The Year of the Conversation: The JesusSpeak Life (where we live, work, play, learn)

Stranded by Southwest

How many of you fly Southwest? How many of you have flown Southwest in the past two weeks? Flight cancellations all over the country put Southwest in the headlines for all of the wrong reasons. Many people were stranded in airports for long periods of time over the Christmas break. Christmas wasn’t merry for many. But of all the things we could talk about in the cancellation mess there’s one that stands out. Ticket agents weeping on social media. Weeping after being yelled at by angry customers. Now we feel for those ticket agents. No one wants to be in that position.

That is a microcosm of our society right now and all of us have been in this either as ticket agents or angry customers. But what isn’t happening in that moment and in too many moments in our society right now… there are no conversations taking place. This isn’t hyperbole. There is weeping and there is screaming and what’s absent is the conversation. This happens all over our society, in work, in life, in relationship. Especially when it comes to people who are not like us, who don’t think like us, who don’t vote like us, don’t spend like us… There is no perceived need to understand the other side of the story. There is no desire to listen… only to be heard… in fact I read one activist who wrote, we’re tired of listening… it’s time we were heard. We don’t want to understand, we only want to speak.

What if 2023 was the Year of the Conversation?

As I think about what is ahead for The Table in 2023, I keep coming back to this thought: we need more conversations. We’ve already touched on this some. We’ve spent time talking about how we need more Jesus in every area of our lives: where we live, where we work, where we play, and where we live. One common denominator in all the areas is an assumption we make along the way: we’re talking about Jesus in every area of our lives. It may not be explicit. It may not be the story of Jesus. But somewhere along the way, we are talking about Jesus and his impact on our lives… and how he changes the way we think and view life. It’s all about conversation.

Jesus was all about conversation. One of the fascinating aspects of John’s Gospel is that the first chapter begins with this statement:

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

The entire history of the world, all of human history, began with a Word. The Word. In the beginning, God speaks. All speech has its source in God, who is the Word. From the very beginning God is speaking. And God is holding conversations. John then tells us that that Word has taken on human flesh:

John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

This is the reason for the season we are in… The Son of God taking on human flesh, but John states it this way: The Word became flesh. God isn’t just taking on a body. God is on a mission to save his people. And God is on a mission to have conversation. Face to face. Flesh to flesh.

The book of John, in fact, all of the gospels… the biographies of Jesus.. are loaded with conversations. One of the most amazing things about the Incarnation or God becoming man is that he didn’t just come to tell us stuff. He could have. He’s God. When God speaks, we should be listening. But the amazing thing about Jesus is that He came to listen.

John isn’t out of the first chapter and Jesus is already into a conversation. Here’s how it unfolds:

John 1:43-46 “The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and told him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law (and so did the prophets): Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael asked him. “Come and see,” Philip answered.”

A couple of things stand out. First… Jesus finds Philip and his conversation with Philip can be boiled down to “follow me”. This is at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus is organizing a group of men who will be his understudies.. we’re not told much about that first conversation, I’m sure it was more than just “follow me”. but John wants us to focus on that point. Jesus probably even knows Philip before hand. Then Philip finds his friend Nathaniel. And the salient point from their conversation is this:

John 1:45 “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law (and so did the prophets): Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”

In the opening chapters of John, we’re given a huge clue as to just who this Word is that became flesh. On the lips of Philip to a friend: We have found the One. The One we’ve been waiting for. The One who was promised in the Old Testament. The Lamb of God come to save the world from sin. And guess who He is? Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth. This is Philip’s confession of faith.. Who Jesus is.

Nathaniel responds with at worst an ethnic slur, at best a negative stereotype. “Can Anything Good come out of Nazareth?”

And Philip responds with an invitation that is repeated throughout the book of John: Come and See. Come and See this Lamb of God. Come and See this Promised One who Moses talked about.

And this is where Jesus begins a conversation.

John 1:47-48 “Then Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you,” Jesus answered.”

This is a fascinating conversation. Jesus let’s Nathaniel know that he saw him under the fig tree. We don’t know the nature of what Nathaniel was doing under the fig tree. We won’t speculate. It’s not really important. But what we need to see is that Jesus gets Nathaniel’s attention. Jesus says something only Nathaniel would know. Now… if I were Nathaniel, and Jesus knows where I was and what I was doing, what do you think Nathaniel is expecting Jesus to talk about? What would we be talking about?

Of course. If Jesus knows about the fig tree, Jesus certainly knows about the Nazareth diss. Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Jesus is talking about the fig tree because Jesus is after Nathaniel’s heart. He’s after his faith. If Jesus brings up the Nazareth diss, do you think Nathaniel is in any position to listen to Jesus? No, he’s not. What Nathaniel says next is exactly what Jesus wanted to hear:

John 1:49 “Rabbi,” Nathanael replied, “You are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel!”

Philip was right. You’re the Promised One. You’re the One we’ve been waiting for. Nathaniel’s confession takes it a step further. You’re the Messiah. You’re God himself. You are the expected King of Israel. Nathaniel is spilling his guts. Nathaniel’s heart speaks. The rest of the book of John is an explanation of Nathan and Philip’s confession: this Jesus from Nazareth is the Messiah, the Promised One, the Son of God, the King of Israel. That point will not only be revealed, but it will be challenged by those who don’t believe it.

Jesus isn’t done with the conversation:

John 1:50-51 “Jesus responded to him, “Do you believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” Then he said, “Truly I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Jesus again, is aiming at Nathaniel’s heart. Nathaniel is making the right confession. But his faith has yet to see who Jesus really is. The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Nathaniel’s sin. The very God-man who bridges heaven and earth.. not just the King of Israel, but the King of the universe. The Great I AM who led Jacob and Israel and David and Solomon. That God is here for you Nathaniel.

That’s a conversation. Jesus doesn’t just show up an announce. The angels did that. John the Baptist did that. Jesus is revealing God to man one conversation at a time. Invested conversation. Jesus is asking questions. Jesus is listening. Jesus listens to our foolishness. Jesus listens to our desires. Jesus listens to our feeble faith. Jesus listens. He doesn’t have to. He knows the answers ahead of time. But he wants to hear us.

It is part of our worship service. The Lord’s prayer. Jesus gave us that prayer because he wants to hear from us. He came as a baby to listen to us.

Four things to leave you with at the beginning of 2023:

41% of people in our area want a spiritual conversation

Most People Come to Church Because of a Personal Invite (not advertising)

Most Church Growth Happens through families and friends (not walk-ins)

Organic Church Growth Occurs One Conversation at a Time (not big events)

United Airlines commercial

Close to 40% of the people who live around the church have fired the church. They are the de-churched.

They used to go to church, but they don’t go to church any more. They aren’t coming back to church, no matter how much we try to convince them that we aren’t like the other churches that burned them. What they need is somebody to listen to them. What they need is a conversation. They still want the conversation. They still want a spiritual discussion. 2023 is the year for that kind of conversation. Let’s make it the year of listening to our neighbor. The year of the conversation.

Let’s Pray.