Homily for 9 March 2014: 1st Sunday of Great Lent

Homily for 9 March 2014:  1^st Sunday of Great Lent

(Hebrews 11:24-26, 32-40)

(John 1:43-51)

 

On the first Sunday in Great Lent we always read the story of Jesus’ recruiting Philip as a disciple and Philip’s recruiting Nathaniel.  Both Philip and Nathaniel profess their belief that Jesus is the Messiah promised by the prophets.  And Jesus promises that they will see much greater things because they believe in Him.

If we think that Great Lent is all about following the rules of fasting, or for “giving up” something, we might think that this Gospel story doesn’t fit our idea of Great Lent very well.

But in fact it reminds us that the fasting and sacrificing aren’t the real point of Great Lent.  They are just disciplines to help us reach the real goal of Great Lent—answering a call to belief that leads to discipleship.

We see this in Philip.  On the day after Jesus calls His first disciples, Andrew and Peter, James and John, Jesus finds Philip and says to him, “Follow Me.”  Philip believes in Jesus and follows Him.  Then he tells his friend Nathaniel, “We have found the One—the Savior—that Moses and the prophets wrote about.  He’s Jesus, Joseph’s son, from Nazareth.”  We see that Philip answers the call, believes, and becomes a disciple, sharing his faith and calling other to believe and follow.

Nathaniel doesn’t believe right away.  When he hears that Jesus comes from Nazareth, he gets suspicious.  “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” he asks.  Apparently Nazareth had a reputation as a difficult town even 2000 years ago.

But Philip doesn’t get sidetracked by this question.  He doesn’t want to talk about Nazareth or its reputation or its people or its problems.  He wants his friend to get to know the Messiah.  So he just says, “Come and see.”

“Come and see” just might be the most important thing any of us can say to anybody about Jesus.

“Come and see” are the words of true disciples of Christ.

People who need to get to know Jesus don’t need theological lectures or Bible quizzes or arguments about liturgy in Latin or Greek, Arabic or English.  They don’t need to know what town we’re from.

They do need to encounter Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the King of Israel, the Savior of the world.  They need to meet the One that Moses and the prophets wrote about, the One who can take away their sins and give them eternal life.

And they can encounter Him, they can get to know Him, right here in our church, if we will just focus on what’s really important and say to them, “Come and see.”

Then we have an additional responsibility as disciples of Jesus.  We have to make sure that when people “come and see” they will find Jesus in the people here—people of faith who welcome new-comers, people of faith who live the Christian teachings of love and mercy and justice, people of faith who see the image of God in every human face.

If we say “Come and see” and make sure that what people come and see is a real Christian community, Jesus will do the rest.  He will recognize them as He recognized Nathaniel.  He will say, “I know you.  Let me tell you about God’s great plans and promises.”

If we have strong faith, and follow Jesus in faith, and invite people to “come and see,” our Lent will be meaningful and successful.  We will be prepared to see the angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man, the ladder between earth and heaven.  And we can truly give thanks and praise and glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and ever and unto ages of ages.  Amen.