Lectionary Reflections
by Various Authors

Sermon Starter
Something Good Can Come from Nazareth
 
John 1:43-51

I like the story of the young woman who wanted to go to college, 
but her heart sank when she read the question on the application blank that asked, 
"Are you a leader?" Being both honest and conscientious, she wrote, "No," 
and returned the application, expecting the worst. To her surprise, 
she received this letter from the college: "Dear Applicant: A study of the application forms 
reveals that this year our college will have 1,452 new leaders. We are accepting you 
because we feel it is imperative that they have at least one follower."

In our text for this morning, Phillip comes to Nathanael and proclaims that he has found 
the one whom Moses wrote about. He is Jesus of Nazareth. While we do not know 
what expression Nathanael had on his face when he responded, I think that it is safe to say 
that his response revealed a cynical sneer. "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" 
Answered Phillip: "Come and see."

You see, the church has the same problem. The church is full of those sure of themselves. 
We may even get to the point where we believe very little that we are told. 
We sit back under the fig tree with the sneer of a Nathanael and we ask, 
"Can anything good come from [Name your Church], Can anything good come from our Youth Group; 
can anything good come from [name a program of the church]." People come in and out 
the doors of this church with a critical eye. Skepticism is not a modern virtue. 
Doubting Thomases have been around since the dawn of time. By nature we don't want to be led. 
We want to lead. But, in the church, it is imperative that we have followers. 
In fact it is imperative for all of us to be followers.

Nathanael learned this. He was skeptical at first but he was transformed. 
He became a follower because Phillip invited him.

Let me ask you: What was it that Phillip saw in Christ that moved him to follow, 
that stirred him so to invite his friend Nathanael. Come and see what? 
What did Phillip see in Jesus of Nazareth? I want to attempt to answer that question 
this morning. Come and see what?

 Come and see souls redeemed.
 Come and see lives transformed.
 Come and see the heavens opened.




He comes to us as One unknown,
      without a name,
as of old, by the lakeside, He came to those men
      who knew Him not.
He speaks to us the same word:
      "Follow thou me!"
and sets us to the tasks which He has to fulfill
      for our time.
He commands, and to those who obey Him,
      (whether they be wise or simple)
      He will reveal Himself
in the toil, the conflicts, the sufferings
      which they shall pass through in His fellowship,
And as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn
      in their own experience
      Who He is.

(by Albert Schweitzer from The Quest for the Historical Jesus)



I recently saw the new film version of C.S. Lewis' "The Lion, the Witch and
the Wardrobe".  As many of you will know it is the story of 4 children who
find their way by accident into a magical world - Narnia - which is in
constant winter because of the spell of a wicked witch. 

Upon arrival they discover that the people of Narnia have been awaiting
them. An ancient prophecy has foretold that four human children would come
as Kings and Queens to free the world from its oppression. 

A good deal of the story is about the struggle of the children to accept
their calling. They're just children, after all. How can they lead a battle
against the forces of evil? The older brother, Peter, struggles with his
call to leadership because he feels he has been thoughtless and too
demanding of his younger brother, Edmund. Edmund, in turn, is ashamed by his
act of betrayal against his siblings. 

Through this journey of self doubt, they come to believe in themselves
through the help of Aslan, the great, mystical lion, whose nobility and
strength inspires not only loyalty, but courage. The children take up their
calling. Peter leads the forces of good into battle and the land is saved.
The children achieve their destiny as Kings and Queens of Narnia.

Those in the know realise that Aslan is a Christ figure - and if you haven't
read the book or seen the movie, I won't spoil any more of the plot for you. 
except to say that although he has the power to overcome evil himself,
Aslan chooses to work through the children. He puts his faith in them. He
believes in them. And through that trust, they come to believe in
themselves.



Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Servant of Christ

This weekend is the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday. I think, therefore, 
it is appropriate to look at his life in this regard. In the Union Tribune there was an article about him, 
which included an interview with Vincent Harding, a professor at the Iliff School of Theology 
in Denver, a Methodist seminary.

Harding said that King's detractors like to point out that he was a human being, that he had faults, 
human foibles. He was certainly not a saint, Harding points out. He made mistakes in judgment. 
He put his marriage to the test. He also suffered from human frailties, like anxiety and depression.

But Christianity proclaims a God who came to us as we are, accepted us as we are, forgave us 
and gave us new life, and thus revealed that we do not have to be righteous in order to be loved by God. 
We don't have to have a pure life in order to follow Jesus. We just have to be faithful.

He comes to us as he came to his disciples, and says to us, "Follow me." To "follow me" means, 
identifying with the poor and the oppressed, loving the sinner, and living sacrificially for others in this world, 
taking up your cross. That is the sole qualification for everybody to be his disciple - that you will take up your cross.

Martin Luther King understood that, I think, probably better than anybody else in our time. Like all historical figures, 
he will be interpreted from different perspectives. But the way he would want to be interpreted 
is that he was a "servant of Christ."

(by Mark Trotter from Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com)



A Fig Tree Retreat

A fig tree is about fifteen feet tall and its branches spread out about 25 feet in width like an umbrella, 
creating a space that is almost like a private room. If someone wanted to get away from the chaos 
of a one-room house, he or she would sit under the fig tree. They would sit there to read scripture 
or to reflect or to pray. Sitting under a fig tree was a sign of seeking and praying for God's living presence. 
Now, I realize that this church looks nothing like a fig tree. But isn't that why we're here? 
We have come together here with the yearning to know the touch of the living God. We come to "retreat" 
from the chaos of the world around us so we can read scripture, reflect, and pray. I hope you will see that, 
despite his relative anonymity, we do have much in common with Nathaniel.

(by Paul E. Flesner from Sermons for Sundays in Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, CSS Publishing Company)



Ordinary and Humble Princes

Most everybody has a soft spot in their hearts for fairy tales. There is just something about a fairy tale's 
reversal of expectations that intrigues us. There is something delicious about finding out 
that the frog is really a handsome prince, that the ugly duckling is the one that grows into the most resplendent 
of all swans. We enjoy it when the moment of truth comes for the characters in a story as they discover 
that the scruffy-looking character they never quite trusted is actually the true king of the realm. 
In the classic The Wizard of Oz we get a double treat at the end of the story: first, the great and powerful Oz 
turns out to be nothing but the man behind the curtain, a puller of levers and switches 
who looks like a humbug of a charlatan. But then, almost before the dust of that reversal of expectation settles, 
we get jolted yet again: as it turns out, the humble man behind the curtain is a pretty good wizard after all. 

Fairy tales are stories of transformation, and that's what happened to these simple people we call the disciples. 
If you took the disciples and brought them all together into one room, you would never in your wildest imagination 
guess by looking at them that this weak-looking pack of ordinary folks could change the world. But they did. 
The disciples changed the world because it was to them that the secret of the universe was first revealed. 

The disciples needed to be common, ordinary, and above all humble if they were going to do Jesus any good 
and so change the world. But as it turned out, each one of them was the frog who was really a prince! 

(by Scott Hoezee)



Anyone You Recognize?

Fred Everybody, Thomas Somebody, Peter Anybody, and Joe Nobody were neighbors, 
but not the type that most would want to know. They were odd people, troublesome, and difficult to understand. 
The way they lived their lives was a shame. These men all went to the same church, 
but most would not have wanted them as parishioners. Everybody went fishing on Sundays or stayed home 
and spoke with his friends. Anybody wanted to worship, but he was afraid that Somebody would speak with him. 
Thus, guess who went to church - that's right, Nobody. Actually, Nobody was the only decent one of the lot. 
Nobody did the parish census; Nobody joined the parish council. One day there was a call in the bulletin 
for people to apply for a position as a teacher in the religious education program. Everybody thought 
Anybody would apply; Anybody thought Somebody would apply. So, guess who applied? You are right - 
Nobody! My friends, let's not be an everybody, somebody, or anybody. Rather, let us truly strive to be a nobody. 
In such a way we empty ourselves so we can be filled with the amazing power of Christ, 
who died to set us free and, thus, will always be our brother, friend, and Lord.

(by Richard Gribble, CSC from Sermons on the Gospel Readings: Sermons for Sundays in Advent, 
Christmas, and Epiphany, New Beginnings in Christ, CSS Publishing Company)



Evangelical Attitude

One day St. Francis of Assisi, invited a young monk to join him on a trip into town to preach. 
The young monk was so honored to get such an invitation from St. Francis that he quickly accepted. 
All day long he and St. Francis walked through the streets and byways, alleys and suburbs, 
and they rubbed shoulders with hundreds of people. 

At the end of the day, the two headed back home, however, not even once had St. Francis addressed a crowd, 
nor had he talked to anyone about the gospel. The young monk was greatly disappointed, 
and he said to St. Francis, "I thought we were going into town to preach?" St. Francis responded, 
"My son, we have preached. We were preaching while we were walking. 
We were seen by many and our behavior was closely watched. It is of no use to walk anywhere 
to preach unless we preach everywhere as we walk!" 

It's no secret that we, the church, have forgotten what it means to preach the gospel, 
what it means to bring to others the good news, what it means to evangelize. The word evangelism 
has become a dirty word in some churches, and if it isn't outright dismissed altogether, 
then it is relegated as a task for only those who have been ordained, or for those who are the professional speakers, 
who make a living giving their testimonials and asking for altar calls, or for those who are missionaries overseas. 

(Author Unknown)



Prayer Changes Things

I remember a story about a woman who brought home a plaque that said, "Prayer changes things." 
She put it in her kitchen, above her sink. Her husband came home, and said, "Take that down, please." 
She said, "Why? Don't you believe in prayer?" He said, "Yes, but I don't believe in change."

That is the problem with big, establishment-type institutions. But recently there has been, in fact, 
a rush to change, almost a panic on the part of some churches. There have been some changes around here, too. 
I hope that you have noticed that. There will be more. But change should be determined by what our mission is. 
Mission is what ought to drive the change. We should not do things because other churches do them, 
not even if they are successful in other churches. Change should come only to enhance our mission.

(by Mark Trotter from Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com)



Come and See: You Just Have to Be There

A few years ago a church located in a large city decided to turn its gymnasium into a night shelter for homeless people. 
Every winter there were reports that some of these people, condemned to sleep out in the open, had frozen to death, 
and so the church made the warmth and safety of its building available without charge. Each evening during the winter, 
volunteers from the church would spend the night in the shelter, providing food, clothing, and lodging 
for as many of the homeless as the building would hold. Almost without exception, the volunteers reported 
that the experience of spending the night with these people from the streets had been far more than an act of dutiful charity. 
The volunteers had found their own faith strengthened, their own reliance upon the grace of Christ reinforced by the experience.

Several months after the shelter was opened, one of the pastors of the church was being interviewed on a radio talk program. 
The interviewer was an opinionated fundamentalist whose biases were quite strong. It became clear during the interview 
that he felt that the church ought to stick to the business of preaching the old-time gospel and stay away 
from meddlesome activities like shelters for homeless people. "Now just tell me," he jeered at one point, 
"where is Jesus in all this?" For a moment the pastor considered silently how to respond, then said calmly, 
"You just have to be there."

"Come and see," said Philip to Nathaniel, and some people do not see because they will not come to those places 
where one can get an angle of vision, where one can see the grace of Christ at work in the world.

(by Thomas G. Long from Shepherds and Bathrobes, CSS Publishing Co.)



A Weapon of Love

Martin Luther King, Jr., whose birthday we celebrate this week, spoke with some frequency 
during his years of ministry of putting on the "weapon of love." Responding to those 
who resisted the emerging civil rights movement, King asserted, "We will counter your force 
with soul force, we will match your ability to hate with our ability to love." 
And King reminded us that at the heart of Jesus' life and message is the call to be peacemakers 
and reconcilers. Violence, said King again and again, "never brings permanent peace. 
It solves no social problems; it merely creates new and more complicated ones."

We live in a world thirsty for this gospel of peace. With Martin Luther King, and with Jesus 
before him, we need to announce with integrity, "The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind. 
It is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than on love. It destroys community...
Violence ends by defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers."

(by Joel D. Kline from Come and See)