Jesus from a few verses back:

When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, "What are you looking for?" They said to him, "Rabbi" (which translated means Teacher), "where are you staying?" He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon.  St. John 1:38-39

 Phillip uses the exact words that Jesus used to call him:  “Come and see.”

Nathaniel accepts the invitation to “Come and see.”  He comes with skepticism but Jesus greets him:

“Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”

Who sees who first?  Jesus saw Nathaniel coming and sees Nathaniel first and speaks deeply to this Torah scholar. 

Nathaniel wonders how Jesus could see through him and even into his heart!  Nathaniel is almost in a state of shock and wonders aloud how Jesus knew this.  To which Jesus responds: “I saw you under the fig tree.”

And then Jesus goes on to say that if you believe simply because of this incident – you ain’t seen nothing yet.  The sky is going to open and just like your forebear, Jacob, you will see the ladder come down from heaven and angels ascending and descending.

Jesus here refers to that early incident in the life of Jacob when he had fled his father’s house and was on his way to his uncle Laban’s he has a dream and sees the heavens open and angels ascending and descending.  And he declares:  “Surely God is in this place and I did not know it!”  And that place is given a name by Jacob – Bethel, meaning ‘house of God.’

Jesus sees Nathaniel and names him and then Nathaniel begins to see Jesus.

See Thee more clearly – day by day!

Isn’t that what happens to us.  God sees us first.  The Psalmist observes:

 O LORD, you have searched me and known me.

You know when I sit down and when I rise up; 

you discern my thoughts from far away.

You search out my path and my lying down, 

and are acquainted with all my ways.  Psalm 139:1-3

God sees us and knows us and accepts and love us.  That is how our relationship with God begins.  In Holy Baptism God claims us with water and the word of promise:  “You are mine!”

But it doesn’t end there in some static never changing relationship.  No, God then invites us to “Come and see!”

 See thee more clearly – day by day!

 How do we see Christ more clearly – day by day?

 We see Christ more clearly by following him. 

Discipleship – following ‘thee more nearly.’  Discipleship involves learning, growing, changing.  Whether we are 8 or 80 we are to never stop growing in our faith.  Through Bible study, through worship, through Faith Talk, through Diakonia Classes we learn and grow and we begin to see Christ more clearly.

Through the faith practices of prayer and meditation we may become more open to the Holy Spirit entering our hearts.

Discipleship has to do with seeing Christ more clearly.  That is a day to day experience as we awaken each morning to God’s promises and begin each day crossing ourselves saying:  “I begin this day in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.”  And then asking God that we might see God more clearly, love God more dearly, follow Christ more nearly day by day.

Discipleship does not consist of a set of moral codes to measure how good we are and whether we deserve God’s favor.  No!  Discipleship emerges out of the waters of Holy Baptism where God claims us and gives us the power of the Holy Spirit to live out a Christ-like life. 

The Church – God’s people – you and I learn to speak about Jesus in the process of giving thanks, singing praise, sharing the Good News, and speaking the truth about God’s justice to power. 

Yes the Church is called to see Christ so clearly that it can’t help but speak out on behalf of those in need as we strive for justice and peace in all the earth.

Walking with Jesus is a costly, joyful relationship.  We begin to see Christ more clearly as we begin to see the face of Jesus in not only our loved ones, but our neighbors, the strangers, the immigrant, the hungry, the needy – all the least of these.

The Christian faith is the never ending story of growing into the very image of Christ as we pray the ancient prayer of Bishop Saint Richard of Chichester: 

Thanks be to Thee, my Lord Jesus Christ
For all the benefits Thou hast given me,
For all the pains and insults Thou hast borne for me.
O most merciful Redeemer, friend and brother,
May I know Thee more clearly,
Love Thee more dearly,
Follow Thee more nearly.  Amen