John 1:43-51

The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, ‘Follow me.’

Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote- Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ 

“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip.

When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” 

Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Let us pray,

May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of all of our hearts; be pleasing and acceptable to you, our rock and our redeemer…

Sharing the story of Jesus with other people. In the church we call this evangelism. Evangelism has almost become a scary word for Christians. I think this is because we have confused telling other people about Jesus. With proving that Jesus exists. Which, number one, is impossible to do. We can only point to the reality of Jesus at work in our lives. And, number two, misses the whole point of Jesus. It’s up to Jesus to prove that he exists. It’s up to us to help others see the reality of Jesus at work in their lives. 

Our Scripture passage for today tells the story of how two men, Philip and Nathanial, came to follow Jesus. Their story provides a model for how we might tell others about Jesus. Philip was one of Jesus’ disciples. Having encountered Jesus, he wants to help others encounter him too. When he sees his friend Nathanial, he tells him that he has found the one that Moses and the prophets wrote about- Jesus of Nazareth. 

Nathanial is skeptical. Nazareth! He exclaims. Can anything good come from there?! See Nazareth was a village of 200-400 people. Nothing special ever came out of Nazareth. Nathanial concludes that Philip must be mistaken. Why would God choose to come from the lowly and the despised?

What Philip does next is interesting. He doesn’t try to prove to Nathanial that Jesus really did come from Nazareth. He doesn’t try to convince him that Nazareth is actually a wonderful place for the Messiah to come from. He doesn’t recite Jesus’ genealogy to prove that Joseph is from the house of David, so of course he would be born in Nazareth. He simply tells Nathanial to come and see. 

Nathanial takes Philip up on his offer. He goes and sees Jesus. Jesus recognizes Nathanial and speaks a word of encouragement to him. Immediately, Nathanial realizes that Jesus is the real deal, the Son of God, the king of Israel. 

See the thing about Jesus is that people meet him, and they are changed. Jesus meets people where they are and reveals the glory of God to them. Then people go and tell others about Jesus. Jesus does most of the work of evangelism for us. We bring people to Jesus. Jesus transforms them into disciples. 

Philip’s invitation to come and see is not just an invitation to the early disciples, but an invitation to everyone. Come and see is the best possible invitation to introduce others to Jesus. Because the Christian faith is passed from person to person.

Let me give you a few examples of how this works:

I experience God’s presence in worship. I invite my neighbors to come and see.

I go to Bible Study and learn about Jesus. I invite my friend to come and see.

I experience Jesus’ presence while distributing care packages to local hospitals. I invite my knitting club to come to the hospital and see.

What started as an individual encounter with Jesus grows into a familial encounter, a communal encounter, and before we know it, a global encounter.

I think the other reason modern Christians are scared of evangelism is because we’re scared of rejection. We’re scared that we’re going to tell someone about Jesus and they’re going to reject him. Or worse they are going to reject us because of our relationship with him.

Trust me when I say that I understand this fear. But the good news of our Scripture passage for today is that it’s not up to us to convince others to follow Jesus. Only Jesus can do that. It is our responsibility to point others to Jesus. To create opportunities where everyone can experience the power and presence of God. Whether that experience happens in worship, in Bible Study, or in a hospital room. Our job is to help people to come and see Jesus for themselves.

The other good news of this passage is that when we invite others to come and see, they usually take us up on it. Nathanial didn’t tell Philip- I don’t believe that you have found the Son of God, and you’re an idiot for believing that. He said, Nazareth, that’s a weird place for the Son of God to come from. Perhaps I better go see who this person is, and what all this fuss is about. Philip asked Nathanial to come and see Jesus. Nathanial said yes. Jesus took care of the rest.

I get asked a lot, Pastor, how do we bring more people to Jesus? Usually what people mean by this question is how can we bring more young people to Jesus. And not just any young people. But young people who are going to regularly attend worship, give money to the church, and serve on committees.

I think if our end goal is to increase church membership, then our immediate goal should be creating opportunities for people outside of our church to come and see Jesus. A good place to start creating these opportunities is by building relationships with people outside of our church.

Evangelism starts by meeting new people. By learning who they are and what they’re passionate about. It grows by nurturing these new relationships. I’m really grateful for the opportunity to meet new people online during this pandemic. In places like Virtual Lunch with the Pastor. Or Zoom Bible Study. Or Interfaith Prayer Vigils. Because there is not much else going on. People are open to attending and sharing online during this strange season of life. I’m excited by the ways the church is using these tools to build relationships.

I know I said earlier that the scandal of Christmas is that God would choose to come from the lowly and the despised. But far more scandalous to me is that God would entrust the stewardship of this holy mystery to ordinary people. Who must pass it on from person to person. We are all responsible for the continuation of the Christian faith. We are all responsible for inviting our friends, families, and neighbors to come and see Jesus.

Evangelism, then, is a necessary, essential, fundamental part of our discipleship. It’s not just something we delegate to those of us who are “good at it.” For those of us who get anxiety about meeting new people, we can invite well known acquaintances to come and see Jesus. It’s not just something we delegate to the pastor and the lay leaders of the church. We are all responsible for the continuation of our faith.

Friends, I know that evangelism is scary. But we can take comfort in the fact that we are not alone. As our Scripture passage for today reminds us, the Holy Spirit is present for us in a special way when we are pointing others to Jesus. 

Don’t believe me? Come and see.

Thanks be to God! 

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.