Sermon Transcript: January 15, 2012 - The Second Sunday after the Epiphany - The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin
Readings: I Samuel 3:1-10; Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17; I Corinthians 6:12-20; John 1:43-51
From this morning’s gospel, “Philip said to (Nathaniel), ‘Come and see.’” I speak to you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
You got to hand it to Philip in today’s reading from John’s gospel. Rather than debate the merits of Nazarethor his discernment
that Jesus is the Christ, Philip chooses to invite Nathaniel to “come and see:” to observe and decide for himself. “Come and see:” sure sounds like a great ad campaign for a church, doesn’t it?
So much of life comes down to perception. Often times, our preconceived ideas of what we think should or should not be tempers how we perceive the world. Church history is filled with missed opportunities for mission and growth because God’s people objected to this, that, or the other movement of the Holy Spirit deciding that whatever was happening could not possibly be of God and refusing to even come and see for themselves. And yet, this morning’s scripture lessons tell us that our life in Christ, our life as God’s people, is never static: God is always at work in the world continuously renewing, creating, and doing new things. In so many ways, God is forever inviting all of humankind to, “Come and see.”
I think that one of the difficulties we encounter as Christians is our misperception that being born again or having a conversion experience is an ending. We might think that like Samuel, all we have to say is, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening,” and everything will be just fine; that we will never have to make difficult choices. Or, like the Church at Corinth, all we need to do is “get saved” because we prefer to believe that’s all God requires. But the Christian faith has more to say about beginnings than endings. What began at Calvary with the forgiveness of our sins was only the beginning of God’s new work in us and it will not end until Christ returns. As our reading from John’s gospel tells us, we have much more to see and learn about Christ and our life in Christ.
Readings: I Samuel 3:1-10; Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17; I Corinthians 6:12-20; John 1:43-51
From this morning’s gospel, “Philip said to (Nathaniel), ‘Come and see.’” I speak to you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
You got to hand it to Philip in today’s reading from John’s gospel. Rather than debate the merits of Nazarethor his discernment
that Jesus is the Christ, Philip chooses to invite Nathaniel to “come and see:” to observe and decide for himself. “Come and see:” sure sounds like a great ad campaign for a church, doesn’t it?
So much of life comes down to perception. Often times, our preconceived ideas of what we think should or should not be tempers how we perceive the world. Church history is filled with missed opportunities for mission and growth because God’s people objected to this, that, or the other movement of the Holy Spirit deciding that whatever was happening could not possibly be of God and refusing to even come and see for themselves. And yet, this morning’s scripture lessons tell us that our life in Christ, our life as God’s people, is never static: God is always at work in the world continuously renewing, creating, and doing new things. In so many ways, God is forever inviting all of humankind to, “Come and see.”
I think that one of the difficulties we encounter as Christians is our misperception that being born again or having a conversion experience is an ending. We might think that like Samuel, all we have to say is, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening,” and everything will be just fine; that we will never have to make difficult choices. Or, like the Church at Corinth, all we need to do is “get saved” because we prefer to believe that’s all God requires. But the Christian faith has more to say about beginnings than endings. What began at Calvary with the forgiveness of our sins was only the beginning of God’s new work in us and it will not end until Christ returns. As our reading from John’s gospel tells us, we have much more to see and learn about Christ and our life in Christ.
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