2 Epiphany Year B 1/14/2024
1 Samuel 3:1-20, Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20; John 1:43-51
Rev. Mark A. Lafler
Our Gospel reading today from John and our Gospel reading next week from Mark are both narratives about Jesus’ calling of the disciples.
They are call stories.
Stories of how the light of the world reached into the hearts and minds of people.
Accounts of the disciples’ start at following Jesus Christ.
In our reading today we have the story of Philip and Nathanael.
Jesus went to the region of Galilee…
Galilee was in the northern part of Israel west of the Sea of Galilee…
It would be the northern part of Israel today, just south of Lebanon.
It was here that Jesus found Philip and said, “Follow me.”
And Philip did just that…
Becoming one of the twelve.
Philip told Nathanael about Jesus…
And when Nathanael and Jesus met, there was a prophetic encounter…
And Nathanael proclaimed that Jesus was the Son of God…
And he declared that Jesus was the Messiah, the anointed one.
Now in our account we have two cities mentioned and I will mention one that is not mentioned.
The bible refers to them as cities, in our world today they would probably be small villages.
They are all in the region of Galilee…
Not that far from each other.
Philip was from Bethsaida.
Bethsaida was a popular place when Jesus ministered in Galilee…
As it shows up a few times in the Gospels.
It was near the Sea of Galilee.
Bethsaida means “house of fishing.”
Nathanael was from Cana.
We find this out in the Gospel of John 21.2.
The word Cana means “place of reeds.”
Cana, as you will recall, is the place of Jesus first recorded miracle…
The water turns to wine at the wedding.
The city was about 8 miles north of Nazareth.
Which is our third city.
Jesus was from Nazareth.
Nazareth means “watchtower” and it was located on a high valley at about 1,200 feet above sea level.
But it was in a basin, which led it to be secluded and isolated from nearby traffic.
It was a bit of frontier town, not considered an important part of national and religious life in Israel and had a reputation for being crude as it was lacking morals and strict religious practice.
This is what probably prompted Nathanael to say:
Can anything good come out of Nazareth?
These cities are not that far from each other…
A triangle if you will…
Perhaps they could be like Mount Dora, Eustis, and Tavares.
Perhaps they were rivals…
Perhaps their high school football teams played each other.
We might say… “Can anything good come out of Eustis?”
And they might say the same about Mount Dora.
We all come from somewhere…
Just like these early disciples that were called by Jesus.
We all come from somewhere.
And we don’t get to choose where we came from.
Our hometowns…
Our families…
Our nationalities.
That is just what we are born into.
They have certain strengths…
Our birth families have certain skills or qualities that we inherently have or perhaps learned.
The places we grew up in shaped us in certain ways…
Giving us certain outlooks in this world.
They all have weaknesses too.
Things we are embarrassed about.
We might not want to mention where we were born…
What town we grew up in…
We might not like to talk about the situation we grew up in.
We wouldn’t want to hear Nathanael say about us:
“Can anything good come from _____”
Where we are from may be important…
Or may only be important for the purpose of government paperwork…
But the more important thing is this:
Where are we heading?
Where are we going?
And who are we following to get there?
Jesus called those early disciples to follow him.
They left their hometowns…
Their places…
Their identities…
And followed Jesus all around Galilee.
To Jerusalem.
And eventually to the ends of the earth.
It wasn’t about where they came from…
It was about where they were going.
God is calling us to another city…
A different place…
A different kingdom…
A heavenly city…
Where there is no more weeping or crying…
Where justice reigns…
Where there is peace…
Where all things are made new.
St. Paul had this vision…
Leaving where he came from…
Following Jesus.
He wrote in his letter to the church in Philippi:
…one thing I do:
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
(Philippians 3.13-14)
So, the question today is:
Who are we following?
There are so many people and things to follow in our world.
And so much out there wants us to follow them.
Today it is as simple as clicking and following people on social media.
The so called “YouTubers” have created an entire industry by people following them on You Tube, Tik Tok, and other social media.
Political pundits and media stars are all trying to build their influence and following… building their personal brand.
Companies strategize to become the next sensation…
Causing a stir to sell their products…
Spending tons of money on marketing so that you will become a loyal follower of the brand name.
We can follow the cultural trends…
The political trends…
The financial trends…
The theological trends…
The social justice trends…
Even church trends…
There is just so many things we can follow…
However, the thing we need to follow the most is not even a thing…
It’s a person.
It’s Jesus…
who is Christ the Lord.
Our world needs people that will continue to follow Jesus Christ…
No matter what the cost is.
Tomorrow our nation will honor and celebrate one of the great leaders that our nation has ever produced – Martin Luther King Jr.
The holiday is more than a day to honor his life and the legacy that he left…
It is a day that we all celebrate our civil liberties.
We celebrate our rights as free people.
A day where we recognize the value of all human beings.
No matter the race, gender, or creed…
We celebrate our civil liberty.
And I am thankful that Martin Luther King Jr. followed his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…
It was his faith and belief in Jesus that drove him to take a stand for the civil liberties of Black folk in the United States.
Dr. King said:
Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
You can’t listen to the words of Dr. King (in his interviews and broadcasts) without hearing a vibrant faith in Jesus Christ.
At Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, in Montgomery, Alabama…
Dr. King preached:
There is still a voice crying out in terms that echo across the generations, saying: Love your enemies,
bless them that curse you,
pray for them that despitefully use you,
that you may be the children of your Father which is in Heaven.
King is one example of many that went against the tide…
Not just for the sake of change…
But because their vibrant faith drove them to follow Jesus…
One could point toward Deitrich Bonhoeffer in Nazi Germany.
Or William Wilberforce and the abolition of Slavery in the United Kingdom.
All of these people come from different places, times, and ethnicities…
But they followed the same Lord.
You see, we all come from different cities,
different families,
different backgrounds…
But God is calling us to be one people…
St. Peter in his first letter wrote:
But you are a chosen people,
a royal priesthood,
a holy nation,
God’s special possession,
that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
(1 Peter 2.9)
We are called to be the people of God.
The children of God.
People living in the light of Christ.
Baptized in one faith…
Drinking from the same sacramental cup.
Today Jesus Christ calls to you:
Follow me!
By faith we follow…
By faith we respond to Jesus…
Who died upon the cross for our sins…
Who rose victorious from the grave…
Who ascended into heaven to intercede for his followers…
Who will come again to set all things right.
Do we answer that call to follow?
Or do we say:
“He doesn’t want me…
I mean look at me…
Look at my family…
We got problems…
Look at where I come from…
Look at what I deal with…
Look at my pain and struggle…
Look at what I’ve done.”
And Jesus…
Full of grace and mercy,
With his eyes looking right straight into you own eyes, says:
I know all that…
And yet he says:
Come…
Follow me…
Bring me that pain…
Bring me that struggle.
He says:
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
(Matthew 11.28-30)
He says to us today…
Come…
Follow me…
Come.
Amen.