"I saw you first" Sermon for 14 January 2018
“I saw you first”
Sermon for Sunday 14 January 2018
2nd Sunday after Epiphany
The Rev. Carrie Ballenger Smith
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
I will
begin this sermon today with a story about my favorite nativity scene.
Listen,
I know Christmas is over. I know we have moved well beyond the nativity story
in the church calendar, and that most of you, who are sensible, have taken down
the tree and the lights many days ago.
But
the truth is, it is 100% Christmas in my house still to this day. This is
mostly because I have been living and breathing the details of the new Bishop’s
consecration for the last few weeks, so there’s been no time at all to “de-Christmas”
the house. It’s also because I love Christmas, and for the past few years that
I’ve lived here, I’ve happily used the excuse that in Jerusalem, Christmas
lasts until the Armenians celebrate on January 19!
In
any case, I want to tell you that my favorite nativity was made by the Catholic
sisters at Beit Gimal. It features the usual characters: Mary, Joseph, and the
baby Jesus. But in this one, Mother Mary is lying down, her arm outstretched,
and the infant Jesus is lying next to her, as if nursing. Joseph is sitting
behind them, looking on tenderly. I love this particular image so much, because
it depicts Jesus as a real baby and Mary as a real mom. These could be church
members. This could be me and my own infant son. For me, this portrays the
essence of incarnation—God made flesh—and I love it. The truth is, I would
probably be a Christian even if the only part of the story I ever heard was the
chapter that takes place in Bethlehem. I would be a Christian even if all the
Good News I ever heard is that God the Creator was born of a human mother and
laid in a manger, that he took on our human frailties and was found in human
skin. Christmas is enough of a miracle to ignite the mystery of faith in me!
A few
years ago, I posted a photo of this lovely nativity set on my Facebook page,
and was shocked to see that among the positive comments was one from an online
friend (who happened to be Palestinian. He said: “This is horrible! What is our
world coming to! We should not see Jesus like this.”
Let
me tell you, was so confused. What did he mean, we shouldn’t see Jesus like
this? Jesus was a baby! He had a mother! You don’t think he ever needed to eat?!
This
incident so disturbed me that I mentioned it to my Palestinian bishop. But I
was only about halfway through my impassioned story when he nodded his head and
agreed, “That’s right, we really don’t need to see Jesus and his mother that
way.”
Well,
this shut me up for a bit. But not long ago (during the actual Christmas
season), I showed off this nativity scene for a third time, in the presence of
another (hopefully more sympathetic) Palestinian friend. And again, much to my
surprise, she admitted “Yeah, I don’t really feel comfortable with seeing Jesus
in that way.”
This
time, I thought to ask the question: So, what does your Jesus look like?
And
she said: “Well, a bit more glorious. A bit more “You may think you’re the
king, but I’m victorious.”
Where
my breastfeeding baby Jesus reflects and sanctifies a sense of my own frail
humanity, her King Jesus reigns over the mess of the occupation, and of this
world, and never breaks a sweat. Her Palestinian Jesus is less “Babies R Us”
and more “Badasses R Us.”
In
the end, we both know and love the same Jesus—but it seems we saw him on
different days! Amen!
Dear
friends, I know that you’ve heard, and have been taught, that there is just one
Savior, one who looks like whatever the dominant culture is where you are from,
and who possesses the same political positions as your leaders, and who eerily
resembles the mega-church pastor in your community.
But
I’m here to tell you that Jesus is the Living God. Jesus of Nazareth, born of
Mary in Bethlehem, defies our limits. Jesus challenges our assumptions and
shatters our prejudices. He is the baby at Mary’s breast and the suffering one on the cross and the one who, through the power of love, has triumphed over sin,
death, and occupation. Jesus Christ is the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and
the Omega; he is the one the world has been waiting for, and always exactly who
we need to see! Amen!
Which
brings me to today’s Gospel reading, in which Philip tells Nathanael that he’s
found “him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son
of Joseph from Nazareth.” When Nathanael asks, “Can anything good come out of
Nazareth?” Philip answers, “Come and See!”
Philip
invited Nathanael to come and see Jesus for himself, even though Nathanael
thought he knew something about this “Jesus” already.
Here’s
what Nathanael thought he knew:
The
Messiah is the good guy the whole world has been waiting for.
And
nothing good ever comes out of a “shithole” town like Nazareth.
But
Philip said: “Come and see! Come and meet this guy. Really.”
Scripture
tells us that when Nathanael did meet Jesus, Jesus said to him right away, ““Here
is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”
Nathanael
asked him, “Where did you get to know me?”
And
Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
I
saw you, and I knew you, before you ever saw me, said Jesus.
And
Nathanael responded: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of
Israel!”
Now,
we don’t know much about Nathanael, but Nathanael’s instant emotional response to
being “known” and seen feels so familiar to me. Nathanael sounds like me. He
sounds like one of my kids He sounds like a third-culture kid, a global nomad. Maybe
he was like some of our kids, who don’t have any friends who have known him
forever.
I don’t
know if this is true about Nathanael, but it seems clear that being seen, and
being known, was exactly what Nathanael needed in order to believe. It was
exactly what his heart required in order to follow.
Dear
sisters and brothers, in this season after Epiphany, we will hear many stories
of Jesus and his love being manifested in the world. We’ll hear of his ministry
and his teaching, of healings and meals with sinners and outcasts. This is the
season when we, along with the disciples, get to see and to know Jesus before
he makes the journey to Jerusalem and the cross.
But
this morning, it seems important for us to hear that first, he has seen us.
First, he knows us. Jesus has said to each of us, with arms outstretched:
I
saw you when you were behind the wall and losing hope.
I
saw you when the patriarchy was grinding you down.
I
saw you when you were fleeing your home country.
I
saw you when you were gaining strength to leave that bad relationship.
I
saw you when you relapsed, and when you denied the truth about yourself, and
even when you hurt the ones you love the most.
I
saw you in your joys and in your sorrows, on your worst days and your best.
I
saw you before you were invited to follow!
I
saw you before you were born.
And
I love you!
For
as it is written:
“Lord,
you have searched me out; O Lord, you have known me.
You
know my sitting down and my rising up; you discern my thoughts from afar.”
(Psalm 139)
And
again: “But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ
died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
Dear
friends, the one who says “follow me” has seen us, has known us, and has loved
us, since the beginning, and loves us to the end. Therefore, we may follow
boldly, and in confidence, the One who knows us best.
Let
us pray:
God, you know us
better than we know ourselves.
You know our
thoughts,
our weaknesses,
our motivations,
our sins.
And you love us
still.
Forgive us when we
don’t believe such love is true or possible;
When we wonder how
You could love us just as we are,
when we forget our
intricate construction,
fearfully,
wonderfully made,
in Your image!
Remove from our minds
every thought which keeps us from you.
Break down the walls,
push aside the pride,
and help us to trust
anew.
You know our hearts.
And you love us
still.
Therefore strengthen
us to be your disciples,
Loving others as you
have loved us,
To the end.
Amen.
(Prayer slightly adapted
from All Things New, written by Rev. Susan
A. Blain and Rev. Scott Ressman. Posted on the United Church ofChrist website.)
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