“Greater Things” John 1:43-51

St. John’s – E. Moline 01/15/06

Intro. One of my favorite stories regarding Abraham Lincoln involves two tired Kentucky pioneers with their skinny huntin’ dogs meeting on a road one bleak February morning. "Whut's new out hy'ar neighbuh?" asked the first. The other replied: "Nuthin' at all ... nuthin' at all, 'cept for a new baby boy down to Tom Lincoln's. Nuthin' never happens out hy'ar." The two pioneers were so blinded by their flawed expectations that they failed to understand that something very important was happening, and greater things were yet to come.

In this Epiphany season, and today’s readings, the Lord confronts all of us who have grown blind and cynical. He reminds us that sometimes He reveals himself in the most unexpected places, and the glory of His grace through the most unassuming means. He calls us, as He did those first disciples, and encourages us to follow Him with the promise that in following we will see “Greater Things”.

I. Low Expectation.

A. Like those pioneers of Kentucky, Nathaniel Bartholomew was a man who told it like it was, or at least like he thought it was. When John the Baptist declared Jesus to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world Philip was thrilled when Jesus found him and called him to be His follower. The first thing Philip did was to immediately go and tell his friend Nathaniel. But Nathaniel was not impressed. He bluntly asked, “What good can come from Nazareth?”

This is a legitimate question. Everyone knew that a poor, backwoods village like Nazareth couldn’t produce a prophet, let alone the Messiah. Nathaniel’s preconceptions left him looking for the Messiah in all the wrong places. With such low expectations of Nazareth and the one who was assumed to be a carpenter’s son he failed to grasp the gift of salvation, the life of discipleship, and the promise of great things which are only found in Jesus.

B. There are times when we raise the same question; when we judge things by human standards instead of by the revelation which comes from God. Many fail to grasp the gift of salvation, life of discipleship and promise of great things offered them in Christ, because they don’t know where or how to find God. They look at the seemingly helpless man hanging upon the ugly cross, and say “Oooh! That can’t be it! Nothing good can come from that!” They and perhaps some of you look at the splashing of water with the Word, the eating and drinking of what appears to be only bread and wine, and judge it to be foolishness. Some despise the preaching of God’s Word, and determine that their time can be better spent elsewhere doing other things. They see the obvious sins of the people of this congregation, yes your sins and mine, and ask, “St. John’s – can anything good come from there?”

With flawed preconceptions and low expectations of the Church, its people, proclamation, sacraments, and Savior, many look for God in all the wrong places. They look deep inside themselves; examining their feelings and making subjective judgments. Some turn to the world; to the opinion of the masses or the imaginations of the few. Still others look for some "super religious" experience or spectacular sight and sound. Aimlessly they wander from one thing to another, repeatedly disappointed and disillusioned. Like Nathaniel they are searching for God, but in all the wrong places.

So what do we do if we discover that we have been looking for God in all the wrong places? And what can we say to our friends and family members who like Nathaniel skeptically ask us what good can come out of this place, and from Jesus of Nazareth? It’s simple we invite them to come with us out of the darkness and into the light.

II. Confession And Invitation.

A. When Philip found Nathaniel he confessed, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote...” I want you to notice that this was not a theological dissertation. Philip simply directed His friend to the scriptures of the Old Testament which promised a Savior who would come to bring life and salvation to all people through the forgiveness of sins.

In the same way our confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, our Savior, does not need to be glorious and polished. Look how he called young Samuel to deliver His message in our Old Testament lesson, or consider St. Paul who repeatedly admitted that he had no eloquence of speech. It is enough to remember that you are a member of God’s royal priesthood and to trust that He will give you the words. It is enough if, living in the light of your salvation, you declare the magnificence of the one who called you out of darkness and made you one of His holy, beloved people. It is enough to simply speak the truth in love.

But what if someone were to want to know more? What if they don’t believe you? What if they doubt that anything good can be found in Christ, in His Word, and in His Church? What then should we say?

B. Perhaps the most effective missionary words ever spoken were those offered by Philip to His friend when he offered the simple invitation to Nathaniel: “Come and see!” In other words, “Nathaniel, find out for yourself about this man from Nazareth. Don’t take my word for it. Come and meet him. Whether it is dealing with our own lack luster faith or responding to the skepticism of others there is no better invitation we can offer than, “Come and see!”

Christ validates Himself as God’s Son and your Savior, not by what you or others think, feel, say, or write about Him; not by the persuasive arguments of the mind, logic, and reason; not be rational proofs. None of this verifies to reason’s satisfaction that Jesus of Nazareth is our only hope for heaven. Only our personal encounter with Christ Himself in the preached or written Word, in the life-giving waters, and in His body and blood in the sacrament will do that. It’s not what we think, but what Christ does that reveals who He is. Remember how he answered John the Baptist when he asked if Jesus was truly the One. Jesus answered: “Tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.” (Matt. 11:4-5)

Jesus is what he claims to be because He lived, died, and rose again in the flesh to separate us from our sins and reconcile us to God, and when by the working of the Holy Spirit we are personally and fervently convinced of this, then we will truly know God. Then we, with Nathaniel, will understand what it is to possess the gift of salvation, to live a life of discipleship, and we will see great things.

C. How many lost persons do you believe you could find for Christ this year? If you don’t think there are any, because you don't know what to say to them or because of a dozen other reasons, then look again at Philip and Nathanael. When Nathanael shot back his slur against Nazareth and anyone who might come from there, Philip gave him the invitation of a lifetime. Philip was no great speaker. He offered no convincing arguments. He didn't even fully understand the Gospel yet himself! He just said, "Come and see." Certainly, you and I can do that much, right? Yes, that’s something we can do over and over and over again. We can invite them to come and see, and trust Jesus to take it from there, just as he did in our Gospel.

III. Christ Reveals Himself.

A. Nathaniel accepted Philip’s invitation and went with Him to see Jesus, and it didn’t take long for Jesus to reveal Himself. When He saw Nathaniel approaching He didn’t criticize or rebuke Him for his blunt question. Instead He tells Nathaniel that He saw him while He was still under the fig tree, and saw him for who he truly was. Jesus looked at Philip’s friend and said: “Here is a true Israelite in whom there is no guile.”

To be an Israelite means that one has wrestled with God and prevailed. The patriarch, Jacob, received this name from the Lord, Himself. His old name which meant “to take hold of” identified him as one who was driven by selfishness, always looking to get ahead by his own tricks and deeds. But after wrestling with the angel of the Lord, Jacob won a blessing and this name was taken away as He was made a new person.

In our Gospel the Lord applies this name to Nathaniel. He shows this struggling, disappointed soul that he knows him intimately as one who had been wrestling with God his entire life and who assures him that he has now won the victory because His Savior has come to Him. Jesus revealed to Nathaniel that He saw him even before Philip had come to him. He looked deep into his soul and knew that he was a frank and simple man; a true Israelite who had no selfish aims to hide and no doubts to suppress.

B. We have a lot in common with Nathaniel. We are Israelites, not by blood, but by spirit. According to St. Paul, we are the new Israel of God, who have been delivered from our old names and old ways. We are not Jacobs driven by selfishness to get ahead of our brother. We’re not deceivers to people or to God. In Christ, we do not try to purchase our birthright or make claim to God the Father’s blessing by trickery and works of self-righteousness. We have a new name – Israel. We have wrestled with God, with our ignorance of him and with our sins against Him, and have won through faith in Christ. The old has passed away, crucified with Jesus in Baptism, and the new has come because we have been raised with Him to a new and eternal life. In Christ’s death and resurrection for us we have the victory. Before God we, like Nathaniel, have no guile. We don’t need to hide our sins, because we know that Christ already has. He alone is our covering.

IV. He Promises Even Greater Things.

A. Nathaniel, like so many after him, first received the message of Christ with great skepticism and low expectations. But following the invitation of his friend, to come and see Jesus, all that changed. That day when Christ spoke to him great things were revealed to him. He knew for certain who Jesus was and who he would be because of Jesus. He confessed: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” He was transformed from a lazy man lying under a fig tree, into a follower of Christ. He was changed from a man who expected nothing good in life, into one who experienced great things.

The same is true for us, and for many of those we have invited to come and see Jesus with us. Here, when Christ speaks to us in His Word great things happen. In those Words we know who Jesus is and what He has done for us, and we rejoice in who we have now become because of His life, death and resurrection for us. Through faith in Him we have been given the privilege of becoming the children of God – children born of the Holy Spirit. With Nathaniel we are able to confess that Jesus is God’s Son, our King and Savior. By His greatness we have been and are being transformed into His image.

B. Jesus told Nathaniel that he would see even greater things; that he would even see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending the Son of Man. Nathaniel did see greater things when He followed Jesus. He would see Christ turn water into wine. He would see him heal the sick, cast out demons, and even raise the dead. He would see Jesus feed thousands on a few scraps of bread and fish. He would hear Jesus teach about the kingdom of heaven in the synagogues and on the hillsides, opening the kingdom of heaven for all to enter in. He would see Jesus betrayed into the hands of evil men and put to death, and He would see Him raised again. He would see Jesus ascend into heaven, and know that Christ had become the true ladder to heaven, the Way, the Truth and the Life, through whom we have gained access to the Father in heavenly glory. In and through Jesus God came down to us, and we came up to God.

To us Jesus also says, “You shall see greater things.” When we follow Jesus we see marvelous things in our lives and in the lives of those we love. We see heaven opened to us as we confess our sins and receive absolution from Christ. We see souls cleansed and new life given through washing with water through the Word in Holy Baptism. We see Christ feeding us with His body and blood in the Sacrament of the Altar to bring us forgiveness and strength. We see lives redeemed and transformed by His Word, which is the power of God unto salvation. And following Jesus we will see even greater things, yet. On the last day we will see heaven opened, and the Son of Man descending with His angels to judge the world. We will see the dead rise, and the those who have lived by faith ascend with us into heaven. All of this because at some point in our lives someone, perhaps our parents, our spouse, or our friends, simply said to us: “Come and see!” Amen.