1 SAMUEL 3:1-10

PSALM 63:1-8

1 CORINTHIANS 6:116-20

JOHN 1:43-51

Sermon – 1/19/03

“Come and See”

“Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth’ Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’”

Nathanael was prejudiced. Not only that, he was prejudiced in a semi-well-informed way: the hick town of Nazareth had no credentials at all as the potential home of a prophet, never mind the Savior of the world – why, Nazareth is never mentioned even once in the entire Hebrew Scriptures.

So Nathanael was skeptical and derisive in response to Philip’s enthusiasm: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael thought he knew all about how God operates. That God’s anointed one would not come from such a place. A little presumptuous as well as prejudiced.

For God has always chosen whoever God wants. The Israelites themselves did not become the Chosen People because they were numerous, powerful or learned: they became the Chosen People of God only because God chose them. And if Nathanael had really reflected on the Old Testament, he would have known that God sometimes chooses the very old (like Abraham) or the very young (like Samuel, who at the time of his calling as described in our first reading this morning was probably about 12). God sometimes chooses as leaders a fugitive (like Moses) or a family’s youngest son, who was thought to be insignificant (like David). God sometimes chooses women (like Miriam, Deborah or Ruth) to play major roles. And, God even chooses foreigners to be instruments of God’s Will (like the widow with whom Elijah sojourned or Naaman, the Syrian general Elisha healed).

So, a careful student of the Hebrew Scriptures would learn, not only is it not right to be prejudiced and presumptuous, it really doesn’t work – because you’re likely to miss the next wonderful thing God will do.

Nathanael, to his credit, put aside his prejudice when Philip responded simply, “Come and see.” And when Nathanael met Jesus, Nathanael discarded his own prejudice and presumption entirely and declared his belief in Jesus as the Son of God. To which Jesus responded, in essence, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

Philip persisted in inviting his friend to Jesus despite his friend’s prejudice. And Jesus, let’s remember, was willing to meet someone who was prejudiced against him in an effort to convert him! We are all works in progress, as Jesus knows better than anyone.

The lesson about prejudice applies in other contexts as well. When I was called to come to St. Barnabas 18 years ago, I left a position as assistant minister at a church in my home state of Massachusetts and turned down an offer of a rectorship at another church in Massachusetts. Some of my friends and acquaintances there said, “You’re going to New Jersey?? Why?”

Anyone else ever get a reaction like that to “New Jersey” from other people? Well, there are people who are prejudiced against New Jersey. And there were people I met in New Jersey who were wondering why I’d moved 250 miles to come to...St. Barnabas, which was not considered a prestigious call at the time, you could say. The best response to both attitudes was and is, “Come and see.”

And if anyone wonders why St. Barnabas has more than tripled in attendance during the last 18 years while the number of Episcopalians in New Jersey as a whole has dropped, a lot has to do with the extent to which all of us remember that everyone has unlimited spiritual potential and anyone can be called by God to play a role in God’s plans. Young/old, male/female, newcomer/old-timer, gay/straight, any race or ethnic group: anyone. So therefore, welcome everyone. Invite everyone to “Come and see” Jesus. God really is an “equal opportunity employer” who picks the darnedest people.

We are players on God’s team – and “scouts” as well, if you like. God is the owner of the team, and the owner sets the philosophy and attitude of the organization.

Let me give you an example of how ownership philosophy can have a negative impact. As many of you know, I am a life-long Boston Red Sox fan. There’s a lot to be proud of in the 100 year history of the most exciting “almost champion” team in sports, but there are parts of its history that are shameful, notably the fact that the Red Sox were the last team in Major League Baseball to integrate.

Here’s an example of the results of the racism that permeated the Red Sox organization in the 1940’s and ‘50’s. A Negro League team, the Birmingham (Alabama) Black Barons rented a stadium from the local Red Sox affiliate, as noted in Jules Tygiel’s book Jackie Robinson and His Legacy, so the Sox had an opportunity to know close-up the talent that was there. According to one account, the Red Sox sent a scout to check out a certain promising young player in 1950, but the game was rained out. The scout refused to spend another night in Birmingham just to scout a black man, although I doubt he used that term. The Scout left, and the Sox never followed up.

According to that account, that’s how the Red Sox lost the chance to sign...Willie Mays.

Teams with an attitude like that don’t win the World Series. Churches with an attitude like that...die. And should. A few hundred yards down Sand Hill Road towards Rte. 27 from us is a small brick church building. When I came to St. Barnabas, it was owned by Twin County Baptist Church. Their last pastor told me that he was fired by the church...for bringing in too many new members. Who were, Ahem, different from the existing members. Not the same socio-economic group. Shortly afterwards, the church closed, and the grass around it was a foot high, until it was sold to...Glory Korean Presbyterian Church. That church eventually moved to Edison and sold it to a Pentecostal church pastored by Señor Ozzie Gonzalez. The people who didn’t like “different people” are just a memory.

The exciting thing is, we’re all “different” – it depends on the perspective of the one doing the talking. And the variety of people found here is only a small fraction of the variety just among Christians – heck, just among Anglicans – in this world, although we do come from five continents and from down the street. Being the family of God includes with it the excitement of wondering what wonderful member of God’s family each of us might meet next! Or, you could say, every Sunday is like Christmas, with the next person we meet or get to know better as perhaps a surprise present from God to each of us.

To get back to the baseball analogy, imagine that you’re both a player and a scout on a team, and that every Sunday is open try-outs. One Sunday, we might get a really young country boy come to town literally with a cardboard suitcase and a dream. If we were a team which was prejudiced against people from Oklahoma, then we wouldn’t get to have...Mickey Mantle on the team.

Or, to switch sports, supposed we’re a basketball team, and a 21 year-old geography major from the University of North Carolina walks on the court and asks if he can play on our team. Wears Number 23. And if we’re open to newcomers on our team, we say “Sure, Michael Jordan, you can play on our team.”

My point is that the next “Michael Jordan” for this church could walk in the front door any day, and we have no idea what that person will look like. So, if we continue to live out the belief that every person has unlimited spiritual potential and that God calls all sorts and conditions of people to shine in God’s service, we will continue to build a great team, to the glory of God and the well being of all whom God has made. For every person is more precious to God than the most gifted athlete at the peak of his or her career to that athlete’s team.

Let us conclude by saying together our church’s “purpose statement” from the top left of the service leaflet. “The purpose of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church is to bring people together in Jesus Christ, to know Him personally, and to strengthen the love of God and man...”

(The Rev.) Francis A. Hubbard

St. Barnabas Episcopal Church